<bold><fontfamily><param>Arial</param>The Nation<color><param>6666,6666,6666</param><bigger><bigger><bigger><bigger><bigger>

EDITORIAL: One last hope for free information </bigger></bigger></bigger></bigger></bigger></color><bigger><bigger><bigger><bigger>

</bigger></bigger></bigger></bigger>Published on Sep 19, 2003 

</fontfamily></bold><fontfamily><param>Arial</param>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. 

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