Do you know how does it feel to be censored?
Well, I do !
Indeed, I am experiencing this DISGUSTING feeling since February, 24th 2010. That day, back home from work, I was so disappointed when I discovered the horrible “Error 404” message- a message that stands for a censored web page in my country- when I tried to log in my Facebook and my blog. But I will start first by giving the definition of the word censorship as I found it in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship as I realized that may people do not know about its meaning when I discussed the issue on several occasions.
Internet censorship is control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet. The legal issues are similar to offline censorship.One difference is that national borders are more permeable online: residents of a country that bans certain information can find it on websites hosted outside the country. A government can try to prevent its citizens from viewing these even if it has no control over the websites themselves.Filtering can be based on a blacklist or be dynamic. In the case of a blacklist, that list is usually not published. The list may be produced manually or automatically.Barring total control on Internet-connected computers, such as in North Korea, total censorship of information on the Internet is very difficult (or impossible) to achieve due to the underlying distributed technology of the Internet. Pseudonymity and data havens (such as Freenet) allow unconditional free speech, as the technology guarantees that material cannot be removed and the author of any information is impossible to link to a physical identity or organization.In November 2007, “Father of the Internet” Vint Cerf stated that he sees Government-led control of the Internet failing due to private ownership.
The discovery of my censorship has not been as surprising as it has been annoying. First because it is not the first time that I am experiencing this as one of my blogs had been already censored a year ago along with another blog I launched to support a group of Tunisian students jailed for political activities www.freejailedtunisianstudenst1.blogspot.com and also my GVO admin page .Moreover,Tunisian internauts(me included) are now used to censorship and more specifically to arbitrary censorship. Websites like YouTube, Daily motion, Aljazeera Net, Aljazeera Talk are censored. Moreover, a number of blogs are censored weekly and this without a clear or convincing reason.
Today the debate over internet censorship is controversial; governments control media and pretend to do so to protect citizens from harmful and immoral materials and to banish materials that threaten countries stability. Internauts are against and are denouncing.
I think that censorship should not be imposed on internauts as they are adults who can choose what data to read and see and what data to avoid (of course there are children on internet but their parents are the ones who are supposed control and monitor the media they see).And I am against and I will always be against any kind of censorship. No one should decide for me. I have the right to choose for myself.
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/02/08/tunisia-censhorship-again-and-again/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/01/24/tunisia-and-they-censored-arabicca/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/12/30/tunisia-the-white-note-campaign-against-cyber-censorship/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/05/15/tunisia-ammar-404-is-back-and-censoring-blogs-again/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/03/17/tunisia-covert-censorship-of-a-newspaper/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/02/01/56217/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/10/10/tunisia-national-day-for-freedom-of-blogging-on-november-4/
People should be free to write and express themselves:
No one should prevent another person from writing.
Writing is a right.
To write is to exist.
To write is to live.
People should be free to reach any kind of information they might need. Today (12March) Reporters without borders is celebrating World Day against Cyber Censorship and this is a good occasion to say no to censorship .In a country like mine internet provides a relatively free space to exchange ideas and express oneself. And I am really sad that in its list of the enemies of internet my country is pointed at as one of the fiercest enemies of freedom of speech Tunisia “ that restricts online access and harasses its netizens”. Finally , It is so stupid to censor when we know that circumvention do exist.
NB: I am sorry I cannot neither change the color and size of my text nor add pictures as I am using a proxy to access my blog . Some of the functions has disappeared.