ISSUE BRIEF No. 3545 | MARCH 20, 2012

Leveraging Technology to Support Free Access to Information in Ray Walser, Ph.D., and Marc Wachtenheim

he Cuban people, living within Technology Increases Freedom. The hemisphere’s sole totalitarian Tthe constricted space permitted Latin America represents 8 percent dictatorship presents a unique case by the 53-year-old , of the globe’s total Internet usage, of Orwellian control on all forms have not benefited from the remark- with 25 million daily users in Mexico of information, embodied in Fidel’s able leap forward in communication alone. Nearly 82 percent of Internet now-famous statement that “within technology over the past few decades. users in Latin America regularly the revolution everything; outside ’s repressive regime wishes use online social networking plat- the revolution nothing.” With the to shift ’s traditional fault forms, and 78 percent have Facebook exception of a privileged few, those lines to the electronic sphere, severe- accounts. Across the region, activists with Internet access in Cuba browse ly restricting its population’s ability such as Colombia’s Oscar Morales, only a censored “intranet,” which to chart its own destiny and violat- who rallied 12 million to oppose is heavily monitored—employ- ing its most basic human . The narco-terrorism, are employing new ing Chinese technology—by the regime’s strategy is to channel, filter, technologies to inform and conduct government. censor, and under-invest in modern peaceful civic activism, strengthen- Efforts to circumvent state cen- technologies to preserve political ing the connecting fabric that sup- sorship are punished through Law dominance on the island. ports democratic institutions and 88 (the “Muzzle Law”) and the “Law Congress and the Obama open governments. on Dangerousness,” which criminal- Administration should explore and This technological revolution has izes individuals who demonstrate implement innovative and pro-active passed over Cuba. Havana continues “pre-criminal social dangerousness” counter-strategies to promote online to place its own interest in prolong- (as defined by the state) even before freedom that empower the Cuban ing its permanence in power above committing an actual crime. people while circumventing the the Cuban people’s interests and the Cuba is among the world’s worst regime of informational dominance basic right to freedom of expression. Internet censors as described exercised by the Castro government. Havana fears that if Cuba’s people by international organizations obtain unfettered access to informa- such as the Committee to Protect

This paper, in its entirety, can be found at tion, its days will soon be numbered. Journalists, the Inter-American http://report.heritage.org/ib3545 This is why the much-discussed Press Association, Reporters Produced by the Douglas and Sarah Allison underwater fiber optics cable linking Without Borders, and Freedom Center for Foreign Policy Studies Venezuela to Cuba has had no impact House. This situation has motivated The Heritage Foundation on increasing connectivity for Cuba’s brave such as Guillermo 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002–4999 population. Similarly, when a U.S- Fariñas Hernandez to undertake (202) 546-4400 | heritage.org based company recently approached hunger strikes and nearly sacrifice Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily the Havana regime with an interest their lives in demand of Internet reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill in expanding connectivity in Cuba, it access. Cuba is also in the van- before Congress. was quickly turned away. guard, along with Russia and , ISSUE BRIEF | NO. 3545 MARCH 20, 2012

working to use the International to provide financial support to seeking to censor the medium can Telecommunications Union (ITU) activists. exert more influence than they and United Nations to establish rules currently can. of governance for the Internet that ■■ Partner with technology firms facilitate censorship. and NGOs with expertise operat- Power to the People. President Islands of Freedom. Within ing in Cuba to explore new ways Obama’s demands for greater lib- Cuba’s repressive sea of government- to leverage technology to support erty for the Cuban people should directed disinformation, the work citizen journalists, drawing on be accompanied by a more robust of activists such as Fariñas offers recent lessons learned from the plan of action. The Administration glimmers of hope and points the way “Arab Spring” in the Middle East. believes it is opening doors to demo- forward. Since 2007, blogger Yoani cratic change with travelers and Sanchez has been narrating the ■■ Explore new “super wi-fi” options remittances to Cuba. It is hesitant to reality of daily life in Cuba through to remotely broadcast free-access apply more direct pressure or speak her award-winning “Generacion wireless Internet signals to dense- out forcefully in order to breech the Y” . Increasingly, Cuban dis- ly populated centers in Cuba. New wall of prohibitions, censorship, and sidents are employing cell phones technological developments have restricted access to the Internet that and text messages to exchange enabled such long-range wireless the aging Castro brothers believe information among themselves and signal broadcasting. necessary to win “the battle of ideas.” with their counterparts abroad. In a In the long run, working to support now-famous feat, earlier this month ■■ Expand the Internet access pro- the Cuban people’s fight for unfet- cell phones with video capability vided by the U.S. Interests Section tered access to the modern tech- enabled the smuggling out of images in Havana to a greater number of nologies of freedom will advance the exposing to the world the inhumane Cuban users and encourage U.S. cause of and human dignity conditions within Cuba’s notorious allies to do the same. and the capacity of the people, not prisons.1 unelected leaders, to freely deter- What Should the U.S. Do? The ■■ Support programs that generate mine Cuba’s future. Obama Administration should: greater international awareness —Ray Walser, Ph.D., is Senior of in Cuba as Policy Analyst for Latin America in ■■ Increase support to Cuba’s opposi- a means of generating additional the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center tion movement that seeks to break support from private citizens for Foreign Policy Studies, a division the Cuban government monopoly and governments throughout the of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom on information through the provi- world. Davis Institute for International sion of easy-to-use technology— Studies, at The Heritage Foundation, including smart phones and USB ■■ Oppose efforts to grant the U.N. and Marc Wachtenheim is an drives—expand text-messaging a strong governance role over independent scholar. efforts, and explore the creation the Internet through the ITU or of a “cyberactivist defense fund” another U.N. body where nations

1. See El Nuevo Herald, “Revelan desgarrador infierno en conocida cárcel cubana,” (Uncovered heartbreaking hell in well-known Cuban prison), March 15, 2012, at http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2012/03/14/1152488/videos-revelan-infierno-carceles.html (March 20, 2012).

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