The hard work is only just beginning, that is the drip, drip, drip of legal, political and intellectual labour to ensure that future generations on this planet get the media and communications they deserve.
What have yet to get going are more informed discussions in local (schools, universities, hospitals, town halls) and national (parliaments and businesses) settings.
Staying visible, not being drowned out by hostile agendas, or captured and then defused by lobbies of every ilk, is a challenge for those defending human rights on the internet.
Standard-setting bodies who have all played a part in the historical trajectory of the ‘hard’ techno-legal decision-making that comprises internet governance behind the scenes are now under public scrutiny.
Corporate actors play no small part in setting this agenda as well, in kind rather than by international treaty, through the proprietary rights of commercial enterprise.
Arguments about why indeed human rights matter for our online lives, and who is responsible for taking action - the individual, the government, or the service provider? - rage over most people’s heads.
Are our rights online under threat by our own governments? What real and imagined dangers face citizens at the online-offline nexus? Watch the wide-ranging panel discussion which launched openDemocracy's new 2016 partnership, 'Human rights and the internet'.
