Mijatović leads off Global Internet Freedom speaker series at George Washington University Law School

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, reiterated her view that free media and national security go hand-in-hand, talking to law students on 3 October at George Washington University at the Global Internet Freedom and Human Rights Distinguished Speaker Series. The series presents a range of timely topics addressing critically important areas of free speech and human rights issues.

“There can be no security without freedom of expression and free media, and no freedom of expression and free media without security,” Mijatović said.

Dan Bross, the Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship for Microsoft, which sponsored the event, noted that the OSCE, as a forum for political negotiations and decision-making in the fields of early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation, recognizes that long-term security is not possible without respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Mijatović told the students that technological advances brought by the Internet made protecting free expression even more important and that governments worldwide must guarantee this right. Mijatović talked about how, in the age of the Internet, protecting an individual’s freedom of expression takes on a new and more powerful meaning. “Governments, working with other governments around the world, must guarantee this freedom. This is a weighty charge, but a fundamentally important one for corporations and governments to responsibly address,” she said.