[Media Caucus] Agreed Text - WSIS 11 PrepCom 2

[Elizabeth Carll, PhD]

Excellent statement.

Media is one of the most important checks and balances we have on government
and an open society.

Elizabeth

Dr. Elizabeth Carll
Focal Point to WSIS
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies;
Chair, Media/ICT Working Group,
UN NGO Committee on Mental Health, New York

  -----Original Message-----
  From: media-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:media-admin at wsis-cs.org]On Behalf Of
Tracey Naughton
  Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 3:31 PM
  To: media at wsis-cs.org
  Subject: [Media Caucus] Agreed Text - WSIS 11 PrepCom 2


  French translation will follow shortly.

  Statement to WSIS II PrepCom 2 on behalf of the Media Caucus
  February 21, 2005

  The members of the Media Caucus, including Northern and Southern
journalists of both the industrialized and developing worlds, have expressed
their deep concern that the texts currently under consideration for the
second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society make only a
passing and ambiguous reference to the central place of the media in that
information society.

  We hold strongly that Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights must be reaffirmed. Not only that, we concur in the statement by
African and Arab and international journalists groups in their recent
Declaration of Marrakech - held under the aegis of ORBICOM, the
international network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication, and the Kingdom of
Morocco, with the support of UNESCO -- that "The time has come to move from
the promise of Article 19 to its universal implementation."

  We recall that Article 19 states, "Everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through
any media, and regardless of frontiers."

  The member states of the United Nations are all committed to those fine
words. They must all now honour those commitments. If they do not, then
tomorrow's Information Society will prove to be an empty shell.

  This December's catastrophic tsunami illustrated that, to be effective,
international solidarity requires an immediate and truly free flow of
information. The same principle applies to longer term development. There
can be information without development, but there cannot be effective
development without full and free information.

  Journalists and their outlets in the North and the South must have the
same opportunities to transmit their news and comments. That is a large part
of what overcoming the digital divide is all about.

  It is also important that there be no legal bars for anyone to practice
journalism freely, on or offline. Access to publicly held information must
be provided to all on an equal basis. Any exceptions to the general rule
that such information is publicly available must be precise, narrow and
clearly legitimate in the public interest.

  And the world of journalism must be given its rightful place at the table
to discuss the future information society. It is both bizarre and unjust
that the Working Group on Internet Governance does not number a single
journalist. Consideration of communication without communicators is like
talking about farming without consulting farmers. In the words of the
Marrakech Declaration, "Representatives of the media must be involved as
full partners in any future Internet governance system."

  The term "governance" must not be allowed to become a code word for
government regulation of Internet content. The system must not be
reorganized to permit this internationally nor to encourage it nationally.
Any changes to the Internet governance system should not involve controls
over content, nor modifications of the Internet's technical "architecture"
that facilitate or permit censorship of news or opinion. Nor should
"self-regulation" be allowed to become a surrogate for governmental
regulation of content on the Internet.

  Security concerns must not serve as pretexts to limit freedom of
expression in cyberspace. Nor should considerations of "ethics" be allowed
to become a veiled way to justify censorship. To quote the Marrakech
Declaration again, "The creation of ethical norms is the sole responsibility
of media professionals themselves."

  On a practical note, Internet Service Providers should not be held liable
for the content of the messages they carry. The installation of filtering
systems must be an individual choice, not something imposed by authorities.

  The determination of what constitutes illegal content subject to
punishment must be left in the hands of independent courts administering
laws that derive their legitimacy from universally accepted norms.

  Any alleged offense committed on the Internet should normally be tried
under the laws of and in the country where it originated, except for very
clear and well-defined special circumstances, like explicit and credible
calls for violence elsewhere.

  Public and private aid providers and grantors should insist that there be
freedom of expression and press freedom when they fund programs and projects
to help media and to overcome the digital divide.

  And, finally the general principle applied to cyberspace should be that
the Internet and other new media forms should be afforded the same freedom
of expression protections as traditional media. #



  Tracey Naughton
  NYAKA
  Communication for Development Consultant
  201 Somerset hall
  239 Oxford Road
  Illovo 2196
  South Africa

  landline & fax: +27 (0) 11 880 5030
  cell / mobile: +27 (0) 82 821 1771
  email: tracey at traceynaughton.com
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