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The Legal Practice Division has developed and published a set of high-level Principles around the collection, use and sharing of digital identity information that could serve as the basis for engaging in dialogue with all relevant stakeholders.
In recent years, improved telecommunication infrastructure and the rising mobile device adoption have boosted internet access in Africa. In turn, the growing internet accessibility has promoted digital activities and services, such as social media, online shopping, and mobile payments.
IBA Annual Conference Paris 2023
The LGBTQI+ Law Committee tracks advancements and setbacks in various areas, including discrimination, criminalisation, family rights, recognition and status, identity, among others, and considers the legal implications of cultural and socio-economic issues related to LGBTQI+ interests.
The Committee aims to promote diversity and inclusiveness in the legal profession and society at large by presenting LGBTQI+ ideals and calling attention to legal matters and developments through its sessions, publications, projects and collaborations with other IBA committees, and external parties. The Committee welcomes LGBTQI+ individuals, and all allies and encourages all persons interested in our projects to join the Committee.
Apr 20, 2023
An employee’s gender can play a crucial role during their employment period and the entitlements arising from it. Austrian law so far has only known a binary gender (female and male) system. In 2018, the Austrian Constitutional Court ruled that a person can have different genders other than female or male. Thus, as a result of Constitutional Court case law, a third gender was introduced into the Austrian legal system. The following article discusses the effects this ruling has on current Austrian employment law related to the gender of the employee.
What will be the impact in the telecommunications industry, the internet, advertising and e-commerce ecosystems? The session will analyse what changing are occurring in the different regions around the world and how the digital map will look in the forthcoming years.
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
Mar 19, 2025
Global Insight assesses the movement away from a ‘world wide web’ towards national internets where the rules for content are widely different.
By 2026, the rollout of Europe’s EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet under the eIDAS 2.0 framework will transform how individuals prove identity and how financial and digital services verify and protect it. As these trusted identity systems merge with payment infrastructures, new intersections arise between cybersecurity, privacy, and financial regulation and new questions emerge about who is responsible when things go wrong.
One part of the discussion will examine how cybersecurity, privacy, and financial liability frameworks intersect in the four-party model, and the other will dive into the new regulatory and business realities of biometric identity in the wallet era. Together, the session will lay out how responsibility is distributed in case of data misuse, security breaches, or systemic failures, and how biometric-based identity proofs introduce new layers of both opportunity and risk.
IBA Annual Conference Copenhagen 2026
In Meta’s own words ‘We’re getting rid of a number of restrictions on topics like immigration, gender identity and gender that are the subject of frequent political discourse and debate’, thereby freeing billions of social media users to post a wide array of derogatory remarks on subjects such as race, nationality, ethnic groups, sexual orientation and gender identity.
Annual IBA Employment and Diversity Law Conference 2025
IBA Global Insight February/March 2018 - Basic practices and fundamental rights have long been taken for granted by internet users worldwide. However, the recent US decision to roll back key ‘net neutrality’ legislation puts them in danger – is it time for a digital constitution?
A discussion of the legal issues relating to concepts of nonbinary identity as viewed through the eyes of indigenous cultures around the world.
IBA Annual Conference Toronto 2025
Tech giants are under fire for facilitating all sorts of unwanted activity online. But finding more effective solutions than self-regulation is far from straightforward.
This panel will be presented by the world’s most inventive and successful cases relating to international adoption, alternative medical processes and identity of citizenship.
IBA Annual Conference Paris 2023
Sep 04, 2020
When in January 2019 a judge ruled that the Zimbabwean government’s internet shutdown during the country’s protests that month had been illegal, Kuda Hove, one of the lawyers who worked on the case, was disappointed. The case was won on procedural grounds, without mentioning any of the human rights violations that Hove says the internet blackout caused. As a result, the verdict would not set the desired precedent for future cases.
Feb 13, 2020
New rules for copyright in the EU need to be enacted in national law of Member States by April 2021. Global Insight explains why these reforms are highly controversial and what their impact is likely to be.
This panel will exam the technical questions that may shape the evolution of Metaverse and the supporting technologies as blockchain and AI, including cyber-security; resilient digital identity; connectivity/telecoms; or ESG issues. This panel will include actual non-legal members of this field.
Metaverse; Artificial Intelligence; and Web3.0 Technology
Mar 26, 2026
This article examines India’s 2025 SIM-binding directions and explains how continuous SIM-linked identity verification aims to curb telecom-enabled cyber fraud, while also raising important technical, operational and privacy considerations.
• Building a professional identity: gain insights into developing a unique professional identity as a lawyer.
IBA Annual Conference Mexico City 2024
Oct 18, 2022
As protestors in the Islamic Republic of Iran continue to be shot at by the country’s security forces and women outside of Iran cut off locks of their hair in solidarity with the Iranian women protesting for equal rights, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) notes parallels between...
For this session, our panellists will identity and discuss several highlighted issues with lawyer well-being in general as well as propose existing and novel solutions to tackle this ubiquitous issue faced by a large number of law practices worldwide.
The Fundamentals of International Legal Business Practice
Jul 24, 2023
Digital Market Act- and Digital Services Act-like bills of law are being discussed in the Brazilian National Congress. At the same time, the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court is close to ruling the leading case on a platform’s liability for user-generated content.
As a result, LGBTQIA+ individuals continue to face disproportionate risks of violence, stigma, and discrimination based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. This session will explore the historical and political context of the increasing criminalisation, examine the rise of populist governments attacking LGBTQIA+ persons, and call on the international community to resist the attacks against recent advances in LGBTQIA+ equality worldwide.
IBA Annual Conference Toronto 2025
Nov 16, 2022
The election of a new Secretary-General to the influential International Telecommunications Union has highlighted the disagreement globally around how the internet functions. Global Insight assesses what’s at stake.
What are mere lines of code minted on a blockchain, represent a living digital work on the internet. These new assets are making it possible for creators to imbue physical properties like scarcity, uniqueness, and proof of ownership to digital assets.
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
Jan 22, 2024
The Cambodian government has introduced new legislation in an attempt to provide a legal identity to the thousands of people in the country who currently lack proof they even exist. The law includes a focus on civil registration – the process of recording births, deaths, marriages and divorces – and is set to be implemented from July 2024. It’ll tackle the issues created where a person doesn’t have a legal identity – for example, limits to their access to public services, human rights and social protections.
Big data algorithmic analytics, especially when combined with ‘open banking’ and fast identity-checking technology such as biometrics means that financial providers are better placed to tailor products for consumers and speed up the delivery of services.
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
Sep 20, 2021
Coming forward with information that could get someone into trouble has never been easy. To remedy this, states have been increasing their efforts to encourage whistleblowers to report wrongdoings by ensuring their protection from retaliation,1 which, up until recently, has been scarcely regulated, particularly in the European Union.2 The need to enhance the protection of whistleblowers has been thrown into the spotlight as a result of a series of scandals (such as the Panama Papers,3 Cambridge Analytica and Danske Bank scandals) in which whistleblowers played a key role.
When women are not equally represented on management level, young female talent lack role models as they cannot identify with leadership which creates an identity distance and leads to them feeling less entitled to leadership positions than their male counterparts.
IBA Annual Conference Paris 2023
The article explains the differences in the Chinese antitrust regulator’s approach to regulating antitrust concerns in the digital market from the approach adopted by regulators in other jurisdictions, including the European Union
Are unions adapting quickly enough to challenges such as AI, hybrid work reducing physical presence and organisational opportunities, shifting workforce identities, diversity considerations and the expectations of younger generations?
Annual IBA Employment and Diversity Law Conference 2026
Dec 03, 2025
This article analyses the regulatory challenges faced by Bolivia and Uruguay in regard to balancing the need to preserve traditional foods alongside the need to incorporate food innovation. Based on the concept of novel foods, the article examines how international regulations can both protect and limit access to culturally rooted products within global markets. The opportunities to harmonise food-related identities, sustainability and regulatory developments in South America within this context are also explored.
Keynote speech: A more divided internet – the fight for global AI governance from geopolitical perspective
IBA Annual Litigation Forum: The future of litigation
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) welcomes the renewal of the United Nations Independent Expert (IE) on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). Created in 2016 for an initial period of 3 years, this mandate was set up to respond to a specific pattern of violations directed against persons because of their SOGI.
Evidence continues to surface of higher levels of brutality being committed against those with intersecting marginalised identities – including, notably, women from the Hazara and Kurdish communities in Afghanistan and Iran, respectively.
IBA War Crimes Committee Conference 2023: Pursuing justice in a world on fire
Sep 13, 2023
The European ‘fair share’ debate is certainly one of the ‘telecommunications’ hypes of 2023, and so far has created an incredible mass of work for consultants, lobbyists and conference organisers. This subject has become an absolute priority for the largest European telcos, assuming a very important role in the digital agenda of the European Commission lead by commissioner Thierry Breton, former Chief Executive Officer of Orange, the French telecom incumbent.
In July, members of the European Parliament rejected proposed changes to European Union copyright law that would have placed more responsibility on websites to check for copyright infringements and forced internet platforms to pay for linking to news.
Attempts to reform copyright law across the 28-member bloc and bring it in line with the digital age have pitched internet giants like Google in a fierce battle against high-profile musicians including Sir Paul McCartney.
This session will explore the emerging technologies that are transforming agriculture, including artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things, agricultural drones and precision agriculture, among other technologies.
IBA Annual Conference Mexico City 2024
Apr 01, 2020
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) calls on the Government of India and the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to revoke the internet restrictions imposed in the Jammu and Kashmir union territory, amidst the Coronavirus disease/Covid-19 worldwide pandemic.
The Smart Cities panel will delve into the complex interplay between living, transportation, and energy infrastructure as cities embed the internet of everything into their core design. This is traditional infrastructure disputes on steroids, as lawyers adapt to the critical importance of interoperability, resilient systems, cybersecurity risks and new regulatory frameworks.
27th Annual IBA Arbitration Day: “New Horizons”: focusing on the influence of new technologies, sectors and geographies on the future of human living and the evolution of International Arbitration
Sep 10, 2025
A new comprehensive report from the International Bar Association (IBA) Communications Law Committee examines the ongoing global debate over who should bear the cost of internet infrastructure, expansion and maintenance. It is a controversial issue revolving around whether…
Such sites may be actively managed by social media accounts who may block access based on their own internal policies, i.e. in respect of hate speech, fraud or user complaints, or such web sites may be passively managed internet service provides where protection against infringement must be enforced by private action.
IBA Annual Conference Paris 2023
Mar 29, 2023
Facebook’s parent company Meta has been requested by the Italian tax authorities to pay EUR 870 million (USD 925 million) in unpaid VAT sales tax from 2015 to 2021. Based on information provided by an Italian newspaper, the Italian tax authorities seem to be arguing that Facebook membership is granted upon a consideration in kind.
This panel will explain how tax laws of the brick-and-mortar time are being applied to transactions in the blockchain and crypto world and, where available, which new laws or guidelines have been enacted to address the ever-changing universe of the internet, soon potentially a meta-verse.
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
This article explores the risks that Turkey’s newly amended internet law poses to freedom of speech and possible mitigation strategies for social media companies, while placing the new legislation within the broader context of internet regulation in Turkey.
The impact of fake information through social networks, internet and messaging applications has made this issue become one of the highest priority matters to tackle in recent years.
Biennial IBA Latin American Regional Forum conference
Nov 20, 2023
AI business strategist and former Head of Go-To-Market at Open AI, Zack Kass, discusses AI and the legal profession
This expert panel will review the interplay between telecoms, antitrust and data rules in the newly emerging new worlds of the metaverse, ‘internet of things’ and artificial intelligence.
32nd Annual IBA Communications and Competition Law Conference
This week’s Bulletin covers issues including the abuse of LGBTQI+ refugees, the impact of the virus on homeless people and an update on disability rights worldwide, including an EU resolution to protect the rights of those with intellectual disabilities during the pandemic.
The audience will be divided into five discussion groups for this session to address the following relevant sub-topics:
1 Machine to Machine (M2M) Economy – pros and cons of automated sales and payments in the Internet of Things (IoT)
2 Supply chain in the metaverse; thinking new business models for interconnected procurement, services and product development
3 Implications of smart manufacturing: news for distribution, intellectual property and competition.
The International Commerce and Distribution Landscape – New Tensions and Restrictions Along the Global Supply Chain
IBA Global Insight August/September 2017. Experts say blockchain technology will lead to the second generation of the internet. Global Insight explores the legal and regulatory impact of this latest revolution in technology.
How can privacy be protected and identity theft thwarted for the metaverse participants?
IBA Annual Conference Paris 2023
By Michael S Carl. Indonesia looks to regulate private electronic system organisers - Asia Pacific Regional Forum, September 2020
• Extraterritorial and national regulations in Africa – how law firms can ensure compliance and protect themselves and clients
• How personal data regulations change business processes in Africa
• How bar associations and regulators can support their members to implement the new regimes
• Can the impact of fake information through social networks, internet and messaging applications be managed by data privacy regulations or are new frameworks required?
Biennial IBA African Regional Forum Conference: future-proofing the African legal profession
Sep 24, 2025
A new Russian law – which came into effect in September – punishes online searches for what the government labels ‘extremist content’. But while the Kremlin has published a list of more than 5,000 banned websites, there’s still little clarity surrounding the law’s implementation and what makes the designated content ‘extremist’. As a result, there are widespread fears that the law could be used to further silence government critics, particularly those commentating on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Years ago, an invasion of privacy that appeared in print in a local area could be more easily contained and remedied than today, when a violation of one’s privacy can go “viral” and circulate for years on the Internet. Similarly, the ability of people to comment without fear of retribution has been compromised, as technology has facilitated what many call the “cancel culture.
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
Role of lawyers, false news and systemic racism
In this session, we will examine two regulatory trends and how they may change internet and society. First, there is growing concern about the role and power of algorithms to amplify or minimise content in ways that affect individuals' beliefs, opportunities, and wellbeing.
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
Sep 25, 2025
In summer 2025, child safety rules introduced as part of the UK’s Online Safety Act 2023 came into force. To comply, online platforms, including social media companies and search services, must implement age verification checks to block people under 18 from accessing ‘harmful content’ including pornography and material that might promote eating disorders, self-harm and suicide.
Can new legislation around the globe assist to prevent the spread of information intended to deceive, or will traditional enforcement mechanisms hold sway in preventing dissemination of hate speech, fake news and propaganda, facilitation of counterfeit and stolen goods and objects of art, as well as infringement of Internet Protocol (IP) through the use of Artificial intelligence (AI).
IBA Annual Conference Toronto 2025
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