Introduction: Worldwide Internet Activism and Movements 5
feared SOPA would put the country on a slippery slope of massive Internet cen-
sorship. As of 2016, the SOPA bill had not come up for a vote in Congress.
Effectively, both SOPA and PIPA have been shelved. Britain, however, approved
passage of its Digital Economy Act in 2010.
These are the areas that this book explores and the stories it recounts. The use
of the Internet as a tool for freedom-lovers around the world continues to evolve,
as do the various challenges to this usage. As of late 2016, however, Tweeting for
Freedom takes a look at where the social media phenomenon stands in 32 countries
of the world.
UNESCO Promotes Internet Freedoms
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
has been out front in supporting the Internet as an open forum for freedom of
expression. Its official statement, taken from its own website, is as follows:
UNESCO recognizes that the Internet holds enormous potential for development. It
provides an unprecedented volume of resources for information and knowledge and
opens up new opportunities for expression and participation. UNESCO assumes its
responsibility of promoting freedom of expression on Internet and has integrated it
to its regular program. The principle of freedom of expression must apply not only
to traditional media but also to the Internet and all types of emerging media plat-
forms which will definitely contribute to development, democracy and dialogue.
With growing access to information in cyberspace, there is a raise of limit of access
and information in cyberspace, done by a variety of actors which have diverse goals
and values. In addition to Internet’s transborder feature, there are so many fac-
tors shaping the level of free expression on Internet, and there exist various policy
approaches which have implication on freedom of expression. The real challenge
is to fully exploit the potential of new media while not compromising civil liber-
ties, including the right to freedom of expression, to education and also to privacy.
(UNESCO Staff, n.d.)
In carrying out this mission, UNESCO has been a leader in fueling online dis-
cussions on a far-sweeping range of issues involving Internet freedom at global,
regional, and national levels. The organization also believes it assumes the respon-
sibility of exploring a landscape of shifting laws and regulations concerning the
Internet and, from that exploration, advises member countries about how to pro-
ceed with those laws or back off from them and try something different. Through
it all, UNESCO is seeking as open an Internet as possible, hoping it will help fuel
greater freedom of expression among peoples of the world. One of the specific
things it does is to organize a series of workshops on Internet freedom, and it has
done so since 2006. UNESCO has also published a “standard-setting” report on
Internet freedom entitled, “Freedom of Connection—Freedom of Expression: The
Previous Page Next Page