The initial ban highlights future status of electronic freedom of expression CAIRO: Al-Ahram newspaper has reversed a block that was implemented last week on Internet Web logs (blogs). Effective on network access in all Al-Ahram buildings, the block prevented the institution s employees from viewing certain Web sites including the increasingly popular blogs. Topping the list was www.blogger.com and www.manalaa.net. The Arabic Network of Human Rights Information (HRinfo), which described the block as a strike against press freedom in Egypt, welcomed the reverse. Being a major publishing institution, Al-Ahram attracts large numbers of journalists and aspiring reporters every year. Although the fact that the institution is state-run looms over the work of its publication, the place remains a hub for those interested in the media. That s why the decision to implement Internet filters inside the institution stirred controversy. It limited Internet access to thousands of employees including the reporters and editors of the widely circulated Arabic daily of the same name. Not only are the reporters not allowed to deviate from the state-friendly policies governing the institution s publications, but they wouldn t even have been able to access the other side of the argument if the block was sustained. This is the lewdest form of censorship, says Wael Abbas, local activist and blogger, author of www.misrdigital.com. He ridicules the decision to implement the block, calling it a stupid procedure. Is Al-Ahram management worried that the institution s employees would switch sides or change beliefs, he exclaims. This is a serious and erroneous procedure, especially when it is practiced by a press foundation such as Al-Ahram. Such an action is in contradiction with the supposed role of the foundation, said Gamal Eid, executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo), when the decision was first introduced. We hope that the foundation will correct this procedure and uphold press freedom and the right of journalists to exchange information. The initial ban has also propelled Al-Ahram employees to object. They blocked Web sites that help us in work, says Sayed Aly, assistant editor in chief and columnist in Al-Ahram. It s as if the institution is punishing itself. Aly was critical of the security forces control of media and their power to decide who is patriotic and who is not. Although the primitive censorship methods have disappeared, Aly continues, securities [officials] are censoring the source, in reference to the block that included extreme opposition Web sites and blogs. The short-lived block has also evoked several debates regarding freedom of expression, using the Internet as a medium and the status of blogs under the increasingly restrictive publishing laws. With lower access rates in comparison to print and other forms of conventional media, the Internet has become an outlet for many voices. People can participate in established Web sites or write their personal blogs, voicing their opinions for all to see with minimal or no cost at all. Some organizations resort to the medium to explain their ideologies and publish their news. The banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood leads the list. Until recently, the medium has kept a low profile when it comes to state censorship. But throughout the past year, politically oriented blogs have gained momentum. The ability of bloggers to document demonstrations and analyze events away from the influences of any media institution, whether state-run, opposition or independent, has earned them growing popularity. Some claim that blogging isn t a very healthy phenomenon because it allows unprofessional people and untrained reporters to venture into the business. Unlike newspapers, television and radio, bloggers don t have to provide documentation or evidence to back their allegations. And frequently they take refuge in anonymity, authoring their blogs under alias names. But this wasn t the reason why the state cracked down on certain bloggers. Throughout continuous demonstrations in solidarity with judicial independence and more liberal publishing laws, bloggers made remarkable progress. They provided commentary and photos, sometimes taken by mobile phone cameras that negated state claims about use of force against protestors. Six bloggers were arrested last May, according to Reporters Without Borders, in a crackdown on pro-reform activists who use the Internet to coordinate their activity. Award winning blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah, co-author of manalaa.net, was among the detained. Even so, the law articles that have criminalized the use of the Internet as a medium for expression have enjoyed a low profile. Last June witnessed another strike as an administrative court upheld the decision of the Information and Communication Ministry that the authorities can block, suspend or shut down any Web site liable to pose a threat to national security. Moreover, the new publishing laws, which the parliament passed this year, make law articles apply to publications and other. The term other allows the law to extend its reach as the government wishes. There is no law, however, that grants the government the right to block or close down Web sites, but that hasn't stopped the state. HRinfo notes three Web sites whose access is blocked in Egypt: Al-Shaab newspaper, www.alshaab.com; Save Egypt Front, www.saveegyptfront.org and Al-Amal (Labor) Party, www.el3amal.net. Following the positive response of Al-Ahram Institution, we await the Egyptian government to take the same path and end its block on [these] Web sites, reads an HRinfo statement.
