This post is a summary of a report published with the title above, it is the second part of the summary of last week, and published at http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/wsis-themes/humanrights/ICTs%20and%20HR.pdf
There is little utility in analyzing the relationships between ICTs and human rights if the key topics of democracy and good governance are not concomitantly addressed, for before one can help to propagate the other, both must be contextualized as the by-products of the same system. The main impact of ICTs and the internet on democratic life concerns their ability to strengthen the public sphere by expanding the information resources, channels of communication and the networking capacity for many organized interest groups, social movements, NGOs, and political parties with the technical know-how and organizational flexibility to adapt to the new medium. The role of communication systems is vital to the shaping, structuring or 'framing' of relations, examining the role of ICTs must precede any analysis of democracy and good governance. Indeed, rights associated with communication have often been viewed as among as the primary gauges of democracies. While ICTs are touted as the tools of bottom-up empowerment and democratization that actively thwart the ability of centralized dictatorial governments to take form, it is important to bear in mind the contradictory danger of facilitating a "tyranny of the majority." Moreover, the capacity for ICTs to mobilize mass segments of a population and to empower all the various players of civil society should not predispose one from recognizing that the pendulum does not always swing towards democracy as a model of governance. Historical references to the various uses of audio/video tech in various countries can be easily made to reflect this point. According to Aldous Huxley, "mass communication, in a word, is neither good nor bad; it is simply a force and, like any other force, it can be used either well or ill. Used in one way, the press, the radio and the cinema are indispensable to the survival of democracy. used in another way, they are among the most powerful weapons in the dictator`s armory." Nevertheless, there has been a increase in the emergence of democracies over the past 20 years, supported by the Commission on Human Rights' articulation of a number of elements for their promotion and consolidation, including fair and periodic elections, an independent judiciary, a transparent government and a vibrant civil society. Countries that respect the rights of all their citizens and allow them all a say in decisions that affect their lives are likely to benefit from their creative energies and to provide the kind of economic and social environment that promote sustainable development. The nature of political interaction between representatives and their constituents changes through the empowerment of citizens with access to information at ever-decreasing costs. Increasingly, ICTs are playing an important role in facilitating information sharing. As the number of people with the capacity to have their voices 'heard' gradually increases, so too does the range of considerations for their representatives, who must to a certain extent find balance between their jobs as decision-makers, and their role as active proxies for public opinion. E-government, and specifically the enhanced ability to collect and share information is revolutionizing the way we look at traditional concepts of political legitimacy, representation and ministerial accountability. According to the OECD, the key issues include the necessity of addressing the needs of the policy as a whole, of facilitating the use of e-channels by disadvantage groups early in the implementation process, and of building trust and confidence in e-services. While ICTs provide obvious access to information about various topics (including justice and human rights), they also touch upon crucial interfaces vis-รก-vis the direct participating of voters, thereby contributing to significant changes in electoral systems digital advocacy and lobbying, and online consultation are all part and parcel of the transformations of governance shaped by ICTs. That said, however, it is important to note that these observations are themselves not yet established facts. An OECD study of e-governance, based on a series of interviews with information specialists, public officials and the policymaking community in 8 countries, presented evidence that overall impact of the internet has failed. A key problem is the fact that oportunities for 'bottom-up' interactivity in communication with offcial government departments are far fewer than the opportunities to read 'top down' information. Government websites rarely facilitate public feedback, for example few published public reactions to policy proposals, or used discussion forums, and bulletin boards, although there have been occasional experiments with interactive formats. Any discussion on democracy invariably leads to the broader issue of governance, incorporating the dynamic of the institutions, the people, and the various types of agency they wield in the process of governing a nation. As ICTs propagate, the power to influence is more increasingly widely distributed, and hence the tasks of governance, on both national and international levels, become progressively more complex and challenging. A wide variety of modern trends are affecting the state-centric system of governance from all angles: these include international organizations like the UN and the EU, multinational organizations like General Motors, and NGOs. Those that distinguish themselves from the rest are groups like those espousing 'critical social movements'. These types of entities are unique because they are geared toward the. "... general transformation of public consciousness, which in turn affects the parameters of legitimacy within which traditional institutions must operate." Some believe that the information revolution is threatening to existing power structure in the international system because the nature and powers of the sovereign state are being challenged. The governments have been challenged by the demands of increasingly well-defined ethnic and other subgroups, confrontations to traditional borders created by ICTs, and the globalization. As power increasingly resides in the people, the world will become more complex, and we will live 'in a kind of international democracy.' On the other hand, others believe that the state retain its power and the main trend has been the growth of regional blocks. In any case, the more information is disseminated in the direction of those who have not been privy to it in the past, the more of a challenge there will be to political 'incumbents', escalating pressures on governments for attention to freedom and human rights are a case in point. Legitimacy is a cornerstone of good governance, and to a very large extent, civil society and the tools they use to heighten global awareness and public sensitivities are indispensable to the solid construction of that legitimacy. Citizens express more confidence in the system of government where, there are widespread opportunities for civic participation and protection of human rights.
