A special edition on GISWatch 2011 is out! Check out these interviews with the authors of the country reports, focusing on internet rights in Azerbaijan, where next Internet Governance Forum is taking place in Nomember, as well as updates on Argentina, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
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By: Alan Finlay
“Both the issues of human rights and the rights of internet expression are still in the margins of the mainstream political stage in Indonesia,” says Ferdiansyah Thajib in an interview related to a forthcoming report he wrote for the Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch 2011 Update I).
By: Alan Finlay
“Unfortunately I hold a pessimistic view with regards to content regulation in Saudi Arabia. That said, I think a good starting point is demanding more transparency with regards to blocked content.,” says Rafid Fatani in an interview related to a forthcoming report he wrote for the Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch 2011 Update I).
By: Alan Finlay
“South Africa has adopted some of the more problematic elements of the new post-9/11 surveillance regime, many of which have been authored in supposedly liberal democracies, while failing to incorporate key safeguards that may have been incorporated in these democracies,” says Jane Duncan in an interview related to a forthcoming report she wrote for the Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch 2011 Update I).
By Alan Finlay
“The main issues that should be focused on in Argentina today are freedom of expression, access to information and free circulation of culture,” says Nodo TAU in an interview related to a forthcoming report they wrote for the Global Information Society Watch.
By Alan Finlay
“The media in Pakistan has been tardy to address threats to internet freedom. This has especially been the case with the Urdu media. There is little to no coverage of internet rights violations and bans imposed by the government of Pakistan on the electronic media,” says Bytes for All in an interview related to a forthcoming report the group wrote for the Global Information Society Watch.
By Alan Finlay
“Since the outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2011, government has shown much desire to regulate the internet. The uprising in the Guba district in March 2012 has shown the pivotal role that social media can play in Azerbaijani political life,” says Vugar Gojayev, in an interview related to a forthcoming report he wrote for the Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch 2011 Update I).
A growing phenomenon in the internet governance arena is the emergence of charters and sets of principles which aim to guide policy making and to influence the behaviour of different stakeholders using the internet. The phenomenon is predominately driven by two separate but overlapping purposes: to articulate and promote a particular vision of the internet; and as an alternative to legislation and ex-ante regulation which is often considered ineffective, impractical and/or harmful.