Internet: “While the Internet is empowering individuals more than ever, there is an increase globally in content filtering and censorship,” according to a new UNESCO publication, “Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression: The Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet.” Professor William Dutton, Director of Oxford Internet Institute, is the main author.
“Through a meta-analysis of Internet filtering studies, the book shows that there is a rising level of censorship and filtering,” according to UNESCO. “Nevertheless, he argued against focusing too narrowly on Internet content filtering.” His framework on the “ecology of freedom of expression” suggests a broader focus on six interrelated arenas that are shaping freedom of expression.
Internet: The four international special rapporteurs on freedom of expression June 1 released their annual Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and the Internet. The new declaration calls on national governments and other parties to respect freedom of expression in internet communications.
The full text of the Joint Declaration is available in English, Russian, and Spanish.
Open Data: Several organizations in the U.S. have created a model local open government directive that can be tailored for a city, county, state, or other government entity to create a legal framework for supporting open government (transparency, open data, citizen participation, and collaboration).
Also, a page from Civic Commons links to recent city-level openness directives.
United States: Suzanne J. Piotrowski of the University of Rutgers-Newark has published an article on the indicators and factors to be considered when discussing municipal transparency.
The article “The Operationalization of Municipal Transparency: Primary Administrative Functions and Intervening Factors” was just published in Transparencia y Privacidad. The article is available in both Spanish and English.
Piotrowski says there are four primary administrative functions that are components of municipal transparency: the proactive disclosure of information, open public meetings, document and material requests, and document management. These primary administrative functions are themselves affected by a series of intervening factors, such as administrative culture, the gadfly factor, the role of local media, organizational resources, and political competition. When studying municipal transparency, scholars need to consider a wide range of indicators, not just the prevalence or components of open public records laws. The focus of this research is a case study of municipalities in the State of New Jersey, USA. Data was gathered for this project through interviews and a survey.
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