COMMENT BLOG
A remark, a critique, an opinion…
Putting people first rather than corporate interests
On 5 July 2022, the European Parliament approved the final text of its Digital Services Act (DSA), the new rule book for moderating digital content. The DSA aims to limit the spread of illegal content online and it establishes a new set of obligations for private...
#Cybermisogyny
In the Netflix documentary “the most hated man on the Internet”, a mother seeks justice for her daughter and other women whose intimate photos obtained through hacking are posted on a revenge porn website. The magnitude of apathy of the site owner and his upto 350,000...
Opportunities for communication rights in the context of Latin America’s ‘Pink Tide’ 2.0
In Latin America, the “pink tide” governments of the first decade of the 21st Century transformed the movement for communication rights by introducing far-reaching media reform legislation. As the second wave of progressive governments are elected, the region has a...
Trustworthy news or the Greatest Show on Earth?
News fatigue is an age-old phenomenon. Not only do media have a reputation for “moving on” after a catastrophe, but readers, listeners, and viewers have a tendency to get bored. Sadly, extended calamities – the drought in the Horn of Africa, the war in Ukraine – lose...
Why a gender lens in news coverage of violent crime is paramount
Whether inroads are made to reducing violent crime depends to an extent on the media. On 24 May 2022 another massacre of children in an American school took place, this time in Uvalde, Texas (1), Russia’s war on Ukraine raged on, (2) and a woman was beaten to death by...
Language rights and digital justice
Some 7,100 languages are spoken in the world today, of which only some 400 are spoken by the great majority of the world’s people. Every language is a uniquely important way to describe and make sense of the world. Every language and every dialect – the many local...
Independent media in retreat?
The war in Ukraine and Russian authorities’ move to close independent media and censor news and social media information in the country has been spotlighted in Western countries. In a letter to subscribers, the Guardian shared how it has joined other news agencies in...
Web3 – the Internet’s illusionary or visionary future?
Communication rights activists are calling for greater accountability from Big Tech and social media platforms. They also want a seat at the table when it comes to devising ways of regulating and monitoring social media content and use of personal data. Alternatively,...
Media Activism Against Extractivism
Social movements need to embrace participatory media practices to organize in their struggles against an extractivist economic model A hugely significant bill has been making its way through the Brazilian congress. According to Amazon Watch, Bill 191/2020 is a piece...
Information access under threat
A recently released UNESCO report confirms comprehensively what many of us have sensed: the rise of social media and digital communication platforms have created an existential challenge to independent media and journalism. “Journalism is a public good: World trends...
News media and disinformation in an unpredictable world
The 50th anniversary celebrations of NGO CSW/NY, which organizes the civil society side of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) commence this month. The civil society forum is the central stage for global advocacy to promote women’s empowerment, human...
Media “platforming” and the oxygen of publicity
In 1985, following the hijacking of a Trans World Airlines flight by a Shi’ite Muslim group, UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher accused the news media of providing the terrorists with the “oxygen of publicity”. Thatcher misconstrued the role of public interest media,...
PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance