IRIS-Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory 2001/5

Monthly Selection

OSCE: Recommendations on Broadening Access to New Technologies

The first of the three OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meetings scheduled for 2001 was held in Vienna on 12-13 March. Its theme was “Freedom of
Expression: New and Existing Challenges”.

The meeting was divided into three working sessions, dealing with legal and non-legal frameworks, including criminal defamation laws; the role of free speech in
advancing the objectives of the OSCE, and broadening access to new information technologies. Recommendations were adopted on each of these themes, and those
concerning new information technologies will be examined here.

Foremost amongst the recommendations addressed to the OSCE participating States was an insistence that access to new information technologies, in particular the
Internet, be democratised. To this end, it was urged that access be developed in public places, such as libraries, universities and post offices. Proactive policies should be devised and implemented to promote the use of Internet services and the development of new technologies. These policies could be consolidated by the necessary training of individuals. Diversity of content, especially in cultural and linguistic terms, should also be ensured. Good gover-nance should be enhanced by the continued ascendancy of new technologies and the training of officials would form an integral part of this redoubled espousal of open government.

Equality of access to all operators was recommended, as was the limitation of risks of control through pro-prietary technology. The issue of regulation of the Inter-net
gave rise to divergent recommendations. Some participants advocated regulating information available on the Internet in accordance with the guiding principles of Article 10 ECHR. Others favoured co-regulation, which is joint action between Internet Service Providers and Governments to stop banned content and to prevent access by minors to unsuitable material. Many participants also recommended that only the end-user should be entitled to regulate content. It was further suggested that the Internet could play a role in the promotion of inter-ethnic relations in post-conflict situations.

The fulcrum of the recommendations addressed to the OSCE institutions and field presences was the exploita-tion of the Internet’s potential for enhancing democracy
and promoting human rights. Standard-setting with a view to preventing the existence of national monopolies of both incoming and outgoing communication was also
called for. It was recommended that all OSCE instruments be published on-line and that the Representative on Freedom of the Media should disseminate all reviews of
Freedom of Information legislation and perhaps create a database of such information. A crucial recommendation was for OSCE field presences to provide legal and technical training for NGOs and other interested parties in new technologies. Central Asia was singled out as a priority area for the provision of such training.

Recommendations adopted at OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meetings lack official status; they are not consensual and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Organization. Their value is that they emerged from a consultative exercise involving a broad spectrum of interested parties from throughout the OSCE
participating States. As such, they are likely to prove instructive in the formulation of future priorities, poli-cies and strategies, as well as furnishing the Organization with a useful catalogue of issues to be addressed in its follow-up procedures to the Vienna meeting.

Final Report, OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting - Freedom of Expression: New and Existing Challenges, Vienna, 12-13 March 2001, available at: http://www.osce.org/odihr/info/vie12mar2001_fr.html