Is the Internet part of your daily reality? Despite the fact that it is a relatively new technology, informations communications technologies (better known as ICT) has become an integral ingredient of contemporary urban life. ICT has changed the way we retrieve information, connect to each other, speak and relate across wide physical spaces, and expanded our capacity for new knowledge in tremendous ways. There are three broad categories in which ICT can be grouped: i) information technology that uses computers to document, process and archive data; ii) telecommunications technologies which include telephones, fax, radio and television broadcasting through satellites; iii) networking technologies, of which the best known is the Internet and mobile telephone technology.

Living in an age that is heralded as the epoch of communications, it's almost impossible to avoid employing some form of ICT in our day-to-day activities. Have a think about how often you utilise the Internet (or for that matter, handphones!). What do you use it for? Apart from work, perhaps to make new friends, find information about interests, shop, download useful softwares, connect to others who are like-minded, check out the latest news - the list is fast becoming endless. Considering the proliferation of ICT and our increased reliance on it for the multiple aspects of our social life, should we not take a pause and think about this space?

Focusing on the Internet, there are tremendous amount of information that can be found in cyber space. According to a survey, in 2001, there were more than 36 million sites to be found in the world wide web. Admittedly, not everything in the Internet is constructive. For example, there are inordinate amounts of pornography on the Internet which spam our mailboxes with predominantly sexist content. How are you using the Internet responsibly, creatively and constructively? That is ultimately a question of personal priorities and values.

For example, if you forward tasteless jokes or pornographic images that humiliate and degrade sections of the population who are already marginalised, then you are directly contributing to their continued discrimination and must be accountable for that. If you actively engage in rights activism on the web on issues that you find urgent, then you are employing cyber space to further civil liberties.

The point being, the Internet as it is currently, provide us with the flexibility and capacity to generate new forms social relations and meanings. How this potential is fulfilled depends on where you click the mouse.

Have you considered your ability to use the Internet as a matter of right? There are many Malaysians who cannot afford to have access to this space, and consequently, their ability to retrieve information and communicate become significantly curtailed. Do you think that the government has a certain responsibility to ensure that as many people as possible are able to attain this right in an inexpensive and sustainable way? In many respects, the Malaysian government has formally recognised the value of ICT to increase the economic capacity of the nation. Efforts have been made to promote the distribution of financially feasible computers, and the national curriculum is encouraging computer skills. These measures are laudable, and we should express our support of their continued effective implementation. This is especially with respect to ensuring that socially marginalised groups and populations in rural areas are able to access this right.

What about the freedom of cyber space? Do you think that it is important to ensure that the Internet remains as a space that is not censored or limited in accordance to nationalist or corporation-based agendas? One of the pivotal values of the Internet lies in our ability to search for alternative sources of information, different accounts of events, and diverse perspectives. Not only that, it is also an invaluable space that enables us to vocalise our thoughts, express our opinions, have discussions and create new understandings of contemporary matters. Should this space be constrained, the ability of the Internet to protect two fundamental human rights - freedom of expression and association with like-minded people - become significantly compromised. Thus far, the Malaysian government has shown tremendous support for the vitality of this facility by its policy of non-censorship. This is a commendable recognition of the capacity of cyber space to support participatory democracy based on dynamic engagement.

To ensure the sustained freedom of information and expression on the Internet, we have to play an active role in contributing towards the discussion on policies and measures concerning ICT, vocalise our relationship with this space and its significance in protecting our civil liberties. Similarly, we will have to consciously be aware of our own usage of the Internet - are we contributing toward its increased quality or creating the demand for companies to fill it with junk? In short, cyber space has become such an integral part of our life today that we have to seriously think about how we engage with this technology to create a better, more equal world.

Jaclyn Kee
27 June 2003

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