The report of the Children and Young People Online Protection forum organized by the African Information Security Association (AISA) to mark the World Telecommunication and Information society day (WTISD 2009) held on Tuesday, 19th May, 2009 at the Aisa secretariat in Lagos, Nigeria has been released.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the organ of the United Nations responsible for information and communication technology issues, sets aside the 17th of May of every year to mar more...

Main findings:

· India that claims the distinction of being the world’s largest democracy provides a legal framework that is largely favourable to press freedom. Indian journalists take pride in their freedom and will defend it robustly in street protests or before the courts. The Constitution is on their side and guarantees free expression in Article 19, but on the condition that it does not conflict with the “sovereignty and integrity of India”. However journalists’ safety is preca more...

Many academic and popular writers have warned that the internet could be another form of cultural imperialism used by corporate-led western powers to force feed western values and worldviews to the rest of the world, similar to how Western education was imposed on Africa after colonisation. These ongoing arguments about one-way flows of information that shape African minds in Western moulds reinforce desires for dominance and promote an attitude of victimization. Others perceive internet as a pa more...

This is an interview with Benoît Fontaine (Advisor with the King Baudouin Foundation) who is working on developing GuideStar in Belgium. He talks about:

* The civil society sector in Belgium
* The reason for GuideStar interest in Belgium
* The main partners for the initiative
* Where the data for GuideStar Belgium will come from

The latest GuideStar International Newsletter is now available (April 2009). In it you can find an update on GuideStar International, news from our partners and relevant articles about what is happening in the CSO sector.

'This paper examines the extent to which ICT expansion is impacting social and political freedoms in ten countries of the Middle Eastern region, defined as non-democratic states. It investigates two prominent and interrelated issues in these countries:

• the extent of the contribution of ICT expansion to freedom of expression

• the impact of government economic intervention and regulation (institutional resistance) to ICT expansion, and in turn, democracy and freedom of expression'

'Arab governments have maintained a tradition of restricting freedom of expression using national security and religious morals as grounds for censorship, and the ‘war on terror’ has given them an excuse to further extend this. When it comes to the internet, restriction and censorship has taken the form of blocking websites and arresting bloggers. This report takes a detailed look at 18 Arab countries, providing an overview of how the governments in the Arab world deal with the internet. It more...

'This page is dedicated to journalists who were assassinated in the exercise of their profession. It remembers their contribution to freedom of expression, democracy and peace.'
Source: UNESCO

'Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan journalist who is the posthumous winner of the 2009 UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize, expected to be assassinated and went so far as to write an editorial for publication after his death. It appeared in his newspaper the Sunday Leader on 11 January 2009, three days after he had been murdered. In his editorial, which follows, Mr Wickrematunge voiced his commitment and readiness to die for press freedom.'
Source: UNESCO

'The potential of media in fostering dialogue, mutual understanding and reconciliation will be the topic of UNESCO World Press Freedom Day 2009. As the only UN agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom, UNESCO has placed mutual understanding, and dialogue through media at the core of its mission.'