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| Jordan Blocks Local Access to 300 News Web Sites | Jordan Blocks Local Access to 300 News Web Sites |
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| AMMAN, Jordan — The Jordanian government has blocked local access to about 300 news Web sites under a new law that the sites’ editors and international journalism experts have derided as dangerous censorship aimed at quelling criticism of King Abdullah II. | |
| The law, enacted last September as the opposition to King Abdullah grew more outspoken, requires news sites in the country to register with the government, pay $1,400 in licensing fees and hire unionized journalists as editors, steps that the site operators say they cannot afford. The law also makes editors legally responsible not only for the content of articles they publish but also for comments posted by readers, many of them anonymous. | The law, enacted last September as the opposition to King Abdullah grew more outspoken, requires news sites in the country to register with the government, pay $1,400 in licensing fees and hire unionized journalists as editors, steps that the site operators say they cannot afford. The law also makes editors legally responsible not only for the content of articles they publish but also for comments posted by readers, many of them anonymous. |
| “Actions in the past and now clearly demonstrate that they do not believe in press freedom,” Nidal Mansour, head of the Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists, said of the Jordanian leadership. “It’s a global world, and Jordanians should have the right to access Web sites that people in the rest of the world already do.” | “Actions in the past and now clearly demonstrate that they do not believe in press freedom,” Nidal Mansour, head of the Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists, said of the Jordanian leadership. “It’s a global world, and Jordanians should have the right to access Web sites that people in the rest of the world already do.” |
| Hundreds of news sites have sprung up in recent years in Jordan. Many of them include commentaries critical of the government, and some have published documents detailing the activities and spending of the royal family. A spokesman for the Ministry of Information said last fall that the new law was intended to professionalize and institutionalize the robust new industry, and to rein in comments that insulted public figures. Abdullah Ensour, the Jordanian prime minister, said on Monday that he “had no choice but to implement the law.” | Hundreds of news sites have sprung up in recent years in Jordan. Many of them include commentaries critical of the government, and some have published documents detailing the activities and spending of the royal family. A spokesman for the Ministry of Information said last fall that the new law was intended to professionalize and institutionalize the robust new industry, and to rein in comments that insulted public figures. Abdullah Ensour, the Jordanian prime minister, said on Monday that he “had no choice but to implement the law.” |
| Access to roughly 300 sites was blocked starting on Sunday, when Jordanian news outlets were highlighting a paper issued by the king titled “Towards Democratic Empowerment and Active Citizenship.” About 80 people demonstrated in protest outside the journalists’ union on Monday, carrying signs saying, “No to the muzzling of online media.” There were plans for another demonstration outside Parliament on Thursday. | |
| Ninety-two Web sites that registered with the government continued to operate as usual. The sites that were blocked in Jordan remained available to Internet users outside the country. Some of them, like the popular site jo24.net, set up ways to get around the access blockage and alerted subscribers by e-mail. | |
| Daoud Kuttab, who founded one of the first of the sites, AmmanNet, 13 years ago, said he was posting news on Facebook and on other Web sites his company owned that were not affected. | Daoud Kuttab, who founded one of the first of the sites, AmmanNet, 13 years ago, said he was posting news on Facebook and on other Web sites his company owned that were not affected. |
| “The information we have will be available to the public somehow,” Mr. Kuttab said in an interview, adding, “It is a sad day when a country wants its people to hear things only from the government’s perspective.” | “The information we have will be available to the public somehow,” Mr. Kuttab said in an interview, adding, “It is a sad day when a country wants its people to hear things only from the government’s perspective.” |
Rana F. Sweis reported from Amman, and Jodi Rudoren from Jerusalem. | Rana F. Sweis reported from Amman, and Jodi Rudoren from Jerusalem. |