broadband strategies handbook.pdf - Khazar University

Freedom of Opinion and ExpressionO ne of the fundamental rights of persons is the right to freedom of opinionand expression, which includes freedom to hold opinions without interferenceand to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through anymedia and regardless of frontiers. 38 Content regulation, including surveillanceand monitoring of Internet use, needs to take into account the standardsset by international human rights law and the unique nature of theInternet.A recent report by the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protectionof the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression of the UnitedNations’ Human Rights Council notes that any restriction by a state of theright to freedom of expression must meet the strict criteria under internationalhuman rights law. 39 The report concludes that the flow of informationvia the Internet should be as free as possible, except in few, exceptional, andlimited circumstances prescribed by international human rights law. It alsostresses that the full guarantee of the right to freedom of expression must bethe norm, that any limitation should be considered as an exception, and thatthis principle should never be reversed.The collaborative web, sometimes called Web 2.0, has revolutionized theway people communicate. Facebook, Twitter, and other social networkingwebsites allow citizens to discuss, debate, and organize. Citizen journalistshave democratized the gathering and dissemination of news; postings onpersonal blogs and user-submitted videos on YouTube are often the firstoutlets to break a news story. In fact, many have noted that the uprisings inthe Arab nations in 2011 were organized in part through the use of socialnetworks such as Facebook and Twitter (see, for example, Giglio 2011).With faster speeds, and in particular faster upload speeds, broadband canfacilitate collaboration as well as access to information. As more and moreInternet users employ the web, not just to consume but also to share, theInternet can become a virtual town square for citizen participation. By thesame token, restrictions on Internet use, the censorship of certain information,or even restrictions on access posed by “net neutrality” concerns cancut off this vital avenue for citizen engagement. Governments will need tostrike a balance between the legitimate need to restrict illegal content andthe rights of users to participate freely and lawfully in cyberspace.Some commentators have proposed that a new economy is emergingwhere people contribute freely to the production of information goods andservices outside of the market (for example, Wikipedia; see Benkler 2006).Such a “networked information economy” has the potential to increaseindividual autonomy by allowing individuals to do more for themselves andLaw and Regulation for a Broadband World 139