NEWS - The Twenty Enemies of the I

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Subject: NEWS  - The Twenty Enemies of the Internet

The Twenty Enemies of the Internet

Toronto (The International Freedom Of Expression Exchange, August 9,
1999) - The following document was released by the Reporters sans
frontieres (RSF), Paris: Forty-five countries restrict their citizens'
access to the internet - usually by forcing them to subscribe to a
state-run Internet Service Provider (ISP). 

Twenty of these countries may be described as real enemies of this new
means of communication. On the pretext of protecting the public from
"subversive ideas" or defending "national security and unity", some
governments totally prevent their citizens from gaining access to the
internet. Others control a single ISP or even several, installing
filters blocking access to web sites regarded as unsuitable and
sometimes forcing users to officially register with the authorities. 

The internet is a two-edged sword for authoritarian regimes. On the one
hand, it enables any citizen to enjoy an unprecedented degree of freedom
of speech and therefore constitutes a threat to the government. On the
other, however, the internet is a major factor in economic growth, due
in particular to online trade and the exchange of technical and
scientific information, which prompts some of these governments to
support its spread. The economic argument seems to be winning the day in
countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, where controlling "dangerous"
sites is proving difficult for the authorities. Moreover, web surfers
can find ways round censorship: encoding, going through servers that
offer anonymity when consulting banned sites or sending email,
connecting via GSM telephones and cellphones, and so on. 

Reporters Sans Frontieres has selected 20 countries that it regards as
enemies of the internet because they control access totally or
partially, have censored web sites or taken action against users. They
are: the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus (Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan),
Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Saudi
Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Vietnam. 

Belarus In line with its repressive attitude towards other media,
Alexander Lukashenka's government does not leave its citizens free to
explore the internet independently. Access is supplied by a single ISP,
Belpak, which belongs to the state. 

Burma Censorship is total, due to a state monopoly on access. In
addition, a law passed in September 1996 obliges anyone who owns a
computer to declare it to the government. Those who fail to comply may
face up to 15 years in prison. 

Central Asia and the Caucasus In most of these countries, the
authorities control or restrict internet access. In Tajikistan, a single
ISP, Telecom Technologies, owned by the government, offers web access -
and only in the capital, Dushanbe. Turkmenistan, a "black hole" where
information is concerned, offers even more restricted access. Although
there are privately owned ISPs in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, their
operations are controlled by the telecommunications ministry, which is
responsible for chastising those who speak out against the government.
In Kazakhstan, and to a lesser extent in Kirghizia, the authorities
demand prohibitively expensive usage and connection fees from private
ISPs. 

China Although internet use is spreading rapidly, the government is
trying to keep up pressure on users. They are closely monitored and are
supposed to register with the authorities. In January 1999 a computer
technician, Lin Hai, was sentenced to two years in prison by a Shanghai
court for giving the email addresses of 30,000 Chinese subscribers to a
dissident site that publishes an online magazine from the United States.
Meanwhile officials fearing disturbances as the tenth anniversary of the
Tiananmen massacre (4 June 1999) drew near ordered the closure of 300
cybercafes in Shanghai, on the pretext that they did not have the
necessary authorisation. 

In order to prevent the Chinese from finding information on the web, the
authorities have blocked access to some sites. This happened to the BBC
in October 1998. Zhang Weiguo, editor of the New Century Net
(www.ncn.org) site, in Chinese, launched in the United States in 1996,
estimates that it takes two months on average for the Chinese
authorities to track down the relay server of a site and block access to
it. The sites then change their address. Some censored pages are
distributed by email, like underground newspapers that are photocopied
and passed around secretly. 

Cuba The government controls the internet, just as it does other media.
There is no free expression in Cuba at the national level. About ten
independent - and illegal - news agencies such as Cubanet and Cuba Free
Press telephone reports to organisations based in Miami which publish
them on their web pages. But this news is still the subject of
repression: in October 1998, a foreign ministry official filed a
complaint for "insult" against Mario Viera, of the independent agency
Cuba Verdad, following publication of an article criticising him on the
US-based Cubanet site. The journalist is still awaiting trial, and faces
an 18-month prison sentence if convicted. 

Iran Censorship of the internet is identical to that affecting other
media and covers the same subjects: sexuality, religion, criticism of
the Islamic Republic, any mention of Israel, the United States, and so
on. Because of the filters put in place by the authorities, access to
some sites is banned: medical students are denied access to web pages
that deal with anatomy, for instance. 

Iraq People in Baghdad have no direct access to the internet. Web sites
of the official press and certain ministries are maintained by servers
based in Jordan. In any case, because of the embargo very few people own
computers. 

Libya It is impossible to explore the web from Libya. The government
carefully keeps the population away from international information
networks with the aim of maintaining control of their minds. 

North Korea People in Pyongyang cannot access the internet. The
government deliberately prevents the population from seeing any news
other than its own propaganda. The few official sites aimed at
foreigners (the national news agency, newspapers and ministries) are
maintained by servers located in Japan. 

Saudi Arabia Even though 37 private companies have been given permission
to operate as ISPs, all traffic at the moment goes through the servers
of the Science and Technology Centre, a public body, which is equipped
with filters banning access to sites that provide "information contrary
to Islamic values". The internet is officially regarded as "a harmful
force for westernising people's minds". 

Sierra Leone As part of their repression of the opposition press, the
authorities have also attacked an online newspaper. In June 1999, two
journalists from the daily The Independent Observer, Abdul Rhaman Swaray
and Jonathan Leigh, were arrested. They were accused in particular of
collaborating with the online newspaper "Ninjas", which is published on
a site based abroad (www.sierra-leone.cc) by journalists who have gone
into hiding. 

Sudan Through Sudanet, the only ISP, the state controls the few
connections to the internet possible in this country where freedom of
expression is often suppressed. 

Syria Internet access is officially banned to individuals. Offenders may
face a prison sentence, just as they may for "unauthorised" contacts
with foreigners. Only official organisations are allowed access to the
internet through the public telecommunications authority, whose ISP
maintains web sites for state newspapers, the national news agency and a
few ministries. 

Tunisia The Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) controls the two privately
owned ISPs, which are in fact connected with the authorities: one is run
by President Ben Ali's daughter and the second by another person close
to the government. Their central servers control the access of certain
users. In November 1998, following publication by Amnesty International
of a report on human rights violations, a web site with the address
www.amnesty-tunisia.org, deliberately designed to create confusion with
the non-government organisation, praised the president's work for human
rights. The director of the public relations agency that launched the
site - one of whose biggest customers is the Tunisian government -
claimed that he was merely coming to the country's defence. Meanwhile,
access to Amnesty International's official site was blocked by the
authorities. 

Vietnam Anyone who wants to access the internet has to ask for
permission from the interior ministry and sign up with one of the two
state-owned ISPs. Access is blocked to sites maintained by Vietnamese
organisations based abroad and international human rights organisations.
On 9 June, the Police Ministry ordered the post office to cancel the
journalist Nguyen Dan Que's Internet account, after this former
political prisoner had released a communique through the Internet
calling for freedom a month earlier. 

Recommendations Reporters Sans Frontieres calls on the governments of
these 20 countries to immediately: 

- abolish the state monopoly on internet access and, where appropriate, 
stop controlling private ISPs, - cancel the obligation for citizens to
register with the government before obtaining internet access, - abolish
censorship through the use of filters, and stop blocking access to
certain sites maintained by foreign servers, - protect the
confidentiality of internet exchanges, particularly by lifting controls
on electronic mail, - call off the legal proceedings undertaken against
internet users who have done no more than exercise their right to
freedom of expression. 

Reporters Sans Frontieres calls on Burma, China, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Saudi
Arabia and Tajikistan to ratify and enforce the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, Article 19 of which stipulates that
"everyone shall have the right (...) to receive and impart information
and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers (...)". 

The organisation also asks those states that have signed the covenant
(Azerbaijan, Belarus, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Libya, North
Korea, Uzbekistan, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Vietnam) to
respect the undertakings they made by doing so. 

The press release "The twenty enemies of the Internet" can be found on
RSF's Web site: http://www.rsf.fr 

The information contained in this press release is the sole
responsibility of Distributed by The International Freedom Of Expression
Exchange Clearing House, 489 College St. Suite 403, Toronto, Ontario M6G
1A5 CANADA, tel: +1 416 515 9622, fax: +1 416 515 7879, e-mail:
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