The Internet and the Rights to Information

Our greatest tool can sometimes be our greatest weakness. That is true for the Internet. The advent of the Internet brought a lot more convenience and efficiency into our lives. Gone are the days when we had to transmit information via physical documents or communicate ideas physically in front of others. With the Internet, all these can be done in a matter of seconds and without much hassle. As technology advances, we are increasingly reliant on the Internet. Now, we prefer online shopping, online booking, online dating - basically anything that can be substituted with an online version, we would have already made it or are still in the midst of doing so. There is no stopping to our progress on the Internet, other than our creativity and perhaps, funding.

Yet, as mentioned, the Internet can become our greatest weakness as well. Fake news and sensationalisation of news have become more widespread due to the ease of transmitting this information via the Internet. Extremist ideas have also gained a footing on the web as internet savvy terrorist organisations such as ISIS used footage to capture the attention of would-be members, to attract them to join their cause. The Internet has, as a result, become a breeding ground for warped ideas, twisting facts to suit the needs of people and as people fall into the endless pit of nonsensical information, others stay put, seemingly untouched by the commotion but in actual fact overwhelmed by cynicism - a loss of trust in whatever that is on the Internet. It is a vicious cycle indeed.

However, besides this, the main issue that should be accorded as much focus is the deliberate shut down of the Internet by governments. Recently, as the Kashmir conflict continues to worsen, the Indian government decided to remove Kashmir's autonomous status in "an effort to end separatism and remove terrorists". As this was in motion, the state’s communications were almost totally cut off, with access to internet cut abruptly. As such, information about the removal of the status could not be transmitted and Kashmir was thrown into a state of lock down. With no information going in and coming out of the state, human rights group began warning of possible abuses targeting politicians and those against the Indian government. Clearly, as we rely increasingly more on the Internet for information and news, it has also become our Achilles heel - a shutdown of the Internet by people in power can and will throw those affected into a bottomless pit filled with nothing but constant silence.

Unfortunately, India is not the country that is using such means to seize control of a situation. Egypt shut down its Internet during the Egypt Revolution (2011 Arab Spring) and Sudan during its on-going crisis - examples of how the Internet can be and will be used to gain control by weakening the might of the people. Totalitarian leaders have sought the use of the Internet to their benefits and it does indeed seem like an effective method - by blocking information about their misdeeds and their opposition, no one will know what is going on and where they should stand in times of controversy.

However, this is without a doubt a serious violation of human rights. Every single person has the right to know and to be informed and no one has the right to remove that. A control of information prevents the people from being informed and instead only allows them to know what the state wants them to and such dystopian setting truly reminds one of George Orwell’s 1984. As the world stops to see what is unfolding in affected regions, it is perhaps terrifying to know that those affected may not even know what is happening to their homes and their lives - who can say with absolute confidence that all the people of Kashmir (that previously had internet access) knew that their autonomous status is nothing but a thing of the past the day it was removed? A shut down of the Internet can be done easily but its ramifications cannot be easily overlooked or condoned simply because it is not just about turning it off and back on later, it is more importantly about the freedom to know and freedom to speak - a core idea of human rights.

“Withholding information is the essence of tyranny. Control of the flow of information is the tool of the dictatorship.” - Bruce Coville

So, in the meantime, as we see the Kashmir conflict worsens, one can only hope that the people know what is happening around them, even when the means to do so are at a shortage, for we can be sure that the right to know is not just a need, it is a desire and when the leaders elected to represent the rights of the people choose to ignore this desire, they can only expect the people to act on their own, to get what they need.

(Cover photo by Austin Distel www.distel.co )

By Eugene Goh