What Are International Alternative Networks?

International alternative networks are believed to be non-commercial institutions his response that are able to keep pace with improvements in the quality of information and media in their respective countries. They are not imperialist power structures that are internally controlled. They are independent, non-commercial options that aim to bring multimedia into the 21st Century. They were first introduced in the 1990s but have grown to include all kinds of media, including video tutorials, reports sites and alternative internet based video content material websites. Many have become multinational businesses and they constitute a key element of any democratic media strategy.

They are united by their non-commercial philosophy, and their opposition to imperialist power systems. These groups propagate their ideas through organising information and communications reform campaigns and promoting an inclusive and egalitarian Internet. They also create new communications infrastructures to support local connections as well as global and regional developments relating to social movements.

The strength of these global networks is due to the co-operation through social movement organizing campaigns as well as media reform campaigns that alter information and communication for the benefit of all. They are forming a complex lattice of local-local, regional (especially south-south) and transnational connections which bypass colonial old links and power dynamics.

These international networks continue to establish regional connections, while promoting the democratization and improvement of information and communication. They are now a vital part of the fight for more human rights and sustainability as well as environmental sustainability.