Press
Release No.2002-91
DEFENDING FREEDOM
OF EXPRESSION ON THE INTERNET
Paris, November 14 - Though the
internet is enabling more individuals and communities than ever
before to express their opinions and creativity, it is increasingly
being subjected to restrictions ranging from financial, technical
and language barriers to outright censorship. How can human dignity,
children's rights, privacy and national security be protected
while preserving freedom of expression?
These issues will be debated at
an International Symposium on "Freedom of Expression in the
Information Society", November 15 and 16 at UNESCO Headquarters.1
Organized by the French National Commission for UNESCO, it is
the only event scheduled so far to tackle freedom of expression
in the preparation to the World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS, Geneva, December 10-12, 2003 and Tunis in 2005)2. This
issue is, at present, left out of the agenda of the Summit. The
Symposium will enable experts, professionals, representatives
of non-governmental organizations and governmental and regulatory
agencies from all regions of the world to identify problems relating
to freedom of expression on the internet and define basic principles
and proposals to be submitted to the WSIS.
The Symposium will examine ways
to guarantee respect and protection for fundamental freedoms and
human rights, network security, and democratic values. Different
approaches to these issues will be debated, allowing those in
favour of protective measures and those who oppose any restrictions
to voice their views.
"The Organization's Constitution
places the free flow of ideas by word and image at the heart of
UNESCO's mission," says UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro
Matsuura. "Freedom of expression remains as essential to
development and democracy in the age of the internet as it ever
was. We therefore view it as crucial that the issue be given its
rightful place on the agenda of the World Summit on the Information
Society. Restricting the debate about cyberspace to a discussion
of technical questions cannot serve the interests of the vast
majority of the world's citizenry to whom the internet holds the
promise of more freedom, empowerment and development."
Freedom of expression on the internet
poses a wide range of problems and different legal practices prevail
in different parts of the world. Policies towards sites - notably
those that spread messages of hate, or promote terrorism or crime,
or those that represent a perceived threat to national security
- vary from country to country. The following incomplete list
of examples shows extreme disparities in attacks on the intangible
principle of freedom of expression:
· In Bahrain sites have been blocked by the authorities
for serving as "forums for the dissemination of biased information,
rumours and lies".
· In Belarus, internet users must go through a single,
state-owned, service provider (Belpak).
· Burundi's National
Communication Council bans websites from "posting documents
or other statements by political organizations that disseminate
hate or violence".
· In Canada, Bill C-36, the Anti Terrorism Act, came into
force in December 2001 reinforcing control of electronic communication.
· In March 2002, China's Internet Association, the national
body in charge of the internet, required webmasters and service
providers to sign an agreement whereby they undertake not to produce
or disseminate information that is "damaging to national
security and stability."
· In its Directive of May 30, 2002, the European Parliament
adopted a Convention on Cybercrime which, inter alia, requires
member states to pass laws obliging internet access providers
and telephone operators to keep full records of all communications.
· In May 2000, Yahoo was ordered by a court in France to
stop making sites auctioning Nazi memorabilia available to French
websurfers, as the sale of such objects is illegal in the country.
This has led Yahoo to filter sites made available to those using
its search engine from French territory. In some countries such
limitations are seen as necessary to protect the rights of the
public while in others they are viewed as limiting citizens' access
to information.
· On October 10, 2002, Vietnam issued new regulations for
people publishing information on the internet, including the need
to first obtain a license from the Ministry of Culture and Information,
and to clearly identify on each Web site all the people who contributed
material.
· In the wake of the USA Patriot Act (adopted in October
2001), many service providers in the United States have installed
electronic monitoring software such as Carnivore. The powers of
government to tap electronic communications has been increased.3
Access can also be restricted by
technical or infrastructural obstacles which thus constitute limitations
to freedom of expression. UNESCO believes that the information
and communication technologies should be made available to all:
· Inadequate infrastructure in some regions makes it difficult,
almost impossible, for large populations to benefit from the potential
of the information and communication technologies. Thus, 1,000
people in sub-Saharan Africa have access to just 0.2 computers
connected to the Web, as opposed to 120 connected computers per
1,000 inhabitants in the wealthiest OECD countries.4
· Some languages are barely present on the internet making
it difficult for people of some cultures to benefit from the information
that is available. Thus, English is estimated to account for 52%
of content on the world wide web; German 6.97%; Spanish 5.48%;
French, 4.43%; Italian 3.06%; Portuguese 2.70%; Korean, Dutch,
Russian and the four Scandinavian languages total between 8 and
10%.5
"The problem is not so much
to define values of human dignity and security which we can all
agree about, but to reach agreement on how they should be defended,"
explains Abdul Waheed Khan, UNESCO Assistant Director-General
for Communication and Information. "Attempts to develop international
standards for the web," he adds, "even if they stem
from the worthy desire to protect human dignity and reinforce
security, will open the door to a wide range of interpretations
and implementation practices that can have weighty consequences,
and possibly restrict, freedom of expression."
****
1 The Symposium is organized by
the French National Commission for UNESCO with the support of
the French Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie, the
Principality of Monaco, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and with
the participation of the French association Internet Rights Forum.
The Symposium will feature three roundtables:
1. Does cyberspace offer new opportunities (Friday November 15,
11 a.m.). Moderator: Eric Baptiste, President of the Information
and Communication Committee, French National Commission for UNESCO
· Promotion and exercise of the right to freedom of expression
at the global scale.
· Development of participative democracy and world civil
society.
· Expression of pluralism, cultural and linguistic diversity
and creativity.
2. Are there obstacles to be overcome?
(November 15, 3 p.m.) Moderator: Dominique Gerbaut, of the French
NGO Reporters sans frontières and editor in chief of French
daily La Croix.
· What are the obstacles, legal, technological and otherwise
of freedom of expression in cyberspace?
· What are the elements - economic, technical, linguistic
and otherwise - conditioning the full exercise of this right in
cyberspace?
3. Is the definition of standards necessary? (November 16, 10
a.m.) Moderator: Lionel Thoumyre, Technical Advisor of the Internet
Rights Forum
Should new ethical, legal and technical standards be defined,
in cyberspace, to guarantee the preservation of freedom of expression
and the protection of human rights? If so,what should these standards
be, who should define them and at what level?
· What kind of integrated system of cooperation could be
set between the different parties concerned and between states
in a space with no boundaries?
2 WSIS is organized by the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) with the participation of other United Nations agencies,
including UNESCO.
3 For more information on such practices: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/google/
http://www.foruminternet.org/en/forums/descr.php?f=3
http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=3671
4 Human Development Report
2002, United Nations Development Programme
5 According to a study by the non-governmental organization FUNREDES
(see http://funredes.org/LC/english/L5/L5overview.html).
****
The Symposium will
take place at UNESCO Headquarters, Room XI
For more information
about the Symposium:
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=2411&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1024056139
****
Press accreditation
is requested and can be obtained from
UNESCO Press Service, Tel: (+33) (0)1 45 68 17 48 - Fax: (+33)
(0)1 45 68 56 52
Contacts:
Roni Amelan, UNESCO Bureau of Public Information (+33) (0)1 45
68 16 50 r.amelan@unesco.org
Catherine Souyri, French National Commission for UNESCO: (+33)(0)1
53 69 37 35 catherine.souyri@diplomatie.fr
