The final decade of the last century witnessed the full-blown evolution of one of the most influential inventions, the Internet, which by the initial half of the first decade of this century has become an inevitable part of people’s daily life.
The eventual development of social media networks such Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram etc have become an integral part of our lifestyle, engaging people constantly and accumulating everyone in some or the other trending activity. Such sites are not only being used by individuals, but also by businesses, organisations and governments, who use these platforms for constant engagement with the masses.
Over the past few years social media has changed the way people think and create opinions, made it easier to gather knowledge and communicate with people living in far-flung corners of the world. It provided people with an unparalleled platform to express their opinions and fight for their rights. But at the same time, has brought in some inherent disadvantages also forcing authorities and governments to formulate new regulations to control its use on the pretext that it has become an instrument in spreading rumours, false information, hatred and even toppling governments.
In this context the Doha International Conference on ‘Social Media Challenges and Ways of Supporting Freedoms and Protecting Activists’ on February 16 and 17 gathers importance and relevance. The Conference, organised by the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), will bring together some 300 governmental and non-governmental organisations such as journalists’ unions, major companies and social networks, including Google, Facebook and Twitter, international celebrities, human rights defenders, experts and representatives of the technology community, representatives of the United Nations, lawyers and jurists.
The NHRC Chairman said that the Conference will discuss the opportunities created by social media to promote human rights, explore the repeated forms of interference in the use of these means, identify good practices and lessons to benefit from social media in realising human rights, explore the impact of online speech restrictions set by national laws and policies on journalists, human rights defenders and political activists.
Social media plays a major role when it comes to exercising fundamental rights and freedom of expression and participation in public life. Protection of this freedom is an essential part of safeguarding human rights. Social media deserves to be free of the shackles of unwanted legislations and controls. At the same time it is imperative to ensure that the social media do not become a platform for spreading lies and selfish motives. The outcome of the conference hopefully will result in developing understanding among stakeholders on the opportunities, risks and good practices to expand the civil space through social media and address the challenges and threats faced by activists on such platforms.
