ROG: List of "enemies of the Internet" published
The organization Reporters Without Borders (ROG), on the occasion of the third "World Day against Internet Censorship" on March 12, has put ten countries on the list of "Enemies of the Internet". 16 states - among them France - are "Under Observation".
ROG has declared ten states to be "enemies of the Internet". As in the two previous years, the list includes Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. According to the ROG report, these states censor the Internet through massive filtering and blocking of websites, systematically persecute critical Internet users and instrumentalize the Net for propaganda purposes. Tunisia and Egypt are no longer among the "enemies of the Internet" following the revolutionary upheavals, but they remain "under observation.
In addition to Tunisia and Egypt, ROG has placed 14 other countries "under observation". These are countries that have taken "disturbing censorship measures that could easily be abused." Newly "Under Observation" are France, Libya and Venezuela. France is on the list because of the new online law package "Loppsi 2" ("Loi d'orientation et de programmation pour la performance de la sécurité intérieure") passed in February 2011. Among other things, this allows the Ministry of the Interior to instruct providers to filter their customers' websites for pedophile content without a court order. The keywords for this are selected by a government authority without control by a court. In Libya, the regime under Muammar al-Gaddafi pushed Internet censorship in the wake of protests in Tunisia and Egypt. In Venezuela, too, a new Internet law passed in late 2010 could lead to tighter online censorship, the organization said. In recent months, a number of blogs have already been blocked and some Internet users arrested.
On the "World Day against Internet Censorship," however, ROG also draws attention to positive developments. Online platforms, micro-blogging services and social networking sites have established themselves as instruments of protest, political campaigns and the dissemination of independent information, the organization says. The events in Tunisia and Egypt in particular proved this, it said. Traditional media and online media are increasingly in a complementary relationship and support each other, it said. At the same time, cross-border solidarity among Internet activists is growing.
Click here for the ROG report.
