[NCUC-DISCUSS] Statement from APC re coup in Brazil vis a vis communication issues

[Renata Aquino Ribeiro]

Dear all
Indeed things have taken a turn to worse in Brazil since Temer became
president.Up until now, technicalities of the law had been used in the process.
Now there is a clear distance from the law as rights are being overturn.
Meanwhile, a row of small bills on internet censorship are being introduced.
Latest in the row of absurdities a bill attempts to forbid the use of Waze app
in BrazilBasically it overturns the right to announce when there is a policeman
on the road or speed radars, targeting mainly the app and any other similar
tools (even the whole of social media, maybe)
Apologies, source in Portuguese
http://blogs.atribuna.com.br/blogredessociais/2016/09/aplicativo-waze-pode-ser-proibido-no-brasil/

 





On Tue, Sep 6, 2016 4:15 AM, Michael Oghia mike.oghia at gmail.com
wrote:
Hi all,
Agreed Bill, both with the sentiment you share as well as the wording of the
document (good letter APC!).
Best,
-Michael


On Tue, Sep 6, 2016 at 9:11 AM, William Drake <wjdrake at gmail.com>  wrote:
Hi
A good statement from one of our member organizations (of which I happen to be
an individual member).CGI.br  has been a long-time supporter of NCUC/SG and I
hope they and the Marco Civil are not negatively impacted by the new
government’s plans.
Best
Bill

On Sep 6, 2016, at 04:45, DeeDee Halleck <deedeehalleck at gmail.com> wrote:
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) firmly condemns the
decision of the Brazilian Senate to dismiss President Dilma Rousseff. This
decision deeply undermines the democratic system in Brazil, as well as the
political stability and the development of progressive and inclusive policies
for the country. It also has negative effects for peace and integration in the
Latin America region.APC sees the ousting of President Rousseff as a
parliamentary coup in which not only the judicial power is implicated, but
around which mainstream private media played a critical role, bypassing the
public interest,destabilising democratic processes and manipulating public
opinion to privilege specific political and economic interests.

We are deeply concerned about the implications that the current situation will
have for the possibility to reinforce the use of the internet as a platform for
public deliberation and debate, accountability, and dissent, and for the
realisation of human rights. Earlier in 2016, we watched with concern the
attempts by Brazilian legislators to undermine the rights guaranteed by the
Civil Rights Framework for the Internet (Marco Civil da Internet), such as free
expression online, net neutrality, user privacy and access to information, among
others; and the serious legislative setbacks being proposed by the parliamentary
Inquiry Commission on Cybercrimeswhich would criminalise the practices of
ordinary internet users under the pretext of preventing cybercrimes.

We are also concerned about thethreat to the multistakeholder nature of the
Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) and the substantive activities it
has been developing which are vital for the internet and its development in the
country.

Brazil has been a paradigm for pioneering progressive internet policy
development and its Civil Rights Framework for the Internet has been and still
is an inspiration around the world in the struggle for a free internet for
social justice, human development and democracy.APC stands with the civil
society organisations and activists in Brazil who are defending the social and
political achievements aimed at guaranteeing a free online and media
environment, and we express our solidarity and support for them, particularly to
our member and partner organisations Nupef, the Brazilian Internet Steering
Committee, Coding Rights,IDEC, Intervoces, Artigo 19, and many other civil
society organisations we work with in the defence of human rights online and
offline.

We reaffirm the importance of strengthening popular and community media as well
as public communication mechanisms to provide alternative views of the situation
in the country. The internet could play a key role in giving them greater
visibility, to counteract the discourse of mainstream private media and respond
to the manipulation of public opinion with other interpretations of reality. The
plurality of media offered by community initiatives and the internet are
critical to reinforce democratic values in society.

APC underscores its commitment to social justice and will keep working for a
diverse and open online environment which serves the public interest, the
enjoyment of human rights, peace, regional integration and the reinforcement of
democratic institutionality.

APC is a member-driven organisation with over 70 members from 36 countries
across the world, mostly from developing countries. Our mission is to empower
and support organisations, social movements and individuals in and through the
use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to build strategic
communities and initiatives for the purpose of making meaningful contributions
to equitable human development, social justice, participatory political
processes and environmental sustainability.






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http://www.deepdishwavesofchange.org
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************************************************
William J. Drake
International Fellow & Lecturer
Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ
University of Zurich, Switzerland
william.drake at uzh.ch (direct),wjdrake at gmail.com (lists),
www.williamdrake.org
************************************************

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