Discussion of the right to information

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Discussion of the right to information

The right to information refers to information freedom, which means that everyone should be given the right to equally access information across all platforms (Banisar, 2011). Information is defined by Banisar (2011) as any material, such as papers, documents, that are kept by government bodies.

Since the year 1948, Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights has stated that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression”, there is an increasing awareness of citizens’ right to access and collect information (Hachten 1996:159). Nowadays, the right to information plays a significant role in empowering all citizens to monitor governments and promote good governance (Oslo Governance Centre, 2006). As of July, 2012, nearly 90 countries have had national or federal laws with international standard, which declare particular rights for information accessing (Right to information, 2012). Most countries are in Europe, for example, Sweden; this country has enjoyed the right to information since the beginning of 19th century. “The Freedom of the Press Act” of 1766 later became a part of Swedish constitution; it provides comprehensive provisions so as to ensure public access to all documents held by the government (Research, Reference, and Training Division, 2000). Information is vital to social development, a true democracy can only be achieved by the time that all citizens have a right to know every public act within the country and take part in them (Tiwari, 2010).  A fast developing country like India, availability of information helps the citizens keep pace with government policies, and then achieve good governance, government transparency and accountability, therefore, build a democratic society (Tiwari, 2010). “The Right to Information Act 2005” in India has allowed all citizens to receive information from public authority (Tiwari, 2010).

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However, absolute freedom of information cannot be achieved easily, it faces many challenges. As the right to information is a fairly new theory that has been introduced to a number of countries, the citizens know little about the use of the right. For instance, according to a survey in Bangladesh, most people related “The Right to Information Act” to media only (Sobhan, 2010). Lack of dissemination also contributes to the unawareness of the right to information (Sobhan, 2010). Bangladesh was one of the colonies of western countries, it is difficult for its people to realise their right to access information ...

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