Text 28906, 66 rader
Skriven 2007-05-26 22:51:30 av Mimi Gallandt (1:123/789.0)
Ärende: Internet Censorship Spreading
=====================================
I ran across this blog, linked from a true crime blog I read, by a GI stationed
in Iraq and there are two articles there that I thought you guys would like,
this is the first one:

Internet Censorship Spreading

According to a group called the "Open Net Initiative", government filtering of
internet content is at a higher level than ever before. A similar report by
Reporters Without Borders was released a year ago. From ONI:

    Countries which carry out the broadest range of filtering included Burma,
Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and
Yemen, the study said.

Do you see a common theme among these nations? So do I. Interestingly, the BBC
failed to mention the connection with Islam. On this list, Burma is the only
one that is not a majority Muslim nation (although they are a minority). It's
also disturbing that the list includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are
supposed to be our allies in the war on terror. Somehow, I don't feel a high
level of confidence in an ally that feels it needs to rigidly control
information to maintain its existence.

Anyway, if you are a Westerner, you might think why should I care? What
difference does it make if Iran decides to block the Mohammed Cartoons or porno
sites?

Here's why:

    The filtering had three primary rationales, according to the report:
politics and power, security concerns and social norms.

    The report said: "In a growing number of states around the world, internet
filtering has huge implications for how connected citizens will be to the
events unfolding around them, to their own cultures, and to other cultures and
shared knowledge around the world."

In other words, nations which filter content are only getting half the picture
on their TV, newspapers, and now internet. This means that these countries are
reporting on corruption in Western Nations (but not their own), about Israeli
air strikes in Gaza (but not the Hamas rocket attacks), and about human rights
violations against Muslims in the West (but nothing about the abysmal status of
women's rights in the Middle East). Many people around the world are getting a
skewed picture of the West, particularly of the US, UK, and Israel, which makes
it much more difficult to negotiate peace, or find a lasting common ground.

There are several rumors that constantly run rampant through the Islamic world,
and the media there does little to dispel them; for example I have run into
educated Arabs that believed the Jews control everything in America, that the
CIA engineered 9/11, that the US is in the Middle East only for oil, and that
women can't control their sexual urges (don't I wish...!)

More at:
http://shieldofachilles.blogspot.com/2007/05/internet-censorship-spreading.html


-- 
"For violence and hurt tangle every man in their toils,
and for the most part fall on the head of him from whom
they had their rise; nor is it easy for one who by his
act breaks the common pact of peace to lead a calm
and quiet life."

Lucretius on the Nature of Things.

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