Just out of curiosity, why another Declaration? Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's any harm here, but there are at least half a dozen similar projects, most of which have been done in the past few years. See:
1994: http://www.pff.org/issues-pubs/futureinsights/fi1.2magnacarta.html 1996: https://projects.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html 2001: http://www.cato.org/publications/techknowledge/libertarian-vision-telecom-hightechnology 2009: http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/site/ 2012: http://www.internetdeclaration.org/ 2012: http://declarationofinternetfreedom.org/ 2013: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9236603/A_Declaration_of_the_Interdependence_of_Cyberspace On Thu, Apr 3, 2014 at 8:58 AM, Christian Fuchs <[email protected]>wrote: > The information society, the Internet and the media are today largely > controlled by large corporations such as Google and Facebook and a > state-industrial complex. The control mechanisms unveiled by Edward > Snowden, the closure of and attack against public service media, repression > against critcal journalists, online platforms and activists, and a highly > centralised Internet and media economy are characteristic for this > situation. > > We live in an unfree information society with limits to expression and an > unfree Internet. > > Sign the Freedom of Information and Expression Declaration that demands a > free Internet, free media and a free information society! > > The 2014 Vienna Declaration on Freedom of Information and Expression > Sign: > https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/The_2014_Vienna_ > Declaration_on_Freedom_of_Information_and_Expression_Petition/ > > More information and videos of talks from the Freedom of Information > Conference: > http://freedom-of-information.info/ > https://www.youtube.com/user/transformeurope/feed > > ----------------------- > > The 2014 Vienna Declaration on Freedom of Information and Expression > > This petition can be signed online at > https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/The_2014_Vienna_ > Declaration_on_Freedom_of_Information_and_Expression_Petition/ > > We, the speakers of the Vienna 2014 International Conference “Freedom of > Information Under Pressure. Control – Crisis – Culture” (comprised of > international academics, media practitioners, librarians, experts of open > culture and public space, activists, critical citizens, lawyers and policy > makers), sign the following Declaration on Freedom of Information and > Expression: > > Having met in Vienna of Austria on 28 February and 1 March 2014 and having > discussed the challenges of freedom of information in the light of the > recent surveillance revelations and the increase in censorship and > prosecutions of media, journalists and whistle-blowers in Europe and > beyond, we express our deep concern and appeal for public vigilance to > defend freedom of information and expression as key democratic rights. > > We consider Edward Snowden’s revelations as a wake up call. His story is > not about one man leaking classified information; rather it is about > privacy, civil liberties, power and democracy. But also about the future of > the Internet itself, the nature of democratic oversight - and much more. > > We condemn the existence of a surveillance-industrial complex, in which > the American, British and other European states’ intelligence services > conduct mass surveillance of the Internet, social media, mobile and > landline telephones, in co-operation with communications corporations such > as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Skype, Yahoo!, Aol as well as > private security firms. > > We express our solidarity and support to whistle-blowers, journalists and > organisations, including Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, > Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian and others, for their efforts > towards fostering transparency and public accountability. We denounce their > oppression and prosecution that we consider as a major threat to freedom of > information. > > We observe a great paradox of the media in the 21st century: although more > people than ever have the means to express themselves freely, there are > huge power asymmetries that favour corporate and state control of the > media: journalists in Europe and many other regions face an alarming > increase in violent attacks, intimidation, legal threats and other > restrictions on their work. Among the important factors of this paradox are > the growth of anti-terrorism laws and new nationalisms, the fusion of > political, economic and media power, and the weakening of the authority of > critical and high-quality media, including independent media, investigative > journalism and public service media. Furthermore, the Internet and social > media are largely controlled by corporations and there is not enough > material support for alternative Internet and media projects. This mix > seems to represent an existential challenge to critical media, independent > journalism and to the established framework of international laws and > safeguards for press freedom and the freedoms of expression, speech, > information and opinion. > > We point out that the current crisis and austerity policies have a serious > negative effect on important democratic freedoms. The official political > reactions to the crisis have given grounds for the further centralisation > of corporate, state and media power that undermine the freedom of > information and further the prosecutions of citizens, activists, > journalists and the media. We particularly condemn attempts to limit or > close down critical, independent and public service media. The Greek > government’s closure of the public service broadcaster ERT is in this > respect a particularly alarming development. > > We stress that under the conditions of corporatisation and > bureaucratisation, the potentials created by access to information and > public knowledge are hampered. In many countries and at a transnational > level we lack adequate laws for the transparency of corporate and state > power and citizens’ access to information about it in order to hold those > in power accountable. > > A particularly alarming development of the limitation of freedom of > information can be found in the world of libraries: large corporate > publishers tend to license access to academic and literary works only in > expensive bundles and make the access to easy-to-use e-books difficult and > expensive. The result is a limit of public access to cultural works so that > people have more and more to rely on purchasing books and articles, which > is a matter of purchasing power that disadvantages many citizens. The > corporate power of publishing houses thereby limits the public’s right to > inform itself. > > We consider that the right of access to information can promote citizens’ > civic and political participation by raising their levels of trust in > political and policy-making institutions, while it can fight phenomena such > as lobbying and corruption. Open access to public and digitised knowledge > and scholarly research is also crucial for the continuous education of the > broader public and professionals, the promotion of cultural production and > diversity and the preservation of the historic and collective memory. New > social media, libraries and archives can and should play an important role > in this field. > > We are convinced that freedom of information is a value worth struggling > for and that the current framework and developments strongly threaten > freedom, democracy and basic civil liberties. > > A free culture, a free economy of information and a free polity of > information are possible! > > First signees: > Antonis Broumas (Attorney at law, Digital Liberation Network, Greece) > Arne Hintz (Lecturer, University of Cardiff, UK) > Augustine Zenakos (Journalist, UNFOLLOW magazine, Greece) > Barbara Trionfi (Press Freedom Manager, International Press Institute) > Christian Fuchs (Professor of Social Media, University of Westminster, UK) > Dimitris Tsapogas (Researcher, University of Vienna, Austria) > Gerfried Sperl (Journalist, PHOENIX, Austria) > Gill Phillips (Director of Editorial Legal Service, The Guardian, United > Kingdom) > Joachim Losehand (Scholar, VIBE!at, Austria) > Kostas Arvanitis (Journalist and Director, Sto Kokkino Radio, Greece) > Kostas Efimeros (Publisher, The Press Project, Greece) > Lisa Schilhan (VÖB, University of Graz, Austria) > Mariniki Alevizopoulou (Journalist, UNFOLLOW magazine, Greece) > Minas Samatas (Professor, University of Crete, Greece) > Miyase Christensen (Professor, Stockholm University, Royal Institute of > Technology, Sweden, London School of Economics, UK) > Nikolaus Hamann (Vienna Public Libraries, KRIBIBI, Austria) > Paloma Fernández de la Hoz (Catholic Social Academy, Austria) > > > > > > > > -- > Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations > of list guidelines will get you moderated: https://mailman.stanford.edu/ > mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change > password by emailing moderator at [email protected]. -- "We must not be afraid of dreaming the seemingly impossible if we want the seemingly impossible to become a reality" - *Vaclav Havel*
-- Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of list guidelines will get you moderated: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at [email protected].
