Developing and delivering a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Freedom of expression for parliaments and their members

Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of any democratic dispensation. Democracy cannot be realized without a free flow of ideas and information, and the possibility for people to gather, to voice and discuss issues, criticize and make demands, and defend their interests and rights. Freedom of expression takes on special significance for parliamentarians both through individual entitlement as citizens, and through their role as policymakers. As social leaders, parliamentarians have the duty to strike the right balance when exercising their own right to freedom of expression and avoid using this power to the detriment of constitutional principles in their countries. 

The Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have formed a strategic partnership to deliver and implement a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information. This aims to develop the skills and capacity of members of parliament, parliamentary staff, civil society organizations to protect and promote freedom of expression in and outside parliament.

The freedom of expression MOOC will build parliamentarians’ knowledge and understanding of freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information, its scope and familiarize parliamentarians and parliamentary staff across the world with international and regional human rights norms and mechanisms regarding freedom of expression and their application to and implications for parliamentary work. The MOOC will follow the structure of the IPU publication Freedom of expression for parliaments and their members: Importance and scope of protection PU Handbook on Freedom of expression, Handbook for Parliamentarians N°28[1], and will integrate relevant parts from the following UNESCO’s publications:

• Practical Guide to Media Law Reform[2];
• Guidelines for Judicial Actors of Privacy and Data Protection[3];
• Issue Brief “The misuse of the judicial system to attack freedom of expression”[4].

Other UNESCO’s resources that will help build the MOOC are:

• The Three-part Test: legitimate limits to freedom of expression[5]
• The Rabat Plan of Action on the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred[6]
• Why #FreedomOfExpression and #AccessToInformation are so central for free and fair elections? How to address online hate speech[7]

Objectives and target audience

In addressing issues related to freedom of expression, the MOOC would aim to achieve the following:

• to familiarize parliamentarians and parliamentary staff across the world with international and regional human rights norms and mechanisms regarding freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information and their application to and implications for parliamentary work;
• to convey a strong message to parliaments that the protection of freedom of expression is more relevant than ever before, while acknowledging all the same the challenges that the exercise of this right poses, including in relation to new emerging trends/challenges;
• to promote further debate and reflection on the issues surrounding freedom of expression and their significance for parliamentarians;
• to enable the IPU to offer high-quality advice and suggestions to parliaments whenever the IPU Committee or another IPU entity finds that specific national legislation and/or practices unduly limit freedom of expression.

          The primary target audience for this course would be members of parliament as well as parliamentary staff. The course would also be a valuable resource for other human rights stakeholders, in particular those interacting with parliaments, such as government officials, the media (including social media) and civil society.

Proposed course content and structure

The course content should be designed to allow the target audience for the course to cover core themed content. Other key components of the course outline include:

• Content shaped around five modules;
• Each module to take approximately three hours to complete;
• The duration of the MOOC would be around 15 hours in total.

It is proposed that the MOOC on freedom of expression would include the following sections in line with the structure of the IPU Handbook on Freedom of expression for parliaments and their members: Importance and scope of protection and integrating the above-mentioned UNESCO’s resources (the consultant will produce, in consultation with the IPU and UNESCO, the final structure of the MOOC):

1. Introduction of the international and regional core standards and systems

          Outlining “core standards”, including describing international guarantees, highlighting the reasons freedom of expression is important, presenting the main characteristics of this right, and outlining key principles for freedom of expression during elections.

2. Restrictions and regulation of the media

          Relevance of the all-important issue of restrictions on freedom of expression, focusing on general rules governing restrictions and, in particular, the three-part test for restrictions under international law. It also focuses on a number of specific interests that restrictions seek to protect, including national security, privacy, reputation, public order, equality (hate speech) and the administration of justice. This module will also address the issue of media regulation and focusing on different media sectors: journalists, print media, broadcast media, public service media and online media.

3. Freedom of expression and parliamentary immunity

          Focusing on the promotion and protection of freedom of expression. A key issue for parliamentarians is precisely what special protections they enjoy in terms of freedom of expression. The doctrine of parliamentary non-accountability essentially protects parliamentarians against legal censure for what they say in parliament and sometimes beyond this, while the doctrine of inviolability grants MPs certain additional protections. Despite protections mentioned in the previous section, parliaments retain the power to censure parliamentarians who abuse their right to freedom of expression to the detriment of parliament itself, as part of the broader doctrine of parliamentary immunity. Also addresses the power of parliaments to regulate free speech rights, in particular of its their members.

4. Parliamentarians’ role in promoting freedom of expression

          While legislation is at the core of parliamentarians’ responsibilities in relation to freedom of expression, they should also exercise their roles as social leaders to promote and protect this right. Parliamentarians can do much to raise general awareness about the importance of freedom of expression, as well as its key features and address the impact of artificial intelligence, machine learning and social media on freedom of expression.

5. Parliaments and other social actors

          This module focuses on ensuring that systems are in place to ensure appropriate media access to parliament. Part of this is putting in place accreditation processes for the media which are fair and transparent. And part is about promoting live broadcasting and online streaming of parliament, including committee meetings as far as possible.

Scope of work

In this context, the IPU is requesting proposals from individuals/a company/organization specialized in freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information to:

• Design the content and programme of the MOOC on freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information in English, and integrated the translated content in French and Spanish that will be provided separately in the English platform.
• Set up an online learning/training platform
• Organize and conduct the course
• Design and coordinate follow-up support modalities (as described below)

Key deliverables

Phase 1: Presentation by the company/organization on the concept, content and programme of the course, as well as on the material to be made available.

In its conceptualization and planning of the course, the company/organization shall take on the following tasks:

• Developing a curriculum for a five-week global MOOC on the international standards relating to freedom of expression as previously outlined;
• Producing a workplan and a detailed outline of each module of the online course;
• Providing the lead trainer of the MOOC and producing the complete content of the course in English (including summarized PDF versions of each module), developing quizzes at the end of each module, and selecting speakers for each video of the course and share the detailed content scripts for the videos with the IPU and UNESCO for their review and approval. For each module, the company will produce 3 videos: 1 by the lead trainer and 2 by the identified speakers, selected on the base of gender balance and geographical representation in consultation with IPU and UNESCO;
• Work collaboratively and effectively with all stakeholders and take into account IPU and UNESCO input to produce and curate content for the MOOC;
• Producing multimedia materials in English and integrate the translated content in French, and Spanish, which will be provided separately (videos in High Definition, PowerPoint presentations, reading materials, collections of documents, transcripts of the courses on video etc.) for the online course;
• Ensuring all technical aspects and pedagogical aspects of the program are of high quality and coherence;
• Editing the MOOC in accordance with the IPU and UNESCO editing style guides and visual identities;
• Setting up the course website for hosting the MOOC, which should be available during three months in the three languages (English, French and Spanish), ensuring the digital platform can also be used by participants who have low Internet broadband connection, and assisting the participants on how to use the digital platform;

Phase 2: Implementation of the MOOC.

• Actively promoting together with the IPU and UNESCO the online course in advance, in all 3 languages, amongst the IPU Member Parliaments and Associate Members, parliamentary staff, policymakers and key actors working with national parliaments, and also networks of key actors working with national parliaments;
• Managing the discussion forums and any technical issues that participants can encounter during the registration phase and throughout the course, by working with specialists and other pedagogical activities during the five weeks of the program;
• Ensuring a gendered and geographical balance of the participants, by seeking a high level of participation of male and female members of parliament and parliamentary staff in the project activities;
• Verifying the performance of the participants and delivering certificates of attendance/completion to those who fulfil the course requirements, with the logos of the IPU and UNESCO;

Phase 3: Provision of a final report including an overall evaluation of the MOOC and the follow-up support modalities, key takeaways and recommendations, and provision of all the course’s modules, exercises and methods of delivery as IPU property

• Producing a complete evaluation of the online course (5 pages minimum without annexes) including pre- and post-course evaluation, quantitative and qualitative analysis based on data collected from registration forms, description of results, challenges and lessons learnt, which will be based on a survey detailing feedback from the participants;
• The master copy of the course should be sent to the UNESCO once the MOOC is concluded.
• Ensure that all data collected by the consultant/entity in charge of developing and/or hosting the MOOC, in particular with regard to participants, including e-mail addresses, age, gender, title, organization, nationality and country activity and location will be collected and shared with the IPU and UNESCO for further use. The data to be collected through the registration form that the participants will fill in to register to the MOOC will be established jointly by IPU and UNESCO.

Timeline

It is expected that the supplier will be chosen in November 2023 to start work in December 2023. The MOOC will be delivered no later than end of June 2024.

Remuneration

The IPU shall pay the selected company or organization in instalments following the satisfactory completion of the respective deliverables. The proportions would be as follows:

• Upon satisfactory completion of Phase 1 – 30%
• Upon satisfactory completion of Phase 2 – 40%
• Upon satisfactory completion of Phase 3 – 30%