Tag Archives: Intellectual freedom

World Press Freedom Day 2022 – freedom of expression under (digital) siege

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Particularly in times of crisis, reliable and verified information is urgently needed – and is itself in need of safeguarding. World Press Freedom Day 2022 highlights the evolution and acceleration of challenges to media freedom, independence, pluralism, and safety of journalists in a digital world. How do these relate to libraries’ own experiences as information professionals – and what lessons can we learn from these, to work together towards a stronger and freer media landscape?

A call to action in a time of need

The theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day is journalism under digital siege. The aim is to draw attention to the evolution, and acceleration, of challenges to journalism in today’s digital and hyperconnected information environment: the viability of digital business models; surveillance (both large-scale and targeted); data collection; access to information; and the need for more transparency.

An accompanying message by the Director-General of UNESCO also reflects on the approaching 1-year anniversary of the Windhoek+30 Declaration, which further elaborates on the role of information as a public good. Online platform transparency principles, an emphasis on media and information literacy, research into new sustainable business models are among the activities UNESCO has been spearheading to help deliver on the Declaration’s ambitions.

Vitally, the note closes with a call for all stakeholders – from Member States to civil society to technology companies and beyond – to play their part in building a new journalism and media configuration, one that simultaneously tackles the risks and seizes the opportunities of digital.

This call, of course, comes at a crucial time. The latest UNESCO World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development report highlights that, over the past five years, around 85% of the world’s population saw a decline in press freedom in places where they live. In the 2022 World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders also noted a marked two-fold polarisation – within and between countries – as an effect of a chaotic and globalised information space.

Echoing experiences in journalism and librarianship: lessons learned and moving forward

To chart the path towards a revitalised and fairer media landscape, it’s worth looking at some of the key trends and lessons learned set out in the latest flagship report, and see how they are echoed in different media in information sectors – including, of course, the library field.

Threats to freedom of expression and the safety of journalists: this remains a top priority. Violence, crimes and threats against journalists are a most egregious example – and, as the report points out, awareness of threats to their digital safety and (online) hostility, including gender-based violence, is growing in recent years. Such violence can stifle or silence voices, reducing the variety of ideas and works available to library users, impoverishing the information environment.

In addition to the ‘private’ censorship enforced by individuals or groups, a related key element lies in the broader policy environment. The report notes that more than 50 laws and regulations introduced around the world since 2016 contain vague language or heavy penalties which impact freedom of expression and of media online. These regulations can range from targeting cybercrime to ‘rumors’ or ‘fake news’.

In the library field, a parallel could be pointed out to a chilling impact of a threat of possible legal action for reading material or curation choices. It is a threat which, as the New York times reported, even if entirely lacking a basis for a criminal investigation, can have a chilling effect and encourage self-censorship.

Financial viability continues to be a pressing concern in the news media field, only growing in urgency. The ways this plays out in commercial media – e.g. advertisement or subscription-based revenue models – are well-documented of course.

However, it is not aways the case that alternative funding sources are necessarily better. Indeed, the report offers valuable insights into the viability considerations around two other models of journalism – public broadcasting and community-based media.

For public service media, vulnerability in the face of political pressure (including through their financing) remains an important concern. In some parts of the world, public broadcasting enjoys relatively high trust among audiences, but it may in some cases struggle to reach more diverse demographics.

The situation for community media viability also seems to be mixed; as increasing polarisation can raise concerns around licensing and financial fragility, as well as a possibility of capture by private, economic or religious interests.

In light of these financial concerns, many journalists feel less secure in their jobs today, as employment figures in this field see a substantial decline. There are similar concerns in the library field in some parts of the world, of course, especially in light of austerity measures – also prompting a discussion about the possible impacts on access to trustworthy information and the health of a democratic public dialogue without the support that librarians can provide for it.

Finally, it is of course worth revisiting the discussion on trustworthy information as a public good. On the supply side, the report makes a note of both algorithmic curation and the saturation of the information field with a multitude of competing content producers.

On the demand side, there are nonetheless factors which can limit the public’s access to vital journalism, news media, and information at large – from internet shutdowns and takedown requests to the costs of digital subscriptions, internet connectivity and access devices, which can be prohibitive for some users. This continues to raise concerns about unequal access to information, and a cause for action.

At the same time, some data – e.g. the Edelman Trust Barometer and the Reuters Institute Digital News Report – suggests that trust in different sources of information, while varying per source (e.g. with traditional media enjoying more user confidence than social media), is overall quite fragile, and sees a long-term negative trend over the past few years.

All these are familiar concerns and consideration for libraries, of course. Whether it is providing no-cost access to computers and the internet, championing media literacy, or speaking out against opaque search algorithms and curation practices of third-party providers – boosting both supply and demand for information as a public good lies at the heart of the profession.

Together for access to information and freedom of expression

Naturally, it is important to also mark and celebrate progress where we see it. The report notes, for example, that in less than 20 years the number of countries with access to information (ATI) laws has tripled. This progress can be attributed to both public sector commitments and civil society initiatives, showing what can be achieved with dedicated efforts and collaboration.

As we mark this year’s Press Freedom Day, librarians of course feel a lot of empathy towards our journalist colleagues working to make vital and high-quality information available to all. Here, librarians are both allies who can help raise awareness about the value of free press and the challenges it faces – and a synergetic partner whose core function is to make information and knowledge accessible to all.

At the same time, we see more conversations about the possible ways to democratise and reinvent the way news media is produced and distributed – especially at the local level. Some of these discussions focus on innovative business models, others – on ways to build an inclusive ecosystem and a thriving civic journalistic infrastructure.

These discussion reference libraries – as information hubs (especially for the most vulnerable community members), verifiers of community information, and one of the community infrastructures offering an alternative to the commercial media system. We look forward to seeing these exploratory dialogues continue, and to work together to realise the promise of information as a public good!

Data Privacy in 2022: Taking stock and moving forward

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At the beginning of 2022, we are looking back on a busy and tumultuous year in the data privacy landscape. A glance at the discussions that took place during the 2022 Privacy Day – as well as throughout 2021 – can offer helpful insights for libraries’ own work to champion and speak up for privacy in the coming year.

The global scene: persistent challenges, important wins

One of the focuses of Data Privacy Day conversation was, of course, taking stock of recent developments and looking ahead to upcoming and planned initiatives. The past months have been punctuated with high-profile initiatives, decisions and news around data privacy.

First of all, the Pegasus spyware revelations and the ensuing fallout continue to unveil the full extent of its impacts. Throughout 2021, several countries – including Canada, Australia, and most recently France – moved to protect their citizens’ data from Clearview AI, a facial recognition tech company which scraps images of people from across the web (and recently announced that they have collected 10 billion such images) to train its AI.

Meanwhile in Kenya, a recent decision of the High Court recently ruled that their Data Protection Act applies retrospectively, calling for a data protection impact assessment of a Digital ID system. The European Parliament pushed for a ban on digital ads targeted on the basis of such sensitive user characteristics as health or religion.

The new privacy law in China has been noted, inter alia, to have important extra-territorial implications, while in Australia, consultations for a review of the Privacy Act 1988 is underway.

All of these raise issues and questions that shape the shared digital environment in which all stakeholders – including libraries – operate.

Privacy: illustrating interdependencies between fundamental rights

Whether explicitly or in passing, we are also seeing an ongoing conversation about the ways data privacy – especially as understood within the framework of the fundamental right to privacy – interacts and relates to other key rights and policy priorities.

An obvious example comes, of course, from the healthcare sector – the discussions on how to strike the right balance between data privacy considerations and measures to curb or slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The most interesting voices in such scenarios are those that advocate for ways to not see such crucial goals as a trade-off with privacy, but rather to find ways to safeguard and deliver on both (including by drawing on privacy-by-design and privacy-by-default principles).

We also see important recognition of the ways privacy enables other fundamental rights. The 2021 UNESCO Media & Information Literacy Curriculum for Educators & Learners, for example, outlines the many links between privacy and development at both personal and societal levels, as well as with access to information and freedom of expression.

These arguments and considerations are very well known to library and information professionals, who customarily regard privacy as part of intellectual freedom in their professional code of ethics. This has many implications for day-to-day library work and service delivery choices – but also, crucially, for their work as digital literacy and privacy educators.

Privacy literacy in 2022

The idea of privacy-related skills as part of media literacy also finds reflection at the policy level – for example, in the new UK DCMS Online Media Literacy Strategy, where it has a very prominent place.

For libraries as digital skills and media and information literacy educators (and intellectual freedom advocates), privacy upskilling initiatives continue to look like a natural part – or extension – of their work. To this end, it is always helpful for libraries to keep a hand on the pulse of what the privacy literacy landscape looks like today!

This is a complex landscape of however. For example:

Efforts to collect data and better understand the links and changes in motivation, knowledge and practice continue. For example, drawing on a 2020 survey among North American consumers, McKinsey concludes that most users have fairly low trust levels when it comes to how companies use their data. At the same time, while tools that help people control their personal data are more widely available, not everyone is equally quick to make use of them. Over 60% of respondents said they have cleared cookies and their browsing history, and more than 40% have disabled cookies altogether, or have deleted or edited a post they have made in the past. But other possible privacy measures – e.g. temporary email addresses, encrypted communication – were used by fewer respondents.

The 2020 Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy Survey, for example, concluded that “Australians have a very strong understanding of why they should protect their personal information (85% agree) but are less sure how they can do this (49% agree). Three in 5 (59%) care about data privacy, but don’t know what to do about it.” Here, 29% of survey respondents have read a privacy policy in full and 23% made a request for their personal information to be deleted – and more than half said that they have deleted an app or denied it access to information to safeguard their privacy.

Another interesting relationship here is that between digital skills levels and overall trust and confidence. For example, the UK strategy referenced earlier quoted that, while “73% of users described themselves as ‘very confident’ or ‘fairly confident’ managing their data online, 44% of respondents who described themselves as confident were unaware that data could be collected through smartphone apps, and 20% were unaware of the existence of cookies altogether”.

Different user group profiles and needs: of course, privacy literacy and knowledge is not equally accessible and familiar across different user groups and cohorts. The Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy Survey also showed that older users were significantly more likely to rate their knowledge or privacy and data protection rights as very good or excellent (e.g. 15% of those in the 65+ bracket, compared to 31% of users aged 18-24).

In the EU, a recent Eurobarometer survey included a question asking whether the respondents knew how their fundamental rights – such as to privacy and freedom of expression – should also be respected online. The responses also showed some variations across socio-demographic groups as well, including e.g. linked to formal education attainment and frequency of internet use.

The granularity of privacy attitudes and beliefs: at the same time, publications like the 2021 report about students’ attitudes and behaviours by the Future of Privacy Forum draw attention to the importance of better understanding the unique privacy needs and expectations of different user groups.

The report highlighted, for example, specific concerns the members of this user group may have around academic and professional prospects in relation to privacy, some available data on the types of information they consider as necessitating particular protection, the confidence they have in different data processors, and so on.

Libraries are helping

This data suggest that there is continued interest (and need) for more knowledge and information around online privacy among users. In the Eurobarometer survey mentioned earlier, a very strong majority – 76% of respondents – said they would find it useful or very useful to know more about their rights online.

Given the diversity of the privacy literacy landscape, the equitable and no-barrier learning opportunities that many libraries work to offer can make an important difference. In a video presented by Polish library experts at the 2021 Internet Governance Forum, participants of public library-based digital skill courses for seniors shared what they learned and took away from these workshops, with one of the attendees pointing out:

“An interesting thing that I did not know so far is that I can check what the internet ‘knows’ about me. And it turned out it knew too much!”

The innovative, interactive and flexible learning opportunities around data privacy which libraries offer highlight their unique strength in identifying and helping meet community needs. We look forward to seeing these efforts continue and grow, and celebrate the dedicated work of educators, activists and inquisitive users!

Libraries and Human Rights in 2021: Evolving circumstances, constant commitment

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Every year, international Human Rights Day on 10 December commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly in 1948. This year’s theme – Reducing inequalities, advancing human rights – is a strong call to action to deliver on equality and fundamental rights for all, particularly in times of crisis. As libraries uphold their commitment to promoting and championing human rights, this day offers an opportunity to reflect on progress made, continuing efforts, and new developments.

Libraries’ relationship with human rights is multidimensional – in no small part shaped by their overarching commitment to free and equitable access to information, as well as their everyday work relating to the rights to culture, science, civic participation, education, and free expression. On the other hand, libraries’ work itself can depend on an enabling environment around them which respects fundamental rights.

Meanwhile, the broader human rights landscape continues to evolve – with both new initiatives to defend fundamental rights, as well as events and developments that challenge these in new ways.

Consider some of the ongoing human rights discussions taking place today: the ways that online algorithmic content delivery and curation systems can impact the rights to privacy and to freedom of expression; the implications of mis- and dis-information (and some responses to it!) on freedom of opinion and expression; the effects of digitisation (and the growing involvement of private sector actors which often accompanies it) on the right to education, or the ways the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the cultural sector and people’s enjoyment of cultural rights (and digital cultural opportunities that try to offset some of these setbacks), and others.

These are just a few of the recent human rights developments that can have an impact on library work – on the roles that library services play in delivering on fundamental rights, on day-to-day library practices, on new services they develop, and so on.

As both library processes and the communities around them change and evolve, new human rights considerations, implications and good practices emerge.

What can this look like in practice? The members of the FAIFE Human Rights Working Group – Buhle Mbambo-Thata, Fiona Bradley and Margaret Brown-Sica – have highlighted several examples of emerging human rights considerations which impact libraries, drawing on examples from three regions – Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia in Asia-Oceania, and Canada and the USA in North America. While some emerging human rights issues are experienced across the regions, others are more specific to one or more countries:

  • Oceania and Australia, among other regions, are already experiencing the effects of climate change – more extreme weather, rising waters, and intense bushfires. Access to environmental information as defined under UDHR Article 19 and the Aarhus Convention are essential. Yet, libraries face many technical, legal, and cost barriers to provide information, particularly in local languages.
  • Australia has adopted legislation outlawing modern slavery in supply chain and business practices. This means that libraries, and all other organisations, must evaluate their suppliers’ compliance with ensuring that no books, materials, furniture or other items have been produced with forced labour. Some library vendors are required to report their own practices annually (see, for example, a RELX Modern Slavery Act Statement).
  • The Asia-Oceania region has also spearheaded numerous laws and initiatives that seek to address online harms and content. These impact the types of content libraries, including public libraries, may offer, and the steps they may need to take to prevent access to such content. Some recent developments in this area include the Christchurch Call, a series of commitments by government and tech companies to combat extremist online content, and a collaboration between Australia and Fiji on eSafety and reducing online harms. In the meantime, both the Australian Library and Information Association and public libraries in Australia support a range of activities around eSafety, particularly for children – from cybersafety checklists for libraries to Safer Internet Day campaigns, and other ways to promote responsible and safe use of the internet and ICT.
  • Access to information remains a crucial and fundamental human right – and such access is increasingly mediated by the internet. Libraries rely on digital tools more and more often to deliver services, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical access has often been restricted. However, for political reasons, internet blackouts and shutdowns continue to occur, hindering access to library services – including recently in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions.
  • There has been a positive development in the protection of personal information in South Africa through the implementation of the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act, which prohibits use of personal information without the consultation of the owner. This falls into a broader trend of new-generation data privacy laws that aim to deliver on the fundamental rights to privacy in the evolved digital environment, which libraries also operate in.
  • The United States has recently seen a resurgence in efforts to ban books, particularly in school libraries. The focus has been on materials that document and discuss the lives of people who are gay/queer/transgender or Black, Indigenous or persons of color. The American Library Association has issued a statement addressing this issue: “We are committed to defending the constitutional rights of all individuals, of all ages, to use the resources and services of libraries. We champion and defend the freedom to speak, the freedom to publish, and the freedom to read, as promised by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.” 
  • Canada marked its first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, 2021. The Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA-FCAB) published a report which urges action by libraries to deliver on Indigenous Rights, and highlights the many measures that can help achieve this. These focus in particular on decolonising libraries and spaces (which includes, for example, ensuring that space planning and design are culturally appropriate, territorial acknowledgements, library programming created in collaboration with local Indigenous stakeholders, and more), and decolonising access and classification (i.e. addressing biases and integrating Indigenous epistemologies into knowledge organisation and information retrieval systems) as part of this movement.

As the examples above show, there is a wide range of emerging, changing and evolving human rights considerations and good practices that shape library practices today. Maintaining dialogue and sharing experiences within the global library field remains a valuable tool to find effective ways to deliver on human rights commitments – so, on this Human Rights Day, we encourage and welcome you to share your own thoughts and perspectives on emerging human rights trends!

What key human rights considerations are prominent in your own local, national or regional library fields? What new developments have shaped your views on library human rights commitments? What good practices can help navigate this changing landscape?

You can join the discussion by using hashtags #Libraries4HumanRights and #StandUp4HumanRights – and we look forward to continuing these important conversations both today and throughout the year!

Banned Books Week: Amnesty International calls attention to the plight of people who are persecuted because of what they write or publish – in print and online

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This guest blog comes from Ed McKennon, Library Faculty, Glendale Community College, as well as the Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) Working Group for Banned Books. Read more about work between AIUSA and the American Library Association at bottom.

Image of hands on prison bars on a laptop screen, with social media images. Text: no space for dissentEach year in late summer I take time to review the cases that Amnesty International has chosen to call attention to during the widely observed Banned Books Week celebrations that take place during the last week of September. I do this, in part, because I am a librarian at a community college where the library works with the Amnesty International student organization to host an annual “Banned Book Reading” in order to draw attention to censorship issues in the United States and around the world.

The slate of cases put forward by Amnesty International in 2021 hail from various corners of the world — Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Russia, Iran, Hong Kong, Central America, and Bangladesh.  This year they feature an unpublished fiction writer, a poet, several journalists, and a cartoonist who face an array of sanctions for their work. Some face years in prison, most have already been detained, all encounter some sort of state sponsored intimidation or harassment. Like other years of late, the slate of cases includes those persecuted for their printed publications as well as those facing penalty for what they post online, particularly on social media.

The online environment continues to be an increasingly dangerous place for those who might dissent from the government. To be sure, in countries around the world and here in the United States, authorities are grappling with how to deal with ‘fake news’ and various forms of disinformation as it proliferates on social media. I suspect that is what was on the minds of many lawmakers in Bangladesh as they crafted the “draconian” Digital Securities Act (DSA) and embedded within it overly broad language and extensive pre-trial detention powers.

Unfortunately these provisions — which may seem innocuous at first — are out of step with international human rights standards. They have been used to target or harass those expressing dissenting opinions and have resulted in cases filed against approximately 2000 people and nearly 1000 arrests, often for people posting information on social media that is critical of the government.  According to Amnesty International, under the DSA, at least 433 individuals had been imprisoned as of 11 July 2021; at least 185 were held for allegedly publishing offensive and false information online.  

Imagine being a 15 year old high school student forced to spend 16 days in a juvenile correction facility because you share a controversial post “to get likes” on Facebook. Mohammad Emon shared such a post in Bangladesh and was arrested and detained in June 2020; formal criminal charges were filed against him in July 2021.

Imagine being a prominent Bangladeshi cartoonist forced to spend 10 months in pre-trial detention for “satirising on Facebook powerful people and the Bangladeshi government’s response to [the] COVID-19 pandemic.”   After spending 10 months in detention Ahmed Kabir Kishore faces a 10 year prison sentence as a result of charges including publishing “false information” and “propaganda” which could “deteriorate law and order” by “supporting or organizing crime.” Kishore is still facing charges despite being released on bail in March 2021 one week after fellow accused writer, Mushtaq Ahmed, died in custody.  Kishore was presented the Robert Russell Courage in Cartooning Award by Cartoonist Rights International Network in October 2020. Many of his controversial images remain available online. 

Pre-trial detention, coupled with laws addressing online speech or terrorism prevention, is one method used by authoritarian governments use to quell expression. 

Imagine being a 25 year old poet and teacher who is arrested and detained for more than a year – without being charged with a crime and without access to your family for five months — in connection with a published collection of your poems (Navarasam / நவரசம்) and “other unsubstantiated claims of exposing your students to ‘extremist’ content and ideology.“  

Under the Sri Lankan Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) it is permissible to hold invividuals without any charges or trial for up to 18 months. According to Amnesty International and several other international and Sri Lankan human rights organizations (see Joint Statement), “the PTA has been used against Sri Lanka’s ethnic and religious minority communities, with a disproportionate number of Tamils and Muslims in detention under the Act.” The same statement notes that one year into his detention, the authorities have yet to bring forth any evidence that substantiates their allegations against Ahnaf Jazeem.

Emom and Kishore are two of 10 cases described in the July 2021 Amnesty International report, No Space for Dissent: Bangladeshi’s Crackdown on Freedom of Expression Online. 

You can visit the Amnesty International Banned Books Week website to take action in support of Jazeem and Kishore while registering your support for the repeal or amendment of the Digital Security Act, and calling for the release of those accused or detained solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression. 

HOW CAN LIBRARIES PARTICIPATE?

Libraries can make a difference by organizing community programs and providing information.

By supporting the Banned Books Week initiatives of both the American Library Association and Amnesty International, libraries can reach out to their communities while further advancing the principles of free expression as articulated in the IFLA Statement on Libraries and Intellectual Freedom and elsewhere.

Libraries and bookstores can get in on the action in an organized fashion by reviewing the “Library and Bookstore” section of the online toolkit and exploring ways they can support the effort, connect with the community, and promote freedom of expression.  

Augment Book Displays

Ideas in the toolkit include creating a simple “banned books” display that features information about the Amnesty International cases and links to the ‘take action’ webpages amid a display of books that have a history of censorship. 

This year the toolkits on the Banned Books Week website feature QR code enabled printable case sheets that provide basic information about each case and facilitate taking action.  

Flyers, bookmarks, and the Buying Books, Amplifying Voices book list are also available.

Reach out to Local Amnesty International Groups

Libraries and bookstores can also reach out to local Amnesty International community and college groups to explore ways to partner. Information about how to find a nearby U.S. based Amnesty International group is in the toolkit. International partners may view Amnesty International country contact information via the Amnesty.org website in order to get in touch with their national section. 

Add Case Stories, Words, and Images to Virtual or In-Person Readouts 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic many events may still need to be online. However, organizing a virtual read-out with links to online actions would be an exciting local event if a live in-person read-out is not possible. Local authors, librarians, and booksellers could speak about censorship while Amnesty International members or others from the community share stories of the people featured this year, including the words and images of those censored in the event where possible. 

Add and Feature Books Written by Authors Imprisoned or Killed for their Writing

Amnesty image - freedom of expression is a human right

While there are many book lists related to censorship available on the web, libraries and bookstores may be particularly interested in the AIUSA Banned Books Week book list, Buying Books, Amplifying Voices which features more than two dozen books written by or about authors who have been harassed, imprisoned, killed, or exiled because of their writing. 

Making these books available to the community takes a stand against censorship. By raising awareness of these creators and their ideas, the intent of censorship is thwarted while our communities gain a greater understanding of the world around us. In the words of  Russian LGBTI activist/artist and 2020 Banned Books Week case Yulia Tsvetkova, “the government, ironically, did not silence us, but made it possible to loudly declare injustice.” 

Register for the live-online kick-off event 

Under the theme Page Not Found: Censorship and Human Rights in the 21st Century, this event features  the voices of journalists facing criminal charges for what they publish and representatives from the library profession (September 21 at 8pm Eastern Time). Registration & more details are available.

Take action throughout October on these important cases.

The American Library Association (ALA) has been leading Banned Books Week in the United States since the early 1980s to celebrate the freedom to read and call attention to book censorship efforts. During the 1990s Amnesty International USA began to call attention, during Banned Books Week, to “the plight of individuals who are persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read.” In 2013, ALA honored Amnesty International USA with an Office of Intellectual Freedom award recognizing AIUSA’s approach to Banned Books Week that focuses on the “logical consequences … that follow when governments are allowed to censor” noting that “beyond the removal or burning of books comes the removal and physical harm to authors, journalists and others.” 

You may also want to join an event for Banned Books Week with IFLA participation: Page not Found: Censorship and Human Rights in the 21st Century, on 21 September 2021 at 8pm New York time.  Censorship in the 21st century involves suppression of books, news, and social media. Around the world, governments are trying to control the internet through cyber-censorship and surveillance, and use sophisticated technology to silence, spy on, harass, and track the critical voices of individuals and journalists. Join us and hear from representatives from Amnesty International USA, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, the International Federation of Library Associations, and journalists and cartoonists from Central America facing criminal charges for their work.

Register here.

Data Privacy Day 2021: Standing by Key Library Values in Challenging Times

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28 January marks the annual Data Privacy Day, dedicated to raising awareness and celebrating this crucial right in communities across the globe. The past year saw important shifts and developments in discourses around privacy – and now is a good time for libraries to reflect and consider next steps.

Where does privacy discourse stand at the beginning of 2021?

Data protection, privacy and security continue to be among the key elements of discussions around how we should govern and regulate the internet and other digital technologies. Over the past months, significant developments in this area include:

  • The growing new generation of privacy laws and regulations around the world. The way in which the personal data of more and more of the world’s population is collected, stored and used is now subject to new privacy regimes which attempt to respond to a digital world. A recent report by Internet & Jurisdiction and ELAC, for example, points out that in Latin America and the Caribbean alone, there are several states reforming or modernising their data protection legislation or discussing bills at present. 2020 saw a new privacy act in New Zealand and the entry into force of the Californian Consumer Privacy Act, and more legislative measures can be expected around the world.
  • Data privacy considerations of COVID responses. Of course, measures taken to try to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have also been at the heart of the discussion on data privacy.

Looking at this issue through a human rights lens, the UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy recently examined two key privacy aspects of pandemic responses – data protection and surveillance. While the report clarifies that much more data is needed to assess the necessity and proportionality of various measures, it is nevertheless crucial to keep in mind the dangers of non-consensual methods and the danger of function creeps – including in technology-based responses.

  • Privacy and the ‘leap to digital’. And of course, there is the broader reality of a rapid ‘leap to digital’ that many countries experienced during the pandemic, with the urgency of moving online risking coming at the expense of a full exploration of the implications of the choices made. From organisations and businesses grappling with the data privacy implications of remote work, schools and others needing to bear in mind what leaving cameras on during lessons could reveal about pupils and teachers alike; and to social, leisure or study activities that people carry out online – all these raise important considerations.

Libraires, of course, have fully felt the impacts of these trends. Librarians, just like the communities they serve, have faced the trends set out above, in particular as regards the need to shift to working from home – with all the staff data privacy implications this entails. For those remaining open, some have been asked or required to collect, store and process health and/or visitor data.

Many have broadened their offering of digital materials for users to lend, which emphasises the importance of longstanding discussions about third party vendor privacy policies – for example around the data that publishers and others collect about how readers use materials.

Already in the first half of the year, patron privacy considerations were particularly pressing for school and academic libraries, with urgent questions around student data and remote learning.

Similarly, other efforts – from online storytimes to homework help – all come with crucial choices on how to protect patron privacy.

The global library field responds. When faced with these questions, the library field has seen a vast array of active and vigilant responses. Libraries have spoken out about the importance of patron privacy – from the Japanese Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee to CILIP’s Policy Statement on COVID-19 that highlights, inter alia, the importance of upholding the right to privacy when implementing measures to curb the spread of the pandemic.

Members of the global and national library fields – e.g. in Italy, the US and Czechia – collected and disseminated useful information, including suggestions and ideas on how to navigate privacy considerations during the pandemic. They also shared practical guidance, key questions and good practices around the new patron privacy considerations.

Standing by key library values. It is encouraging to see that libraries continue to be strong privacy champions and advocates even in these times, finding more ways to support the privacy and digital wellbeing of their communities.

From Singapore to the Netherlands, we have seen traditional online safety and security skills support programmes migrate online – for example, as published tip-sheets or courses, or live webinars. New ideas are being explored – from awareness-raising virtual exhibits to the potential of a library VPN for patrons.

Ensuring library capacity and resources – a key priority. These responses demonstrate the evolving application of twin library priorities – safeguarding patron data in library processes, and helping build their communities’ awareness and skills to defend their own privacy, outside of library environments. However, as the past year showed,  the new circumstances – particularly the shift to digital – raise challenging new questions and demands.

News from Finland, for example, points out that many libraries need to address patron privacy in new ways – including questions which may require legal advice. Similarly, Public Libraries Victoria discusses libraries’ experiences with helping seniors navigate online services –  a crucial part of their offering; however, the shift to digital here can also put increased pressure on library staff in navigating complex privacy questions when offering hands-on support.

This highlights the importance of making sure that libraries have the capacity and resources to carry out these tasks. This includes, inter alia, IT resources – since cybersecurity and data privacy and fundamentally linked. As libraries face new and increasing tasks and duties – to meet the demand and expand digital offerings while maintaining data privacy and security – it is crucial that they have the resources to do so.

 

Many key challenges and developments of 2020 continue to impact the work of libraries around the world. As they continue to face these, libraries maintain their support and ethical commitment to privacy – and we look forward to another year of active dialogue and exchange of good practices in support of data privacy!

Banned Books Week Image by Camden Forgia

Banned Books Week: Amnesty International Guest Blog

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Banned Books Week:

Amnesty International calls attention to the plight of people who are persecuted because of what they write or publish.

 

 

It’s September, which means that Banned Books Week is almost here!  For libraries across the United States – and increasingly around the world – the last week of September is a time to celebrate freedom of expression and freedom to read while calling attention to very real threats to these freedoms. During this time the American Library Association highlights the work it does to document book challenges in (mostly) American libraries, meanwhile Amnesty International USA brings to light abuses of the human rights of people in the publishing world — particularly those who have been harassed, threatened, imprisoned, exiled, or killed because of what they write, publish, or read.  As such, the work of the two organizations complement each other.

In late August 2020 AIUSA launched a reinvigorated approach to Banned Books Week, calling attention to ten people in seven different countries who face harassment, long prison terms, and even death for what they have published, as well as their work as journalists, photojournalists, writers, and online activists. This year four cases are drawn from across Asia (China, India, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam) as well as Yemen, Russia, and the United States.

Several of the featured writers, artists, and journalists have been detained, charged with crimes, or sentenced and imprisoned. Three of the cases — an artist/activist from Russia, an award winning photojournalist from India, and a short story writer from Sri Lanka — are facing between six and ten years in prison if found guilty of the charges against them. One journalist has already been sentenced to seven years in prison for reporting on an environmental disaster in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, a Chinese / Australian novelist, academic, and blogger has been detained since January 2019 and charged with crimes that carry a penalty from three years’ imprisonment to death, and in April 2020 four journalists, detained since 2015 in Yemen, were sentenced to death.

Finally, AIUSA is calling attention to a journalist in the United States who was pepper sprayed, arrested, detained, and charged in the context of her work as a journalist covering the Black Lives Matter protests.

In honor of Banned Books Week, Amnesty International USA asks people around the world to take action to support these individuals and the right to freedom of expression. The easiest way for individuals to take action is to visit the 2020 Banned Books Week website, learn about the cases, and sign the online petitions.

HOW CAN LIBRARIES PARTICIPATE?

By supporting the Banned Books Week initiatives of both the American Library Association and Amnesty International, libraries can reach out to their communities while further advancing the principles of free expression as articulated in the IFLA Statement on Libraries and Intellectual Freedom and elsewhere.

Libraries and bookstores can get in on the action in an organized fashion by reviewing the “Libraries & Bookstores” toolkit and exploring the ways that they can support the effort, connect with the community, and promote freedom of expression.

Augment Book Displays

Ideas in the toolkit include creating a simple “banned books” display that features information about the Amnesty International cases and links to the ‘take action’ webpages amid a display of books that have a history of censorship and books written by authors whose rights have been violated because of what they write. See the Banned Books Week website for printable case sheets, flyers, bookmarks, and a related booklist.

Reach out to Local Amnesty International Groups

Libraries and bookstores can also reach out to local Amnesty International community and college groups to explore ways to partner. Information about how to find a nearby U.S. based Amnesty International group is in the toolkit. International partners may view Amnesty International country contact information via the Amnesty.org website in order to get in touch with their national section.

Add Case Stories, Words, and Images to Virtual Readout Outs

With the COVID-19 pandemic many events may have to move online. However, organizing a virtual read-out with links to online actions would be an exciting local event if a live in-person read-out is not possible. Perhaps local authors, librarians, and booksellers could speak about censorship while Amnesty International members or others from the community tell the story of the people featured this year, including their words and images in the event where possible.

Add and Feature Books Written by Authors Imprisoned or Killed for their Writing

While there are many booklists related to censorship available on the web, libraries and bookstores may be particularly interested in the 2020 AIUSA Banned Books Week Book List that features more than two dozen books written by or about authors who have been harassed, imprisoned, killed, or exiled because of their writing.

Making these books available to the community takes a stand against censorship. By raising awareness of these creators and their ideas, the intent of censorship is thwarted while your community gains a greater understanding of the world around us. In the words of  Russian LGBTI activist/artist Yulia Tsvetkova, published in The Art Newspaper, “the government, ironically, did not silence us, but made it possible to loudly declare injustice.”

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Join Amnesty International USA for Silenced Voices: A Banned Books Week Event, featuring the voices of journalists facing criminal charges for what they publish, on September 24 at 8pm Eastern Time and take action throughout October on these important cases.

The American Library Association (ALA) has been leading Banned Books Week in the United States since the early 1980s to celebrate the freedom to read and call attention to book censorship efforts. During the 1990s Amnesty International USA began to call attention, during Banned Books Week, to “the plight of individuals who are persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read.” In 2013, ALA honored Amnesty International USA with an Office of Intellectual Freedom award recognizing AIUSA’s approach to Banned Books Week that focuses on the “logical consequences … that follow when governments are allowed to censor” noting that “beyond the removal or burning of books comes the removal and physical harm to authors, journalists and others.” Following the 2011 death of Thesil Morlan, AIUSA volunteer and Banned Books Week coordinator, AIUSA Banned Book Week efforts diminished but the tradition was carried on by several local and college groups across the United States. 2020 marks a structured return to a national commemoration led by AIUSA staff and volunteers.

 

Ed McKennon

Library Faculty, Glendale Community College

Amnesty International USA Working Group for Banned Books

World Press Freedom Day: Libraries Supporting Intellectual Freedom during the Pandemic and Beyond

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May 3rd marks the annual World Press Freedom Day, and this year’s dedicated campaign launched by UNESCO focuses on the theme “journalism without fear or favour”. This day puts the spotlight on challenges to press freedom and independence, safety of journalists, and gender equality in media. For libraries, these issues are of course deeply connected to their core mission and values of access to information and intellectual freedom.

Where does news media stand in 2020?

On World Press Freedom Day 2020, journalism and news media are facing new and remerging challenges, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. A recent statement by the Council of Europe, for example, highlights that some legislative initiatives against disinformation can have significant and disproportionate impacts on press freedom and people’s right to receive information. The International Press Institute points out the different challenges that have emerged or intensified: from increasing restrictions on ‘fake’ news, to limits on journalists’ access to information, financial or accreditation challenges, and more.

On a larger scale, the newly released 2020 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) highlights the key pressures that impact the future of free, independent and diverse journalism. These include: geopolitical and economic crises, the evolution of digital informational ecosystems where journalism and advertising, political, economic and editorial materials coexist and compete, and hostility and mistrust towards journalists.

The good news is that the overall global indicator does register a small overall improvement of press freedom in the world since last year. That being said, the RWB report emphasises that the coming decade will have a profound impact on the future of freedom of information and media.

What is the role of libraries?

Naturally, there is a significant degree of affinity between journalistic and library values – as a 2019 Nieman Foundation Report points out, both fundamentally work to inform and empower communities. This can work as a powerful starting point for collaboration – so can libraries help address some of the key challenges the RWB report outlined?

The economic crisis: hybrid models and partnerships

One of the big impacts of the economic crisis in news media is arguably the financial sustainability challenges that local news faces. One possible solution to this challenge that is being discussed over the last few years is providing support to local newsrooms, for example by providing space in such public facilities as libraries or post offices – or even libraries delivering local news directly.

While this is still an emerging idea, libraries and local news organisations continue to explore ways to cooperate. Some collaborations are a continuous arrangement – like a grassroots local online news organisation NOWCastSA housed inside the San Antonio’s Central Library in the United States. As a Nieman report points out, this partnership also allowed them to team up and carry out joint events, and to highlight some of the library’s programming in NOWCastSA’s reporting.

Some initiatives have even evolved to adapt to the difficult COVID situation. For example, in New York, an independent news outlet THE CITY launched a joint project with the Brooklyn Public Library called “The Open Newsroom”. Already in 2019, they had started hosted public meetings in library branches to identify key neighbourhood concerns and see how the local news can be more collaborative and better serve the needs of the community. Now, in the face of the pandemic, the plans for a second round of meetings have been adjusted, and the public meetings will be organised filly online, allowing the project to continue!

Tackling the crisis of trust and technology

If a lack of trust and confidence in news and media – especially in the hyper-dense online environment – is one of the pressing challenges to journalism, media literacy can definitely be an important part of the solution.

A draft Council of Europe study on “Supporting Quality Journalism through Media and Information Literacy” identified five main models of MIL activities; and libraries and community media play a key role in the “training model”. Reports drawing on Swedish and Finnish approaches to MIL, for example, also show how libraries can be actively engaged in delivering MIL training to their communities.

Partnerships in the area are also common: for example, NewsGuard – a company developing “nutritional labels” for popular news sites to mark how correct the information is – has a partnership program for libraries in Europe and the US.

Advocacy: together for Intellectual Freedom

Naturally, libraries and library institutions are often actively engaged in promoting and standing up for Intellectual Freedom. The Canadian Federation of Library Association, the Canadian Urban Libraries Council, and several library associations, for example, recently celebrated the Freedom to Read week, a campaign focusing on promoting freedom of expression, freedom to read and report the news. Such library initiatives clearly show the significant overlap between libraries’ Intellectual Freedom values and the freedom of press.

Drawing on library expertise – news media digitisation and preservation

Even though perhaps less relevant for current day-to-day journalism but rather for historic records, libraries can also help preserve the news that has been published. News archiving and preservation in the digital age can be a challenge: a recent Columbia Journalism Review report, for instance, points out that many news agencies they had interviewed don’t see the value in preserving their output, or do not have established preservation policies and practices.

This is also a prospective area for collaboration. The University of Missouri Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and University Libraries, for example, have received a grant for a joint project to explore ways to preserve today’s digital news. They plan to set up visits with US and European news agencies to see how their policies, equipment and operations impact their preservation processes.

Another example is a web archive launched by several Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation librarians, aimed at preserving some specific areas of at-risk online news web content. These are a few examples of how libraries can help make sure the valuable work of journalists is preserved.

Similarly, libraries have been clear in underlining that applications of the principle of the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ should respect press freedom. In a recent joint statement with the International Council on Archives, IFLA stressed also that broader privacy legislation should not lead to the deletion of news articles in collections, and so their non-availability for future generations.

All these and other areas show the connection between libraries and journalism – and their shared values. World Press Freedom Day is the opportunity for us to celebrate intellectual freedom, freedom of expression and access to information – and see what can be done to uphold these.

Intellectual Freedom in Turkey

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Over the last few months, FAIFE marked the 20th anniversary of the IFLA Statement on Intellectual Freedom with a series of blogs outlining the debates on intellectual freedom in different countries. Today, Ahmet A. Sabancı – a freelance writer, journalist and social critic who focuses on issues surrounding freedom of expression, journalism and the internet – shares an essay about the threats to freedom of information that exist in Turkey.

The essay is based on a presentation he gave during the 2019 World Library and Information Congress session “20 Years of the IFLA Intellectual Freedom Statement: Constancy and Change”. You can find a recording of the session on the website of WLIC 2019.

 

The Many Faces of the Freedom of Information Threats in Turkey

Ahmet A. Sabancı – ahmet@ahmetasabanci.com

In recent years, the state of freedom of information in Turkey has become a well known and discussed topic all around the world. Government censorship and control over media becoming more ruthless every passing day, the situation in Turkey has become an example for many. Especially with the rise of similar developments in different parts of the world, understanding how it works in the countries where the situation is already a concern becomes more important.

To understand and analyze the current freedom of information situation in Turkey, I propose a three-layer explanation of the threats against this freedom. These three layers will both help us to understand the levels of the threats and how one type of threat intensifies another.

  1. Government Censorship and Control

Internet Censorship

Law 5651, the infamous law that regulates the Internet in Turkey, has been used actively to censor the Internet in Turkey. With the latest update in 2014, this law gives the government an unlimited power to censor the Internet and surveil Turkish internet users.

According to latest research, there are 245,825 websites blocked in Turkey. This number has increased even since. Some of the well-known websites blocked are Wikipedia; Imgur, an image sharing platform; Pastebin, a text file sharing platform for coders; and Tor Project, a tool for people to use the Internet anonymously. As well, many VPN services have been blocked in Turkey in recent years. This leaves many people without safe options to circumvent the censorship.

The list of censored websites also includes many political websites and news platforms. The most famous one is sendika.org, which is a labor-focused left-wing news site. The courts have ordered access to this site be blocked 63 times: the owners are now using the domain sendika63.org. There are many political news sites or alternative media projects that experience similar situations.

The Turkish government also sends take-down requests to platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Turkey is usually at the top of their quarterly take down request lists. For example, Turkey sent 5014 removal requests, specifying 9155 accounts between July-December 2018. This puts Turkey on top of the list of countries that ask for content removal. In the same period, Russia comes after Turkey with 3344 requests for 3391 accounts. For comparison, during the same time period Germany sent only 42 requests with 44 accounts specified, and Canada sent 6 requests with 9 accounts specified.

There is also a new regulation that gives the governmental body that regulates television and radio new powers over Internet-based dissemination platforms such as Netflix and YouTube. Currently, Turkish television is heavily controlled and censored, and subjecting these platforms to similar controls might cause most of them to leave the country.

Censorship of Books and Journalism

The Turkish government uses Presidential decrees for censorship. Since the 2016 coup attempt, more than 30 book publishers and 100 news outlets have been shut down and all of their books have been collected. This has resulted in the removal of more than 135,000 books from Turkish libraries.

Journalism is also under heavy pressure in Turkey. Any journalist who writes news articles critical of the government risks arrest and imprisonment. The most-used excuses for the suppression of journalism are alleged links to terrorism or the revealing of government secrets. Right now, Turkey is the number-one jailer of journalists in the entire world. There are in addition ongoing incidents of violence against journalists, which usually comes from random groups because of what journalists have said or written.

  1. Media Ownership and Economic Control

One of the most important threats in Turkey to freedom of information is the concentration of media ownership. Most of the mainstream media, including book publishers and distributors, are owned by a small group of conglomerates which have close ties with the government. The current media ownership situation and its effects in Turkey can be read about in detail on the Media Ownership Monitor Turkey website.

This ownership relationship results in censorship, limiting readers’ access to only information produced by politically approved groups. This forces many minority or opposition groups to search for alternative means of disseminating information. It seriously limits their reach to the general public. The other current censorship mechanisms sit atop this limitation.

Already controlling mainstream media and information distribution through ownership, the government also uses other means of economic pressure over the opposition media, such as reducing advertising revenue. Many corporations buy advertising only from media organizations that are unofficially “approved.” The government also uses official announcements and press releases, distributed through Basın İlan Kurumu, which is an important revenue for print media, only to newspapers that are politically close to the government.

  1. Self-Censorship and Other Pressures on Intellectual Workers

These two layers of control have created an atmosphere in Turkey that results in self-censorship and an avoidance of “dangerous topics,” a widespread phenomenon. Self-censorship occurs in many ways. This can be publishers avoiding some content, libraries or bookstores not distributing books about “dangerous topics” or people afraid of talking about such issues. One of the main reasons for this situation is the legal pressure, mentioned as the first layer of censorship in this blogpost.

There is also the social pressure side of this, which can easily be manifested as people “doxing” (unauthorized online disseminating of identifying or personal information about someone) writers and journalists or reporting them to the police because of their work; or reporting teachers because of the books that they have recommended. This kind of pressure also forces many people to self-censor.

This social pressure is perceived by everyone. Whether they’re sharing something on a social media platform or talking with a group of friends, people feel the need to self-censor. This pressure even blocks the spread of information between small groups of people.

Can Libraries Help?

Unfortunately, the current situation of libraries is not good in Turkey either. Limited library budgets and shortage of library personnel leaves many libraries in a bad shape. There is also a serious lack of libraries in general across Turkey. In addition to these economic pressures, there is political pressure that affects librarians, inasmuch as a librarian might be demoted because of their support for an opposition candidate. Filling librarian positions with unqualified workers also weakens libraries.

Although the current situation seems bleak, librarians can help the public to fight back against the threats to the freedom of information. Promoting libraries and hosting events to help people to learn how to find more diverse information sources or how to navigate online when there are many untrusted sources can be an important mission for libraries. In these conditions finding, fact-checking and organizing information is vital for every person. Librarians can help people to learn how to do it.

In Conclusion

Freedom of information and intellectual freedoms in general are in a dire condition in Turkey. This is caused by different actors using diverse tools and tactics to restrict the information that the public can access. A fight against these pressures on the legal front continues, but its effects are unfortunately limited.

Because of this pressure, many people prefer to use the Internet for accessing information, but the Turkish people face new problems on that front. Internet censorship, blocking of access to privacy and anonymity tools and many people lacking Internet literacy leave people in a disadvantageous situation.

It is hard to say how and when this situation in Turkey is going to change, especially because we are seeing similar trends gaining traction elsewhere the world. Many people in Turkey just accept the situation and adjust their lives to it, instead of fighting back. Because we are living in a time in which we must struggle to defend the freedom to access information (and even information itself), the work of organizations such as IFLA becomes much more important and vital. Without our intellectual freedoms, we put everything we humans have created in danger.

Ahmet A. Sabancı is a freelance writer and journalist and a social critic who focuses on issues around internet, freedom of expression and information and technology. He’s also working to improve the situation of journalism in Turkey in the platform called NewsLabTurkey, of which he’s one of the co-founders and its Newsletter Editor.

Intellectual Freedom in Croatia

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In 2019, FAIFE is marking the 20th anniversary of the Statement on Intellectual Freedom. Over the last few months, we have covered a series of contributions from FAIFE committee members highlighting various perspectives on intellectual freedom in different countries. Today, Davorka Pšenica – a Library Advisor at the Department of Croatian National Bibliography of the National and University Library in Zagreb – is presenting a perspective from Croatia.

1) What do you and your colleagues understand by ‘intellectual freedom’ in Croatia?

Intellectual freedom in the Republic of Croatia means the right to freedom of thought and expression, the freedom to promote ideas and beliefs, and the right of an individual to be informed.

The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia regulates the right to freedom of expression by the provision of Article 38 which reads: “Freedom of thought and expression shall be guaranteed. Freedom of expression shall particularly encompass freedom of the press and other media, freedom of speech and public opinion, and free establishment of all institutions of public communication. Censorship shall be forbidden. Journalists shall have the right to freedom of reporting and access to information. The right to access to information held by any public authority shall be guaranteed. Restrictions on the right to access to information must be proportionate to the nature of the need for such restriction in each individual case and necessary in a free and democratic society, as stipulate by law. The right to correction is guaranteed to anyone who constitutionally and legally established rights have been violated by public communication.”

2) How important an issue is it for libraries, and for the general population, in your country?

One of basic tasks of libraries in Croatia is to ensure free access to information to all citizens –this fundamental role is stated in all the main documents of the Croatian Library Association (CLA). It also underpins the activities of the CLA Committee for Free Access to Information and Freedom of Speech that for 20 years has organized roundtables on free access to information on International Human Rights Day.

At these roundtables, topics related to problems of free access to information, freedom of the media, freedom of speech and censorship, copyright, intellectual freedom and education, and transparency and openness of the organizational and socio-political system in Croatia have all been discussed at all levels.

It is important to highlight the efforts and involvement of the library community in a multi-year process of adopting the first Law on the Right of Access to Information in Croatia. The law was created due to encouragement of the academic community and civil society; its acceptance was preceded by a long-term public campaign led by a coalition of 17 non-governmental organizations, with the participation of the Croatian Library Association. The law has undergone a number of amendments and harmonization with relevant acts of the European Union and has been in force since 9 August 2015.

3) What have been the biggest questions and controversies in recent years?

In Croatia there is a problem of harmonization between, on the one hand, legal regulations concerning free access to information, freedom of the media and speech and regulations concerning free access to the internet, copyright protection, and on the other, a market-based, neoliberal economy that gives priority to capital and large companies. The neoliberal economy can, by introducing collection and citizens’ control systems, impair to a great extent free access to knowledge and information.

4) What do you think are the biggest challenges for intellectual freedom in the coming years?

The greatest challenges are those in the area of intellectual freedom protection, i.e. those relating to free access, accessibility and openness of information. More specifically, the business sector is not legally obliged to provide information to the public, that is, private companies and organizations are not subject to any legal obligation. Moreover, international institutions, such as the World Bank and other financial organizations, have their own rulebooks on providing information about their work.

The regulation of the right of access to information depends on individual national laws. For example, Freedom of Press Act of 1766 in the Kingdom of Sweden is regarded as the first law on the right of access to information. Acts introducing an obligation on public authorities to make their information available to the public mainly only date from the second half of the 20th century. The United Nations has encouraged drafting of the mentioned Acts on the grounds that the right to seek, receive and impart information also implies an obligation of states to allow access to information in their possession.

In Croatia the Right to Free Access to Information Act is a key anti-corruption tool requiring authorities, administration and the public sector to be responsible and report about their work to citizens, i.e. to report how they work, how much and what they spend public money for, how they make decisions, and who participates in this process.

This is how citizens and especially media and associations, as guardians of democracy and promoters of public interest, can hold the government and administration and make them remember they are here for citizens and for the public interest. Progress has been achieved at the level of the state administration, as the result, among other things, of bigger capacities to prepare, publish and provide information to the user. According to analyses, 60 to 80% of statutory information in Croatia is published, depending on the state institution.

The biggest problems appear in small municipalities, some of which continuously ignore citizens and fail to fulfill their legal obligations. This is a problem for public libraries too, because they depend on local authorities and therefore operate under harsh conditions in terms of limited procurement power, availability of library materials and information in the online environment. As a result of insufficient libraries funding and a lack of clearly expressed libraries policy, there is therefore a limit to the free flow of information flow more broadly.

5) What role do you see libraries playing in relation to intellectual freedom in 10 years’ time?

Librarians in Croatia are aware of the important role of libraries in promoting fundamental human rights such as intellectual freedom, freedom of thought and speech and the right to free access to information, but the state and local government’s support for, and understanding of, library programs and tasks is still insufficient.

That is why it is extremely important for the library community to take a proactive role in the society into the future, in terms of advocacy and lobbying for libraries and library programs as well as activities at all levels. This should include a focus on ensuring adequate funding for the acquisition of materials and equipment, and efforts to balance conditions under which different categories of users can use the library.

Librarians must actively and publicly advocate the defense of intellectual freedom whenever freedom is in danger of being limited or diminished. Intellectual freedom means the right to freedom of thought and expression, based on which the right of an individual to be informed is derived. The librarian must provide users with the information needed for communication about a topic and must actively prevent any attempt to obstruct a transfer of information to users.

 

You can read more about the work of Croatian libraries to promote access to information, intellectual freedom and other human rights in IFLA’s submission to the Universal Periodic Review in Croatia.

Right to Information Recognised in New European Court Rulings

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Image: Group of scholars studying books. Text: A Right to Information: Finding a Good Balance with the Right to Be ForgottenTwo much anticipated rulings have come from the Court of Justice of the European Union. Both are ‘preliminary rulings’, effectively requests to the Court to offer clarification on what EU law – in this case the ‘right to be forgotten’ doctrine created by the Court in 2014 and placed in legislation in the General Data Protection Regulation of 2016.

As a reminder, the right to be forgotten refers to the right of individuals to ask that particular stories not be included in search results for their name. The idea is to ensure that there is a way of avoiding that search engines automatically give prominence to information that is unduly invasive of privacy.

IFLA has released a statement on the subject, underlining that the right to remove search results risks undermining access to information for internet users. While the IFLA statement notes that in some situations, a right to be forgotten may make sense, it argues strongly that this should be the exception, not the norm, and stresses concern about the impacts of leaving this choice to private actors.

The two cases in question come from France, and its Conseil national de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) – the national digital data protection authority. In the first (C-507/17), the CNIL itself was in dispute with Google about whether, once there had been a decision to award the right to be forgotten, this should only be applied within Europe, or whether Google should be obliged to apply it on all versions of its search engine, around the world.

The second (C-136/17) asked whether the ban on ‘processing’ (doing things with) certain types of personal data, such as that about religious beliefs or politics, should also apply to search engines.

 

The Right to Information

In the first case, the Court decided that there was no obligation to remove relevant links from search engines around the world, rather than just in France or the EU (global delisting). This is an important decision, and one that IFLA itself supported, given our own statement on the subject.

Significantly, the Court explores the question of the costs of global delisting: ‘However, it states that numerous third States do not recognise the right to dereferencing or have a different approach to that right. The Court adds that the right to the protection of personal data is not an absolute right, but must be considered in relation to its function in society and be balanced against other fundamental rights, in accordance with the principle of proportionality. In addition, the balance between the right to privacy and the protection of personal data, on the one hand, and the freedom of information of internet users, on the other, is likely to vary significantly around the world.’

This definitely a welcome point for libraries, and one that underpins the final decision of the European Court, given its explicit recognition of a right to information of internet users around the world.

In the second case, the Court does note that the bar on processing highly personal information applies also to search engines to the extent that they process it.

However, it also argues that the exceptions to this bar do too – in a case where including a link in search results is essential if a balance is to be found between the rights of individuals and of information seekers, then this can be OK.

Therefore, in cases where the subject of the information has a prominent role in public life, it may well be acceptable to maintain search results, in order to ‘protect[…] the freedom of information of internet users potentially interested in accessing that web page by means of such a search.’

 

But No Resolution Yet

In both cases, the final decision rests with the French courts. The European Court has given guidance on how to take this, but leaves enough margin of appreciation the judges in Paris. As a result, in the case of global delisting, despite all of the arguments to suggest that this is a questionable move, the judgement still says that there’s nothing saying that this cannot still be requested.

Similarly, the judgement on highly personal data suggests that it is for the French judges to determine whether Google has taken sufficient care in working out whether it was necessary to include the relevant links in its search results. As a result, we will not know the final results for a while yet.

Clearly Google itself is a lightning rod. Its size and reputation make it a bogeyman for many. However, it is worth noting that the judgements apply not just to Google, but also to any other company or information service offering search functionality.

As seen in the Le Soir judgement in Belgium in 2016, the idea of the right to be forgotten can also be applied to a service offering search into digitised old newspapers.

Crucially, while Google may be in a position to apply the rules set out, it may be harder for others to do the same. For example, in the judgement on highly sensitive data, the Court argues that a search engine should be able to rearrange results about court judgements in order to ensure that the most recent information comes first.

If the rules around offering search services become more complicated, the risk is that it’s the smaller players who will fall foul of the rules, not Google, reducing the choice of information seeking tools available to users around the world.