ICTs have become an integral ingredient in the media and the information flows in general. In other quarters, it is the source of inequality, especially among the world’s rich and poor.
Are modern information communication technologies therefore a boon or a bane to freedom of information?
According to Unesco, the UN agency mandated to promote freedom of expression ICTs have substantially changed the media landscape and information flows in general.
A concept note prepared by Unesco for this year’s occasion further notes that governments too it is a means to enable freedom of information, for example by disclosing information and managing individual information requests through e-governance.
Governments across the globe have therefore been given the responsibility to integrate modern information communication technologies and right institutions to enhance the freedom of information.
This year’s celebrations run under the theme, “Freedom of Information: The Right to Know.”
Unesco observed that faster and cheaper technology would enable more people in the world have ready access to information from outside their immediate environment than ever before.
“Now is the time for us to capitalise on these advances, by strengthening institutions, by providing the necessary training for information professionals, by fostering greater openness within our public sectors and greater awareness among the public,” Irina Bokova, Director-General of Unesco, said.
Potential
To the media, ICTs carry the potential of reaching more people, informing them, promoting and channelling their participation.
Moreover, ICTs may facilitate the coverage of a wider range of topics, the representation of a broader diversity of views, an unprecedented level of engagement by ordinary people in news production and innovative forms of interaction between them and the media, as well as enhanced transparency and accountability, asserts Unesco.
Today, for instance, one does not have to walk long distances to the post office. With a mobile phone in hand, one can send and receive e-mails, browse on the internet and carry out practically any for of communication including television on the gadgets.
On the other hand, ICTs have been identified as a way of further marginalising those who lack access to technology or technical skills.
“ICTs therefore underline the need to bridge the digital and knowledge divide, to ensure that they do not increase inequality but instead foster empowerment and citizen participation, social and human development, transparency and accountability, along with government effectiveness,” Unesco stated.
Along the same lines, dictatorial governments now have in their hands surveillance power. This raises new concerns over the difficulty of guaranteeing protection of journalists’ confidential sources, as well as for gathering and handling personal information.
As a result, the Unesco director noted, far too many journalists exercise their profession in an environment where restrictions on information are the norm and have to deal with pressure, and harassment.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Walter Menya
Quelle/Source: The East African, 03.05.2010
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