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The Right to Communicate: A Fundamental Human Right
Article 19
Fatou Jagne, Africa Programme Officer
December 17 2002

Contact the author: fatou@article19.org.za

The right to freedom of expression has generally been considered in many legal systems as a negative right - a freedom from government interference. Recently, a growing body of international law and legal theories has operated a major shift from the classic definition of the right to freedom of expression. Today, the right to communicate is increasingly being recognised as a fundamental human right without which all other human rights, especially freedom of expression, are meaningless.

The enjoyment of the right to communicate is intrinsically linked to the society's level of socio-economic development. Empirical evidence has shown over the years that the revolution in information technologies has mainly benefited countries that have reached a minimum level of socio-economic development.
The advent of new technologies in information and communication has brought about major changes in the world and has increased the marginalisation that already affects developing countries.

Africa continues to be located at the periphery of new developments - so much so that the inequalities that existed in accessing traditional media in the past are actually widened by the advent of new technologies. This is chiefly due to the rapid pace of growth of new technologies and the requirement for large-scale investment that many poor countries cannot afford. While the convergence of new ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) with traditional media could facilitate and enable access to information, it would be deceptive to think that access to technologies alone will resolve structural inequalities and alleviate poverty.

One of the key obstacles for ICT development in Africa is the need for important investments that African states alone cannot afford. Moreover, very few African countries are interconnected. This lack of
interconnectivity renders communications and resources sharing difficult. Africa first needs a regional network for its integration but also needs to be connected to the worldwide data transmission infrastructure through the Internet.

The tricky question in the age of globalisation, where the notions of the state, its role, and powers have dramatically shifted, is to identify and determine where the duty for enabling the right to communicate lies. Given the economic interests at stake, it is essential that civil society organisations become involved in lobbying and advocacy in order to ensure that the right to communicate is a right enjoyed by all sectors of society.

Finally, it is not enough to have access to ICTs in order to truly bridge the digital divide. African civil society should be well informed about ICT policy developments taking place and set clear, achievable and realistic priorities and objectives in the short, medium and long term. The workshop at Addis has begun to set these objectives, but it will take continued hard work if we are to truly see the realisation of the right to communicate in the near future.

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