March 12th is Online Free Expression Day
March 12th is Online Free Expression Day, a day to speak out against internet censorship. Being a world day against cyber censorship, theHubHalifax and Halifax Regional C@P Association hosted a great Reporters Without Borders video conference talk.
Reporters Without Borders has been helping fight censorship, defending journalists and documenting countries violating freedom of speech since 1985. Their cyber dissidents handbook is a must-read for all bloggers offering “handy tips and technical advice on how to remain anonymous and to get round censorship.”
Today, Reporters Without Borders also published the 12 Enemies of the Internet (PDF), countries with freedom of speech and censorship violations which included Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
“All these countries distinguish themselves not only by their ability to censor online news and information but also by their virtually systematic persecution of troublesome Internet users.” – Reporters w/o Borders
In coordination with Online Free Expression Day, Amnesty International launched Say No to Internet Censorship campaign:
“World Day against Cyber Censorship is this Thursday, March 12. It is a day to advance and celebrate a free Internet as an open window to the world and denounce the attacks made on the free flow of information online. Urge Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft not to censor any of their search engines or blog platforms anywhere around the world on this day.” – Amnesty
Visit Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International for more information about the importance of freedom of speech and helping fighting internet censorship.