|
MONTEVIDEO,
Uruguay -- April 4 - APC opposes actions against the online
presence of Al-Jazeera. The Internet must be allowed to freely
perform its unique and vital role as a promoter of "freedom
of expression" and content diversity, especially in times
of conflict.
APC opposes
censorship on the Internet and states in its Internet Rights
Charter[1] that "the Internet must be protected from all
attempts to censor social and political debate". The Internet
Rights Charter argues that "the Internet is an ideal space
for the recording and promotion of culturally and politically
diverse content".
This is
consistent with Article 19 of the UN International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights[2] which states that the right
to freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to
seek, receive and impart information is a recognised human right
and must be protected.
The Case
of the Al-Jazeera Website:
APC is concerned
to note that a prominent online Middle Eastern news and information
source - the Al-Jazeera website - has been the target of hacker
attacks, domain name hijacking and the withdrawal of hosting
services all within the first few weeks of the war on Iraq led
by the United States.
Called "an
unusually independent voice in the Arab world" by the Associated
Press wire service, the Al-Jazeera satellite TV network launched
its English-language web site on Monday March 24, attracting
significant media coverage.
However,
instead of news articles from an Arab perspective, visitors
to the Al-Jazeera website on Thursday March 27 were greeted
by the image of the United States' flag and a message proclaiming
"Let Freedom Ring". The Al-Jazeera website address
www.al-jazeera.net
had been hijacked so that visitors who attempted to read either
the English or Arab language sites were unable to do so as their
browsers were automatically "redirected" to the pro-U.S.
page.
Al-Jazeera
has also had to contend with denial of service (DOS) attacks
from so-called "patriotic" hackers. These attacks
artificially increase the levels of visitor traffic to a site
until the server hosting the site cannot cope with the traffic
any longer and crashes, knocking the site offline.
Al-Jazeera's
US-based Internet service provider has also just cancelled their
contract with Al-Jazeera. It is understood that Al-Jazeera has
found a new provider in Europe, however in the meantime on April
2 (the estimated date of the contract cancellation) the Al-Jazeera
sites were unreachable.
The computer
hacks, online vandalism and the canceling of Al-Jazeera's web
hosting contract all interfere with the UN declared right to
"receive and impart information and ideas through any media
and regardless of frontiers".
Diversifying
our News and Information Sources:
The Internet
is a valuable tool for the diversification of media sources,
especially for citizens of the countries that make up the invading
coalition forces.
"One
could watch the US television networks around the clock for
a week and not realise the extent of public opposition and disquiet
[to the war] … Why is the unease and disaffection of the
American public so invisible? The answer is that it's only invisible
if you're looking for it in the mainstream media. It's there
all right - but it's on the net," wrote John Naughton of
the British newspaper, the Observer[3].
In the second
week of the war, the most searched on word in various search
engines was "Al-Jazeera" and other variants. A considerable
number of subscribers have joined their English language news
service and North American readers in huge numbers are actively
seeking outside media sources on the war, according to a study
by the Pew Internet and American Life project[4].
As online
information and communication pioneers, APC and APC members
- groups which have facilitated the use of the Internet for
social justice, development and peace to civil society since
the late 1980s - believe that the Internet must be allowed to
freely perform its unique and vital role as a promoter of "freedom
of expression" and a multiplier and diversifier of information
sources, especially in times of conflict.
English
Language Information Resources from the Arab-Speaking World:
Besides
Al-Jazeera, there are several English-language news sites that
present an Arab perspective. Ra'ida Al-Zubi, member of the APC
Women's Networking Support Programme recommends Al-Hayat (http://english.daralhayat.com),
The Jordan Times (www.jordantimes.com)
and Lebanon's Daily Star (www.dailystar.com.lb).
An Arabic-English translation tool which translates web pages
for a fee is considered the best Arabic translation tool online
(http://tarjim.ajeeb.com/ajeeb/default.asp?lang=1).
[1] http://rights.apc.org/charter.shtml#2
[2] http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cpr.html
[3] http://www.observer.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,925333,00.html
[4] http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=87
The Association
for Progressive Communications (APC) is an international network
of civil society organisations dedicated to empowering and supporting
groups and individuals through the strategic use of information
and communication technologies (ICTs), especially Internet-related
technologies. Our network of members and partners spans the
globe, with presence in Western, Central and Eastern Europe,
Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America.
###
|
