Oh no! Say it isnt so!
Reporters Without Borders publishes a report on how the authorities control the Internet in Cuba
Reporters Without Borders today publishes a report entitled “Going online in Cuba – Internet under surveillance” with the results of tests carried out on the island in August. It includes a survey of the Internet control methods used by the authorities and the personal account of a French journalist who spent several weeks there this summer.
Extract:
“With less than 2 per cent of the population online, Cuba is one of the world’s most backward countries as regards Internet usage. The worst off by far in Latin America and with a thirteenth of Costa Rica’s usage, it is down there with Uganda or Sri Lanka. This is quite surprising in a country that boasts one of the highest levels of education in the world. The authorities blame this disastrous situation on the US trade embargo, which supposedly prevents them from getting the equipment they need for Internet development. In particular, they say they are unable to use underwater fibre optic cable to connect to the Internet outside Cuba and are therefore reduced to using costly and less effective satellite links.
This may indeed explain the slowness of the Cuban Internet and the endless lines outside Internet cafes. But in no way does it justify the system of control and surveillance that has been put in place by the authorities. In a country where the media are under the government’s thumb, preventing independent reports and information from circulating online has naturally become a priority.
(emph. mine)
Read the whole thing here.
Via The Real Cuba.
I wonder what that number (2%) becomes when you make a distinction between “internet” and “intranet” (if they didn’t already).
Seems like they’re calling the intranet a heavily restricted internet. If you ask me, it skews the math and gives things new meaning. It’s like counting empty glasses where milk COULD be when counting how many people have milk in the morning.
Of course they blame the embargo. Why don’t “the authorities” get their equipment from China like everyone else?