11/03/2013 Culture, Science, Education and Media
Strasbourg, 11.03.2013 – “Given that the Internet belongs to all the participants who make it up, it does not actually belong to anybody, which means that it cannot be controlled as such and could be regarded as an area of absolute freedom. However, this apparent total freedom can lead to excesses”, said Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE) at the end of a hearing on Internet and politics: the impact of new information and communication technology on democracy, held by the Culture Committee today in Paris.
Anne Brasseur, who has been tasked with preparing a report on the subject, particularly warned against the risk of manipulation of information combined with manipulation of access to information through search engines. The application of online impact analysis techniques to political discourse, thereby making it possible to adjust the message in real time, particularly during election campaigns, already indicates that we may expect a growth in populist rhetoric in politics, said the rapporteur.
She also drew attention to the problems linked to the digital divide, which risked generating a new form of exclusion and to the risk of Internet being hijacked by the authorities as a tool for controlling their citizens to the extent of actually negating the freedoms which the Internet seeks to serve as a vehicle for. She also underlined the fact that the Internet could become a tool of political, ideological or religious indoctrination. According to Ms Brasseur, it is also necessary to reconsider the role of states and of international bodies, in particular the Council of Europe, in promoting and protecting freedoms on the web. She particularly recommended introducing binding standards and forms of self-regulation which are effective and are actually implemented, accompanied by instilling a greater sense of responsibility among the authors of information. Finally, the rapporteur stressed the need for training in digital skills, which would enable users to understand that a search engine may not necessarily be harmless and to make the best possible use of the Internet.