Rethinking digital rights through systemic problems of communication

Outi Puukko

doi:10.4185/rlcs-2024-2044

Authors

Outi Puukko University of Helsinki https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0263-7545

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4185/rlcs-2024-2044

Keywords:

communication rights, media reform, social justice, media activism, digital rights, problem representations, discourse analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Recent policy and expert debates surrounding problems in the digital environment have promoted different conceptualizations of digital rights. However, current problems of digital communication are often discussed separately from earlier debates pertaining to the democratization of the media. This article argues for the re-grounding of digital rights debates to address systemic communication problems. Methodology: Intended as a conceptual contribution, this article connects recent critical research on digital rights to the body of literature on democratic media activism through an analysis of problem representations. The article draws on the “What is the problem represented to be?” approach to study problem representations in the academic accounts of mobilizations and to identify common themes that describe systemic problems of communication. Results: The results identify problem representations that have emerged in and been defined by mobilizations over time and illustrate persistent themes with examples from the digital and mass media eras, including inequalities in the distribution of communicative resources, ownership and economic model of the communication system, and problems of participation and exclusion. Discussion: Focusing on problem representations enables identification of alternatives to current dominant discourses and offers grounds for collaboration at the nexus of activism and scholarship. Conclusions: Future research can benefit from a further dialogue between the framework of democratic media activism and rights-based approaches to the digital communication environment.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Outi Puukko, University of Helsinki

Outi Puukko is a doctoral researcher in media and communication studies at the University of Helsinki. Her research interests include civil society roles in the discourses of digital rights, media activism, and social justice movements.

outi.m.puukko@helsinki.fi

Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0263-7545

References

Aouragh, M., & Chakravartty, P. (2016). Infrastructures of empire: Towards a critical geopolitics of media and information studies. Media, Culture & Society, 38(4), 559-575. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443716643007

Bacchi, C. (2009). Analysing policy: What’s the problem represented to be? Pearson.

Bacchi, C., & Goodwin, S. (2016) Post-structural policy analysis: A guide to practice. Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52546-8

Bennett, C. (2008). The privacy advocates. Resisting the spread of surveillance. MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/7855.001.0001

Bennett, W. L., & Segerberg, A. (2012). The logic of connective action: The personalization of contentious politics. Information, Communication & Society, 15(5), 739-768. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2012.670661

Beraldo, D., & Milan, S. (2019). From data politics to the contentious politics of data. Big Data & Society, 6(2), 1-11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951719885967

Berger, D. (2009). Defining democracy: Coalition politics and the struggle for media reform. International Journal of Communication, 3, 3-22.

Candón-Mena, J., & Montero-Sánchez, D. (2021). From cyber-activism to technopolitics: A critical take on historical periods and orientations in the use of digital technology by social movements. International Journal of Communication, 15, 2921-2941.

Carlsson, U. (2003). The rise and fall of NWICO: From a vision of international regulation to a reality of multilevel governance. Nordicom, 24(2), 31-67. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0306

Carpentier, N. (2011). Media and participation: A site of ideological-democratic struggle. Intellect Books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26530/OAPEN_606390

Carroll, W. K., & Hackett, R. A. (2006). Democratic media activism through the lens of social movement theory. Media, Culture & Society, 28(1), 83-104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443706059289

Celeste, E. (2023). Digital constitutionalism: The role of internet bills of rights. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003256908

Chakravartty, P. (2006). Who speaks for the governed? Economic & Political Weekly, 41(3).

Cohen, J. E. (2019). Between truth and power: The legal constructions of informational capitalism. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190246693.001.0001

Constanza-Chock, S. (2020). Design justice: Community-led practices to build the worlds we need. MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12255.001.0001

Couldry, N., & Mejias, U. A. (2019). The costs of connection: How data is colonizing human life and appropriating it for capitalism. Stanford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503609754

CRIS Campaign. (2005). Assessing communication rights: A handbook. https://acortar.link/AvdQ3H

Dencik, L. Hintz, A., & Cable, J. (2016). Towards data justice? The ambiguity of anti-surveillance resistance in political activism. Big Data & Society, 3(2), 1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951716679678

Ericksson I., & Aslama, M. (2010). Making, breaking promises? Civic spheres and virtual engagements. New Media & Society, 12(4), 677-682. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810361697

Epstein, D., & Nonnecke, B. (2016). Multistakeholderism in praxis: The case of the regional and national Internet Governance Forum (IGF) initiatives. Policy and Internet, 8(2), 148-173. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.116

Fenton, N., Freedman, D., Schlosberg, J., & Dencik, L. (2020). The media manifesto. Polity.

Foucault, M. (2002). Archaeology of knowledge. Routledge.

Freedman, D., Obar, J., Martens, C., & McChesney, R. (Eds.). (2016). Strategies for media reform: International perspectives. Fordham University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5422/fordham/9780823271641.001.0001

Freedman, D., & Obar, J. (2019). Media development and media reform: Time for change. In N. Benequista, S. Abbott, P. Rothman, & W. Mano (Eds.), International media development. Historical perspectives and new frontiers (pp. 220-227). Peter Lang.

Gangadharan, S. P. (2014). Media justice and communication rights. In C. Padovani, & A. Calabrese (Eds.), Communication rights and social justice: Historical accounts of transnational mobilizations (pp. 203-218). Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137378309_12

Gangadharan, S. P. (2021). Digital exclusion: A politics of refusal. In L. Bernholz, H. Landemore, & R. Reich (Eds.), Digital technology and democratic theory (pp.113-140). University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226748603.003.0005

Goggin, G., Ford, M., Martin, F., Webb, A., Vromen, A., & Weatherall, K. (2019). Digital rights in Asia: Rethinking regional and international agenda. Author version of chapter. In A. Athique, & E. Baulch (Eds.), Digital transactions in Asia: Economic, informational, and social exchanges. Routledge. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/18879 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429425110-7

González-Rodríguez, G. (2012). New scenarios for the right to communicate in Latin America. In D. Frau-Meigs, et al. (Eds.), From NWICO to WSIS: 30 years of communication geopolitics (pp. 69-79). Intellect Books.

Gurumurthy, A., Singh, P. J., Chami, N., Bharthur, D., Sarkar S., Korjan, A., Kanchan, T., Bhagwat, S., & Yogesh, K.S. (Eds.). (2020). A digital new deal. Visions of justice in a post-COVID world. JustNet Coalition. https://itforchange.net/digital-new-deal/

Hackett, R. A., & Carroll, W. K. (2006). Remaking media: The struggle to democratize public communication. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203969922

Hamelink, C. (2014). Communication rights and the history of ideas. In C. Padovani, & A. Calabrese (Eds.), Communication rights and social justice: Historical accounts of transnational mobilizations (pp. 17-28). Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137378309_2

Hamelink, C., & Hoffmann, J. (2009). Communication as a human right: Picking up the challenge? In A. Dakroury, M. Eid, & Y. Kamalipour (Eds.), The right to communicate: Historical hopes, global debates, and future premises (pp. 71-106). Kendall Hunt.

Hoskins, G. (2021). Negating neutrality: The Marco Civil Da Internet, informational capitalism and contesting digital rights at the periphery [Doctoral dissertation, York University].

Isin, E., & Ruppert, E. (2015). Being digital citizens. Rowman & Littlefield.

Jørgensen, R. F. (2013). Framing the net: The internet and human rights. Edward Elgar. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781782540809.00010

Jørgensen, R. F. (Eds.). (2019). Human rights in the age of platforms. MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11304.001.0001

Karaganis, J. (2011). Cultures of collaboration in media research. In P. Napoli, & M. Aslama (Eds.), Communications research in action: Scholar activist collaborations for a democratic public sphere, (pp. 287-312). Fordham University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt13x088k.25

Karppinen, K. (2023). Problem definitions in European policy debates on media pluralism and online platforms. In T. Dwyer, & D. Wilding (Eds.), Media pluralism and online news: The consequences of automated curation for society. Intellect.

Karppinen, K., & Puukko, O. (2020). Four discourses of digital rights: Promises and problems of rights-based politics. Journal of Information Policy, 10, 304-328. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5325/jinfopoli.10.2020.0304

Kidd, D. (2014). Practicing communication rights: Cases from South Korea and Honduras. In C. Padovani, & A. Calabrese (Eds.), Communication rights and social justice: Historical accounts of transnational mobilizations (pp. 249-268). Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137378309_15

Mansell, R., & Nordenstreng, K. (2006). Great media and communication debates: WSIS and the MacBride report. Information Technologies and International Development, 3(4), 15-36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/itid.2007.3.4.15

McChesney, R. (1998). Media convergence and globalization. In D. K., Thussu (Ed.), Electronic empires – Global media and local resistance (pp. 27–46). Arnold and Oxford University Press.

McChesney, R. (2006). A cornerstone of the media reform movement. FAIR. https://acortar.link/64LyAG

McChesney, R., & Nichols, J. (2002). Our media, not theirs: The democratic struggle against corporate media. Seven Stories Press.

McIver, W. J., Jr., Birdsall, W. F., & Rasmussen, M. (2003). The internet and right to communicate. First Monday, 8(12). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v8i12.1102

McKenna, A. (2012). The right to communicate. A continuing victim of historic links to NWICO and UNESCO? In D. Frau-Meigs, et al. (Eds.), From NWICO to WSIS: 30 years of communication geopolitics (pp. 93-106). Intellect Books.

McLaughlin, L., & Pickard, V. (2005). What is bottom-up about global internet governance? Global Media and Communication, 1(3), 357-373. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766505058129

Mejias, U. (2020). To fight data colonialism, we need a non-aligned tech movement. Opinion. Al Jazeera. https://acortar.link/y8HtKq

Milan, S., & Padovani, C. (2014). Communication rights and media justice between political and discursive opportunities: An historical perspective. In C. Padovani, & A. Calabrese (Eds.), Communication rights and social justice: Historical accounts of transnational mobilizations (pp. 29-54). Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137378309_3

Mueller, M., Kuerbis, B., & Pagé, C. (2007). Democratizing global communication? Global civil society and the campaign for communication rights in the information society. International Journal of Communication, 1, 267-296.

Napoli, P. (2007). Public interest media activism and advocacy as a social movement: A review of the literature. McGannon Center Working Paper Series. http://fordham.bepress.com/mcgannon_working_papers/21

Napoli, P., & Aslama, M. (2011). Communications research in action: Scholar activist collaborations for a democratic public sphere. Fordham University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt13x088k

Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of oppression: How search engines reinforce racism. NYU Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1pwt9w5

Nordenstreng, K. (1984). Defining the new international information order. In G. Gerbner, & M. Siefert (Eds.), World communications: A handbook (pp. 28-36).

Nordenstreng, K. (2012). The history of NWICO and its lessons. In D. Frau-Meigs, et al. (Eds.), From NWICO to WSIS: 30 years of communication geopolitics (pp. 29-40). Intellect Books.

Our Data Bodies. (n.d.). Data Justice and Human Rights. https://www.odbproject.org/

Padovani, C. (2005). Debating communication imbalances from the MacBride Report to the World Summit on the Information Society: An analysis of a changing discourse. Global Media and Communication, 1(3), 316-338. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766505058127

Padovani, C., & Nordenstreng, K. (2005). From NWICO to WSIS: Another world information and communication order? Global Media and Communication, 1(3), 264-272. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766505058123

Padovani, C., & Santaniello, M. (2018). Digital constitutionalism: Fundamental rights and power limitation in the Internet ecosystem. International Communication Gazette, 80(4), 295-301. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048518757114

Park, J. (2021). Media reform and the climate emergency: Rethinking communication in the struggle for a sustainable future. University of Michigan Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11927458

Pickard, V. (2007) Neoliberal visions and revisions in global communications policy from NWICO to WSIS. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 31(2), 118-139. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859906298162

Pickard, V., & Yang, G. (Eds.) (2017). Media activism in the digital age. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315393940

Postigo, H. (2012). The digital rights movement: The role of technology in subverting digital copyright. MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21428/cb6ab371.440510f9

Postill, J. (2018). The rise of nerd politics: Digital activism and political change. Pluto. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv4ncp67

Powell, A. (2012). Assessing the influence of online activism on internet policy-making: The case of SOPA/PIPA and ACTA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2031561 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2031561

Powell, C. (2018). Race and rights in the digital age. AJIL Unbound, 112, 339-343. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/aju.2018.89

Pozner, J. L. (2011). Welcome to the media justice movement. The Representation Project. http://therepresentationproject.org/welcome-to-the-media-justice-movement/

Redeker, D., Gill, L., & Gasser, U. (2018). Towards digital constitutionalism? Mapping attempts to craft Internet Bill of Rights. The International Communication Gazette, 80(4), 302-319. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048518757121

Rodríguez, C., & Iliadis, A. (2019). The MacBride Report legacy and media democracy today. Media Development, 3, 17-24.

Siapera, E., & Kirk, N. (2022). Social media, electoral campaigns and regulation of hybrid political communication; rethinking communication rights. In E. Celeste, A. Heldt, & C. Iglesias Keller (Eds.), Constitutionalising social media (pp. 119-138). Hart Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509953738.ch-008

Snorton, C. (2009). New beginnings: Racing histories, democracy and media reform. International Journal of Communication, 3, 23-41.

Sorce, G. (2021). Theorizing feminist-democratic media activism via NGO media activism in South Africa. In G. Sorce (Ed.), Global perspectives on NGO communication for social change (pp.160-178). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003188636 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003188636-12

Svedin, I. (2014). Continuities and change in the nexus of communication and development. In C. Padovani, & A. Calabrese (Eds.), Communication rights and social justice: Historical accounts of transnational mobilizations (pp. 74-93). Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137378309_5

Taylor, L. (2017). What is data justice? The case for connecting digital rights and freedoms globally. Big Data & Society, 4(2), 1-14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951717736335

Themba-Nixon, M. (2009). Mainstreams and margins: A critical look at the media reform “story.” International Journal of Communication, 3, 54-56.

Thussu, D. K. (Ed.). (1998). Electronic empires – Global media and local resistance. Arnold and Oxford University Press.

WSIS Civil Society Plenary. (2003). Shaping information societies for human needs. Civil Society Declaration to the World Summit on the Information Society.

Wodajo, K. (2022). Mapping (in)visibility and structural injustice in the digital space. Journal of Responsible Technology, 9, 100024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrt.2022.100024

Wolfson, T. (2014). Digital rebellion: The birth of the cyber left. University of Illinois. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5406/illinois/9780252038846.001.0001

Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. Public Affairs.

Zuboff, S. (2020). You are now remotely controlled. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/opinion/sunday/surveillance-capitalism.html