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Stop internet repression
| Amnesty is urging web users to take action on behalf of individuals persecuted and imprisoned for expressing their opinions online. Act now by calling on governments to stop the unwarranted restriction of freedom of expression online and challenge internet companies - such as Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft - who cooperate with internet censorship. Sign the irrepressible pledge |
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Egypt: Call for Karim Amer's release Egyptian blogger Karim Amer was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for the
"crime" of publishing on the internet material critical of Islam and President
Mubarak. Take action now
Good news
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15 November - Yahoo! settles a lawsuit Internet company Yahoo! has settled a lawsuit involving Shi Tao and another
Chinese journalist, Wang Xiaoning, who was arrested in 2002 after Yahoo! gave
authorities information linking him to political writings posted online. 
Tunisian lawyer Mohammed Abbou was released from prison on 24 July.He was serving a prison sentence for publishing
articles critical of the Tunisian authorities on the internet. 
Vietnamese internet dissident Nguyen Vu Binh has been released from Ba Sao prison after spending almost five years behind bars. According to
media reports, he left the prison in the afternoon on 9 June to reunite with his
wife and two daughters in their Ha Noi home. News on internet repression
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Amnesty at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Amnesty sent a couple of representatives to the IGF in Brazil on 13-16 November 2007. This is the meeting that discusses how the internet should be run. Read our blog from the IGF | Read our IGF report |
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Listen to a report by Clark Boyd | More on irrepressible.info website |
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Yahoo! is being sued in the USA for providing information to the Chinese authorities, leading to the prosecution,
torture and jailing of internet bloggers, including Chinese poet and journalist
Shi Tao. 
Syrian internet activists jailed Seven students and a beautician have been jailed in Syria after calling for
peaceful political reforms online. The seven are believed to have been arrested
for publishing pro-democracy articles on the internet. 
Committee to Protect Bloggers offers more news on internet repression. The site is devoted to the protection
of bloggers worldwide with a focus on highlighting the plight of bloggers threatened
and imprisoned by their government. 
Some people think internet is a bad thing On 6 June 2007 Amnesty and The Observer newspaper used the internet to link activists from around the world in a discussion
about the struggle against internet repression. Reports
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Undermining freedom of expression in China This briefing provides an overview of the use of the internet as a tool to deny freedom of expression in China, focusing on the Chinese government's suppression of dissent and on the role of Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google in collaborating with the authorities. Buy the report online | Download the report (PDF) |
Vietnam: Web-based repression and censorship A report released by Amnesty International reveals a climate of fear in Vietnam,
with people afraid to post information online and internet cafe owners forced
to inform on their customers. Act now
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Map of internet censorship
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Amnesty @ the IGF
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As the internet spreads across the world, so government censorship of web content
is also spreading. This doesn't only represent a threat to those living in countries
which face the harshest forms of censorship, but to all of us and our right to
express ourselves freely. View a map of internet censorship on the 
The online world met at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Athens in November
2006 to discuss the future of the internet. Amnesty is sent a delegation to ensure
that human rights remained at the heart of the forum's discussions. Google: please put principles into practice everywhere
Amnesty UK welcomes Google CEO Eric Schmidt's defence of freedom of speech at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco (Bobbie Johnson, 'Google Stands up to White House', 9 November 2006). In the face of the US Government's heavy handed attempts to force internet companies to release private data, Google has shown a more principled stance than some of its rivals.
However, Google must put it principles into practice elsewhere. In China, Google launched a censored version of its search engine earlier this year, allowing the Chinese Government to more effectively restrict freedom of speech in that country, while Yahoo!'s Chinese subsidiary has released information leading to the imprisonment of a Chinese dissident and Microsoft have closed down a blog site following a request from the government.
If the internet is to provide a force for political freedom, not repression, then companies like Google must play a consistent role in ensuring freedom of speech is upheld.
