Law Network
Hollow words on human rights at UN Information Society Summit
The information revolution, spurred by unprecedented new advances in information and communication technologies, has transformed the way we think, work, socialize and communicate.
The new paradigm of human rights in the Internet age has provided unprecedented opportunities for freedom of expression. From cyber-dissidents to online journalists to the over 8 million bloggers, the world's most repressive regimes have nowhere to hide.
The UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was convened by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 2001 to respond to the rapidly evolving technological landscape, bridge the “digital divide” between the info-rich and info-poor, and harness the power of new technologies to serve the Millennium Development Goals.
However, despite the explicit aims of an inclusive and rights-based information society, many of the signatories to the WSIS Declaration of Principles continue to crack down on freedom of expression, censor the Internet and flaunt the basic standards of international law and human rights.
The appalling record of Tunisia the host country of WSIS in Phase II has seen cyber-dissidents jailed, Internet sites censored, human rights organizations harassed and independent news agencies closed. It is stifling the very rights and freedoms of expression the Summit is intended to promote.
China's extensive censorship of the Internet has deleted thousands of individual links or web pages it considered "dangerous" or "subversive". In recent years, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of people who have been detained or sentenced for expressing their opinions online or downloading information.
In Syria, Internet censorship is rampant and several cyberdissi-dents have been detained for such charges as “unlawful use of the Internet” and posting material that is “detrimental to the reputation and security of the nation.”
Amnesty International calls on all members states to keep human rights at the heart of the information society. The principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights must be upheld in the face of Internet censorship, threats to online privacy, and increasing violations of freedom of expression online.
Source: Amnesty International.
