Human Rights and Technology

Last week Amnesty hosted a panel discussion in London about whether developments in technology was good for human rights. The event was tweeted under the hashtag #aitech with participation from those in the hall and others from around the world. A few themes seemed to emerge, including that technology was a tool and whether it was good or bad depended on the person using it – i.e. that it could be used to allow better access to information but also to repress and control. There was a debate about whether it was a right and the digitial divide between rich and poor was highlighted which brought the question of whether the internet could be seen as a right. In terms of activism the phrase ‘slacktivism’ came up with an example given of people putting ribbons on their avatars but taking no other meaningful action. The evening ended with action being take for bloggers in Azerbaijian which i’ve highlighted here previously. For a lengthier analysis of the debate see http://blogs.amnesty.org.uk/blogs_entry.asp?eid=6085

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