Internet of enter-not : the Syrian experience
Document type: report
Download file(s):
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Abstract:
This working paper discusses the status of the internet in Syria. Syrian authorities show a large amount of distrust vis-à-vis the new technology and there is much state control. The list of banned sites is long, varied and flexible. Website bans are about muzzling free expression and controlling access to information. Syrians are arrested because of their beliefs they express on the Web. Is there a future for the use of internet as a tool of expression in Syria? Syrians try to find their way beyond the arbitrary restrictions of the regime. Some IT specialists have managed to bypass bans by using special software. Despite its precarious state, the internet in Syria remains an option for expressing political, cultural and social protest. The political opposition has used the internet to circulate its bulletins and statements – relatively efficiently, too, within the limits of what is possible.
Authors:
Kawakibi, S.
Series Title:
Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia Working Paper
Country:
Syrian Arab Republic
Category:
General
Serial number:
10
ISSN:
2210-3473
Keywords:
information and communication technologies
,
human rights
Language:
eng
Organization:
Hivos – Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation
Organization:
University of Amsterdam. Department of Political Science. Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR)
PAGE:
13
Place:
The Hague [etc.]
Publisher:
Hivos [etc.]
Year:
2010
Region:
Western Asia
Right:
© 2010 University of Amsterdam & Hivos
Subject:
Social and Political Change
Title:
Internet of enter-not : the Syrian experience