After
joint appeal with Amnesty International for an end to online
censorship, Reporters Without Borders issues report on “Enemies of the
Internet”
[rsf.org] Reporters Without Borders today issued a report entitled “Enemies of
the Internet” in which it examines Internet censorship and other
threats to online free expression in 22 countries.
“The 12 ‘Enemies of the Internet’ –
Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria,
Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – have all transformed
their Internet into an Intranet in order to prevent their population
from accessing ‘undesirable’ online information,” Reporters Without
Borders said.
“All these countries distinguish
themselves not only by their ability to censor online news and
information but also by their virtually systematic persecution of
troublesome Internet users,” the press freedom organisation said.
Reporters Without Borders has placed 10 other governments “under
surveillance” for adopting worrying measures that could open the way to
abuses. The organisation draws particular attention to Australia and
South Korea, where recent measures may endanger online free expression.
“Not only is the Internet more and more
controlled, but new forms of censorship are emerging based on the
manipulation of information,” Reporters Without Borders said.
“Orchestrating the posting of comments on popular websites or
organising hacker attacks is also used by repressive regimes to
scramble or jam online content.”
A total of 70 cyber-dissidents are
currently detained because of what they posted online. China is the
world’s biggest prison for cyber-dissidents, followed by Vietnam and
Iran.
