FITUG e.V.

Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft

Freedom House: As Internet Grows, Censorship Follows

http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905355747&rel=true


Freedom House: As Internet Grows, Censorship Follows

Apr 28 2000: Government censorship of Internet sites is increasing, according to a new report from the human rights group Freedom House.

The report, “Censor Dot Gov: The Internet and Press Freedom 2000”, says that as the World Wide Web develops at an exponential rate, governments in many countries, both developed and developing, are increasingly tempted to censor online information.

Only 69 of the countries studied have a completely free media, while 51 have a partly free media and 66 countries suffer heavy government censorship.

Censorship methods include implementing licensing and regulation laws, applying existing print and broadcast restrictions to the Internet, filtering content and direct censoring after dissemination.

In Asia and the Middle East, governments frequently cite protection of morality and local values as reasons for censorship.

Countries where Internet access is mostly or totally controlled by the authorities include Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The report also points out that even the US government unsuccessfully tried to control access to certain Internet sites with the Communications Decency Act in 1996.


See also:

http://www.freedomhouse.org/pfs2000

Zurück