The Internet on probation

Reporters Without Borders has presented the report The Internet on probation that highlights the serious battering the Internet has suffered since the 11 September attacks in the United States.

According to the report, the countries traditionally hostile to human rights and freedom of expression (China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, etc.) have taken advantage of the international drive against terrorism to strengthen the police and legal machinery they have installed to put the Internet under surveillance. They are also using it to step up pressure on cyber-dissidents.

Robert Ménard, the organisation's secretary-general, said in the presentation of the report that the situation was especially disturbing because, apart from countries traditionally hostile to human rights, Western democracies were now posing a "new threat" to citizens' freedoms with an arsenal of new security measures.

The report cites the major steps taken in the drive against Internet freedoms over the past year. These include the UN Security Council Resolution 1373/2001 on fighting terrorism; the USA Patriot Act, passed by the US Congress; and the revision of the European Directive on privacy and electronic communications); and various other laws passed by parliaments in the United State, Canada, India, Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Denmark.

As for Spain, the report cites the LSSICE, norm that some legal experts consider that violates liberties recongised by the Constitution, as described in the recent report Everything about the new Internet law by BalearWeb.

Photo © Archive BalearWeb

Date of publication: 14/09/2002

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