Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 14:23:21 +0700 From: Sacha Jotisalikorn <sacha@forumasia.org> Subject: [communication 920] EDITORIAL: One last hope for free information To: communication@wsisasia.org Message-Id: <CE0428DA-F24D-11D7-B52D-000393DB8C92@forumasia.org> X-Mail-Count: 00920The Nation EDITORIAL: One last hope for free information Published on Sep 19, 2003 Technocrats must not be allowed to dominate the final preparatory meeting for deciding control of expression The World Summit of Information Society, to be held in Geneva on December 10-12, will turn out to be a farce if press freedom and freedom of expression are not faithfully reflected in the key documents to be adopted at the end the summit. This week experts from more than 140 members of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) are converging in Geneva again for the final preparatory meeting ending September 26 to hammer out the final controversial text of the draft Declaration of Principles and Action Plan. Thanks to Switzerland, issues related to media freedom on the Internet are being raised and discussed. One cannot deny that the concept of WSIS is a good thing. It is an effort to extend information technology throughout the world, to increase communications between the developed and developing world and to widen the availability of information. But to accomplish these objectives, is it necessary to curb press freedom and freedom of expression? Well, many countries think that way. That explains why many members, especially countries with a history of restricting press freedom, are trying new ways and looking for new criteria to restrict and control content on the Internet under the disguise of security threats from terrorism and cyberspace crime. Since it is the ITU which has convened the meeting, most of the representatives come from the telecommunications and ICT sectors, which gives the impression that WSIS is only focusing upon technology. They see the summit as a technical conference while in fact it is a summit dealing with a global issue. In the past year, during various discussions, the role of traditional and new media has been underrated in the texts, despite the public utterances of the WSIS organisers. Many governments are afraid to recognise the central role that the media plays in the information society. Some Asian countries, spearheaded by China and Pakistan, have made it clear from the beginning that the WSIS has nothing to do with human rights, another code word to avoid debate on issues related to freedom of expression. The WSIS will be carried out in two phases. Apart from the upcoming meeting in Geneva, the second WSIS will be held in Tunis, Tunisia, in November 2005. That venue is equally controversial given the Tunisian government's predilection to censor its media. Free media countries are trying to change the venue to a country that backs freedom of expression. The Thai delegation to the WSIS meetings must support in earnest the moves by countries which want to ensure that the intrinsic universal norm as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights must be included in the final declaration. Any diversion of the original content would be a blow to freedom of expression around the world. It is not too late to refocus. Thailand has been given priority on the use of broadband, access to ICTS for developed countries and handicapped persons. While these are noble objectives, the government should not forget the value of content and free flow of information. At the end of the day, we must be clear that the future information society will be based on freedom of expression as stated in the Article 19 of the UDHR.920_2.enriched (attatchment)(tag is disabled)