A terrific review of global Net censorship can be found in "Silencing the Net" (Human Rights Watch, 1996). There are some very interesting, and sometimes disturbing, approaches by governments around the world being taken on censorship, and subsequently, freedom of speech.
The Asian regions are active in general on the Net and action on censorship is no less significant. Singapore, a widely cited country with questionable Internet censorship practice, has admitted searching user accounts trying to uncover individuals that downloaded sexual content. Controlling access is their primary method of restriction. Only three Internet service providers are allowed to exist. Singapore actively seeks to stop "misinformation" which includes political discussions not to the governments liking. Even religion is not exempt from the authoritative hand of censorship.
Indonesia has no laws or regulations governing the use of the Internet. The government response to objectionable web sites is to have their own web sites explain opposing opinions. No comments have been found that describe the effectiveness of this approach.
South Korea bans sexually explicit material, "subversive" information (bomb making, drug related, etc.), some software, and according to one source... computer games.
China is seeking to control all incoming traffic into the control and implement restrictions. The reasoning is to stop any action initiated on the Net that "hinders public order." Among other actions, Internet service providers must register with the authorities.
Around the Middle East similar attitudes exist, plus some extra interesting ideas. The first priority seems to be to restrict sex on the Net. Second, political and religious information is monitored, or outright censored. Saudi Arabia states that all communication is subject to inspection. Only hospitals and the government have any access at all. The official policy is to protect people from the harmful effects of pornographic material, and whatever other harmful items are on the Net.
Iran basically has an unregulated Internet, however, one communications company had its service lines cut due to unknown violations. Some private chat lines do maintain their popularity, along with their continued existence.
Iraq also is choosing to vastly limit Internet content. However, like much of the Middle East the infrastructure is still limited.
European Union commissions have proposed limiting sexual content and racist hatred on the net. France has banned specific literary works, particularly those with political leanings. In addition sites with controversial statements (e.g., the holocaust did not happen) are banned.
In the UK there are no explicit Internet laws, yet. They have been using previously written obscenity laws to enforce respectable Internet publishing. Various UK organizations are attempting to initiate voluntary regulation of content on the Internet. The belief is that the only alternative to self-regulation is eventual government control.
Germany instigated the infamous banning of over 200 CompuServe newsgroups that resulted in far more embarrassment for the country than limited access to users. In defense of the officials that tried to impose the ban, they were only trying to comply with existing laws on censorship. This failed ban illustrated the difficulties with regulating the Internet on anything more than a very local level. Latin and South America is generally free from Internet law, where in fact it can be found. Cuba, still without more than email is seeking to implement a full-scale Internet service with plenty of restrictions.
Africa has tremendous hurdles on issues of larger magnitude than censorship before Internet freedom of speech becomes important (e.g., infrastructure, poverty, and literacy). But, the very medium itself may help to propel Africa and its countries to greater heights. Government control and censorship are high in the few countries that have managed a small measure of Internet infrastructure.
Copyright © 1996 Mike McGee, All Rights Reserved
Mike McGee
<mmcgee@vt.edu>
Last modified: Thu Nov 27 13:13:33 1996