The Internet Legislation Atlas (ILA) is a pilot project that assesses and visualizes the level of compliance of selected digital rights vis-à-vis international human rights standards in seven countries of the Middle East and North Africa: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia. The project looks at the legal frameworks that govern the Internet and focuses on the level of protection afforded particularly to the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy.

ILA makes Internet-related policies readily accessible, produces country reports investigating legislations that regulate human rights on the Internet and provides qualitative analysis to the national legal frameworks. This analysis is conducted through examining and comparing the domestic frameworks with internationally recognized human rights standards. It hinges on indicators driven mainly from the international human rights treaties and instruments, statements by human rights bodies and United Nations special rapporteurs as well as human rights case law. The project further provides a visual tool for comparative analysis that allows users to compare laws within and across the region, promoting deeper understanding of the similarities and differences in the approaches espoused by governments to safeguard or undermine human rights on the Internet.

The ILA aims to pinpoint opportunities for improvements and contribute to raising the awareness of concerned stakeholders, and empowering civil society to participate in the Internet policy dialogue in the regional and global level and influence the decision-making process in the local level. This is done through:

• Mapping the legal landscape in each country as it relates to the Internet and civil society.
• Outlining gaps and ambiguities among existing laws and regulations in relation to international human rights standards.
• Highlighting opportunities for advocacy regarding Internet-related law and policy in each country drawing on international human rights standards and best practices.
• Connecting civil society to resources that will help them navigate the legal environment.

To read more about the legal landscape of human rights and technology in the MENA region, see ILA's Executive Summary.