Bunni how we first met unblocked free#
Anyone with access to a computer, an Internet connection, and "blogging" tools can now publish to a potential audience of millions, free of charge, within minutes. In countries where the press is rigidly controlled, the Internet has opened a window for greater freedom of expression and communication. The speed with which the Internet has spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa testifies to the region's appetite for alternative means of getting and transmitting information. This report is dedicated to the writers and activists who spoke to Human Rights Watch in the course of the research that went in to it, often taking great risks to do so. Among the many others who provided invaluable research assistance were Fred Abrahams, Abeer Allam, Derek Bambauer, Robert Guerra, Eri Kaneko, Nagwa Hassan, Bennett Haselton, Abdolreza Mazaheri, Robin Moger, Nicholas Noe, Julien Pain, Jagdish Parikh, Mark Seiden, Kristina Stockwood, Maha Taki, Lubna Takruri, Sudhin Thanawala, Sarita Tukaram, Nart Villeneuve, and Ethan Zuckerman. Gamal Eid provided exceptional assistance in researching the report, particularly the chapter on Egypt, and provided the title. Eric Goldstein, a senior researcher in Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division, Hadi Ghaemi, Human Rights Watch's Iran researcher, Joe Stork, Washington advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, Dinah PoKempner, Human Rights Watch's general counsel, and Joe Saunders, Human Rights Watch's deputy program director, edited this report and contributed research. This report was researched and written by Elijah Zarwan, a consultant for Human Rights Watch. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. The report is based on an examination of thousands of Web sites from Middle Eastern countries and interviews with dozens of writers, bloggers, computer experts and human rights activists. These attempts to control the flow of information online contradict governments' national and international legal commitments to freedom of opinion and expression and the summit's own Declaration of Principles. This 144-page report documents online censorship and cases in which Internet users have been detained for their online activities in countries across the region, including Tunisia, Iran, Syria and Egypt.
Human Rights Watch, False Freedom: Online Censorship in the Middle East and North Africa, 15 November 2005, E1710, available at: