Such movements include those dealing with the environment, feminist and women's issues, disarmament and peace, adult literacy, adult education, and cultural democracy. All are the natural allies of media reform movements. Social movements are at the heart of what constitutes civil society, a concept implying that citizens have rights and duties which are not conferred on them by the State, but which are universal and part of the human condition. Institutions of public communication were originally at the heart of civil society, and one of the tasks of the 1990s is to make them once again civil society's champion. They exist for the sake of the public and owe their autonomy to the autonomy of civil society.
Civil society is thus by definition a media reform movement.
It is only through an invigorated civil society that a genuine public sphere can be built, that is, one which is accountable to the public rather than one absorbed by the State or capitalist market economy, or a combination of the two. 4. Imbalances in Information Technology Information and communication technology are currently growing at an unprecedented pace. So is the variety of their uses and applications. The adoption of digital technology in telecommunications by the South is constrained by heavy financial costs. In addition, there has been increasing deregulation of telecommunication services and continued intrusion of transnational corporations.