COMMENT BLOG
A remark, a critique, an opinion…
Making journalism as good and as diverse as it can be
The BBC, once a bastion of public service broadcasting, is cutting 450 jobs from its news operation. In future, and in an effort to save £80 million, journalists will be covering fewer stories as the corporation faces an uncertain future. BBC journalists will...
The double-edged sword of digital technology
Front Line, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, has published its Front Line Defenders Global Analysis 2019. It details the physical assaults, defamation campaigns, digital security threats, judicial harassment, and gender-based...
Media coverage should give peace a chance
Growing tensions between the United States and Iran marked the first two weeks of 2020. News cycles have been dominated by coverage of the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad, the killing of a high-profile Iranian general, Iranian attacks on US military bases, and the...
Nepal faces new threat to freedom of expression
One of the main sites of struggle for global civil society in 2020 will be digital platforms and social media. The authorities in several countries are finding ways to restrict and suppress democratic debate with legislation that casts a wide net around what is...
Demanding accountability from democratic structures
It would be wonderful to begin 2020 with an upbeat account of communication rights being strengthened and protected around the world. There are undoubtedly many instances of positive and exciting changes taking place. Unfortunately, the overall picture is dispiriting....
Communicating with tenacity and courage
How wonderful that three women have been nominated for the prestigious Martin Ennals Award – the first time the jury has named three women for this top human rights prize. Unofficially known as the “Nobel Prize for human rights”, the Martin Ennals Award was created in...
Restoring the credibility of public service media
Public service journalism has a noble track record. But in the Zuckerberg Era – so-called by veteran journalist, economist, and political commentator Roberto Savio, co-founder of the Inter Press Service news agency – it has lost the high ground. In “What is journalism...
Social media – friend or foe?
Freedom House’s latest report on the state of the Internet says, “Repressive regimes, elected incumbents with authoritarian ambitions, and unscrupulous partisan operatives have exploited the unregulated spaces of social media platforms, converting them into...
Russian censorship by another name
In a digital era, Internet freedom is essential. Internet freedom includes digital rights, freedom of information, the right to Internet access, freedom from censorship, and net neutrality. In Russia, a new law enabling the government to disconnect users from the...
From global village to social isolation
How is “digital” transforming the way we live? Imagine the abode of the future – house, apartment, hotel room, log cabin, prison cell – equipped with a “plasma wall” incorporating all the telecommunications interfaces that enable social and cultural activity. Each...
Enabling more people to benefit from the Internet
Equitable access to the Internet is one of the claims of today’s communication rights. As the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) points out, not only is the Internet a pathway to information, communication, and economic opportunity, it is increasingly necessary...
Can we decontaminate our democratic “moral environment”?
In January 1990, the President of Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel, warned his people, “The worst thing is that we live in a contaminated moral environment. We fell morally ill because we became used to saying something different from what we thought.” He was referring to...
PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance