RSF lists Burma among 12 “Internet Enemies”

http://www.mizzima.com/news/world/1839-rsf-lists-burma-among-12-internet-enemies.html

by Mungpi
Friday, 13 March 2009 18:16

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters Without Border (RSF), has listed military-ruled Burma among 12 countries, which it has called “Internet Enemies” for censoring online freedom of expression.

In a report published on Thursday, entitled “Enemies of the Internet”, the RSF identified 12 nations, that it said had systematically restricted the flow of information to the people by denying them access to the internet and banning sites that it deemed “undesirable”.

The list of such nations included, Burma, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Egypt, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba and Tunisia.

According to the report, Burma’s military rulers have displayed their high-handedness on the few internet users in Burma, by arresting and sentencing at least 14 journalists and two bloggers to long prison terms.

Out of an approximate nearly 50 million people, only about 40,000, mostly urban dwellers, have the privilege of access to the internet, the report said.

In 1996, Burma had introduced a law on television, and video along with the Electronic Act, which banned the import, possession and use of a modem, without official permission. The offense was punishable with up to 15-years of imprisonment, for damaging state security, national unity, culture, the national economy and law and order.

Burma has two government-controlled Internet Service Providers, namely the Myanmar Post and Telecommunication (MPT) and the Bagan Cybertech, which was later renamed as Myanmar Teleport.




Besides monitoring public cyber cafes by conducting surprise checks on internet users and asking the café managers to keep track records of users, the prohibitive prices of getting a connection at home, also restricts the population from accessing the internet.

The report said, the Burmese military junta due to its fear of losing control over the internet, had made laws relating to electronic communications and the dissemination of news online, the most dissuasive in the world, exposing internet-users to very harsh prison sentences.

Internet users in Burma could be simply arrested and sentenced to long prison terms, if they were found surfing or browsing dissident websites, international news sites, and exiled Burmese Media sites, including Mizzima News.

Nay Phone Latt, a 28 year old, owner of two cyber cafes in Rangoon, was arrested in January 2008, and sentenced to over 12 years of imprisonment, under the Electronic Act for possessing a film, which the junta said was “subversive”.

Similarly, popular comedian Zargarnar was also sentenced to 35 years under the Electronic Act, for posting pictures and information on the impact of Cyclone Nargis, which revealed the government’s failure to adequately assist the victims.

The report said, “All of these countries mark themselves out not just for their capacity to censor news and information online, but also for their almost systematic repression of internet users.”

The report, which made a study of 22 countries, also said there were “at least 69 people behind bars, for having expressed themselves freely online.”

The RSF also puts 10 other countries including Australia and South Korea, “Under Surveillance” for adopting worrying measures that could be the beginning of abuses on internet users and imposition of censorship on freedom of expression online.