In Tunisia, a new debate is taking shape. Long suppressed by the authoritarian regime of former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia’s free expression movement for many years existed on the fringe, comprised of bloggers, software developers, media aficionados and expats whose frustration at Tunisia’s Internet censorship and surveillance regime – in place for over a decade – fomented their activism.
Now, regime shackles cast off, debate about Internet censorship has become significantly more subtle as youth vie for a free Internet while navigating tricky terrain. Prior to Jan. 13 2011, access to the Internet was extremely inhibited, preventing young people from utilizing most of the social media tools that have become popular the world over. Only Facebook was left open, and even then, was under surveillance, putting activists who used the site in danger and preventing others from doing so, out of fear.
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The Tunisian Internet will remain unfiltered – for the time being. The Supreme Court of Tunisia today canceled the decision of a lower court, which had previously ruled in favor of filtering the Internet for pornographic content.
While today’s decision did not end the case, it sent it back to a lower court, giving an apparent vote of no confidence in the legal argumentation previously presented.
The decision was immediately hailed by free speech advocates – and by the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI), the body whose action was at issue in the case, and whose head, Moez Chakchouck, has been a vehement advocate for freedom of information.
The ATI’s legal argument against the suit, however, did not hinge upon issues of civil liberties, but rather the technical ability of the agency to implement the decision.
According to a press release distributed by the ATI this afternoon, “all attempts of application of judgment led to serious degradation of service.”
The hearing of the case regarding censorship of pornographic websites in Tunisia has been postponed to February 22nd, confirmed Olivia Gré, director of the Tunisian chapter of Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Last year, a lawsuit was filed by three Tunisian lawyers, who found free access to pornographic websites in Tunisia to be dangerous to children and corrosive of Islamic values. The court's decision sided with the lawyers, yet the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) appealed the ruling on May 26th. On August 11th, 2011, the appeal was denied, but the ATI delayed implementing the decision, pleading technical and financial limitations.
They appealed the decision again, to Tunisia's Supreme Court, prolonging the legal debate as to the acceptable extent of internet freedom.
The ongoing trial has been handled with a good deal of discretion. During the February 1st hearing, reporters were not allowed to enter the courtroom, and afterward the ATI refrained from announcing the precise date of the subsequent hearing.
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Once again, in the post Ben Ali era, censorship and freedom of speech [1], is at the centre of debate. The reason this time is a complaint lodged by three lawyers against the Tunisian Internet Agency [2] [Eng] (known as the ATI by its French acronym) calling upon it to filter pornographic websites.
Early next month, the ATI, will appeal to the Court of Cassation's (the highest court of appeal) verdict issued on May 26, 2011, by a court in Tunis ordering the agency to block access to pornographic content on the web.