26 Feb 2024 Reframing AI governance through a political economy lens
IT for Change 2023 While AI is not new to the field of computational science, the release of ChatGPT by Open AI in November 2022 marked a watershed moment. In a short time, the tech sector has rolled out Large Language Models (LLMs) and other...
20 Oct 2023 Media freedom and independent journalism are vital to democracy
The Trust Conference 2023 proved to be not just an eye-opener but also a much-needed critique of both the lack of and need for media freedom worldwide. WACC was an invited participant at the event organised by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and held in London...
05 Sep 2023 Why grassroots communication is key to stopping Amazon deforestation
The Amazon is being decimated — by the expansion of the agricultural frontier, by illegal economies linked to drug trafficking, and by an economic model that privileges mining and ranching and negatively impacts vulnerable communities. These activities are pushing deforestation levels towards 20%, a point...
07 Aug 2023 Derailing the UN Sustainable Development Goals
To mark the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit held in London 25-28 July 2023, Article 19 issued a briefing assessing the progress made towards meeting one of the SDGs’ weaker targets on freedom of expression and access to information. As WACC and other civil society...10 May 2023 Communication for all in the digital age: An African perspective
Charles Okigbo Communication for All is the principle that everyone needs relevant information and communication in their daily interactions with each other and as active participants in the inescapable exchanges that characterize their membership of and participation in society. Human communication, in all its varied...
30 Mar 2023 Launch of Digital Democracy Initiative for digital tech that supports human rights, democracy
The Digital Democracy Initiative (DDI) was launched on 28 March with a virtual event that explored how to amplify the voice of civil society in the digital age. The DDI takes up the pledge of the Danish-led Tech for Democracy initiative “to make digital technologies...
03 Jan 2023 Building the communications rights nest in 2023
Recent events had made it difficult to look forward, WACC President Embert Charles admitted when sitting down at the end of 2022 to pen a New Year’s message to those in the communication rights movement. He noted that, while the past year had seen the...15 Nov 2022 European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade
European Commission The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission solemnly proclaim the following joint Declaration (2022). Preamble (1) The digital transformation affects every aspect of people’s lives. It offers significant opportunities for a better quality of life, innovation, economic growth and sustainability, but it...