The International Modern Media Institute (IMMI) is an international institution with the aim of promoting debate about laws good for freedom of information,

speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...

, and expression. The institute does this by offering advice and guidance in relation to legislation.

History

On 18 February 2010, the institute entered a parliamentary resolution proposal, commonly known as the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, into the Icelandic Parliament

Alþingi The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembly ...

, proposing that Iceland "strongly position itself legally with regard to the protection of freedoms of expression and information". The proposal was adopted unanimously by parliament on 16 June 2010. Birgitta Jónsdóttir from

The Movement The Movement may refer to: Politics * The Movement (Iceland), a political party in Iceland * The Movement (Israel), a political party in Israel, led by Tzipi Livni * Civil rights movement, the African-American political movement * The Movemen ...

was the chief sponsor of the proposal, 19 other MPs (out of 63) from all parties in the parliament supported the proposal by co-sponsoring it. The proposal passed on 16 June was not a piece of final legislation. Instead, it began a process of editing 13 separate laws according to the proposal's specifications. This process was expected to be completed by mid-2012. After WikiLeaks exposed the loan book of Kaupthing Bank, one of the largest news channels, RUV, was injuncted from displaying the news story. Instead they were forced to simply put a message up of the WikiLeaks website. This led to WikiLeaks being invited by the Digital Freedoms Society to attend an annual conference in Iceland. The IMMI board has released a report of the legislation on April 16, 2012.
It details the status of various proposals that make up IMMI and their progress.

Support and endorsements

The IMMI project was cooperatively organised by numerous organisations and members of the Icelandic parliament. Its principal endorsers were Eva Joly,

Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...

, the Icelandic Digital Freedom Society, WikiLeaks, and Icelandic MPs such as Birgitta Jónsdóttir and Róbert Marshall. The project has also had public endorsements from various organisations such as

Global Voices Global Voices is an international community of writers, bloggers and digital activists that aim to translate and report on what is being said in citizen media worldwide. It is a non-profit project started at the Berkman Center for Internet and S ...

La Quadrature du Net La Quadrature du Net ('' Squaring the Net'' in French) is a French advocacy group that promotes digital rights and freedoms for its citizens. It advocates for French and European legislation to respect the founding principles of the Internet, ...

and the

Free Knowledge Institute The Free Knowledge Institute (FKI) is a non-profit organisation founded in 2006 in the Netherlands. Inspired by the free software movement, the FKI fosters the free exchange of knowledge in all areas of society by promoting freedom of use, mo ...

References

External links

International Modern Media Institute
* International Journal of Communication (November 2012)
Beyond Wikileaks: The Icelandic Modern Media Initiative and the Creation of Free Speech Havens
*

Harvard Nieman Journalism Lab Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

Iceland aims to become an offshore haven for journalists and leakers
* The Guardian
WikiLeaks editor: Why I'm excited about Iceland's plans for journalism
* BBC News
Iceland's journalism freedom dream prompted by Wikileaks
* IDG
Icelanders hope to host controversial data from around world
*

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

Iceland Aims To Become Offshore Haven For Journalists
*

Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...

Iceland Law to Provide Unprecedented Protections for Journalists
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227035025/http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=70&release=1197 , date=2011-12-27 *AFP
Iceland safe haven for press freedom: Wikileaks insider
* The Independent
Iceland rewrites law to create haven for investigative reporting

Thomas Hoeren, IMMI - the EU perspective, text published in Computer und Recht International 2010
(englisch) Mass media in Iceland Freedom of information Political advocacy groups in Iceland Freedom of expression organizations Journalism organizations in Europe