Photo: Medved
Jordanian authorities to block up to 300 websites
As of 2 June, the Press and Publications Department in Jordan has initiated a ban on all Jordanian news websites that have not yet registered and been licensed by the government agency according to an amendment in the media law passed in September 2012
According to 7iber.com the head of the Press and Publications Department, Fayez Al Shawabkeh in an official memo issued orders to the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) to block up to 300 websites in the Kingdom. In turn, the TRC commissioner sent the list of the websites that were to be blocked to the country’s various Internet Service Providers, demanding the blocking be implemented by 2 June.
The mandatory registration was enacted as part of amendments made to the Press and Publications Law back in September 2012, which requires online media to register and obtain licenses from the Press and Publications Department. Publishers are also held responsible for comments posted by readers under articles, a restriction that caused several prominent sites to turn off their comments sections. Online news sites would also be required to archive all comments left on their servers for at least six months.
Daoud Kuttab, the founder of AmmanNet condemned the decision of the Jordanian government to block 213 Jordanian news web sites, among them one of the pioneer websites in the Arab world, AmmanNet established in November 2000 with the support of UNESCO and the Amman Municipality.
Kuttab, who is newly elected executive committee member of the International Press Institute said that the decision violates Jordan’s local, regional and international commitments.
“This is a violation of Jordan’s constitution which guarantees freedom of expression, Jordan’s commitment to international conventions and a reneging on the promises made by the Jordanian Prime Minister to Jordanian media and in his address to the IPI congress.”
The amendments have also been described by several human rights organisations in Jordan as a serious attempt by government to control and restrict the online media sector and freedom of speech online.
