Introduction

Right to communicate (r2c) is a basic human right and the very need upon which human societies are
formed. Enabling people to express themselves is the very foundation of human dignity. It creates and
validates human equality. That’s why communication rights are accepted as one of the basic human
rights all over the globe. Since communication form basis of human societies, communication rights
have four dimensions or pillar, each representing one dimension. They are (crisinfo.org, 2012);

 Communicating on the Public Square.

 Communication knowledge.
 Civil rights in Communication.
 Cultural rights in Communication.

Basics of Right to communicate

The basic of human right to communicate is derived from Universal Declaration of Human Rights by
United Nations in 1948. The Article 19 specifically provides;

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression: this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any
media and regardless of frontiers.”

Further, the Article 27 section 1 provides;

“Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and
to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”

Moreover, the Article 28 provides that literacy rates and infrastructural requirement to be maintained
by member states for enforcement of communication right;

"Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in
this Declaration can be fully realized."

Major Issues

Third world is far behind acknowledgement and application of right to communicate. The main issues
are;

 How Third World countries increasingly depended on rich industrialized countries for nearly all
of their communication equipment, technology, skills and software.
 How the poor countries were increasingly being integrated into a system dominated by
multinational corporations, which for the most part would only respond to the needs of private
profit.
 How indigenous cultures were being progressively diluted by such integration leading to their
steady deterioration and even disappearance.
 How information was being transformed from a basic right into a commodity to be bought and
sold in the market.
 pluralism: the right to communicate should be available to all.
 direct communication flows: all entities in all sectors of a society should be able to
communicate directly with each other without external control.
 social function: information has a social function. It should not be viewed as propaganda nor a
commodity, nor should it be controlled by the power structures of the market or the state.
Information should contribute to reducing ignorance and preconceptions.
 media analysis: It is important to analyze and report on the processes and meta-information
which are transported across a medium.
 communication versus information: communication should occur through horizontal mutually
beneficial exchange of information, not through vertical transfer from those who have control of
a medium to passive receivers.

 appropriate use of technology: technologies should be reviewed as to their potential impact on

a society and power structures within them

What is required to be done

Strengthening the public domain, to ensure that information and knowledge are readily available for
human development and not locked up in private hands;

Ensuring affordable access to and effective use of, electronic networks in a development context, for
instance through innovative and robust regulation and public investment;
Securing and extending the global commons for both broadcast and telecommunication, to ensure that
this public resource is not sold for private ends;
Instituting democratic and transparent governance of the information society from local to global levels;
Challenging information surveillance and censorship, government or commercial;
Supporting community and people-centred media, traditional and new.

Bibliography
crisinfo.org. (2012). Communication Rights - The right to communicate in teh information society.
Retrieved October 04, 2012, from www.crisinfo.org: http://www.crisinfo.org/

Dakroury, A., & Hoffman, J. (2010). Communication as a Human Right: A Blind Spot in Communication
Research. The International Communication Gazette, 315-322.

Hicks, D. (2007). Right to communicate: Past Mistakes and future possibilities. Dalhousie Journal of
Information and Management Vol. 3 Iss.1.

Raboy, M., & Shtem, J. (2010). Media Divides: Communication rights and the right to Communicate in
Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Traber, M. (1997). An Ethics of Communication Worthy of Human Beings. In C. G. Christian, & M. Traber,
Communication Ethics and Universal Values. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.