Access to new technologies a human right – Amnesty

Unfettered access to new media, which has been restricted by some states including China and Iran, should be a human right, Amnesty International secretary general Salil Shetty said. “The time has come to consider access to new media, and their use, a human right,” Mr Shetty told a press conference in Montreal.

He underscored the role of new media technologies in ousting the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, while warning of their use to help cement state power by China and Iran, which he said have poured “considerable resources into pro-government blogs.”

Denouncing state censorship, he said dozens of governments have adopted China’s model for controlling the internet, allowing for economic growth but not freedom of expression.

He said bloggers in the Middle East, Azerbaijan, Cuba, China, Malaysia and Vietnam had been thrown in jail under false accusations.

He also expressed “grave concern” over threats to liberties in the United States over an investigation into Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange.