Internet freedom, what does that mean?

Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint and the state of not being subjected to or affected by something undesirable. That is what the Oxford dictionary says.

In simpler words: I am free if I can do and say what I want and others do not impact me with undesirable stuff.

In Internet terms: I can write and read the information I want and get no “spam”. I am in control.

Internet brings instant communication and multiplication capability of all information from all people, to all people, in all regions, in all languages and with sound and video.

That gives much more freedom to individuals, as the power to express is much enhanced.

Spectacular are the many sites where people share their knowledge freely and usefully. Wikipedia replaced expensive encyclopedia, affordable to a few only, and made one “”by all, for all”” of the same quality, free. YouTube made publication of your music and TED presentations much easier and free.

User groups share information on how to best use your apparatus and fix problems. Political sites show the programs of political parties, and compare their promises and performance.

Smartphones with camera and video capability allow every individual to be a reporter.

The ability to participate in a society, absorb information and share information has made a leap and enables more freedom for more people. This is a trend that makes it tougher to sustain dictatorships (Internet has played a vital role in the Arab country revolutions), and even democracies will tend to need less governance. The role of higher powers will be more of coaching and facilitation and enabling citizens to exercise their freedom responsibly.

Thus Internet facilitates freedom, but it also makes violations easier. My freedom should not interfere with other people’s freedom. But I want to limit young children’s exposure to violent and pornographic content. My privacy should not be violated. I have a preference for certain information and dislike of other, can I avoid exposure?

My country is subject to communal tension, how can I avoid inflammatory content that threatens the image of the government? What does that mean for the freedom of all the players on the Internet? What are the roles that governments and companies can play?

It is in the interest of all the parties involved to come up with solutions maximizing individual freedom, allowing individuals' free expression while enabling protection from expressions that they object to.

Censorship should be kept as a last resort. In email the spam filter and mailbox prioritization allows me a fair protection from unwanted mails, while allowing me to look at spam. I am in control. Search engines and application developers shall give me similar simple tools.

Internet freedom will be leveraged better when all systems are looked at bottom up, enabling an individual's freedom in what they publish and what they are exposed to.

Generally most players on the Internet are fighting restrictions and censorship, and justly so. But they are also the players who can enable individuals, organizations, states and governments to play their proper role. All should be aiming to provide more individual and group freedom. That will be internet at its best, with responsible freedom under individual control.

It would be interesting to analyse behavior with respect to freedom and Internet. I notice that India still has bans on books, and the US also has bans on books and request for Internet site blocking.

For this column I have done some research. I recommend checking www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/government for seeing requests for removal of content.

Google honored 29 pc of Indian requests in second half 2011, and considered 71 pc inappropriate. Google identifies clearly what their criteria are. The transparency of Indian government is less clear to me as I could not easily find it on their website. Several organizations advocate Internet freedom, and provide data.

Also interesting is how countries enforce their laws of freedom of expression. Clearly with the speed of internet even the best legal enforcement system is too slow, and information has spread and can not be deleted. Prince Harry of the UK and his pictures in the nude are a great example.

The UK press has a code of conduct for such cases, but internationally, the pictures race over Internet and are published in magazines abroad.

(Dr. Bob Hoekstra, former CEO of Philips, is a physicist.  During his seven-year tenure as CEO of the Philips Innovation Campus, he contributed to the development of the IT industry in Bangalore. Living in The Netherlands, he now helps Dutch companies leverage India to their advantage. And has gone back to school to study philosophy)

(The views expressed by the author are his own and not of CIOL)

Earlier posts by Dr. Bob Hoekstra

Imagine a world full of electric vehicles

Tiny steps towards giant energy challenge