The Internet and human rights

The initial grace period in which Internet users enjoyed complete freedom, while the authorities caught up with the technology, has ended.

While it may be easier to disseminate and receive diverse information, the Internet itself is also subject to censorship, often by countries with political objectives in mind. Governments are increasingly monitoring Web, e-mail and blog use, censoring and prosecuting their citizens for expressing their opinions online.

Internet repression is reported in countries like China, Vietnam, Tunisia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria. People are persecuted and imprisoned simply for criticising their government, calling for democracy and greater press freedom, or exposing human rights abuses online.

The most recent example is that of Fr Nguyen Van Ly, a 60-year-old Catholic priest from Vietnam, who helped set up an Internet petition calling for democratic change. Fr Ly was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment on March 30 for "conducting propaganda" against the state. His four associates were also sentenced.

The politically motivated charges against Fr Ly and his associates are a blatant attempt to silence them and to scare off other critics of the government. Amnesty International considers Fr Ly to be a prisoner of conscience.

A little closer to home, Karim Amer, an Egyptian blogger, was sentenced to four years in prison earlier this year on charges of insulting Islam, defaming the President, and "spreading information disruptive of the public order". Following a complaint filed by his university, the 22-year-old appeared before a public prosecutor on November 7 to answer charges related to items he wrote on his blog criticising Islam, the authorities at Al-Azhar, and President Hosni Mubarak. According to reporters who attended the hearing, the judge issued the verdict in a five-minute session.

The list of prisoners of conscience locked up for expressing what they believe in is endless. While in some countries we have a world of knowledge at our fingertips, in other countries this freedom is greatly repressed.

In oppressive societies, the Internet has given people unparalleled opportunities to communicate with each other and to learn in ways that their governments forbid. However, undemocratic governments are now turning the tables on their citizens, making Internet and technology companies allies in their repression.

China, for example, has pressured Yahoo to turn over to its secret police the names of political dissidents who send sensitive information over e-mail. China has also convinced Microsoft to shut down Internet blogs in which Chinese users were criticising their government, and persuaded Google to censor sites that divulge democratic ideas. Chinese citizens using Google now cannot even learn about human rights information and democracy over the Internet, as they cannot access the sites.

Internet companies argue that people in closed societies such as China are better off if US companies are there to influence the development of this medium. This may not be such a bad thing; however, the companies need to set a higher standard of privacy and freedom of expression than do local providers in these societies. Thus far, the leading US companies are not doing so.

While the Internet has brought freedom of expression for millions, it has led to imprisonment and repression for others. Amnesty International (AI) launched a campaign to show that online or offline, the human voice and human rights are impossible to repress.

Basically, AI is using the Internet to counteract by enabling ordinary people to take action online to oppose this oppression. To learn more or join this campaign visit www.irrepressible.info and make the world listen to what you have to say.

Ms Abela is PRO, Amnesty International Malta Group