universal declaration of human rights

The Mirror, Vol. 15, No. 707

The Mirror had the following reports in the past, all concerned with access to information and freedom of expression:

• Censorship: Thousands of Crude Porn Sites Accessible on Internet – One Khmer Artist Blocked – Sunday, 1.2.2009
• Internet Governance, Censorship, and the UN Multistakeholder Approach – Sunday, 28.2.2010
• Freedom Park Inaugurated, but Not Found Useful – Wednesday, 17.11.2010
• The Freedom of Expression, Granted and Regulated – Sunday, 21.11.2010
• Details – Sunday, 2.1.2011
• Why Should We Care about Interfering with the Freedom of Information? – Sunday, 23.1.2011
• Free and Open Source Software Avoids Dependencies – Sunday, 30.1.2011
• Social Media Upsetting Traditional Lines of Communication and Culture – Sunday, 6.2.2011
• Technical Policy Ministry Staff Challenges Higher Authorities – Sunday, 6.3.2011

Now we place these reports into a wider international context with the following declaration of Reporters Without Borders:

World Day Against Cyber-Censorship

Launched by Reporters Without Borders in 2008, the World Day Against Cyber-Censorship (on 12 March 2011) is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet without restrictions and accessible to all.

The fight for online freedom of expression is more essential than ever. By creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom. In countries where the traditional media are controlled by the government, the only independent news and information are to be found on the Internet, which has become a forum for discussion and a refuge for those who want to express their views freely.

However, more and more governments have realized this and are reacting by trying to control the Internet. Never have so many countries been affected by some form of online censorship, whether arrests or harassment of netizens, online surveillance, website blocking or the adoption of repressive Internet laws. Netizens are being targeted by government reprisals. Around 117 of them are currently detained for expressing their views freely online, mainly in China, Iran and Vietnam.

World Day Against Cyber-Censorship pays tribute to them and their fight for Internet freedom. Reporters Without Borders will mark the occasion by issuing its latest list of “Enemies of the Internet.”

On this site are also further links, many of the data related to 2010, like

• The Map of Cyber-Censorship
• The Enemies of the Internet
• Netizen Prize
• Get Informed

Worth to visit and to keep in mind.

Have a look at the last editorial – you can access it
directly from the main page of the Mirror.
And please recommend The Mirror also to your colleagues and
friends.

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