7 November 2006
24 hours against Internet censorship launched, list of the 13 Internet
enemies in 2006 published
Click here to combat online censorship now.
http://www.rsf.org/24h/index.php
The online demo is also accessible on a miror Web site, for those who
cannot access www.rsf.org
The list of 13 Internet enemies
Three countries - Nepal, Maldives and Libya - have been removed from the
annual list of Internet enemies, which Reporters Without Borders
publishes today. But many bloggers were harassed and imprisoned this
year in Egypt, so it has been added to the roll of shame reserved for
countries that systematically violate online free expression.
Countries in alphabetical order :
- Belarus
The government has a monopoly of telecommunications and does not
hesitate to block access to opposition websites if it feels the need,
especially at election time. Independent online publications are also
often hacked. In March 2006, for example, several websites critical of
President Alexandre Lukashenko mysteriously disappeared from the
Internet for several days.
- Burma
The Burmese government's Internet policies are even more repressive than
those of its Chinese and Vietnamese neighbours. The military junta
clearly filters opposition websites. It keeps a very close eye on
Internet cafes, in which the computers automatically execute screen
captures every five minutes, in order to monitor user activity. The
authorities targeted Internet telephony and chat services in June,
blocking Google's Gtalk, for example. The aim was two-fold: to defend
the profitable long-distance telecommunications market, which is
controlled by state companies, as well as to stop cyber-dissidents from
using a means of communication that is hard to monitor.
- China
China unquestionably continues to be the world's most advanced country
in Internet filtering. The authorities carefully monitor technological
progress to ensure that no new window of free expression opens up, After
initially targeting websites and chat forums, they nowadays concentrate
on blogs and video exchange sites. China now has nearly 17 million
bloggers. This is an enormous number, but very few of them dare to
tackle sensitive issues, still less criticise government policy.
Firstly, because China's blog tools all include filters that block
"subversive" word strings. Secondly, because the companies operating
these services, both Chinese and foreign, are pressured by the
authorities to control content. They employ armies of moderators to
clean up the content produced by the bloggers. Finally, in a country in
which 52 people are currently in prison for expressing themselves too
freely online, self-censorship is obviously in full force. Just five
years ago, many people thought Chinese society and politics would be
revolutionised by the Internet, a supposedly uncontrollable medium. Now,
with China enjoying increasing geopolitical influence, people are
wondering the opposite, whether perhaps China's Internet model, based on
censorship and surveillance, may one day be imposed on the rest of the
world.
- Cuba
With less than 2 per cent of its population online, Cuba is one of the
most backward Internet countries. An investigation carried out by
Reporters Without Borders in October revealed that the Cuban government
uses several levers to ensure that this medium is not used in a
"counter-revolutionary" way. Firstly, it has more or less banned private
Internet connections. To surf the Internet or check their e-mail, Cubans
have to go to public access points such as Internet cafes, universities
and "youth computer clubs" where their activity is more easily
monitored. Secondly, the computers in all the Internet cafes and leading
hotels contain software installed by the Cuban police that triggers an
alert message whenever "subversive" key-words are spotted. The regime
also ensures that there is no Internet access for dissidents and
independent journalists, for whom communicating with people abroad is an
ordeal. Finally, the government also relies on self-censorship. You can
get 20 years in prison for writing "counter-revolutionary" articles for
foreign websites. You can even get five years just for connecting to the
Internet illegally. Few Internet users dare to run the risk of defying
the regime's censorship.
- Egypt
Aside from a few sites linked to the Muslim Brotherhood's religious
movements, Egypt does little online filtering. But President Hosni
Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981, displays an extremely
disturbing authoritarianism as regards the Internet. Three bloggers were
arrested in June 2006 and were held for two to three months for calling
for democratic reforms. Others have been harassed, such as Coptic
blogger Hela Hemi Botros, who was forced to close down her blog in
August under pressure from the police. Finally, a Council of State
administrative court recently ruled that the authorities could block,
suspend of close down any website likely to pose a threat to "national
security." This could open the way to extensive online censorship.
- Iran
Repression of bloggers seems to have declined in 2006. Whereas around 20
were imprisoned in 2005, only Arash Sigarchi is in jail at the moment.
But Internet filtering has stepped up and Iran today boasts of filtering
10 million "immoral" websites. Pornographic sites, political sites and
those dealing with religion are usually the ones most targeted. But
since the summer of 2006, the censors have concentrated on online
publications dealing with women's rights. The authorities also recently
decided to ban broadband connections. This could be explained by a
concern not to overload the very poor-quality Iranian network, but it
could also be motivated by a desire to prevent the downloading of
Western cultural products such as films and songs.
- North Korea
Like last year, North Korea continues to be the world's worst Internet
black hole. Only a few officials are able to access the web, using
connections rented from China. The country's domain name - .nk - has
still not been launched and the few websites created by the North Korean
government are hosted on servers in Japan or South Korea. It is hard to
believe this is simply the result of economic difficulties in a country
which today is capable of manufacturing nuclear warheads. The North
Korean journalists who have found refuge in South Korea are very active
on the Internet, especially on the www.dailynk.com website.
- Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia does not hide its online censorship. Unlike China, where
website blocking is disguised as technical problems, Saudi Arabia's
filters clearly tell Internet users that certain websites are banned.
Censorship concentrates on pornographic content, but it also targets
opposition websites, Israeli publications, or sites dealing with
homosexuality. Blogs also pose a problem to the Saudi censors. Last year
they tried to completely block access to the country's biggest blog
tool, blogger.com. But they backed off a few days later and now they
just block the blogs that are deemed unacceptable. In June of this year,
for example, the intimate diary of "Saudi Eve," a young woman who dared
to talk about her love life and criticise government censorship, was
added to the blacklist.
- Syria
Syria is the Middle East's biggest prison for cyber-dissidents, with
three people currently detained for criticising the authorities online.
They are systematically tortured and subjected to inhumane conditions.
The government bans access to Arabic-language opposition sites and sites
dealing with Syria's Kurdish minority.
- Tunisia
In 2005, Tunisia had the honour of hosting the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS), a big UN event about the Internet's future.
Yet President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali's Internet policies are among the
most repressive in the world. All the Internet cafes are
state-controlled. They filter web content and are under close police
surveillance. It is, for example, impossible to access the Reporters
Without Borders website from inside Tunisia. The security services also
constantly harass independent bloggers and opposition website editors to
ensure that self-censorship prevails. One cyber-dissident, Mohammed
Abbou, has been imprisoned since March 2005 for criticising the
president in an online newsletter.
- Turkmenistan
With less than 1 per cent of the population online, this is one of the
world's least connected countries. President Separmurad Nyazov is a
central Asian Kim Jong-Il, wielding total control over the media. Not
only is the Turkmen Internet censored, it is also forbidden territory
for the vast majority of the population.
- Uzbekistan
Official censorship seems to have become even tougher since the bloody
crackdown on the pro-democracy protests in Andidjan in May 2005. The
iron-fisted government led by President Islam Karimov blocks access to
most independent websites dealing with Uzbekistan, which are usually
hosted on servers in Russia, and to NGO websites that criticise its
human rights violations.
- Vietnam
The Vietnamese government is negotiating its admission to the World
Trade Organisation and is in the uncomfortable position of being
squeezed by the international community. Unlike neighbouring China, it
is unable to completely ignore the demands of foreign diplomats. It
therefore seems to be tending to soften its control over news and
information, and hesitates to crack down on dissidents. Several
cyber-dissidents, the most famous of whom was Pham Hong Son, were
released in 2005 and 2006. This relative forbearance seems to have
breathed new life into Vietnam's pro-democracy movement, which is making
admirable use of the Internet to organise and circulate
independently-sourced news domestically. A group calling itself "8406"
even launched an online petition in the summer of 2006, signed by
hundreds of people using their real names, calling on the government to
begin political reforms. This use of the Internet by young democrats
alarms the authorities, who are still often ready to use force to
silence these cyber-dissidents. Ten people have been arrested this year
for what they said on the Internet. Four of them are still detained.
Countries removed from the list
- Libya
Reporters Without Borders confirmed, during a fact-finding visit, that
the Internet is no longer censored in Libya. Furthermore, no
cyber-dissident has been detained since Abdel Razak Al Mansuri's release
in March 2006. Reporters Without Borders nonetheless still regards
President Muammar Gaddafi as a press freedom predator.
- Maldives
No cyber-dissident has been imprisoned in the Maldives since Fathimath
Nisreen, Mohamed Zaki and Ahmad Didi were released between May 2005 and
February 2006. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is still viewed by
Reporters Without Borders as a press freedom predator but his policies
towards the Internet no longer justify keeping his country on the list
of Internet enemies.
- Nepal
Reporters Without Borders has observed a marked improvement in freedom
of expression since King Gyanendra backed down and democratic rule was
restored in May 2006. The Internet is no longer censored and no
harassment or arbitrary detention of any blogger has been reported.
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19603
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