The emerging global movement on communication rights: a new stakeholder in global communication governance? Converging at WSIS but looking beyond

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), a high-level political gathering aimed at developing a common vision of the information society (2003 – 2005) was relevant to both communication issues and global politics, particularly due to the formal involvement of nongovernmental actors, civil society entities in particular, in the process. We argue that civil society presence and action within WSIS should, in fact, be conceived as a partial yet meaningful instance of a wider mobilization “out there.” The level and quality of civil society activities inside and around WSIS could not have happened unless substantial knowledge and expertise had developed elsewhere in previous years. Converging in a defined physical and political space, characterized by formal procedures and informal interactions, has favoured consensus building through the elaboration of documents and clarification of concepts and priorities and visions: developments which can be seen as signs of an emerging global movement around communication rights.