Too Much Freedom of Expression for the UN [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
The watchdog group Reporters Without Borders [3] (RSF) is criticizing the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [4] (UNESCO) for dropping its sponsorship of RSF's Online Free Expression Day [5]. As part of the event, RSF published a list of countries it dubbed "Internet Enemies [6]," for imprisoning people for their writings online. The list includes Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe. RSF accused UNESCO of "groveling" to "authoritarian regimes." UNESCO responded that [7] RSF's event "did not follow the arrangements agreed upon." UNESCO said the event included information "concerning a number of UNESCO's Member States, which UNESCO had not been informed of and could not endorse. Furthermore, UNESCO's logo was placed in such a way as to indicate the Organization's support of the information presented."