[11629] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
New Delhi Declaration (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Arthur R. McGee)
Tue Apr 12 04:38:26 1994
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 19:19:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Arthur R. McGee" <amcgee@netcom.com>
To: communet@uvmvm.BITNET, com-priv@psi.com, nii_agenda@civicnet.org
Yep, "they" were right. We are more alike than different.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 17:05:34 -0400
>From: Vinny Mohr <videaz@web.apc.org>
Subject: New Delhi Declaration
The following is the declaration of approximately 200 participants
from around the world who gathered at the Symposium on New
Technologies and the Democratisation of Audiovisual Communication
which took place in New Delhi from Feb. 9 to 12, 1994.
Declaration of the New Delhi Symposium on New Technologies and the
Democratisation of Audiovisual Communication
New Delhi, 12 February 1994
Considering:
that the communication and information sector has become central
in establishing the direction of social and political change at a
global level;
that information and communications are dominated by corporate and
military interests;
that the control of information represents a serious threat to
democracy, cultural diversity, and the evolution of civil
society;
and that an increasing number of people have come to recognise the
considerable potential social and political benefits of the new
technologies and are opposing the corporate and state control of
information and communications,
we, the participants of the International Symposium on New
Technologies and the Democratisation of Audiovisual Communication,
convened by Videazimut and CENDIT in New Delhi on February 12,
1994, being media producers, users and distributors, communication
researchers and teachers and representatives of many
community-based and national organisations who have come from
Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Denmark,
France, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Palestine, the Philippines, Peru, Russia,
Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States,
recognise and lend our support to the principles expressed by,
among others, the UN Declaration on the Right to Development; the
UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the UN Declaration on
Human Rights; the declarations of the MacBride Round Table; and
the Quito Declaration.
We clearly observe that economic development in Asia and around
the world is leading to less equal distribution of resources and
wealth, and continues to exacerbate the rapid advance of
ecological devastation.
We are witness to increasing monopolisation and commercialisation
of information and the expansion of a global economy which has led
to a subversion of democratic processes and reduced popular
participation. The inability of a large part of humankind,
particularly women and indigenous cultures, to exercise control
has meant their subordination to global corporate and other vested
interests.
In this context it is further apparent that as new technologies
are introduced, human dignity is diminished.
We believe in the pressing need for global democracy, rather than
a global supermarket, and affirm our unity in support of the
following:
1. All peoples and individuals shall have the right to
communicate freely, to utilise the tools of communication and to
inform themselves and others.
2. Airwaves and satellite paths are a global people's resource to
be administered equitably, with a significant portion devoted to
serving the public interest and for community use.
3. We oppose the militarisation of space and the exploitation of
space for corporate interests. Any exploitation of airwaves,
transmission channels and earth orbits should be subject to a
public levy to be used to support local community expression, to
facilitate non-commercial information exchange, and to contribute
to equitable distribution of information technologies.
4. Communication and information technologies must be used to
facilitate participatory democracy and the development of civil
society, and not to limit democratic rights.
5. Information systems exhibit great potential for real popular
participation and should be organised according to the principles
of decentralisation in order to nurture and sustain cultural
diversity and humanitarian values.
Individuals are not born consumers; information is not a
commodity, but rather a utility to be shared. The Symposium
brought many people who have been creatively using new
technologies from the simple video camera to computer networks and
satellite transmissions to enhance democratic participation. Such
examples show that it is possible and necessary to appropriate and
liberate technology to defend ecological struggles, to empower the
disenfranchised, to express cultural diversity, and to strengthen
popular participation in genuinely democratic processes.
In this struggle, we align ourselves with the growing movement of
local and international organisations who have spoken out in
favour of democratic communication and lend our support to the
principles expressed by them. They include Videazimut, CENDIT,
Alternative Media Asia (AMA), World Association of Community Radio
Broadcasters (AMARC), the MacBride Round Table, the Union for
Democratic Communication, the Alliance for Community Media, the
Telecommunication Policy Round Table and Computer Professionals
for Social Responsibility.
For more information, please contact:
Lavinia Mohr
Secretary General
Videazimut
3680 rue Jeanne-Mance #430
Montreal, Quebec H2X 2K5
Canada
telephone: +514 982 6660
fax: +514 982 6122
email: videaz@web.apc.org
