Freedom House Report: Freedom On The Net 2012, Sri Lanka Is A Country At Risk

By Colombo Telegraph -

Freedom House, US based an independent watchdog  dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world, today released its report on Freedom on the Net 2012. The report categorised Sri Lanka as particularly vulnerable to deterioration in the coming 12 months, among Azerbaijan, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia and Rwanda.

According to Freedom House this report is the third in a series of comprehensive studies of internet freedom around the globe and covers developments in 47 countries that occurred between January 2011 and May 2012.  In its report under the subheading Countries at Risk it says; as part of its analysis, Freedom House identified a number of important countries that are seen as particularly vulnerable to deterioration in the coming 12 months: Azerbaijan, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka.

The report says; “In November 2011, five popular news websites known for their reporting on human rights, governance issues, and corruption were arbitrarily blocked. Prior to this incident, the government and the TRCSL had never admitted to blocking websites but did so in this case on the premise of concerns about defamation and the violation of privacy. In December 2011 and intermittently in November 2011, Colombotelegraph.com, a news and commentary website run by exiled Sri Lankan journalists, was also blocked with absolutely no justification provided by authorities,but is accessible as of early 2012. The authorities have occasionally blocked website domains hosted on the servers of blogging platforms rather than specific blogs themselves,although only a few of the most popular blogs publish political content and dissenting narratives.”

Below we give the Sri Lanka section of the report, alternatively you can read it here

Freedom on the Net 2012 -Sri Lanka

INTRODUCTION: 

Since coming into power in 2005, the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has pursued an ambitious information, communications, and technology (ICT) policy characterized by the widespread provision of internet access and improvement in digital literacy. The new government’s initiatives have also led to the adoption and further development of the decade-old e-Sri Lanka project, which is geared towards building “information infrastructure and an enabling environment, developing ICT human resources… leveraging ICT for economic and social development,”[1] and providing access to “diverse and unrestricted sources of information and means of communication.”[2]

Despite recognition of the internet’s value and impact on economic growth, the military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, or Tamil Tigers)—which ended in May 2009—hindered adequate investment in the ICT sector and expansion of the internet across the country. Furthermore, the empowering impact of the internet in Sri Lanka has been undermined by the government’s efforts to arbitrarily block, filter, and regulate online content that provides dissenting views and reportage on sensitive political issues.

In January 2007, internet access and mobile phone connections in the northern and eastern regions of the country were disconnected on account of national security concerns.[3] In the same year, the government made its first attempt to clamp down on online content in response to reportage on the military campaign against the LTTE and civilian casualties.[4] While there is a clear trend with respect to the restriction of online content under the current government, since 2007 there has also been an incremental growth in the number of online news sites, new media initiatives, and the leveraging of social media for socioeconomic and political activism. However, in a post-war context, the arbitrary blocking of websites has continued in 2011—a trend that contradicts the government’s own recognition of the role of ICTs in promoting access to information and free of expression—and the government has expressed a need for greater regulation of online content.[5]

OBSTACLES TO ACCESS:

Sri Lanka

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