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IGF 2009 event rattled by UN Security Office:
"If we cannot discuss topics about Internet censorship and
surveillance policy at a forum about Internet governance then what is
the point of something like the IGF," said Ron Deibert, director of
the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for
International Studies and one of ONI's principal investigators.
By Rabia Garib
KARACHI, 15 NOVEMBER 2009 - An anti-censorship group holding an event
Sunday at the United Nations-sponsored Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, was disrupted by UN officials who demanded
removal of a poster that mentioned Internet firewalls in China.
According to a Pakistani delegate, Shahzad Ahmed of Bytesforall.net, a
reception hosted by Open Net Initiative (ONI) was rattled by IGF
security, who objected to a poster advertising "Access Controlled", a
book being introduced at the event. "The poster was thrown on the
floor and we were told to remove it because of the reference to China
and Tibet. We refused, and security guards came and removed it. The
incident was witnessed by many," Ahmed reported.
The poster promoting ONI's forthcoming book, "Access Controlled" was
removed by the IGF's organizers because a sentence in the poster
apparently violated UN policy. The sentence in question reads, "The
first generation of Internet controls consisted largely of building
firewalls at key Internet gateways; China's famous "Great Firewall of
China" is one of the first national Internet filtering systems."
"If we cannot discuss topics about Internet censorship and
surveillance policy at a forum about Internet governance then what is
the point of something like the IGF," said Ron Deibert, director of
the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for
International Studies and one of ONI's principal investigators.
Deibert, one of the organizers of the reception, said he will file a
complaint against the censorship of the event and send it to the
United Nations Human Rights Commission.
"We condemn this undemocratic act of censoring our event just because
someone is trying to impress or be in the good graces of the Chinese
government. It is ironic that while people are allowed to gather here
to discuss freedom of expression online, censorship and surveillance
practices on the Internet, we are being restricted in expressing our
views," said Al Alegre of the Foundation for Media Alternatives, a
member of the ONI Network.
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Regards.
--------------------------
Fouad Bajwa
Advisor & Researcher
ICT4D & Internet Governance
Member Multistakeholder Advisory Group (IGF)
Member Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus (IGC)
My Blog: Internet's Governance
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