roundtable: New Delhi Declaration

roundtable: New Delhi Declaration

New Delhi Declaration

Howard Frederick (hfrederick@igc.apc.org)
Wed, 2 Mar 1994 05:10:53 -0800 

Date: Wed, 2 Mar 1994 05:10:53 -0800
From: Howard Frederick <hfrederick@igc.apc.org>
Message-Id: <199403021310.FAA02089@igc.apc.org>
To: roundtable@cni.org
Subject: New Delhi Declaration

Dear Roundtablers:  Please see the last two lines of this declaration 
passed two weeks ago in New Delhi.  They express their solidarity with 
TPR and CPSR!  Howard Frederick

/* Written  6:55 am  Feb 23, 1994 by hfrederick@igc.apc.org in igc:list.iamcrnet */
/* ---------- "New Delhi Declaration" ---------- */
From: Howard Frederick <hfrederick@igc.apc.org>
Subject:      New Delhi Declaration

[Many IAMCR members took part on this symposium in New Delhi, including
Rafael Roncagliolo, Regina Festo, Manji Pendakur, Anura Goonasekera, J.S.
Yadava, K.M. Shrivastava, Luiz Santoro, and Howard Frederick.]

>From cendit@unv.ernet.in Wed Feb 23 02:01:46 1994

Declaration  of the New Delhi Symposium on New  Technologies  and
       the Democratisation of Audiovisual Communications

                   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;

-  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 Fourth International Symposium on New
Technologies    and    the   Democratisation    of    Audiovisual
Communications, convened by Videazimut and CENDIT, meeting in New
Delhi  on  February  12, 1994, are  media  producers,  users  and
distributors,   communications  researchers  and  teachers   and
representatives    of   many   community-based    and    national
organisations.  We have come from Australia, Bangladesh,  Brazil,
Burkina  Faso, Canada, Denmark, France, HongKong,  India,  Italy,
Japan,    Kenya,   Korea,   Malaysia,   Mozambique,    Palestine,
Phillipines, Peru, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, U.K. and U.S.A.

We, recognise and lend our support to the principles expressed by
inter  alia, the UN Declaration on the Right to Development;  the
UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the UN Declaration  on
Human Rights; the declarations from the MacBride Round Table; 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,  not  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 peoples 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, 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, 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 communications and lend our support to  the
principles  expressed by them. They include  Videazimut,  CENDIT,
Alternative  Media  Asia, World Association  of  Community  Radio
Broadcasters  (AMARC),  the MacBride Round Table,  the  Union  of
Democratic Communications, the Alliance for Community Media,  the
Telecommunications Policy Round Table, Computer Professionals for
Social Responsibility.

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