International alternative networks are non-commercial agencies which keep up with the advancement of media and information in their respective countries. They are not imperialist structures that are internalized. They are independent noncommercial options that aim to bring multimedia into the 21st century. They generally began out in the 1990s but have expanded to encompass a variety of types of media, including video tutorials, reports sites and alternative web-based websites that offer video content. Many have morphed into multinational businesses and they constitute a key element of any democratic media strategy.
These groups are united by their non-commercial ethos, and opposition to the imperialist system of power. They promote their ideas by organizing information and communications reform initiatives and promoting a more inclusive and egalitarian Internet. They also build new communication infrastructures to facilitate local connections regional and global developments relating to social movements.
The strength of these networks lies by cooperation, which is demonstrated through organizing campaigns for social movements and media reform campaigns that adapt information and communication to benefit everyone. They are forming a complex lattice of regional, local (especially south-south) and transnational connections that bypass the old colonial links between north and south as well as power dynamics.
While these international networks face many obstacles, like insufficient capital or competent staff, they continue to establish regional links as well as promoting the democratization process of information and communication reforms. They have become an integral element in the fight to achieve greater sustainable development and human rights.