The Wire

It’s well known that the governments of countries such as China, Vietnam and Cuba block internet access for their citizens in an attempt to restrict the ‘freedom’ which an open internet would bring. So it’s no surprise that these governments come in for a fair bit of criticism in a new study from Reporters Without Border (RSF). But developing nations and those lacking democratic leadership are not the only ones under fire. The RSF report also criticizes many western nations, including France, the UK and the United States. RSF says that these nations, whilst rightly chasing down internet-based child-porn and abuse rings, are also inadvertently restricting the flow of many other, legitimate types of information across the web. Australia, with over 9 million internet users, has been criticized over a recent court ruling, allowing Internet Service Providers to block access to sites with certain material. Ed Giles spoke to Irene Graham, Executive Director of Electronic Frontiers Australia.

Reporters Without Frontiers
Electronic Frontiers Australia