[APCPress] New book from APC: Open internet in danger

[Karen Higgs]

PRESS RELEASE

EMBARGO November 16 2009 00.00hs

DO YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO ONLINE KNOWLEDGE?  REPORT SHOWS OPEN INTERNET IN 
DANGER

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – A new report that reveals how vulnerable 
the internet as we know it is, has just been published by two global 
civil society organisations.

The annual report, called Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch), 
was released today by the Association for Progressive Communications and 
Dutch-funder Hivos. GISWatch 2009 is entitled Access to online 
information and knowledge – advancing human rights and democracy.

It shows that accessing information and knowledge online is not as 
simple as switching on a computer, and that the wealth of information 
available on the internet today is by no means guaranteed for tomorrow. 
Whether it is new legislation designed to control online content, the 
blocking of websites, or restrictive copyright laws that prevent poor 
nations and people with disabilities from accessing information, what 
was once a free and open space for sharing knowledge, is in many ways 
being shut down. As one author puts it, the information society involves 
a “continuing tug-of-war between the forces of authoritarianism and 
democratisation.”


Key issues at stake

Key issues impacting on access to online information and knowledge are 
unpacked in the report, including discussions on intellectual property 
rights, knowledge rights, open standards and access to educational 
materials and libraries.

The report also offers an institutional overview and a reflection on 
indicators that track access to information and knowledge.  48 country 
reports –ten more than last year's report- analyse the status of access 
to online information and knowledge in countries as diverse as the 
Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt Mexico, Switzerland and Kazakhstan, 
while regional overviews offer a bird’s eye perspective on regional 
trends in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Middle 
East, South Asia and Europe.


Mapping rights: “cultural rights” in Mexico, “pollution victims’ rights” 
in Switzerland, “rights of the over-indebted” in Ivory Coast

For the first time, this year there is an innovate section that visually 
maps global rights as seen through the lens of Google searches, as well 
as a visual analysis of Twitter messages sent out during the recent 
Iranian political crisis. The two research projects presented are 
attempts at web studies where the tool used is part of the analysis, 
with some fascinating results.

For instance, as seen through Google search results, it can be argued 
that countries have very distinctive concerns when it comes to rights. 
These ranges from “cultural rights” in Mexico, “pollution victims’ 
rights” in Switzerland, the “right to education in a native sign 
language” in Finland, to “rights of the over-indebted” in Ivory Coast.

No place for complacency: The open internet is closing

“The value of a publication like this – to cast shadows, illuminate 
differences, pockets of challenges and changes – is once again 
highlighted in the reports collected here,” said  GISWatch editor Alan 
Finlay. “Not everyone benefits from an open information society. For 
those that do, this is becoming more and more relative. In a number of 
cases, the authors showed a lot of courage in  writing what they did, 
given the repressive environments they work in.”

Ironically, the terrain of access to online information has knowledge 
barriers in itself: there are pockets of specialisation beyond the 
everyday discussions of most people. This means that fundamental rights 
such as freedom of expression, the right to participate and the freedom 
to learn and to know are seldom covered by the mainstream media.

GISWatch 2009 aims to demystify the terrain, while challenging the 
complacency of those who assume that their right to access, use and 
enjoy the content they find on the internet will always be secured.

Global Information Society Watch 2009, published in print and online by 
the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Dutch 
development organisation Hivos, collects the perspectives of ICT 
academics, analysts, activists and civil society organisations from 
across the globe.

The report will be launched at the Internet Goverance Forum in Egypt on 
Monday November 16.

*****
Responding to GISWatch 2009, several prominent commentators had this to say:

“GISWatch has taken up the difficult and incredibly important task of 
understanding the converging issues of freedom of expression, access to 
knowledge and information and digital rights in a global, comparative 
context. Many of these issues have come to the fore in policy 
conversations in the past decade, but researchers, advocates and 
policy-makers have lacked a framework for mapping and comparing them 
globally. Now they have one.”
– Joe Karaganis, Social Science Research Council

“I particularly liked the measuring section. The knowledge economy needs 
indices that are both qualitative and quantitative. Keeping human rights 
  and human development central in the indicators gives ‘soul’ to the 
measurement. This in my view is one of most balanced access to 
information publications in the post-WSIS period.”
– Dr Buhle Mbambo-Thata, Executive Director, University of South Africa 
(UNISA) Library Services

*****

Country reports in GISWatch 2009
Africa (16): Algeria, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic 
of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, 
South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Americas (10): Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica, 
Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay
Asia-Pacific and the Middle East (15): Bangladesh, India, Iraq, Japan, 
Jordan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Occupied Palestinian 
Territory, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, 
Uzbekistan
Europe (7): Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Netherlands, 
Romania, Spain, Switzerland

*****
For more information contact
Alan Finlay
GISWatch editor
alan at giswatch.org
Skype id: Alan_Finlay
Johannesburg, South Africa
Interviews can be arranged with authors.
www.GISWatch.org (New report goes online November 16)

PRINT AND DIGITAL COPIES OF THE REPORT CAN BE OBTAINED FOR REVIEW 
PURPOSES FROM communications at apc.org

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