From freedom of speech to the right to communicate

The concept of communication rights forms an important part of current debates on media and the Internet. This chapter explores several sources for the concept: the “right to communicate” as a human right, the project for a New World Information and Communications Order (NWICO), and the medium-focused scholarship of Harold Innis, among others. The right to communicate is reviewed as a more appropriate approach to the regulation of media and technology than existing concepts of freedom of expression, particularly as incorporated in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Reinvigorated international debates on communication rights provide an opportunity to address the problems of global communications law in a new way. Building on these observations, the chapter considers the outlook for the right to communicate—whether directly or through expansion of existing rights.