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28 September 2026: International Day for Universal Access to Information
The UN has declared Monday, September 28, to be the “2026 International Day for Universal Access to Information.” The theme for 2026 is “Upholding Information Integrity in the Digital Age: The role of access to Information in addressing Information Disorder.”
This recognition is based on the inalienable right to freedom of expression but has been expanded to recognize that everyone has the right to seek, receive, and impart information, acknowledging the importance of communication in modern life. The recognition day is rooted in the “International Day for Universal Access to Information” as proclaimed in November 2015 by UNESCO, an agency of the UN which develops international cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture, and information.
UNESCO will hold a three-day conference in Sierra Leone. The focus is on responding to Information Disorder, which the American government’s National Library of Medicine (NLM) defines as “the sharing or developing of false information with or without the intent of harming,” with three grades.
One is mild, sharing false information without the intent to harm others. Grade Two is moderate, sharing false information for monetary or political gain but without intent to harm others. Grade Three is severe, when a person develops and shares information with the intent to harm other people. The NLM says, “The most critical intervention is to be mindful of the fact that not all posts on social media and news are real, and need to be interpreted carefully.”
Information disorder has no current legal definition, but a growing number of articles examine concerns about how false information undermines the rule of law and democratic processes and polarizes societies.
A 2025 UNESCO survey illustrated that 141 countries have a legal guarantee of access to information, however as UNESCO and the International Federal of Journalists (IFJ) note, gaps in implementation efforts still remain in ensuring that these rights are upheld in practice. For example, in Malta, the existence of the Freedom of Information Act, establishes the public’s right to access government documents, aligning the country with its international obligations outlined under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
However, rights groups such as Reporters Without Borders have condemned Maltese public bodies for their misuse of existing exemptions in the legislation to reject requests on arbitrary grounds and intentionally delay the release of data by waiting until the final day to trigger extensions, which are then rejected. Obstacles to achieving full access to information also persist in countries such as India and Pakistan, which has been exacerbated by the 2025 Pahalgam attacks and the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
Following these hostilities, the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) and the Digital Rights Foundation released a report showing that twelve news media websites were shut down in India, while eight media outlets were blocked in Pakistan. Findings from the European Centre for Press & Media Freedom also showcased how wartime conditions in countries such as Ukraine has posed a significant challenge in striking a balance between national security concerns and whether the public has the unfettered right to know.
The post A right in principle: marking the International Day for Universal Access to Information appeared first on JURIST - News.
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Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.
The UN has declared Monday, September 28, to be the “2026 International Day for Universal Access to Information.” The theme for 2026 is “Upholding Information Integrity in the Digital Age: The role of access to Information in addressing Information Disorder.”
This recognition is based on the inalienable right to freedom of expression but has been expanded to recognize that everyone has the right to seek, receive, and impart information, acknowledging the importance of communication in modern life. The recognition day is rooted in the “International Day for Universal Access to Information” as proclaimed in November 2015 by UNESCO, an agency of the UN which develops international cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture, and information.
UNESCO will hold a three-day conference in Sierra Leone. The focus is on responding to Information Disorder, which the American government’s National Library of Medicine (NLM) defines as “the sharing or developing of false information with or without the intent of harming,” with three grades.
One is mild, sharing false information without the intent to harm others. Grade Two is moderate, sharing false information for monetary or political gain but without intent to harm others. Grade Three is severe, when a person develops and shares information with the intent to harm other people. The NLM says, “The most critical intervention is to be mindful of the fact that not all posts on social media and news are real, and need to be interpreted carefully.”
Information disorder has no current legal definition, but a growing number of articles examine concerns about how false information undermines the rule of law and democratic processes and polarizes societies.
A 2025 UNESCO survey illustrated that 141 countries have a legal guarantee of access to information, however as UNESCO and the International Federal of Journalists (IFJ) note, gaps in implementation efforts still remain in ensuring that these rights are upheld in practice. For example, in Malta, the existence of the Freedom of Information Act, establishes the public’s right to access government documents, aligning the country with its international obligations outlined under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
However, rights groups such as Reporters Without Borders have condemned Maltese public bodies for their misuse of existing exemptions in the legislation to reject requests on arbitrary grounds and intentionally delay the release of data by waiting until the final day to trigger extensions, which are then rejected. Obstacles to achieving full access to information also persist in countries such as India and Pakistan, which has been exacerbated by the 2025 Pahalgam attacks and the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
Following these hostilities, the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) and the Digital Rights Foundation released a report showing that twelve news media websites were shut down in India, while eight media outlets were blocked in Pakistan. Findings from the European Centre for Press & Media Freedom also showcased how wartime conditions in countries such as Ukraine has posed a significant challenge in striking a balance between national security concerns and whether the public has the unfettered right to know.
The post A right in principle: marking the International Day for Universal Access to Information appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.