First Press Release on the Ban of yemenportal.net
January 21st, 2008Below is the first press released issued just a couple of days after the website was blocked:
Amidst condemnation by the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate and calls to take action
Government blocks access to yemenportal.net in Yemen
Sanaa - Sunday Jan 21 (YemenPortal.net)
The journalist community in Yemen represented by the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) issued an official statement condemning the blockage of Yemen’s first news search engine YemenPortal.net, which was blocked by the government without warning or justifications depriving thousands of residents in Yemen from accessing the website. Despite denials by the country’s dominant state-controlled Internet service provider Yemen.net, it was confirmed that the website was subjected to a blockage that only affected users who access the service through Yemen.net while those accessing it directly through satellite and visitors accessing it in other countries were able to view the site normally.
“The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate expresses its regret for blocking accessing the search engine YemenPortal.net from view by Internet users in Yemen. It views this as a blatant assault on the freedom of the press, access to information and the right of the public to know and be aware of the various points of view, all which are protected by the constitution and laws.” the syndicate said in an official press statement issued today.
The YJS also called upon the authorities responsible to promptly remove this ban and demanded that they respect the law, which should be “the ultimate reference in relation to the freedom of expression.”
Meanwhile, the search engine, which was initially developed as part of a master degree by Walid Al-Saqaf, is still accessible through the alternative link: http://yemen.arabiaportal.net . Al-Saqaf defended the search engine as a means of bringing the news items of the diverse spectrum of Yemeni news and opinion websites. “As a journalist, I have always believed that the right to information is a sacred human right and the idea of the search engine revolves around allowing all websites to have a representation regardless of their political position while giving the visitors the opportunity to decide on what to read.” he said, adding that “I was encouraged to launch this project given the Yemeni regime’s constant reiterations of the irreversible path of Yemen towards more democracy and tolerance.”
Furthermore, the news website was approved by the University of Örebro in Sweden as a research tool that would help analyze the online media spectrum in Yemen. “It is a pity that the government resorted to such action instead of encouraging such a useful project.” Al-Saqaf said.
“I call upon the media community and civil society in Yemen to support us during this trying time and also urge the international community represented by advocacy groups to express solidarity with us and demand the regime stop those measures.”
Apart from YemenPortal.net, several other news websites were also blocked by the government without prior warnings or justifications. Some journalists working for those websites expressed outrage at this action and called upon advocates of freedom of expression and the international community to support their cause for democracy. The Yemen Times national English newspaper published a front page article on this issue entitled “Online freedom of speech suffers setback in Yemen ”.
This development took place a few days before a gathering of representatives of the various news websites is scheduled to take place on Tuesday morning in the capital city Sana’a. The idea of bringing news websites together in one meeting to get to know each other and collaborate for the common good of online journalism emerged during rounds of discussions with prominent news website managers. The event is open to all those interested in Yemen’s online media and is expected to tackle the issue of website filtering and censorship plus a host of other issues related to online journalism.
