COMMENT BLOG
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Beyond Connectivity – Advocating Community at the World Summit on the Information Society
Today, 30 June, is “World Social Media Day” – a commemoration created by the website Mashable in 2010 that celebrates the transformative power of social media. That transformation – with all its positive and negative real world impacts – is part of the information...
All the lies, distortions, and fake news fit to print
“All the news that’s fit to print” was a motto adopted by American newspaper publisher Adolph S. Ochs – an immigrant from Germany – when he took over The New York Times in 1895. It signified the newspaper’s commitment to accurate, impartial, and ethical news...
The wild west of AI regulation
The U.S. House of Representatives just passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act intended to deliver the President’s domestic agenda. Among the provisions is a 10-year moratorium on states from regulating artificial intelliegence. It reads: “…no State or political...
World Press Freedom Day: A reminder to think local
World Press Freedom Day: A reminder to think local When I started to think about World Press Freedom Day (3 May) this year, my mind – and fingers on the keyboard – went first to the existential crisis facing the traditional media industry, battered as it is from so...
An assault on the words we use
Conservative attacks on “DEI” and “woke”* policies and practices in the United States intensified in the run up to the presidential election. So, it should not come as a complete surprise that from the moment of Donald Trump’s inauguration, an assault on “diversity,...
Gender equality: Braking the downward slide
2025 is a year of notable international anniversaries. This past Saturday, March 8, was the 50th anniversary of International Women’s Day being held on that date. (The commemoration of women’s day itself goes back over a hundred years ago.) In July, the World Summit...
Eroding communication rights threatens democracy
Politics-informed developments in the United States of America this year so far confirm that rights and entitlements can be rolled back with the stroke of a pen. And there is a significant segment of society that is happy to cheer on a blanket erasure of...
Rebuilding Gaza demands restoration of the people’s communication rights
The question has been raised internationally: who is going to rebuild Gaza and who will pay? As yet, no one knows. There may be three options: Israel, in which case Israel would likely take over the land and sell it to settlers. Saudi Arabia, in which case it would be...
Big Tech undermine free speech and democracy
The right to freedom of expression alone is not enough to protect democratic communication and public debate, which are the cornerstones of society. This right, while essential, does not create avenues to address power imbalances in how people communicate and shape...
Meta: Freedom of expression for whom?
We expected 2025 to be a challenging year for human rights defenders, if only from the global political turmoil U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump is promising. For many, though, Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement on 7 January that Meta would replace fact checkers on...
Communication rights uphold human rights
“Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now” is the theme of Human Rights Day, 10 December 2024. The focus is on people’s inalienable rights – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, or other status – which must be guaranteed if the world is to have a better and...
What will it take to decisively end violence against women?
The 33rd edition of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign begins today. It is natural to feel despondent that things will never change. One may ask why funding investments directed to efforts to end violence against women and girls...
PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance