29th June 2012 indeed marked a critical and historic time to
the entire universe and more especially to the internet community. I dare say that it
also puts to the forefront the fact that Africa has introduced a first critical
facet in human rights; freedom, an issue that was so courageously demonstrated
by last year’s historic toppling of several despotic leaderships, a feat that
was achieved at the touch of a button.
It’s these heroic and courageous acts among
many others that led United Nations to declare the internet freedom as a human right. This comes
amidst several attempts by organizations to introduce several acts that were
intended to control the freedoms and rights gained by the internet as a tool
and as a platform.
The UN
statement said as a matter of fact that Noting that the exercise of human
rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression, on the Internet is an
issue of increasing interest and importance as the rapid pace of technological
development enables individuals all over the world to use new information and
communications technologies.
It continued to categorically affirm that
the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online. ,Recognized the
global and open nature of the Internet as a driving force accelerating progress
towards development in its various forms; Called upon
all States to promote and facilitate access to the Internet and international
cooperation aimed at the development of media and information and ecommunications
facilities in all countries.
The declarations also Encourages
special procedures to take these issues into account within their existing
mandates, as applicable; Decides to continue its
consideration of the promotion, protection and enjoyment
of human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, on the Internet in
other technologies, as well as of how the Internet can be an important tool for development
and for exercising human rights, in accordance with its programme of work.
Our President of DotConnectAfrica, Sophia
Bekele is among the persons who openly campaigned in the US for freedom of
Information as a human right, against the background that she has witnessed the
closing of the internet portals during the tumultuous Arabic uprising while
traveling in North Africa during that time and highlighted the criticality of
information freedom and people to be aware of the freedom that existed in the
internet to promote peace and put an end to regimes that were dictatorial.
Alternatively, in her
recent commentary the “Empire
Fights Back” on internet freedom and
governance, Bekele stated, The
battles lines are already drawn. “An open, inclusive, participatory,
multi-stakeholder Internet goes
beyond ordinary 'Internet governance', and is really about whether
people should be free in a global society. It is all about the
Universal Right to Freedom, and the UN, the main guarantor of Human and
People's Rights, should not be unwittingly used as a tool to rein in that
sacrosanct freedom bestowed on people everywhere by a Free Internet in the
name of an ITU-led and controlled Internet governance architecture. Is it
not ironic that a multi-lateral UN-ITU led Internet governance
process is not aimed at guaranteeing a multi-stakeholder
Internet?
When the SOPA, PIPA
and ACTA followed soon, we also voiced our concerns, that internet must remain
as a free factor given the model that internet has evolved through was an open
, free and non restrictive. The Model
that DCA openly support is the Multistakeholder format where everybody has a
voice and stake in the governance of the internet, as fact reinforced by Bekele’s
open
letter to the US Senate, stating “The Internet
itself has proved to be a very useful platform for bringing Africa into the
mainstream of global information and communication technology usage, and its
gradual and increasing availability is helping Africa to bridge the so-called
'Digital Divide”..
The above voices of internet freedom also reinforces
DCA’s believe that Africa has the right to obtain its own top level domain that
is free from governmental bureaucratic grips, a format whose business model
encourages the sustenance of progressive agenda that will promote youth and
Women in the ICT sector. Having said
this, it is not only a vindication for the gains achieved in educating Africa singlehandedly
on New Top Level Domains, but also an affirmation that no sovereign body or
inter-governmental body like the African Union or any other has a mandate to
own or in any way otherwise attempt to control the Internet resource. In a
recent CIO interview,
Bekele warned “this power to endorse by governmental bodies should
not be interpreted and extended to include overall sovereignty over the new
gTLD. “We believe this should not be the case since it is
monopolistic and anti-competitive coupled with problems of lack of
transparency and accountability. “ She said, "Everyone should have a role in the process, and the
boundaries that have been setup should be respected by everybody, with no
exceptions or preferential treatment for governments and intergovernmental
bodies.
The effects of internet freedom cannot be
underestimated a fact reiterated by Tunisia's ambassador Moncef Baati who said
"The most important result of the Tunisian revolution is this right to
freedom of expression...(that) is very important at the moment and it is for
this reason that there is a strong commitment in Tunisia to consolidate
Internet rights," and therefore Any attempts by governments and other
bodies that will attempt to arm twist the netizens by gagging these freedoms
will only be shooting itself in the foot, especially at this momentous time
when the internet namespace is set to be expanded coupled by the full adoption
of the IPv6 Technology.
All the above ideas resonate with DCA’s
principle on internet freedom and internet governance, which will be the next
global fight expected.
By Gideon Rop, DotConnectAfrica
