UN secretary-general in press freedom pledge

Press freedom, particularly free expression online, will be a priority for newly re-elected U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, he has pledged in a meeting with the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders.

The heads of both organisations said they were encouraged by statements made by the secretary-general in support of press freedom during the upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa.

"The uprisings in the Middle East have demonstrated that people all over the world are hungry for information and cherish their ability to communicate with one another," said CPJ executive director Joel Simon. "This is a basic human aspiration grounded in international law."

The organisations asked Ban, who at the beginning of his first term pledged to support journalists working in dangerous conditions, to use his new mandate to expand support for press freedom everywhere. Ban assured the delegation that addressing individual cases of press violations is a priority.

"The Internet, as a space for the free flow of information and ideas, is inextricably linked to free speech and the development of our societies," said Simon. "U.N. member states have a responsibility to their citizens to keep it free."

In 2010, more than half of imprisoned journalists were working online, according to CPJ statistics. The delegation asked the secretary-general to build on his message issued on World Press Freedom Day in May by addressing cyber-attacks, censorship laws, and restriction of the Internet through regulation or the use of state power.

"We urged the secretary-general to strongly defend the journalists and bloggers currently detained or harassed in countries such as Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, and Libya," said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-Francois Julliard. "We asked him to do whatever he can to stop the repression and protect all those who want to use their right of free expression. We raised the crucial need to protect free speech online, reminding him that one Internet user out of three in the world does not have access to a free Web."

CPJ and RWB welcomed the appointment of a special rapporteur for human rights in Iran and asked for the secretary-general’s assistance in the case of two French journalists who were kidnapped over a year ago in Afghanistan.

'Defend the free internet before trying to regulate it' e-G8 Forum told by press freedom campaigners

Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard has called for "the free internet to be defended" before attempts are made to regulate it.

Julliard was among those who gave an unofficial news conference in one of the conference rooms of the “e-G8” forum on Internet issues in Paris yesterday, voicing opposition to attempts to regulate the internet and criticising the lack of representativeness of most of those who were invited by the French government to take part in the forum.

Participants in the news conference – improvised at the last minute and not part of the forum’s official programme – also included US journalist Jeff Jarvis.

Jarvis said he was “scared by those who are scared of the internet.” Julliard said he was “extremely disappointed” by the course taken by discussions during the e-G8 forum, including the lack of a strongly-worded message to governments that target journalists, bloggers and cyber-dissidents.

“The free Internet must be defended before thought is given to regulating content,” Julliard said. “The priority for G8 governments should be defending the internet.”

Julliard made similar comments when he took part in a panel discussion today on “Electronic Liberty: New Tools for Freedom,” an official part of the forum’s programme. Other participants included Google representatives, Alec Ross of the US State Department, and journalists and activists from the Arab world.

“The G8 should say clearly that internet access is a fundamental human right, before discussing anything else, whether economic development or copyright issues,” Julliard said.

He also accused certain democracies of saying one thing and doing another. He cited the US administration’s actions as regards WikiLeaks but said other democracies did not lag far behind. “It is easy to defend freedom of speech in Syria, but we should defend it in Italy, Australia and France as well.”

Pakistan: 13 journalists murdered in 13 months

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders reports that 13 journalists have been killed in the past 13 months in Pakistan.

RWB says: "With its tribal northwest, its border with Afghanistan, its tension with India and its chaotic political history, Pakistan is one of the world’s most complex nations and its journalists confront a daunting array of problems that include terrorist threats, police violence, the unbridled power of local potentates and dangerous conflicts in the Tribal Areas."

It adds: "The Pakistani media are still young and often inexperienced. Due to a lack of resources and ignorance of protective mechanisms, news media often send their reporters out on the most dangerous assignments without any kind of safety net. At the same time, the authorities have little consideration for a profession that keeps on raising awkward issues.

"Inadequate laws and a shaky constitution mean that media freedom is not yet fully recognized. Not to speak of all the subjects that are very dangerous to cover. It is easy to sue journalists over what they report and easier still to force them to shut up."

• RWB has an interactive graphic with details of the journalists who have been killed and four interviews with Pakistani journalists about the difficulties they face and the battle to establish professional journalism in Pakistan.