Beirut, 17 August, 2010

Press Release

SKeyes declares solidarity with Jordanian websites, and calls on the Jordanian
government to repeal the “Information Technology Crimes Act”

The SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedoms has been closely following the
broadminded moves taken by the Jordanian government for months now, towards the
media scene, and its inclination to consider media freedoms as one of the principles
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, SKeyes was
surprised by the sudden turn of events in recent weeks, and by the decisions taken in what
regards the realities of the thriving electronic media in Jordan, a form of the media that
has started competing with the traditional press, beginning with the decision to ban public
sector employees from browsing websites during official office hours, and not ending
with the new provisional “Information Technology Crimes Act”.
These measures have led us to express our deep concern regarding this trend, which is a
clear violation of the freedom of access to information, and to feel apprehensive that this
step might be a prelude to further restrictions against media freedoms in general.
Through our detailed examination of these developments, we have pointed out that the
measures, laws, regulations and legislations on the internet and its uses enacted since the
beginning of this year, aim in practice at imposing restrictions on websites and to subject
them to the press and publications law that the Jordanian journalists are seeking to
abolish in the first place, in light of the restrictions it imposes against the freedom of the
press. This is not to mention the subsequent campaign against websites spearheaded by
certain newspapers, perhaps given the wide margin of freedoms enjoyed by these
websites.
The legal framework laid down by the new and complex legislation that regulates internet
usage, and the penalties it specifies against „violators‟, will inevitably lead to arbitrary
and discretionary measures, and subsequently, this will place further hurdles on the
freedom of expression and on communication among internet users and among citizens.
However, the most dangerous aspect of this law is Article 13 which gives the police the
right to raid and search the homes of those suspected of breaching this law.
SKeyes, as part of its commitment to defend media freedoms and the free access of
information, declares its full solidarity with all Jordanian websites, and calls on the
Jordanian government to immediately repeal the “Information Technology Crimes Act”,
and to reverse all measures that would restrict the freedom of the press and the freedom
of expression.

Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63, Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org