RightsCon Taipei: Monetization Principles Consultation

 

RightsCon Taipei: Monetization Principles Consultation

12 March 2025

We took the opportunity of Rightscon Taipei to launch the Monetization Principles with a full room of experts tackling digital rights issues from all angles.
Our consultation on version 0 of the Principles appropriately took place on Day 0 (February 24th).
While we’ve been getting input from a multi-stakeholder group for the past few months, the RightsCon event was our first opportunity to present the Principles more publicly and gather broader input.

A few interesting takeaways from the event:

  • One critical conversation focused on terminology — whether "vendor," "supplier," "business partner" or something else altogether best describes the publishing partners behind monetized accounts on social media. This ties into broader corporate responsibility frameworks and conversations around supply chain ethics. The language we choose to use in the Principles influences which accountability structures come into play.
  • Our conversation also turned to existing human rights standards, namely the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). How do aspects of the UNGPs intersect with the issues we’re trying to cover with the Monetization Principles? And how can we build upon the UNGP framework?
  • Attendees at our Day 0 event agreed that the Principles would need more detailed implementation guidelines. But that doesn’t mean starting from scratch — there is extensive precedent for this in the content governance space from which we can draw inspiration.
 
It was an invigorating discussion, of which we have sadly only the following, less-than-invigorating photo.
notion image
 

Next steps: We’re taking the Monetization Principles on the road

The RightsCon event was the first of a series of consultations around the Monetization Principles. Upcoming consultations will bring together experts in different regions and groups of different stakeholders. Each conversation, we hope, will help us further flesh out the most important transparency and accountability asks, and further define what a principled approach to monetization governance should entail.
 
If all of this sounds intriguing to you, we warmly invite you to explore the Monetization Principles for yourself, and to say hello@whattofix.tech.