COMMENT BLOG
A remark, a critique, an opinion…
Reinventing multilateralism through communication rights
Have you ever read through the agenda of a United Nations General Assembly? The 80th regular session of the General Assembly opens tomorrow, 9 September. Under the theme, “Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights,” the provisional...
The importance of the right to memory
Visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is harrowing. It records, in photos, artifacts, quotes, and stories, the days and months following the dropping of the first atomic bomb on 6 August 1945. Intellectually, we all know the death and destruction was horrific....
In the face of genocide, no place for silence
The current Israeli regime is responsible for carrying out genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. This is the opinion of a United Nations Special Committee, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières, B’Tselem, and Physicians for Human Rights Israel...
US exit from UNESCO underscores need for civil society to step up
The US government just announced it will withdraw from UNESCO (again) effective December 31, 2026, stating that “[c]ontinued involvement in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States.” UNESCO'S statement in response was a diplomatic shrug, underlining...
Beyond Connectivity – Advocating Community at the World Summit on the Information Society
Today, 30 June, is “World Social Media Day” – a commemoration created by the website Mashable in 2010 that celebrates the transformative power of social media. That transformation – with all its positive and negative real world impacts – is part of the information...
All the lies, distortions, and fake news fit to print
“All the news that’s fit to print” was a motto adopted by American newspaper publisher Adolph S. Ochs – an immigrant from Germany – when he took over The New York Times in 1895. It signified the newspaper’s commitment to accurate, impartial, and ethical news...
The wild west of AI regulation
The U.S. House of Representatives just passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act intended to deliver the President’s domestic agenda. Among the provisions is a 10-year moratorium on states from regulating artificial intelliegence. It reads: “…no State or political...
World Press Freedom Day: A reminder to think local
World Press Freedom Day: A reminder to think local When I started to think about World Press Freedom Day (3 May) this year, my mind – and fingers on the keyboard – went first to the existential crisis facing the traditional media industry, battered as it is from so...
An assault on the words we use
Conservative attacks on “DEI” and “woke”* policies and practices in the United States intensified in the run up to the presidential election. So, it should not come as a complete surprise that from the moment of Donald Trump’s inauguration, an assault on “diversity,...
Gender equality: Braking the downward slide
2025 is a year of notable international anniversaries. This past Saturday, March 8, was the 50th anniversary of International Women’s Day being held on that date. (The commemoration of women’s day itself goes back over a hundred years ago.) In July, the World Summit...
Eroding communication rights threatens democracy
Politics-informed developments in the United States of America this year so far confirm that rights and entitlements can be rolled back with the stroke of a pen. And there is a significant segment of society that is happy to cheer on a blanket erasure of...
Rebuilding Gaza demands restoration of the people’s communication rights
The question has been raised internationally: who is going to rebuild Gaza and who will pay? As yet, no one knows. There may be three options: Israel, in which case Israel would likely take over the land and sell it to settlers. Saudi Arabia, in which case it would be...
PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance