Censorship in Tunisia
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Freedom of Expression in Tunisia
Tunisia has undergone several significant political and social transformations over the last few months. The Arab Spring has led to the ousting of long term President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, resulting in democratization and the introduction of free and fair elections in the country. Over time, social movements and protests, although leading to several deaths and injuries, have fought to overturn issues such as high unemployment, corruption and limited freedom of speech. While most major movements focused on implementing democracy and freedom, other protests were initiated as a response to more specific government actions such as Internet censorship.
Since Ben Alis appointment as Prime Minister in 1987, and eventual rise to Presidency shortly thereafter, Tunisia had been an opponent of freedom of speech. Although Article 8 of the Tunisian Constitution clearly stated that “the liberties of opinion, expression, the press, publication, assembly, and association are guaranteed and exercised within the conditions defined by the law”, several restrictions were developed by the state. Under Ben Ali, the state had a monopoly on domestic television transmissions and would ban or censor any criticism in the form of newspapers, books and the World Wide Web. Ben Ali spent significant resources on censorship of the web, and created the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) as a means of controlling what the public viewed. It was the regimes instrument to blocking access to online voices and websites criticizing the government as well as websites deemed dangerous to Islamic values such as pornography.
In 2006, Reporters Without Borders, a French Non-Governmental organization, published a list of “Enemies of the Internet” which included Tunisia up until 2011. Internet cafés were run by the state and placed under strict police surveillance. Prominent multimedia and video sharing websites such as Youtube and Dailymotion were blocked in order to prevent Tunisian activists from criticizing the regimes human rights practices. Other websites that criticized Tunisias human rights record such as Freedom House and Amnesty International were also blocked.
Furthermore, Tunisia had also established a “Press Code”, which put regulations on journalists, banning them from offending the president and publishing what the government sees as “false news”. Violations can result in fines and imprisonment, such as the case of human rights lawyer Mohammed Abbou, who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for publishing a report accusing the government of torturing Tunisian prisoners. (Tunisian) The accumulation of censorship laws, combined with high unemployment, poor living conditions and other freedom-inhibiting restrictions led to widespread protests in 2010 and became known as the Tunisian Revolution. However, before the violent revolution began, smaller movements, specifically targeting freedom of speech restrictions and Internet censorship laws, had been taking place.
In mid 2010, the protest against Internet censorship began as a campaign online. A group of Tunisian web activists flooded unblocked websites and networks with photos and videos outlining their complaints. The movement was started by young activists and became known as Ammar 404. By using social networks such as Facebook, Flickr, and blogging websites, the movement began gaining thousands of followers. Ammar 404 put together a petition aiming to gather 10,000 signatures against censorship, which it managed to surpass with 12,000 votes. In addition, the group wrote a letter to the President in which it claimed that such restrictions were spoiling the image of Tunisia. The creators of Ammar 404 attempted to turn their virtual protest into a peaceful rally in front of the Tunisian Ministry of Communication, however, were arrested and forced to cancel the gathering.
Another campaign, which was called Seyyeb Saleh, meaning, “give me my freedom”, featured protesters fearlessly revealing their faces online with messages of protest, in order to provoke and even mock the Tunisian government. Within one year of these initiatives, thousands of demonstrators were gathering in the Tunisian capital to protest the governments infringement on freedom of speech and expression. About 2,000 marchers carried Tunisian flags and banners with the message “Freedom of Expression is sacred”. (Tunis) Protesters were fighting for the ideological and fundamental human rights of freedom as well as a civil state, and the removal of censorship. The fact that several of these demonstrations ended with tear gas and police involvement showed that citizens were still far being heard. As protests intensified, the government attempted to censor media coverage of