Geneva — The media caucus meetings at the WSIS prepcom in Geneva opened with a call on stakeholders to strengthen the defence of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the basis of the content in the information society.

The caucus, chaired by Tracy Naughton from South Africa, stressed the need to explore freedom of expression in light of the current debates on internet governance and financial mechanisms.

It was at this point that the participants raised the prickly issue about the absence of media representation on the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). The WGIG was set up after the first phase of WSIS failed to reach consensus on internet governance.

Being the first media forum meeting at the second prepcom of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, the focus was to raise issues and develop content for an intervention in the government plenary.

Luckson Chipare, the regional director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) proposed that the caucus should adopt the text of the Marrakech Declaration. Most delegates at the meeting were ready to agree to this proposal.

The Marrakech declaration clearly states that media representatives must be involved as full partners in any future internet governance system, and that the internet and other forms of new media should enjoy the same freedom of expression and protection as traditional media.

According to the declaration, "The international debate on internet governance should allow better cooperation on internet management. It should not be a pretext to regulate internet content of news or opinion. In particular, security considerations and the demands of the battle against crime including terrorism should not imperil freedom of expression and press freedom."

Steve Buckley of AMARC argued that any law about information flow on the internet must be in line with the concept of freedom of expression as defined in Article 19. Buckley, in addition to his submission, read out five compelling points raised by the Reporters without Borders for consideration in the media text for input in the WSIS.

The Reporters without Borders proposals state inter alia, that filtering of online content, by governements or private firms is unacceptable, arguing that any policy of high level filtering conflicts with the principles of the free flow of information.

Another contentious issue concerns decisions on shutting down web sites. It was agreed that under no circumstances may a host unilaterally close down even an illegal site. Only a judge should be authorised to take such a decision.

The proposals insist that editors of online publications, inluding blogs, should enjoy the same protection and be shown the same consideration as professional journalists when exercising their rights to freedom of expression.

Members of the Tunisian delegation, claiming to represent the media in their country, frequently interrupted the media caucus meeting. They repeatedly and passionately denied that their govnerment was in any way responsible for the abuse of human rights, or for stifling press freedom.

Since the early meetings of the WSIS first phase there have been serious concerns about Tunisia's human rights record. Delegates frequently raise questions in the corridors of the conference centres about the suitability of Tunisia hosting the second phase of the world summit.

The chairperson of the meeting had to work hard to restrain the Tunisian delegates in their efforts to dominate discussions. "To strike regional balance, let's try to hear from other countries other than Tunisia. We are getting issues for input, not responses."

The chair had to intervene several times, cutting off Tunisian delegates, to allow representatives from other countriers to participate in the meeting.

At the end of the brainstorming session, the broad consensus was to continue defending the principles of Article 19 agreed upon in Geneva 2003 at the first phase of the WSIS.