(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a Human Rights Watch press release: 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 […]
(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a Human Rights Watch press release:
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 elecommunication 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
, beginning July 8.
Journalists wishing to view the report before that date should request a
printed copy or a password for the web page from Skye Donald at 212/216-1832
or donalds@hrw.org.
