President Obama’s call for the easing of China’s internet restrictions yesterday was predictably blocked by Chinese censors.
[log in to unmask]" type="cite">Thanks for forwarding this story, Fouad. I was very disappointed to hear the UN Security Forces were being used to remove unsanctioned content from the meeting. However, I'm not there, and am very keen to hear from those who were present at this incident more facts and impressions about what actually happened and why, as there are conflicting reports, and this is a very serious incident.
Thanks,Robin
On Nov 16, 2009, at 1:11 AM, Fouad Bajwa wrote:
Forwarded for information:
IGF 2009 event rattled by UN Security Office:
"If we cannot discuss topics about Internet censorship andsurveillance policy at a forum about Internet governance then what isthe point of something like the IGF," said Ron Deibert, director ofthe Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre forInternational Studies and one of ONI's principal investigators.By Rabia Garib
KARACHI, 15 NOVEMBER 2009 - An anti-censorship group holding an eventSunday at the United Nations-sponsored Internet Governance Forum (IGF)in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, was disrupted by UN officials who demandedremoval of a poster that mentioned Internet firewalls in China.
According to a Pakistani delegate, Shahzad Ahmed of Bytesforall.net, areception hosted by Open Net Initiative (ONI) was rattled by IGFsecurity, who objected to a poster advertising "Access Controlled", abook being introduced at the event. "The poster was thrown on thefloor and we were told to remove it because of the reference to Chinaand Tibet. We refused, and security guards came and removed it. Theincident was witnessed by many," Ahmed reported.
The poster promoting ONI's forthcoming book, "Access Controlled" wasremoved by the IGF's organizers because a sentence in the posterapparently violated UN policy. The sentence in question reads, "Thefirst generation of Internet controls consisted largely of buildingfirewalls at key Internet gateways; China's famous "Great Firewall ofChina" is one of the first national Internet filtering systems."
"If we cannot discuss topics about Internet censorship andsurveillance policy at a forum about Internet governance then what isthe point of something like the IGF," said Ron Deibert, director ofthe Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre forInternational Studies and one of ONI's principal investigators.
Deibert, one of the organizers of the reception, said he will file acomplaint against the censorship of the event and send it to theUnited Nations Human Rights Commission.
"We condemn this undemocratic act of censoring our event just becausesomeone is trying to impress or be in the good graces of the Chinesegovernment. It is ironic that while people are allowed to gather hereto discuss freedom of expression online, censorship and surveillancepractices on the Internet, we are being restricted in expressing ourviews," said Al Alegre of the Foundation for Media Alternatives, amember of the ONI Network.
--Regards.--------------------------Fouad BajwaAdvisor & ResearcherICT4D & Internet GovernanceMember Multistakeholder Advisory Group (IGF)Member Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus (IGC)My Blog: Internet's GovernanceFollow my Tweets:MAG Interview:
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