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 proprietary
technology. The issue of regulation of the Internet 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 exploitation 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, policies 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.
