12 march 2010 New Media Desk Reporters Without Borders 47, rue Vivienne - 75002 Paris Tel : (33) 1 44 83 84 84 Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51 [Enemies of the Internet ] E-mail :
[email protected] Web : www.rsf.org [Countries under surveillance ] ] e c EB VERSUS ONTROL n W 2.0 C 2.0 a l l i The fight for free access to information is being played out to an ever greater extent on the Internet.The e emerging general trend is that a growing number of countries are attemptimg to tighten their control of v the Net, but at the same time, increasingly inventive netizens demonstrate mutual solidarity by mobilizing r when necessary. u s The Internet: a space for information-sharing and mobilizing r e In authoritarian countries in which the traditional media are state-controlled, the Internet offers a unique d space for discussion and information-sharing, and has become an ever more important engine for protest n and mobilization. The Internet is the crucible in which repressed civil societies can revive and develop. u The new media, and particularly social networks, have given populations’ collaborative tools with which s they can change the social order.Young people have taken them by storm. Facebook has become the ral - e lying point for activists prevented from demonstrating in the streets. One simple video on YouTube – i r Neda in Iran or the Saffron march of the monks in Burma – can help to expose government abuses to t the entire world. One simple USB flashdrive can be all it takes to disseminate news – as in Cuba, where n they have become the local “samizdats.” u o Here, economic interest are intertwined with the need to defend free circulation of information.