08 November 2006
Press Group Cites 13 Countries for Restricting Online Free Expression
State Department official details U.S. support for free flow of information
Washington -- A Paris-based global press freedom advocacy group has released a new list of countries that it calls "enemies" of the Internet for "systematically" violating online free expression.
China, Cuba, Iran and North Korea are among the 13 countries that have been listed on the press group's 2006 "roll of shame."
In detailing its denunciations, Reporters Without Borders said China made the list for being "unquestionably" the world's "most advanced country in Internet filtering." Chinese authorities, said the group, "carefully monitor technological progress to ensure that no new window of free expression opens up."
After initially targeting Web sites and "chat forums," the Chinese authorities are said to now concentrate on blogs and video exchange sites. China has nearly 17 million bloggers, "but very few of them dare to tackle sensitive issues, still less criticize" Chinese government policy, said Reporters Without Borders.
The group said 52 people in China are currently in prison for expressing themselves too freely online, and "self-censorship is obviously in full force." Originally, it was thought the Internet would revolutionize Chinese society and politics, but now, with China "enjoying increasing geopolitical influence,” Reporters Without Borders expressed concern that China's Internet model, based on censorship and surveillance, "may one day be imposed on the rest of the world."
Another press advocacy group, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, also has condemned China's repressive policy against Internet freedom. The latest example of this human rights abuse, said the group, is the two-year prison sentence given October 25 to Internet writer Li Jianping of China, more than six months after the Chinese government tried him on charges of "inciting subversion of state authority." (See related article).
Reporters Without Borders said Cuba made its enemies list because the Cuban government uses several "levers" to ensure that the Internet is not used in a "counter-revolutionary way." 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 can be monitored, because private Internet connections in Cuba are "more or less banned."
Reporters Without Borders also said the Cuban regime prevents Internet access for dissidents and independent journalists, "for whom communicating with people abroad is an ordeal."
Regarding Iran, the press group said Internet filtering in that country has stepped up and the Iranian authorities boast of filtering 10 million "immoral" Web sites. Reporters Without Borders said the Iranian authorities also decided recently to ban broadband connections (telecommunication in which a wide band of frequencies is available to transmit information).
Meanwhile, North Korea ranks as the world's worst Internet "black hole," said Reporters Without Borders, with only a few government officials able to access the Internet, using connections from China.
The list of Internet enemies comes in the wake of a November 6 statement by U.S. State Department official David Gross that the Bush administration has contributed in the past three years over $250 million directly to projects in developing countries aimed at expanding access to information and communications technology networks (ICTs) and promoting the free flow of information.
As an example of these projects, Gross said the administration's Digital Freedom Initiative has brought together the U.S. government, the private sector, nonprofits and universities to build technical capacity, empower people, and spur economic growth through greater use of ICTs. In 2007, the administration has pledged to work to increase broadband connectivity, connecting rural areas and universities to allow voice and data transmission across nations, said Gross, who is the department's coordinator for international communications and information policy in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. (See related article.)
Speaking at the International Telecommunication Union Conference in Antalya, Turkey, Gross said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that "everyone has the right to information, to freedom of opinion and expression," with "the right to freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers."
"It is our responsibility to see that these words -- and this promise -- are brought into reality," Gross said.
The full text of Gross’ statement is available on the State Department Web site.
The full text of Reporters Without Borders list of Internet enemies is available on the organization’s Web site.
For more information, see Internet Freedom.
