World Wide Web stands for media freedom, hears OSCE Conference

AMSTERDAM, 13 June 2003 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve, and the Mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, opened the conference "Freedom of the Media and the Internet" in the City Hall of Amsterdam today.

"When it comes to the World Wide Web and cyberspace, Amsterdam has played a vanguard role," Mayor Cohen said in his opening remarks.

"If we try to say in one word what the World Wide Web stood for, then that word must be 'freedom'. The freedom of universal access to any kind of information. The freedom to go around governmental or anybody else's regulations and censorship. The freedom to transgress geographical and ethnic boundaries and form communities beyond these boundaries."

The conference brings together international experts including members of the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the OSCE, academia, media and a number of non-governmental organizations from Europe and the U.S.

"The Internet has a history," Mr Duve said in his opening statement.

"Freedom of expression has been misused, but also censorship has been circumvented using the Internet," he added. "For example, Serbian radio B92 could only continue to broadcast after its closure in 1999 with the help of the Dutch Internet service provider, XS4ALL."

For more information, a detailed agenda and biographies of the participants, please take a look at the conference website: //www.osce.org/events/fom/amsterdam