"Reporters Without Borders" to Launch "International Online Free Expression Day"

Reporters Without Borders (RWB), whose mission is to fight for press freedom, will launch the first International Online Free Expression Day on Wednesday March 12th. At the same time it will also organize its second "24-hour online demonstration against Internet censorship." Internet users are urged to come and demonstrate on their website, www.rsf.org.

In an emailed press release, Reporters Without Borders said:

To denounce government censorship of the Internet and to demand more online freedom, Reporters Without Borders is calling on Internet users to come and protest in online versions of nine countries that are Internet enemies during the 24 hours from 6 a.m. ET tomorrow, March 12, to 6 a.m. ET on March 13. Anyone with Internet access will be able to create an avatar, choose a message for their banner and take part in one of the cyber-demos taking place in Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, North Korea, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.

(Cyber-Demo for China above; Burma below; click to enlarge).

RWB lists 15 countries in this year's list of "Internet Enemies" - Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. In 2007 there were only 13 - Zimbabwe and Ethiopia were added this year.

Additionally, RWB has a supplementary list of 11 "countries under watch." They are Bahrain, Eritrea, Gambia, Jordan, Libya, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

According to RWB,

Unlike the "enemies," these countries do not imprison bloggers or censor the Internet massively. But they are sorely tempted and abuses are common. Many of them have laws that they could use to gag the Internet if they wanted. And the judicial or political authorities often use anti-terrorism laws to identify and monitor government opponents and activists expressing themselves online.

Also, RWB has released a new version of the Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents. The handbook offers practical advice and techniques on how to start up a blog, how to blog for anonymously and how to circumvent censorship. It also includes the accounts of bloggers from countries such as Egypt and Burma.

RWB plans to organize cyber-demonstration activities every March 12th, going forward.