Re: [hr-wsis] Re: draft letter to de Mello

[Meryem Marzouki <marzouki@ras.eu.org>]

Le vendredi, 30 mai 2003, à 17:41 Europe/Paris, karen banks a écrit :

> hi
>
> i'm sure APC would be able to support this (or edited version of 
> this..) -
>
> but, i'm not sure i could agree with the observation that technology 
> in itself is value-neutral? but wondering if you mean it in the way i 
> understand it..  i believe technology (and scientific innovations) are 
> heavily value-*laden*, imbued with the values of those who create them 
> (or those who pay others to create them - for example) - but, i do 
> agree, that in the application of ICTs, there are positive and 
> negative attributes..

I do agree with you Karen, but in this paragraph specifically, I 
understand the "value-neutral" as meaning that technologies could be 
used for the best and the worse, which, one must recognize, is the 
least we can say :-)
So I think it's not really harmful. However, just in case, the letter 
can be edited and a less ambiguous wording may be preferable.
Could you propose something ?

>
> karen
>
>>> Like all scientific innovations, information communications 
>>> technologies in themselves are value-neutral. Civil society 
>>> organizations view ICTs as having both tremendous applications that 
>>> enhance human rights, such as through the rapid dissemination of 
>>> action alerts and instant access to human rights information, and 
>>> disturbing capacities to greatly diminish human rights, such as 
>>> through enhanced surveillance and monitoring functions of 
>>> governments facilitated by ICTs.
>
>
> --
> Putting the "Human Rights in the Information Society" issue on the 
> WSIS Agenda
> Working list of NGOs
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