Human Wrongs Watch
While citing the rapid development and growth of the Internet, a top UN official urged greater efforts ‘to bridge the ongoing digital divide” and ensure that everyone around the world can harness its benefits.
*Routing paths through a portion of the Internet as visualized by the Opte Project | The Opte Project
There were 2.3 billion Internet users worldwide at the end of 2011, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Wu Hongbo, said on 6 November 2012 in his address to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which opened in Baku, Azerbaijan.
In addition, mobile broadband reached more than 1 billion subscriptions, while the use of fixed broadband was estimated at 590 million subscriptions.
Ways to Address the Digital Divide
“While this progress is surely significant, we have a long way to go in our collective efforts to bridge the digital divide,” he told participants, noting that only a quarter of inhabitants in the developing world were online by the end of 2011.
“This low number of Internet users in developing countries calls for increased efforts in shaping and implementing appropriate policies to assist everyone to harness the benefits of the Internet, and advance sustainable development,” stated Wu.
“This is a task for all of us,” he added. “The Internet Governance Forum is an important venue for raising awareness, initiating discussions, identifying ways to address the digital divide, and informing the policy-making processes.”
Internet Governance
The IGF was convened by the UN Secretary-General in 2006, as a multi-stakeholder forum for policy dialogue related to Internet governance issues. It includes the participation of governments, intergovernmental organizations, business representatives, the technical community, civil society organizations, as well as any individual Internet user interested in Internet governance issues, the UN reported.
The theme for this year’s Forum is ‘Internet Governance for Sustainable Human, Economic and Social Development’ and reflects the increasing role of the Internet in the evolution of the various aspects of development, across all countries.
“Clearly, the Internet is an important tool for development,” Wu stated. “It is utilized in multiple sectors, including health, education, agriculture and industry, disaster relief, and environmental protection, among so many others.”
Telemedicine, E-learning…
He noted that worldwide communication is now faster and easier than ever. Telemedicine and e-learning are available to people in remote areas, and mobile technologies are empowering millions of women in developing countries, creating entrepreneurial opportunities. The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in providing vital government services is also on the rise.
This week’s meeting comes less than a month before the start of the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12), which runs from 3 to 14 December in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and will review the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) that date back to 1988.
“The current ITRs set the stage for the mobile revolution and the information society – and we are confident that the 2012 ITRs will help usher in the knowledge society,” the Secretary-General of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Hamadoun Touré, told participants at the Forum. “Simply put, WCIT-12 is about putting ICTs in the hands of all the world’s people.”
Concerning WCIT and the Internet, Touré described as “ridiculous” misleading stories about the ITU or the UN ‘taking over the Internet.’
“ITU continues to play its role in the realm of the Internet, as we have done since the Internet’s inception – for example through ITU-brokered and ITU-approved global standards for the critical transport layers of the Internet and Internet access technologies,” he said. “But this does not mean that ITU wants to ‘take over the Internet’ or ‘control the Internet’ – indeed, I don’t even know what that might or would really mean, in practical terms.”
“Must Be Accessible to Everyone”
As a powerful global information resource, the Internet must be accessible to everyone and measures to ensure this must be taken, a United Nations independent expert has said 18 May 2012.
“Since the Internet is essentially a global resource, it is crucial that appropriate Internet governance supports the right of everyone to have access to and use information and communication technologies in self-determined and empowering ways,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on cultural rights, Farida Shaheed, adding that a “human-rights based approach to the issue should always be adopted.”
Shaheed emphasized the importance of governance on this issue since the Internet has become a powerful medium through which individuals can exercise a wide range of human rights.
“The Internet has become a key element for the enjoyment and the promotion of human rights such as the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds regardless of frontiers; the right to share and enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications; the right to participate in cultural life and engage with others through inter-cultural dialogue; as well as the right to development,” she said.
Shaheed noted that the Internet can also play an important role promoting democratic participations, accountability, transparency and economic development, and this highlights the need to “maintain it as a global source for all to enjoy.”
In particular, she underscored that the Internet should not be divided into national spheres and it should be guarded against any monopolistic appropriation which could reduce the public spaces where social actors interact as equals.
Net Neutrality
“The principle of net neutrality, whereby all content is treated equally over the Internet, is a foundational principle of the Internet and should be upheld”, she said.
“The Internet started as a collegial enterprise of communication and sharing informed by the principles of equality, non-interference and non-hierarch,” she added. “Its architecture was constructed in a manner which ensured that the flow of content was independent of the carrier infrastructure, making it very difficult for anyone to control the flows on the Internet. It is essential that these basic elements that make Internet such a unique and important tool for communication are maintained.”
Shaheed’s remarks were made prior to a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development, which will include discussions on policy issues regarding Internet governance.
Working in an unpaid capacity, independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme, the UN reported.
*Image: Routing paths through a portion of the Internet as visualized by the Opte Project | The Opte Project
2012 Human Wrongs Watch
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Baher Kamal
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 
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