This statement, developed by the Internet Social Forum community calls for a greater engagement by social justice organizations, activists and people's movements in different areas with those working in the area of progressive Intenret and digital policies. Working together is required in order
to reclaim the Internet so that it can truly be used to further social justice, and thus build an alternative.
The Internet once seen as an equalizing force is under threat of capture by transnational corporations, and the commercial model of the Internet is becoming its default model. The online and offline world once seen in silos are now indiscernibly interwoven. The Internet has become intrinsic to transportation, agriculture, hotel and other sectors, it even occupies a pride of place in government functioning including public service delivery. Consequently digital transnational corporation , like Google, Amazon, Facebook,etc now enjoy a monopoly positions outside what was once thought of as their traditional spheres of operations, and across various sectors. In large part such digital industrialization is driven by the collection of minutiae details of our personal and social interactions or- Big Data analytics.
Civil society organisations, social justice activists and people's movements working on varied issues everywhere must be concerned with these tectonic changes in how the societies and human interactions are being shaped. It is now at the formative design phase where challenging these neo-liberal interest is vitally important, and thus the engagement of progressive social movements most fruitful. Through concerted action and creation of spaces of dialogue and sharing, The Internet Social Forum (ISF) will offer a response to the dominant paradigm based on the real struggles of those fighting for social justice. Learn more.
