[ Amnesty to target net repression ]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5020788.stm
Internet users are being urged to stand up for online freedoms by backing a new
campaign launched by human rights group Amnesty International.
Amnesty is celebrating 45 years of activism by highlighting governments using
the net to suppress dissent. The campaign will highlight abuses of rights the
net is used for, and push for the release of those jailed for speaking out
online. It will also name hi-tech firms aiding governments that limit online
protests.
[ Pledge bank ]
Called Irrepressible.info, the campaign will revolve around a website with the
same name. While the human rights group has run separate campaigns about web
repression and the jailing of net dissidents before now, Irrepressible.info
will bring them all together.
It aims to throw light on the many different ways that the freedom to use the
net is limited by governments.
For instance, said a spokesman for Amnesty, around the globe net cafes are
being closed down, home PCs are being confiscated, chat in discussion forums is
being watched and blogs are being censored or removed.
[ Internet censorship around the world ]
"The internet has become a new frontier in the struggle for human rights," said
Kate Allen, UK director of Amnesty International. "Its potential to empower and
educate, to allow people to share and mobilise opinion has led to government
crackdowns." Ms Allen added that there were growing numbers of cases in which
those who have turned to the net to discuss change or protest about government
policies have been jailed for what they said.
For instance, she said, Chinese journalist Shi Tao is serving a 10-year jail
sentence for sending an e-mail overseas which detailed the restrictions the
Chinese government wanted to impose on papers writing about the 15th
anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Hi-tech firm Yahoo helped
identify the journalist via his e-mail account. Amnesty is calling for the
jailed journalist to be released immediately.
However Mary Osako, a spokeswoman for Yahoo, said the case was "distressing" to
the firm. "We condemn punishment of any activity internationally recognised as
free expression, whether that punishment takes place in China or anywhere else
in the world," she said. She added the company had received "a valid and legal
demand" for information and responded to it as required by the law.
She went on: "The choice in China or other countries is not whether to comply
with law enforcement demands for information. Rather, the choice is whether or
not to remain in a country.
"We balance the requirement to comply with laws that are not necessarily
consistent with our own values against our strong belief that active
involvement in China contributes to the continued modernization of the country
as well as a benefit to Chinese citizens - through the advancement
of communications, commerce and access to information."
[ Profit and principles ]
The Amnesty campaign will seek to get net users to sign a pledge that opposes
repressive use of the net. The pledges will be collated and presented to a
meeting of the UN's Internet Governance Forum that is due to meet in Athens
in November 2006.
Amnesty wants to get people using an icon in e-mail signatures or on websites
that contains text from censored sites.
The group also wants to run an e-mail campaign to target companies to stop
putting "profit before principles" and respect human rights everywhere they
operate.
Reports will be prepared on those countries that place restrictions on what
can be said online or use it to keep an eye on those expressing discontent.
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