International alternative networks are non-commercial entities that are able to keep up with the development of information and media in their respective countries. They are not imperialist power structures that are internally controlled. They are independent non-commercial alternatives that are working to bring multimedia into the 21st Century. They typically began in the 1990s and they have expanded to include a variety of types of media like videos, reports websites and alternative internet-based websites that offer video content. Many have become multinational companies and are a crucial element of any democratic media strategy.
Despite the fact that these groups differ in their size, focus and locations, they are united by a noncommercial ethos and opposition to imperialist power systems. These groups promote their beliefs by organising information and communication reform initiatives and promoting an inclusive and equal Internet. They also develop new communications infrastructures to support local connections as well as global developments related to social movements.
The strength of these networks lies by cooperation, which is demonstrated through organizing campaigns for social movements as well as media reform campaigns which adapt information and communication to the benefit of everyone. They are creating a complicated network of transnational, local-local (especially south-south) regional and other links that circumvent the old colonial power dynamics as well as linkages between north and south.
While these international networks are confronted with many obstacles, including insufficient capital and qualified staff they carry on to build regional links and promoting the democratization of reforms in information and communication. They have become an integral part of the fight to improve human rights and environmental sustainability.