An interesting article on BBC News today…
A list of 13 “enemies of the internet” has been released by human rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF). For the first time, Egypt has been added to the list while Nepal, Libya and the Maldives have all been removed.
The list consists of countries that RSF believes are suppressing freedom of expression on the internet. The civil liberties pressure group has organised a 24-hour protest, inviting web users to vote for the worst offending countries.
The Blacklist:
Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam
…Egypt is a new entrant and has been shortlisted for its attitude to bloggers rather than specific web censorship, said RSF.
“Three bloggers have been arrested and detained this year for speaking out in favour of democratic reform. This is an appeal to the Egyptian government to change its position,” said the RSF spokesman.
“The fact that this year we have removed three countries from the list is encouraging. It shows that the situation can change for the better,” he added.
On a visit to Libya, Reporters Without Borders found that the Libyan internet was no longer censored although it still considers President Maummar Gaddafi to be a “predator of press freedom”. [You can criticize Allah but not Gaddafi]
In some cities around the world today a gigantic map of Internet Black holes are being projected to spread the message. Check it out here. Also, if you haven’t already, read the handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents.