Through the Net to freedom: information, the Internet and human rights

The new tools of information and communication play an increasingly importa nt role in many organisations, providing new opportunities and new challeng es. The human rights world, for which good quality information is a prime r equisite and information management is a vital skill, is equally faced with the opportunities and threats of these tools in promoting and protecting h uman rights. Human rights organisations have been quick to adopt the Intern et and it is having a great number of impacts upon their work, creating cha nge, providing new means of campaigning and challenging abuses of human rig hts. Yet technology also introduces new barriers to human rights activity: issues of censorship, regulation and control are fundamental to this work.