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Our
positions: how the Internet affects human rights
Recognizing the the
Internet is a powerful force for change, the Digital Freedom
Network focuses on the intersection between human rights and
the Internet. We do this because we believe that communication
is central to human rights. The ability to express oneself freely
is not only a fundamental right for all human beings but is
also the main tool for those who work to improve human rights.
Communication is an important part of a free and democratic
society, in which people may say and do what they want as long
as they do not endanger the rights of others.
Once limited to the
U.S. Department of Defense researchers and academics, the Internet
has become a powerful tool for communication around the world.
By definition, the Internet is a network of networks, enabling
individuals in different parts of the world to share ideas.
Despite the high cost of online access in most of the world,
for many people the Internet is a cheaper, faster, more efficient
way to communicate with people around the world than phone calls,
faxes, or regular mail.
The Internet has
been especially useful for human rights activists. Many of the
most important tasks of human rights organizations and workers
involve managing information. This includes collecting information
about human rights abuses, analyzing it to determine trends,
and disseminating reports to an international audience that
includes governments, journalists, and funders. Technology has
enabled activists to conduct quantitative analysis of large-scale
human rights violations in Guatemala, Kosovo, South Africa,
and other countries. Organizations use the Internet to store
their important data off-site, safely out of reach of government
troops, thieves who break into offices, or natural disasters.
Activists under constant government surveillance use e-mail
to communicate privately with colleagues and journalists. In
short, the Internet has enabled human rights workers around
the world to gather more information, protect it, and publicize
it more effectively.
However, activists
cannot take advantage of the Internet if they are unable to
access it. Unfortunately, activists face many difficulties in
using the Internet.
First, many activists
cannot get online easily. Even though over 605 million people
around the world have Internet access, the Internet is still
available to only a small percentage of the world's population
- primarily to wealthy, English-speaking people living in developed
countries. Half the people in the world who have access live
in the United States or Europe. In Africa, only one in 118 people
uses the Internet, while in the United States one in every two
people is a user. In most of the world, Internet access is neither
cheap nor reliable. The poor telecommunications infrastructure
and expensive phone monopolies in most of the world make getting
online difficult.
Furthermore, the
Internet is being increasingly regulated throughout the world,
with consequences that affect human rights activists. Most of
the world's totalitarian governments around the world explicitly
ban Internet content or activity that criticize the government.
For example, Saudi Arabia uses filtering software to block Web
sites that relate to a wide variety of topics, including women's
rights and non-Islamic religions. Vietnam, China, and Burma
ban content that criticizes the government. In such countries,
the ability of activists to use the Internet is severely limited.
Many democratic countries
do not explicitly ban content but have Internet laws with unintended
consequences that hurt human rights activists. For example,
Australia allows overseas Internet publishers to be sued in
Australia for violating Australian defamation law. Such a law
sets a dangerous precedent; by the same reasoning, a Chinese
court could prosecute Amnesty International for violating China's
laws. Anti-terrorism laws that weaken encryption software may
limit terrorists' use of the Internet to plan future attacks
(and justifiably so) but also harm activists who need strong
encryption to prevent their communication from being intercepted.
Legislation affecting the Internet must protect the legitimate
right of human rights activists around the world to gather,
manage, and share their information.
Improving Internet
access and reducing censorship solves only part of the problem.
Activists also need to learn how to incorporate the Internet
into their work. Unfortunately, even if they are able to get
access to computers, many activists cannot afford the proper
training and maintenance. For example, donated computers sent
to Africa often are not compatible with each other, and African
organizations lack the knowledge to upgrade or maintain the
computers donated to them. In addition, existing human rights
training centers lack the resources to meet the overwhelming
demand for their programs. Training programs are usually too
expensive for most activists to attend. Many tutorials exist
online, but most activists are unable to find them amid the
overwhelming amount of information available on the Internet.
Thus, education is a central part of freedom and in the long
run will do more to promote freedom than fighting censorship
laws or improving the Internet infrastructure.
If explicit censorship
or a lack of reliable, affordable access prevents human rights
activists from using the internet, the quality of human rights
reporting will decrease, especially in a world that is increasingly
relying on the internet to communicate.
The Digital Freedom
Network promotes
human rights education and activism, primarily through the use
of Internet technology. DFN uses the Internet to raise awareness
of human rights issues, helps activists publicize their needs
to the public, evaluates how Internet technology affects and
can affect human rights, and promotes resources that enable
activists to use the Internet more effectively in their work.
To learn more about our work, see the About
us section of our site.
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