Examining the barriers to free and open access to information by citizens and communities as well as the knowledge flow in the region served as the main objective of the workshop on “Barriers to Access to Information and Knowledge in South East Asia” during the 2nd ASEAN Civil Society Conference in Cebu, Philippines.

The workshop raised different issues confronting the region in terms of information sharing, which affects democratic governance, participatory democracy, socio-economic equity, and cultural diversity.

“Independence and freedom of the region’s press are threatened in various ways under diverse political systems,” said Roby Alampay of the South East Asian Press Alliance.

Just like the trend worldwide, media in Southeast Asia are either owned by the government, the military, the political parties, or the private sector. In countries where civil society's participation is not allowed, independent press cannot also exist.

In support of this statement, Al Alegre of the Foundation for Media Alternatives said that exercising communication rights in the region is characterised by the weak capacity of people and communities to use communication and media to pursue their goals in the political, economic, and cultural spheres.

Alegre identified four barriers to communication rights in the “digital” era:
(1) “digital divide” and the problem of “universal access”
(2) erosion of civil rights in the emerging digital environment
(3) erosion of the public domain through intellectual property rights regimes
(4) corporate media dominance.

In addition, Alampay said that one of the threats to the public sphere today is the creation of distinctions on the concepts of access to information (the right to be informed), freedom of expression (the right to speak), and press freedom (the right to be heard), in the hope of finding a middle ground from where media can be controlled.

Looking at gender issues on access to information, Raijeli Nicole of Isis International-Manila said that it is not enough for women to just have access to media but they should also be given control and ownership as well as the full benefits of it. 

At present, “Women's participation is limited to cultural protectionism positions, policies and restrictions to freedom of expression by some governments and fundamentalist type of movements. Women face increased risk of violence from fundamentalisms as women achieve more visibility in public life and break some of the bonds of patriarchal control. They face a backlash aimed at the re-assertion of cultural, traditional and religious values,” said Nicole.

In view of the “sharing and caring” ASEAN community, Raijeli Nicole stressed that there are some non-negotiables that the women's movements need to put forward including the intersectionality approach that takes into account the diverse needs and perspectives of women; the strengthening of global consensus achieved in other world conferences by upholding the outcomes that have been committed to; the respect for diversity that should be reflected in solutions and strategies; the support for local and community solutions; and the assistance to local content producers in order to prevent content dumping from mainstream positions.

As a follow-up initiative, Al Alegre said that they are planning to convene a meeting on the same topic as this workshop early next year.

Source:
Go to <http://www.isiswomen.org/announced/aseanpodcast.html> to download the full recording of the workshop on “Barriers to Access to Information and Knowledge in South East Asia” during the 2nd ASEAN Civil Society Conference in Cebu, Philippines on 11 December 2006.