Comments on: Ethiopia notices cyber-dissidents. (Indefinite detention without charges is the sincerest form of flattery.) http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2006/02/01/ethiopia-notices-cyber-dissidents-indefinite-detention-without-charges-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/ EthanZ's musings on Africa, media and international development Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:45:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: mediafanatic http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2006/02/01/ethiopia-notices-cyber-dissidents-indefinite-detention-without-charges-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/comment-page-1/#comment-7110 mediafanatic Wed, 01 Feb 2006 18:41:11 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=355#comment-7110 Living in D.C., I hear a lot of taxi drivers' discussion of Ethiopian politics. They are incensed. I also work with some First-Amendment lawyers, and the issue of internet censorship--and when a regime chooses to notice internet dissidence--is a fascinating one. The internet, as we know, is extremely difficult to legislate, filter and monitor, so it seems to signal a change of sorts when the internet falls under state attention regarding journalists' arrests. In many countries, old media laws don't even have provisions classifying the internet as a media, so it makes it harder, although you can always use "state secret" (or ideological, like "genocide") laws. Thanks for pointing this out. Living in D.C., I hear a lot of taxi drivers’ discussion of Ethiopian politics. They are incensed. I also work with some First-Amendment lawyers, and the issue of internet censorship–and when a regime chooses to notice internet dissidence–is a fascinating one. The internet, as we know, is extremely difficult to legislate, filter and monitor, so it seems to signal a change of sorts when the internet falls under state attention regarding journalists’ arrests. In many countries, old media laws don’t even have provisions classifying the internet as a media, so it makes it harder, although you can always use “state secret” (or ideological, like “genocide”) laws.

Thanks for pointing this out.

]]> By: Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Ethiopia: journalist arrested http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2006/02/01/ethiopia-notices-cyber-dissidents-indefinite-detention-without-charges-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/comment-page-1/#comment-7108 Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Ethiopia: journalist arrested Wed, 01 Feb 2006 18:28:42 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=355#comment-7108 [...] My Heart’s in Accra points to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists that the Ethiopian government have arrested “Frezer Negash, a correspondent for Ethiopian Review, a website fiercely critical of the Zenawi government. Negash is being held without charge.” [...] [...] My Heart’s in Accra points to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists that the Ethiopian government have arrested “Frezer Negash, a correspondent for Ethiopian Review, a website fiercely critical of the Zenawi government. Negash is being held without charge.” [...]

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