Abstract:
This article considers the origins and essence of human rights, the requirement
that people should have access to information in order to participate in society
and develop their human capacity, and the relationship between information
and freedom of choice. Information literacy and the right of access to
information are interrelated and interconnected. Human freedom implies not
only the ability to choose (formal freedom) but also the choices people are able
to make (material freedom). It is argued that information literacy, and
specifically the ability to evaluate, and benefit from, information, is essential to
both formal and material freedom. It is furthermore seen as part of the positive
dimension of the right of access to information, and as such implies that the
state has a positive duty to protect and promote the right of its citizens to
become information literate.
