Can we live without the Internet?
Definitely! Should we? No.
Would our lives be any richer? Certainly not.
Billions of Internet connections are joining people around the world on desktops,
laptops, mobile phones and tablets. And although this medium can be abused, for
the most part it is a powerful platform that allows us to communicate, learn,
share and be heard.
The Internet is now practically synonymous to freedom. What that freedom
of expression can accomplish is written daily all over one’s face.
Two events this month cemented this yearning and defense of a free
Internet: The Declaration of Internet Freedom and the landmark July 5 vote by
the United Nations Human Rights Council endorsing a resolution upholding the
principle of freedom of expression and information on the Internet.
The Declaration of Internet Freedom by Sascha Meinrath and Craig Aaron was published on July 2 and originally appeared in Slate.
They say, “Internet freedom
isn’t a left or right issue -- it should matter to everyone who cares about the
health and future of democracy.
“Today a full third of the world’s population is now online.
And as the importance of the Internet as a platform for participation and
expression increases, it’s all the more vital that we keep it open and free
from censorship, surveillance and discrimination.
“At this very moment,
opposing political, commercial and ideological forces are fighting to determine
how open or closed the Internet will become. Fundamentally, we are faced with
the very real possibility that the most important communications platform in
society today could devolve into a fragmented, censored archipelago.
“But there are signs that we
can avoid that fate. On January 18, more than 100,000 websites and more than 7
million users
[including Mich Café] spoke out against the Stop Online Piracy Act
[SOPA] and the Protect IP Act [PIPA] -- the two bills in [the U.S.] Congress
that would have undermined participatory democracy and human
rights by
censoring the Internet. As much as this battle demonstrated the power of online
organizing, it also demonstrated the need for a proactive vision for the future
of the Internet.
“Today, we -- representatives
of the New America
Foundation’s Open Technology Institute and Free Press -- join
more than 100 organizations, ranging from Amnesty International and the
Electronic Frontier Foundation to Mozilla and Cheezburger, Inc., in announcing
a Declaration of Internet Freedom. Centered on core principles of free
expression, access, openness, innovation and privacy, the declaration's goal is
to spark a global discussion among Internet users and communities about the
Internet and our role in protecting it.
“The Internet is now
inseparable from the functioning of democracy. When corporations or governments undermine freedom of expression online or block innovative technologies, they
manipulate the democratic process, marginalize important constituencies and
often silence voices of dissent.
“In December 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned: ‘Fragmenting the global Internet by erecting
barriers around national Internets would change the landscape of cyberspace…’
“As a global interconnected
platform, the Internet has tremendous potential for cross-cultural
conversations and debate, but only insofar as the medium remains free from
government and commercial censorship and abuse.
“The Declaration of Internet
Freedom is offered as a starting point to reinforce this conversation and to
demonstrate that the remarkable coalition that came together around the SOPA
fight was not ephemeral…”
The authors of the
Declaration emphasize, “The declaration is designed not to be the final word but
rather to spark a much larger discussion. If you agree with the principles
we’ve crafted, we welcome you to sign on. But we are just as interested in why you disagree
with them or what you think is missing.”
At the UNHRC special event
held in Geneva, under the theme Social Media and Human Rights, participants
were universally of the view the Internet should remain an open and free forum,
accessible to all at any time. However, there was also a common view the
extraordinary freedom of expression offered by the Internet carried with it
additional responsibilities which had to be accepted by everyone -- governments,
individuals and the companies providing the social media platforms.
The resolution is
a landmark in view of the continuous blocking of the Internet in many countries
as well as the harassment and imprisonment of bloggers and online activists. It
also upholds the principle of freedom of expression and information on the
Internet.
The governments
of the Human Rights Council confirm for the first time that freedom of
expression applies fully to the Internet. A global coalition for a global and
open Internet has been formed. The challenge now, the Council says, “is to put
these words into action to make sure people all over the world can use and
utilize the power of connectivity without having to fear for their safety.”
The Human Rights Council
resolution (A/HRC/20/L.13) was adopted without a vote. The Council
affirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected
online, in particular freedom of expression; calls upon all States to promote
and facilitate access to the Internet and decides to continue its consideration
of how the Internet can be an important tool for development and for exercising
human rights.
The resolution reads:
The Human Rights Council,
Guided by the Charter of the United Nations,
Reaffirming the human rights and fundamental freedoms
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant
international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights,
Recalling all relevant resolutions of the Commission on
Human Rights and the Human Rights Council on the right to freedom of opinion
and expression, in particular Council resolution 12/16 of 2 October 2009, and
also recalling General Assembly Resolution 66/184 of 22 December 2011,
Noting that the exercise of human rights, in
particular the right to freedom of expression, on the Internet is an issue of
increasing interest and importance as the rapid pace of technological
development enables individuals all over the world to use new information and
communications technologies,
Taking note of the reports of the Special Rapporteur on
the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression,
submitted to the Human Rights Council at its seventeenth session, and to the
General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session on freedom of expression on the
Internet,
1. Affirms
that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in
particular freedom of expression, which is applicable regardless of frontiers
and through any media of one’s choice, in accordance with articles 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights;
2. Recognizes
the global and open nature of the Internet as a driving force in accelerating
progress towards development in its various forms;
3. Calls
upon all States to promote and facilitate access to the Internet and
international cooperation aimed at the development of media and information and
communications facilities in all countries;
4. Encourages
special procedures to take these issues into account within their existing
mandates, as applicable;
5. Decides
to continue its consideration of the promotion, protection and enjoyment of
human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, on the Internet and
in other technologies, as well as of how the Internet can be an important tool
for development and for exercising human rights, in accordance with its program
of work.
If I sometimes look back in
time, I wonder whether the Lebanon civil war would have lasted 15 years had the
Internet existed in 1975. How different my life would have been…
Whereas now we can’t live for
a couple of hours without being connected, we spent all the war years trying to
forget telephones existed. The fax was the great novelty that we could only contemplate
because there were no telephone lines!
But that’s history!
I am a firm believer and
defender of a free and open Internet as a Human Right as well as free WiFi.
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