By Laura Corcuera
Translated by Lindsay Szper
A school of thought and action that defends the fundamental human rights of and to information of all people on the planet. The recognition of this right is two-pronged: It includes the right to receive true and high-quality information through free and open access (including access to the tools through which information is shared: internet, cell phone, computer, television, radio, press, books…), as well as the right to produce and disseminate information (which includes the right to freedom of expression and opinion, the right to one’s own image, the right to honor…)
This global and decentralized trend defends positions committed to the responsible production, use, and consumption of information, stemming from an understanding that there are multiple and diverse ways of living, as well as multiple and diverse ways of seeing the world. Information sovereignty also calls for citizen participation in the management of public resources and in decisions related to ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) policy, as well as the creation and use of self-managed communications alternatives with ties to the social economy.
Information sovereignty gained prominence as a concept during the first decade of the 21st century (second millennium, digital age, shift from an “information society” to a “knowledge society”). This current brings together communicative experiences that practice autonomy, care, and democratic defense of the rights to and of information. In the face of dependence both material (infrastructure) and immaterial (ways of reproducing the world, discourse, metaphors, stories, narratives…), social movements associated with information sovereignty propose the regulation of large private corporations as well as governments in their use of public media and internet. At the same time, these movements denounce infringement on the fundamental rights to/of information by way of manipulation of information, denial of access to true information, constraint of free expression and opinion (hate crimes are not opinions), or violation of digital rights.
Inspired by the phrase “we are what we eat” from the food sovereignty movement, “we are what we read.” Given our dependence on media and networks of mass communication, which are not the fourth power but rather The Power, we need to relearn how to read networks and the media.
Concepts related to information sovereignty are: technological sovereignty, energy sovereignty, food sovereignty, independent media, community media, the counterinformation movement, citizen journalism, the free software movement, the hacker movement, third sector communication, social and solidarity economy, ethics and deontology of information, ICT (Information and Communications Technologies).
Links to classes:
https://prezi.com/xsor0h0fymgz/medios-comunitarios/
https://prezi.com/q3e5wmny2t2s/new-independent-media-in-south-europe/
https://prezi.com/_ou7rn_t7zsc/construint-un-periodisme-independent-i-de-canvi-social/
Text to read: UN General Assembly, June 27, 2016: Internet is a Human Right
https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/S/HRC/d_res_dec/A_HRC_32_L20.pdf
The UN recognizes the internet as a human right.