Report finds online censorship more sophisticated
By ANICK JESDANUN
AP Technology Writer
NEW YORK -- Repressive regimes have stepped up efforts to censor the
Internet and jail dissidents, Reporters Without Borders said in a study
out Thursday.
China, Iran and Tunisia, which are on the group's "Enemies of the
Internet" list, got more sophisticated at censorship and overcoming
dissidents' attempts to communicate online, said Reporters Without
Borders' Washington director, Clothilde Le Coz.
Meanwhile, Turkey and Russia found themselves on the group's "Under
Surveillance" list of nations in danger of making the main enemies list.
Although Zimbabwe and Yemen dropped from the surveillance list, that was
primarily because the Internet isn't used much in either country, rather
than because of changes by the governments, Le Coz said.
Reporters Without Borders issued the third annual report ahead of
Friday's World Day Against Cyber Censorship, an awareness campaign
organized by the Paris-based media advocacy group.
Le Coz said repressive regimes seemed to be winning a technological
tussle with dissidents who try to circumvent online restrictions. She
said some U.S. technology companies have been aiding the regimes by
selling products that could be used for such censorship, or by
cooperating with authorities and requests for censorship.
Companies she cited include Cisco Systems Inc., which has been
criticized by activists who say that it sells networking equipment that
could be used in official efforts to monitor and control Internet use.
In a statement Thursday, the company reiterated that it does not provide
any government with any special capabilities, and said products sold in
China are the same ones sold elsewhere.
Reporters Without Borders said it was optimistic about Google Inc.'s
public threats to leave China if the Silicon Valley powerhouse cannot
reach a deal that lets the company offer search results there free of
censorship.
"A year from now, I would be happy to tell you that Google opened the
path," Le Coz said. "That's a bit idealistic."
In fact, she worries that more democratic nations would be joining the list.
Australia is among the countries under the group's surveillance for its
efforts to require Internet service providers to block sites that the
government deems inappropriate, including child pornography and
instructions in crime or drug use. Critics are worried that the list of
sites to be blocked and the reasons for doing so would be kept secret,
opening the possibility that legitimate sites might be censored.
In Russia, newly added to the watch list, politically active bloggers
have been increasingly arrested, Reporters Without Borders said. In
Turkey, several sites, including the video-sharing service YouTube, have
been blocked.
China and Tunisia, meanwhile, have employed increasingly sophisticated
filtering, while Iran stepped up its Internet crackdown and surveillance
amid a disputed presidential election last summer. Countries such as
China have defended their Internet practices and accused critics in the
U.S. in particular of "information imperialism."
Joining those three countries on the main enemies list are Cuba, Egypt,
Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and
Vietnam.
Report finds online censorship more sophisticated - Technology -
MiamiHerald.com (11 March 2010)
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/11/1524567/report-finds-online-censorship.html
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