Communication must be recognized not merely as a tool for development, but as a human right that is central to human dignity, agency, and justice, WACC General Secretary Philip Lee told participants at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 High-Level Event on Wednesday.

Despite more than two decades of concerted effort to create an inclusive and equitable information society, millions of people are still being left behind, he pointed out in an intervention during a Leaders TalkX plenary session focused on building inclusive and knowledge-driven societies.

“It’s a simple truth: without communication justice, there can be no equitable sustainable development.”

Lee noted that people are excluded from not only from digital access but also from having a voice in shaping their futures and those of their societies. Political repression, funding cuts, dominance by Global North companies all act increasingly to silence civil society.

WACC welcomes calls for a bold rethink for WSIS+20, to increase accessibility, affordability, and accountability, he said.

But for true digital transformation to happen, the WSIS process must go further and confront “colonial, racist, and sexist legacies embedded in the control of information and knowledge, and in the development of digital technologies – including artificial intelligence.”

Communication must be seen as a human right, Lee said, and this means

• Media regulation and ecosystems that are community focused and that serve the public interest, not just private profit
• Democratic data governance that gives people the right to exercise digital sovereignty, and a publicly owned, not-for-profit digital infrastructure
• A fair global knowledge regime
• A realigned global digital economy based on principles of fairness, inclusivity, and accountability

Lee called on WSIS+20, UN agencies, Member States, and digital actors to respond to the voices and concerns of people at the grassroots.

For the next 20 years to successfully fulfil the vision of just and inclusive digital societies, “communication rights must no longer be a footnote to governance discussions – they must be foundational.”

“Can we imagine a world in which communication ecosystems serve people, not profit or power?” the WACC general secretary asked WSIS+20.

“If we can, then we must act decisively to build it.”

The WSIS+20 High-Level Event 2025 on 7–11 July marks 20 years since the original two-phase World Summit on the Information Society. Government representatives and stakeholders are reviewing progress on the WSIS outcomes from 2003 and 2005, while looking to the future. The WACC Global WSIS+20 delegation is advocating for a new paradigm for digital governance – one rooted in communication rights, with digital justice at the center.

 WACC General Secretary Philip Lee stresses that digital transformation must be anchored in a communication rights framework in his Leaders TalkX intervention on 9 July at the WSIS+20 High-Level Event 2025 in Geneva. Photo: ITU/Anne-Laure Lechat (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)