Report Warns Against Too Many 'Net Rules

"Speaking out has never been easier than on the Web. Yet at the same time we are witnessing the spread of Internet censorship," the report said. Miklos Haraszti, who heads the OSCE's media freedom office, said about two dozen countries practice censorship, and others have adopted needlessly restrictive legislation and government policy. Among those are Malaysia, where a government official said this week that laws would be drafted for bloggers and authorities would not hesitate to prosecute those deemed to have insulted Islam. Haraszti cited separate research by the OpenNet Initiative, a trans-Atlantic group that tracks Internet filtering and surveillance, which pointed to questionable online restrictions in Belarus, China, Hong Kong, Sudan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan and elsewhere. The OSCE report says Kazakhstan's efforts to rein in Internet journalism in the name of national security is reminiscent of Soviet-era "spy mania," and it says Georgian law contains numerous provisions curbing freedom of expression online. Article's URL: http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/95-07272007-1384198.html [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on July 30, 2007]

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