IP: Middle East governments restrict Net and stunt growth --report

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 23:47:23 -0400
> From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
>
>
> I wrote about this HRW report; my article is at:
>   http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/20616.html
>
>
> *********
>
> From: goldstr () hrw org
> Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 11:46:41 -0400
> To: <declan () well com>
>
>      Declan--I'd be grateful if you could post this on the politech 
>      listserve. -- Ricky
>      
>      
>      
>      Here is information about a new Human Rights Watch report about
> Internet censorship and regulation in the Mideast and North Africa. 
>      HRW welcomes your comments.
>      
>      ***
>      
>      CENSORSHIP, RESTRICTIONS STUNT INTERNET GROWTH IN MIDEAST RIGHTS GROUP 
>      SURVEYS ONLINE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE REGION
>      
>      (Washington, July 8, 1999) - Censorship, restrictions on access, and 
>      high prices are stunting Internet growth in the Middle East and North 
>      Africa, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The report 
>      charges that in many countries in the region, information cannot be 
>      freely exchanged via the Internet. But the report also said efforts to 
>      block the flow of information online were doomed to fail, and noted 
>      that nearly one million people in the Arab world are already online.
>      
>      While claiming to protect the public from pornography, the governments 
>      of Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Bahrain, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates 
>      also block access to some human rights and political websites. Iraq 
>      and Libya, meanwhile, are not even linked to the global Internet, 
>      while Syria is the only country in the region that has a link but has 
>      refused thus far to make local access available to its citizens. 
>      Tunisia leads the region in adopting Internet-specific laws_many 
>      designed to ensure that critical speech is subjected to the same
> restrictions as in other media. 
>      
>      "Authorities in this region are used to keeping tight reins on the 
>      media, but they cannot control the free-flowing Internet," said Hanny 
>      Megally, Human Rights Watch's executive director for the Middle East 
>      and North Africa. "Instead of erecting barriers that cannot stand for 
>      long, these governments should work to make online communication 
>      widely available." 
>      
>      Many users in the region worry about high-tech surveillance of their 
>      online activities and e-mail correspondence. Such fears are 
>      understandable in a region where the police frequently wiretap the 
>      phones and fax machines of suspected dissidents, and telecommunication 
>      networks are still largely in state hands. In one instance, a Bahraini 
>      spent nearly two years in detention on suspicion of e-mailing 
>      political information to opposition groups overseas. 
>      
>      But the development of tools to protect against censorship and 
>      surveillance online, such as encryption, anonymous re-mailing, 
>      anti-censorship proxy servers, and wireless communications, seems to 
>      be outpacing the technologies of control, noted Human Rights Watch, an 
>      international monitoring organization based in New York.
>      
>      
>      
>      People in the Middle East are already using the Internet to erode 
>      controls on information. Local human rights organizations are
> disseminating news more effectively than ever and newspapers are 
>      posting stories online that were censored from their print editions. 
>      Viewpoints that are restricted or taboo locally_such as pro-Islamist 
>      views in Algeria and pro-Polisario views in Morocco_are readily 
>      available to Internet users in those countries.
>      
>      Not all governments have been actively trying to control the Internet. 
>      Egypt and Jordan are among those that allow news and commentary
> online even when it has been censored or is considered taboo in the 
>      print media. Governments tolerate this paradox in part because the 
>      cost of Internet access_as high as U.S.$70 per month in some 
>      countries_ensures a small and mostly elite audience.
>      
>      "Internet speech may seem low on the human rights agenda in a region 
>      where torture is commonplace and a computer is beyond the means of the 
>      average household," observed Megally. "But the Internet is actually 
>      most important in repressive countries, where people now have the 
>      power to send and receive information."
>      
>      After a slow start, Internet use is growing in the Middle East and 
>      North Africa. Information technology receives much attention from Arab 
>      media and is the subject of frequent conferences. Cybercafés welcome 
>      the public in at least fourteen countries. But the region still lags 
>      far behind North America, South America, Europe and Asia in terms of 
>      connectivity per capita. A shortage of Arabic content and antiquated 
>      telecommunication sectors also hampers Internet growth.
>      
>      In the 92-page survey report issued today, Human Rights Watch unveiled 
>      policy guidelines aimed at protecting the rights to privacy, 
>      association and expression online. Among the recommendations: 
>      Censoring mechanisms, if used, should be in the hands of individual 
>      users, and not governments;
>      Strong encryption should be available to individuals; Government 
>      surveillance of electronic communications should not 
>      infringe unduly on the right to privacy and other civil rights, and 
>      should be subject to the requirements of due process and judicial 
>      supervision; and
>      Individuals should have the right to communicate and receive 
>      information anonymously. 
>      
>      The report, which contains written responses from the governments 
>      of Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Tunisia, and Yemen, is available 
>      online at <http://www.hrw.org/advocacy/internet/ mena/index.htm>. 
>      
>      For information contact: 
>      In Washington: Eric Goldstein 202 612-4326 (English, French) 
>      goldstr () hrw org
>      In New York: Hanny Megally 212-216-1230 (English, Arabic)
> megallh () hrw org
>      In Brussels: Jean-Paul Marthoz 32.2.736.7838 (English, French) 
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology
> To subscribe: send a message to majordomo () vorlon mit edu with this text:
> subscribe politech
> More information is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------