World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

5.3. World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

In 1998 in Minneapolis, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) posed a question on holding a World Summit on the Information Society and set a consultation on the matter. In 1999, the consultation reported that there was general interest on WSIS and it was decided that ITU would take the leading role in the preparations for the Summit and that the Summit was to be under the patronage of the UN Secretary-General. In 2001, the ITU council decided on the phases of the Summit which was assigned two phases; the first phase was to be held in Geneva on 10-12.12.2003 and the second phase in Tunis on 16-18.11.2005. Resolution 56/183 of the UN General Assembly placed the UN in the leading role towards the Summit with the cooperation of many organisation and partners. Contributions were encouraged from UN bodies, other intergovernmental organisations, civil society and the private sector for both the preparatory process and the WSIS. The Summit is to be held under the high patronage of Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, and ITU has assumed the leading managerial role in the Executive Secretariat of the Summit.

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The challenge that the WSIS was to tackle is the issue of evolving global information society. The assumption is that fundamental transformation is occurring in our society:

the industrial society of the 20^th century is to be replaced by the information society of the 21^st century. "This dynamic process promises a fundamental change in all aspects of our lives, including knowledge dissemination, social interaction, economic and business practices, political engagement, media, education, health, leisure and entertainment" is asserted on the information webpage on WSIS. Moreover, it is stated that "we are indeed in the midst of a revolution, perhaps the greatest that humanity has experienced".

The hoped outcome of the WSIS is a "clear statement of political will and a concrete plan of action for achieving the goals of the Information Society, while fully reflecting all different interests at stake". Kofi Annan said on World Telecommunications day 17.05.2003 that

The Summit will serve as a unique platform to galvanize the international community- working in concert with governments, private business and civil society- to narrow the 'digital divide' and lay foundations of a truly inclusive global information society.

Digital divide clearly was one of the main themes of the WSIS and itself has become one of the most often used terms in connection to the debate on the development towards an information society. Digital divide means exclusion of groups based on access and know-how of new ICTs. It is viewed increasingly that digital divide is a significant issue, particularly in relation to the Third World. However, Pippa Norris (2000, 1-22) conceives digital divide as a multidimensional phenomenon. The aspects of the concept are global divide which means division in Internet access between developed and developing countries, social divide which means division between information rich and information poor within any country and democratic divide which means division between those who use digital resources to participate in public life and those who do not.

5.3.1. Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS)

In 1996, NGOs were invited to discuss issues surrounding communication and democratisation. The invitation came from World Association of Christian Communication (WACC). The meeting resulted in the establishment of a Platform for Cooperation and Kofi Annan announced the plan for a WSIS. The platform was

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renamed to The Platform for Communication Rights and was an umbrella group of international NGOs. They articulated their strategy as working for "the right to communicate to be recognised and guaranteed as fundamental to securing human rights founded on principles of genuine participation, social justice, plurality and diversity and which reflect gender, cultural and regional perspectives", with the underlying assumption that communication can contribute to the democratisation of society.

Further, on the democratisation of communication structures, institutions and processes, the aim was to "defend and deepen an open public space for debate and actions that build critical understanding of the ethics of communication, democratic policy development and equitable and effective access". (Lee 2004, 11-12)

The CRIS campaign was launched in November 2001 by the Platform for Communication Rights. CRIS campaign members include organisations such as The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and individuals who are interested in promoting communication rights and the right to communicate. The transparency in public communication was a key concept of the CRIS campaign. In order for sustaining democracy, and protecting the public sphere and freedom of expression, particularly in connection to the mass media, censorship imposed by who own or influence the means of public communication was to be addressed. (ibid.)

CRIS Campaign has identified the issues that need addressing in the field of communication during the WSIS process. Human rights are placed in the centre of information society. The themes that CRIS put forward are (2002, 3-4):

• Strengthening the public domain, ensuring that information and knowledge are readily available for human development, and not locked up in private hands;

• Ensuring affordable access to, and effective use of, electronic networks in a development context, for instance by innovative and robust regulation and public investment;

• Securing and extending the global commons, for both broadcast and telecommunication, to ensure this public resource is not sold to private ends;

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• Instituting democratic and transparent governance of the information society from local to global levels;

• Tackling information surveillance and censorship, government or commercial;

• Supporting community and people-centred media, traditional and new.

The themes that CRIS has articulated illustrate why the right to communicate has become one of the key issues once again. The right to communicate became one of the most controversial issues in the WSIS in Geneve. Following chapter will look into the development of the right to communicate, from the people's charter in 1994 towards the draft declarations for the WSIS in Geneva.