Free Expression in Asian
Cyberspace
Manila - April 19-21, 2006
The Law
Terrorism and national security laws
affecting press freedom & cyberspace
Jeff Ooi
RSF Representative

RSF- Reporters without Borders
• Restoring and upholding press freedom -- over 18 years
• Defending journalists and other media contributors and
professionals imprisoned or persecuted for doing their
work
• Supporting journalists who are being threatened in their
own countries; and providing financial and other types of
support to their needy families
• Fighting to reduce the use of censorship, and to oppose
laws designed to restrict press freedom
• Working to improve the safety of journalists world-wide,
particularly in war zones
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RSF Global Networks
• Present on 5 continents
– National branches: Germany, Austria, Belgium,
Canada, Spain, France, Italy, Sweden and
Switzerland
– Offices in Bangkok, New York, Tokyo and Washington
– Internet desk (Julien Pain)
• Key dates:
– May 3: World Press Freedom Day
– Sponsor’s Day
– December 10: RSF-Fondation de France Prize
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The Internet ‘Black Holes’
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The Internet “Black Holes”
RSF’s 15 Enemies of Internet
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Belarus
Burma
China
Cuba
Iran
Libya
Nepal
North Korea
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Maldives
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Asia
Press Freedom
At a glance
Very serious regions:
1. China
2. Burma
3. North Korea
4. Vietnam
5. Laos
6. Nepal
7. Bhutan

The Case of China
Findings of ONI - Revealing
Filtering regime:
• Most sophisticated, systematic, comprehensive,
pervasive, effective & targetted filtering regime
• Legal regulation plus technical control
• Strict media regulation
• Protection of national secrets
• Control of ISPs, content providers
• “The Great Firewall of China”
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China: Collusion with ‘Big Boys’
• Cisco, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google admonished
• Yahoo gave away user identity to Chinese
authorities
• Cisco:
• 12000 series filtering at backbone routing
• Filter bi-directional at packet level
• 750,000 filtering rules
• Functions for blocking DDoS, worms and
viruses used to block politicl content
• Protocol URL; **root.exe** changed to
**falun**
• Google:
• Google -- TLD is OK, but specific cache page
blocked
• Microsoft: Accused of shutting down MSN Space

RSF Report 2005
• 16 of the 53 journalists killed in 2004 died in Asia
• 46 of the world’s 104 imprisoned journalists were in
Asia -- as at 1st January 2005
• Snapshots:
– China: 27 imprisoned by 2005, 48 by 2006
– Burma: Win Tin, imprisoned for 15th year
• Worrying trends:
– Curbing airwaves: BBC World Service and Radio France
Internationale seen as new threats– especially in China
and North Korea
– Internet Surveillance: “Great Firewall of China”
– Media censorship & self-censorship
– Corporate responsibility in repressive regimes
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Interventionism
Asian democracies have justified attacks on press
freedom by the "anti-terrorist struggle“
• Australia:
– New security measures allowing its secret services to
monitor communications, including those of
journalists
– John Howard’s government also prevented the press
from freely covering the plight of asylum seekers
held in centers
• Japan:
– Traditional media in Japan showed complacency
about their country’s involvement in Iraq
– A controversial law on protection of private life was
adopted in May 2003 -- leading to a temporary ban
on a weekly that carried an article on the daughter of
a parliamentary deputy
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Interventionism
• South Korea:
– President Roh Moo-hyun passed a new press law that
tried to limit the influence of the three major
conservative dailies that criticise his government
– The law was amended under opposition pressure,
but remains an obstruction to free enterprise
• Thailand:
– Negative impact on press freedom related to the
populism of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and
conflict in South Thailand
– At least 3 journalists were dismissed under political
pressure
– The army, embarrassed by media reports on the
massacre of Muslims in the south, obstructed press
work and harassed a journalist from the BBC World
Service
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Interventionism
• India:
– Manmohan Singh’s administration revoked a
controversial anti-terror law and extremist Hindus
hostile to the act giving it the same degree of
impunity compared to the previous regime
– Privately-owned media and journalists are quick to
defend themselves when their rights are threatened
• Pakistan:
– Pakistani reporters allowed to visit the disputed
province of Kashmir for the first time in more than
50 years
– But not vice versa -- Authorities in Islamabad
continued to refuse visas to some Indian journalist,
including in September when they applied to cover a
cricket match

Press Freedom Barometer 2006
• 14 Journalists killed
• 6 Media Assistants killed
• 122 Journalists imprisoned
• 3 Media Assistants imprisoned
•56 Cyber-dissidents
imprisoned
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122 journalists imprisoned
• The breakdown:
• Algeria – 1
• Burma – 7
• China – 32
• Israel – 1
• Cuba – 23
• D.R. Congo – 1
• Egypt – 1
• Eriteria – 13
• Ethiopia – 17
• Gambia – 2
• Iran – 4
• Iraq – 1
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Laos – 1
Libya – 1
Maldives – 3
Nepal – 2
Nigeria – 1
North Korea – 1
Rwanda – 3
Saudi Arabia – 1
Syria – 1
Turkey – 1
Turkmenistan – 1
United States – 1
Uzbekistan - 2
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56 Cyber-dissidents imprisoned
• The breakdown:
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Iran – 2
China – 48
Syria – 3
Tunisia – 1
Vietnam – 2
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China: 48 Cyber-dissidents imprisoned
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February 22, 2006 - Hao Wu, blogger and documentary
filmmaker
January 25, 2006 - Li Changqing, journalist for the Fuzhou
Daily
December 23, 2005 - Yang Tianshui, online journalist
September 29, 2005 - Li Yuanlong, journalist for the Bijie
Ribao
May 28, 2005 - Li Jianping, freelance journalist, entrepreneur
January 29, 2005 - Zhang Lin, pro-democracy activist
December 29, 2004 - Zheng Yichun, poet, professor and
freelance writer
December 02, 2004 - Liao Yuanhua, former civil servant,
member of Falun Gong movement
December 13, 2003 - Kong Youping, dissident
September 13, 2003 - Huang Jinqiu (Qing Shuijun), former
journalist, cyberdissident
August 08, 2003 - Li Zhi, civil servant
July 09, 2003 - Tao Haidong, dissident
June 13, 2003 - Luo Yongzhong, shopkeeper
April 2003 - Huang Qunwei, jobless
March 27, 2003 - Zheng ("Sini"), pupil
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China: 48 Cyber-dissidents imprisoned
16. March 12, 2003 - Zhang Yuxiang, dissident
17. November 2003 - Lu Zengqi, executive in a technology
company
18. November 2003 - Chen Shumin, head of a technology firm
19. November 2003 - Yin Yan
20. November 2003 - Li Jian
21. November 2003 - Yan Qiuyan
22. November 06, 2002 - Jiang Lijun, dissident
23. November 04, 2002 - He Depu, dissident
24. November 04, 2002 - Zhao Changqing, dissident
25. October 2002 - Han Lifa, dissident
26. September 05, 2002 - Liang Changying, teacher, member of
Falun Gong movement
27. April 27, 2002 - Yang Jianli, economist
28. April 01, 2002 - Li Dawei, dissident
29. November 2002 - Tan Qiu, former hospital worker
30. November 2002 - Fang Guokun, railroad worker, member of
Falun Gong movement
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China: 48 Cyber-dissidents imprisoned
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48.
June 01, 2001 - Li Hongmin, dissident
April 30, 2001 - Wang Sen, dissident
March 13, 2001 - Yang Zili, creator of the website www.lib.126.com
March 13, 2001 - Jin Haike, dissident
March 13, 2001 - Xu Wei, journalist for the Consumer daily
March 13, 2001 - Zhang Honghai, writer
November 2000 - Zhang Yuhui, businessman
October 2000 - Li Yanfang, student
October 2000 - Jiang Yuxia, student
October 2000 - Li Chunyan, student
October 2000 - Huang Kui, student
October 2000 - Ma Yan, student
October 2000 - Lin Yang, student
July 29, 2000 - Zhang Haitao, creator of the only China-based Web
site on Falun Gong
July 07, 1999 - Liu Xianbin
June 19, 1999 - Zhu Yufu, journalist
June 19, 1999 - Wu Yilong, dissident
June 19, 1999 - Mao Qingxiang, journalist

Vietnam: 2 Cyber-dissidents imprisoned
1.
September 25, 2002 - Nguyen Vu Binh, former journalist for
Tap Chi Cong San (the Communist Newspaper’s magazine)
2.
March 27, 2002 - Pham Hong Son, doctor and sales
representative for a pharmaceutical company

Expression under Repression
As at April 19…
Hao Wu has been detained for 57 days.
WITHOUT A REASON. WITHOUT TRIAL.
Online Petition:
http://www.gopetition.com/region/237/8389.html

Thank You.