A disquieting report from Amnesty International was released today. The organization argues that "a virus of internet repression" has been spread to dozens of countries by governments that censor political discussion by requiring the application of internet filters, and that these governments are abetted by companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft that play along with these governments in order to establish themselves in these rapidly growing markets.
Says Tim Hancock, Amnesty's campaign director: "The Chinese model of an internet that allows economic growth but not free speech or privacy is growing in popularity, from a handful of countries five years ago to dozens of governments today who block sites and arrest bloggers."
The organization says that at least 25 countries now apply state-mandated net filtering, including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Burma, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.
It would be terrible indeed if the greatest tool for spreading information and ideas ever invented was to castrated when a dictator’s will to power encounters a corporate executive’s desire for profits.
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