>From NewsHawk: WIRE:04/26/2000 18:14:00 ET Internet censorship threatens free press -report NEW YORK (Reuters) - Censorship of the Internet by governments is spreading and may become a threat to traditional media liberty, a report on press freedom said on Wednesday. "The explosion of news and information on the World Wide Web is tempting governments, developed and developing, politically free and not free, to consider restricting content on the Internet," said the report conducted by human rights group Freedom House. The group's 22nd annual survey of press freedom, entitled "Censor Dot Gov: The Internet and Press Freedom 2000," said governments may use several methods to restrict information on the Internet, including: - Devising Internet-explicit licensing and regulation; - Applying existing restrictive print and broadcast laws to the Web; - Filtering Internet content through control of the servers or using government servers to censor incoming news and information; - Censoring electronic content deemed unacceptable after dissemination. "The independence of the Internet becomes the newest test of a government's will to encourage and sustain a free press," said survey coordinator Leonard Sussman in an essay accompanying the 36-page report. The report said some countries restrict Internet access "on the pretext of protecting the public from subversive ideas or violation of national security." In some parts of Asia, for example, the stated goal of protecting traditional "Asian values" is being used as the pretext to control Internet information and access. In the Middle East Internet censorship is being promoted under the banner of protecting morality, the report said. "Not only countries with records of not free or partly free news media contemplate controlling the Internet. In 1996, the Clinton administration tried to block pornography on the Internet with the Communications Decency Act, but the law was shot down by the Supreme Court," the report said. Citing a report by Reporters Sans Frontieres, it listed Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam as countries that totally or mostly control Internet access. The annual survey, released ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, said 63 percent of the world's countries restrict print and electronic journalists and 80 percent of the world's people live in countries with a less than free press. Globally, only 69 countries have a free press, where the flow of information is unrestricted, 51 have a partly free news media and 66 countries have government control over print and broadcast systems. _________ earthradioTV.com - Alternative News Forum for ecology, politics & consciousness. MIRROR SITES: USA http://www.earthradioTV.com/ CZECH http://mujweb.cz/www/ecologynews/ UK http://members.tripod.co.uk/ecologynews/ USA http://www.geocities.com/ecologynews/ USA http://www.freeyellow.com/members8/ecologynews/ Canada http://www.ecologynews.com/ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html <A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
