Regardless of what you think of Edward Snowden's actions (fairly honourable, in my view), the attempt to hide out in countries with some fairly questionable records on media freedom is raising eyebrows.
Regardless of what you think of Edward Snowden’s actions (fairly honourable, in my view), the attempt to hide out in countries with questionable records on media freedom is raising eyebrows.
Doesn’t a whistleblower need to be consistent in their denunciations of injustice? Is freedom for those outside the bubble of the West not just as important as it is for Facebook-serfing Americans and Europeans?
It’s easy for me to say this from my warm office in East London of course, but I believe the answer is yes.
Calling the American state out for breaches of civil liberties would carry more weight in my opinion if Snowden wasn’t sheltering under the wing of some of the worst civil rights abusers in the world.
Here is the state of media and internet freedom in the countries Edward Snowden has already spent time in as well as two more (Cuba and Ecuador) it is speculated he is headed for.
It doesn’t make for pleasant reading.
China
Blocks on foreign websites, close monitoring of online activity, every internet user in China having to register with service providers using their full name. These are just some of the challenges internet users in China face. Freedom House ranked China as the third most restrictive country in the world in terms of internet access, after Iran and Cuba.
The main methods used by the Chinese to control the net are the Great Firewall – a system that limits access to foreign websites – and the Golden Shield, a method of domestic surveillance set up in 1998 by the ministry of Public Security.
Russia
In July 2012 the Russian Parliament adopted a bill to establish a central register of banned websites. Experts say the aim of the bill is to control the country’s civil society and social networks.
In 2011 an official with the federal security service proposed a ban on Skype, Gmail and Hotmail here because their use was “uncontrolled”.
President at the time Dmitry Medvedev criticized the proposal. However a spokesman for prime minister Vladimir Putin said it was worth studying and called the FSB’s proposal “quite well-reasoned.”
Cuba
Until very recently internet access in Cuba was severely restricted – most Cubans were only able to use a local intranet featuring government sites. Even for tourists access to the net in Cuba is both expensive and woefully poor.
If a Cuban citizen is able to gain access to a facility with internet access the cost is extremely prohibitive. An hour long web session can cost around $4 – almost a quarter of the average monthly salary.
“Cuba remains one of the world’s most repressive environments for the Internet and other information and communication technologies,” Freedom House wrote in its 2012 report entitled ‘Freedom on the Net‘.
Ecuador
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has presided over a gradual erosion of media and judicial freedom since he was elected president in 2006. His ‘new media law’, dubbed a gag law by human rights groups, gives the government greater power to regulate the media and called for the establishment of a watchdog which could impose fines and force public apologies.
23 Responses to “Internet freedom on Edward Snowden’s flight path”
Philip
The poor guy doesn’t have much choice. Why does he have to be morally ‘consistent’? That’s armchair morality if ever I heard it. He’s a living, breathing human being who’s being hunted like a dog by the most fearsome security apparatus on planet earth. Give him a sodding break, would you? The goal of being on the run is to not be found, not to make some profound moral point. Plus, as I understand it, he was only in Russia because that’s where he had to change flights. Please don’t swallow all the propaganda.
Also, please name the nations without questionable records on media freedom. Bonus points if any of those aren’t guaranteed to hand him over to the CIA immediately.
Neil Warner
Sorry, I didn’t realise that performing a public serviceby telling the world about the dubious actions of the US government was only legitimate if you masochistically submitted yourself to probable life imprisonment in return. Considering the treatment which Bradley Manning has received Snowden is particularly justified in feeling his would not receive a fair trial and subject to cruel and unusual punishment. Regardless of differences in the system, it is perfectly right to raise the fact that the hypocrisy question is only raised on when Americans flee to China, never the other way round. And I note you don’t have a response to that.
Neil Warner
It’s quite plausible that Snowden faced a fate as bad or worse than, say, what Chen Guangcheng had endured or faced when he sought refuge in the US. But, quite rightly, I don’t remember anyone attacking Chen for his hypocrisy. Which is ironically quite hypocritical.
Alec
No it’s not. You’re being offensively stupid. Chen Guangcheng was a private individual who faced a fate you never will, as a non-government employee or Snowden would have had he not attempted an elaborate shake-down.
~alec
Alec
Stop question begging. I told you, it’s not up for debate.
Nothing in the US is comparable to Lao Gai.
~alec