Communications

Background

Communications is an increasingly critical strategic issue in the struggle to democratize society. It is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy and a pillar of globalization. Information has become an important input in production, and communication is central to political, social and cultural processes. In the late nineties with the blossoming of the technological revolution, two major trends have emerged. On the one hand, the communications sector has seen a concentration and monopolization of ownership, which has resulted in the commodification of information, knowledge and culture under the control of very few transnational media giants. On the other hand, and despite the first, the community and independent media sector has continued to grow, as evidenced by the Forum on Communications at the Second Peoples' Summit of the Americas, April 17-18, 2001. While the second trend is premised on the rights of all people to have access to mass media as producers as well as receivers of information, it is in fact available to only a small percentage of the world's population.

In the realm of social communication, a profound contradiction has thus been established between the interests of those conglomerates that control world communication according to their mercantilist criteria and citizens' right to free access to information that is independent and from diverse and varied sources. This contradiction has been heightened with each trade agreement such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the pending Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which has been negotiated between governments without the participation and consideration of civil society.

The market model treats people as consumers, not as citizens who bear shared responsibility for decision-making. Conglomerate control of world communications has prevented the great majority, especially excluded social groups, from expressing themselves publicly and making their needs and demands known, which is an indispensable condition for democratic participation. The freedom of journalists to practice their profession in accordance with a criterion of public service is also undermined. Consequently, a fundamental human right, the right to communicate, has been severely constrained. Media rights concepts such as freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and the right to information are precursors to the Right to Communicate. The Right to Communicate is at the heart of the struggle for social change and is considered a building block for democracy.

The Right to Communicate is the right to produce or send information not just sit on the receiving end of the transmission. The subtext is that ordinary citizens should have access to communications technologies in order to interpret their world to their local publics with the premise of working for social and cultural benefit. It also implies the need for a public debate on the future of the "information society" and for citizen participation in decision-making regarding all spheres of communication, as expressed in the phrase: "communication for democracy, democracy in communication".

Under the prevailing tendencies, as expressed in free-trade agreements, the WTO and the draft text of the FTAA, virtually everything generated by human activity, would be subject to the rules on the liberalization of services, investment, intellectual-property rights and market access, including broadcasting and other areas of communication. Listed below are some striking implications of the draft FTAA text for communications.

1. Public broadcasting and other publicly delivered cultural programs would not qualify for exemption from rules contained in other chapters of the draft agreement.

2. The draft agreement designates that "special and differential treatment "be applied to encourage or increase the participation of smaller and/or less developed economies through the adoption of provisions to strengthen access to technology on a commercial basis. This would improve their access to distribution channels and information networks, and liberalize market access in sectors of export interest to them.

   However, this call for special treatment is contradicted by the services chapter which states that "Each Party shall ensure that the service supplier of any other Party is accorded access to and use of public telecommunications transport networks and services on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions".

   This kind of undifferentiated treatment paves the way to a non-democratic communications infrastructure and heightens the tendency towards cultural imperialism and/or homogenization of the social and cultural landscape. The argument for technological abundance and economic growth within a broadly defined telecommunications system does not allow for the social and cultural orientation of the broadcast media.

   For example, new digital broadcast systems are leading to the reallocation of broadcast frequencies and new approaches to regulation which risk further marginalization of communication services run by and for citizens, communities and social organizations. In many instances these sectors are not even being considered.

   And while convergence between telecommunications, computing and broadcasting is increasing the number of potential users, the telecommunications development gap supports the division of the world into those who have and those who do not have access to electronic information.

   Focusing solely on access to technology on a commercial basis and allowing corporations non-restricted access to public telecommunications systems threatens the survival of community and independent media.

3. In the draft FTAA agreement, there are no stated restrictions that prevent countries from regulating "to achieve legitimate domestic political objectives", and national policy regulations may be pursued provided they don't impede the implementation of the rules in the services chapter. Although this seems to offer some sovereignty protection, it is not enough as it leaves the door wide open to interpretation: who will decide what is legitimate, and how, and to what extent will the trade rules themselves act as barriers to domestic regulation?

4. The proposed FTAA agreement poses a serious threat to local and community media in the Americas. Governments will be discouraged from protecting community broadcasting especially with their own national public broadcasting at stake. Under this agreement community broadcasters are not seen as distinct from private and corporately owned broadcasters. They would be expected to compete on the same basis, so that community media policies, legislation and regulations would all be difficult to implement and enforce.

Guiding Principles

1. The Right to Communicate is a universal human right which serves and underpins all other human rights and which must be preserved and extended in the context of the new challenges of globalization.

2. The right to diverse and varied information is a precondition for democratic participation, and communication should therefore be considered first and foremost as a public service. People must be seen as producers and contributors of information and not be defined solely as consumers.

3. The market economy is not the only model for shaping the communications infrastructure and monopolies threaten diversity and independence of the media.

4. The airwaves are a public trust and should be preserved for the social and cultural benefit of society. Similarly, cyberspace should remain a public domain and be regulated to ensure the Right to Communicate for all, and not held to solely to the logic of the market, with its tendency to private monopolies by large corporations.

5. Communications and mass media should be guided by ethical principles inspired by a culture of life and humanity. They should promote and disseminate the values of justice, solidarity, equity, liberty, responsibility, honesty, truth, respect, tolerance and honor. The role of public service in the media implies freedom to assume a critical position on persons and institutions in power and to stimulate reason, analysis and debate.

6. Respect for pluralism, cultural, language and gender diversity should be reflected through all the media as a fundamental factor for building a democratic society and should be supported through legislative, administrative, and financial measures. Special care should be given to correcting existing inequities for women, indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, migrants, refugees and other marginalized populations. The development of local cultures should be ensured and promoted through communications and the media. A free Internet is as important as a free press. As in the case of the press, no content that is published electronically should be subject to state censorship. At the same time, as in the case of other media, the publication of content that can incite violence and hatred should be subject to challenge.

7. The communications media should play a central role in the generation of a new citizenship that permits conscious decisionmaking by citizens on their rights and obligations to society and the planet.

8. Democratic access to new communication technologies should be guaranteed, including affordable connectivity, the means of finding adequate and diverse information sources in appropriate languages, and access to the means of dissemination, particularly for organized groups and communities.

9. Access to the means of communication must be supported by education and training to assist a critical understanding of the media and to enable people to develop their media and communication skills.

Specific Objectives

Since communication is one of the central factors in the globalization process, and at the same time one of the areas where the total dominance of the market is expressed most strongly (for it is here that the direct threat to the existence of a diverse and varied world is expressed), it is essential that the struggle against this monopolizing concentration, and in favor of the democratization of communication, become one of the main focuses of social struggle.

1. The Right to Communicate should be recognized as a human right by civil society, as well as by governments and international bodies. In particular, this right should be recognized constitutionally, and be properly legislated and enforced through appropriate regulation and policies.

2. Public broadcasting should be recognized as a government service to be exempted from the trade agreement along with other government services.

3. Community and independent media sectors should be recognized internationally as:

   a) an essential form of public-service broadcasting and a vital contributor to media pluralism and freedom of expression and information;

   b) supporting cultural diversity by providing access to communications media for countries' diverse ethnic and cultural groups;

   c) a service for social benefit that should be developed to support democratic culture and not solely commercial markets. In particular, it should promote the development of alternative media (popular, community, citizens', educations, developmental), whose objectives are guided by citizen education and formal education, under more favorable conditions than those enjoyed by exclusively commercial media;

4. All members of civil society should have just and equitable access to all communications media including the Internet.

5. Nothing in international trade agreements can be interpreted in a way that limits the freedom, independence and diversity of the press and the freedom to hold and express opinions.

6. National and international regulatory and decision-making bodies in the field of communications should be transparent and incorporate democratic citizen participation and co-responsibility in governance of international communication systems, in particular the Internet. More specifically, below is a partial list of specific areas of action that should be supported by social and cultural actors, as well as political and economic institutions to endorse and implement those actions. These actions should also be reflected in any international agreement on trade and investment.

Areas of Action

1. The creation of public (citizens') media, autonomous with respect to the state and economic and political powers, financed according to the principle of "economic solidarity", meaning a new global system of socio-economic regulation based on shared ethics, and under the control of civil society.

2. The sovereignty of states to regulate matters related to the communications sector (process and content) should be clearly and explicitly guaranteed within any international economic agreements.

3. A stipulation of support by governments, corporations and international institutions for the development of the Right to Communicate including:

   a) regulation of telecommunications that favors of the development of South-South communications infrastructure;

   b) a percentage of public funds for development projects should be dedicated to the enhancement of local communications capacity;

   c) measures to ensure governments respect the right to free and unhindered communications, such as revisions of national communications legislation to permit broad exercise of freedom of the press and freedom of expression, ensuring the participation of all sectors of society in the media and their property;

   d) international financial institutions to dedicate a percentage of loans and bonds to support community based forms of communications;

   e) considering communications media as part of the global commons, corporations should pay for the use of this public space. Funds should be used to ensure sustainable community and independent media;

   f) that universal access be the standard for all new technologies and that access be maintained for mature technologies. This includes giving people the necessary training in order to create their own content free from the constraints of the market and guaranteeing affordability;

   g) improve the quality of human resources in the communications infrastructure; and

   h) legal guarantees that individuals and institutions are free to communicate via the Internet without the threat of surveillance and interception.

4. Agreement to the establishment of standards, norms and measures at national, regional and world levels, to enable and assist the development of independent community media services including:

   a) rules to prevent concentration of media ownership and the take-over of community broadcasting services by commercial companies;

   b) reservation for community broadcasters of a portion of any new digital spectra, that is, the new digital technologies characterized by the convergence of information and communications technologies;

   c) support for the development of digital systems which are appropriate to the needs of community broadcasting services;

   d) require that the development of telecommunications consider countries' socioeconomic and geographic characteristics and incorporate populations that are currently excluded form the benefits of that technology;

   e) preservation of existing analog frequencies used by community broadcasters until such time as a digital replacement is available;

   f) allocation of part of the broadcast spectrum for self-regulated use by microbroadcasters;

   g) the of transparent mechanisms by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to ensure that frequency planning, technical standards for telecommunications and radio, and development resources give a high priority to the needs of civil society;

   h) ensure the participation of representative civil society organizations in the agencies responsible for global and national decisionmaking on communications, such as the
   ITU and local telecommunications agencies;

   i) legal and regulatory frameworks that govern the Internet should be integrated with frameworks governing other media to ensure compatibility and to secure the rights of citizens and organizations to have access to all forms of information and communication technologies (e.g. through community media); and

   j) policy and regulations governing public access and dissemination of public information should discourage the use of proprietary software and systems. Incentives should be given to develop open-source software.

5. The community media sector should:

   a) track transnational corporations (TNCs) and launch international activist efforts to raise consciousness about and develop strategies to halt the increasing control TNCs have on our communications future;

   b) advocate for national and international measures to ensure that new information and communication technologies provide affordable access to citizens and communities to establish new community media services;

   c) develop community media program exchanges and to build solidarity and support for community struggles for human rights and social justice;

   d) promote and support the training of journalists, broadcasters, engineers, media and communication workers and professionals, especially those working in rural and marginal urban areas; and

   e) educate civil society organizations, governments and regulators, and the general public on the policy issues of regulation, the importance of a sustainable and pluralist media environment, and the benefits of community media and production.

6. Civil society should:

   a) re-appropriate the terms of discussion in formulating communications policy and regulations;

   b) call for an ongoing public discussion and debate regarding the new problems concomitant to new technologies including rights of privacy, intellectual property, and a transparent decision making process within corporations and governments;

   c) promote the struggle against the monopolization of communications media and systems, as a central focus of the struggle against neoliberalism; and

   d) recognize the importance of opening a public debate on the impact and consequences of monopoly concentration in the communications sector, both in the initiatives proposed or supported by civil society, and in those areas of intervention on a regional or international level (World Trade Organization, World Bank, G8, etc);

7. The establishment by the community media sector of local, national, regional and worldwide coalitions to work together through official and alternative communications forums as platforms for exchange, in order to promote communication rights and to implement the measures called for in this Chapter.