Reporters Without Borders Criticize Cuba for Controlling the Internet
The international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) criticizes the Cuban authorities for restricting citizens' access to the Internet. According to statistics, only 2% of Cubans have access to a worldwide network through an Internet cafe, all computers in which are controlled by special services, reports Reuters .
“In a country where all media is controlled by the government, access to independent online sources of information is becoming particularly important,” the report of the RSF said this week.
In Cuba, as in China, access to the Internet is controlled by the authorities. Only those who have received special permission from government bodies have direct access to the network; their access passwords, by the way, can be bought on the black market.
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The report notes that only 2% of Cubans use the Internet, while the level of education is one of the highest in the world.
All Internet cafes in the country, in particular the Correos de Cuba café network, are fully controlled. Emails are scanned for the presence of some words in them, in particular, are the names of dissidents mentioned in the messages; when such words are detected, the computer simply turns off.
Most citizens use the so-called “national” tariff for access to the network, which includes the provision of a special email address on the Cuban server and implies restricting access to many foreign sites. The cost of the tariff is $ 5 per hour (1/3 of the average Cuban salary per month).
The Cuban government explains these restrictions by the low bandwidth of access networks and criticizes the United States for economic sanctions that prevent the installation of fiber optic cables across the seabed. As a result, according to representatives of the Cuban authorities, access to the Internet has to be made through a more expensive satellite connection.
“Such statements can explain why users are given a very low speed of Internet access and why so many wires stretch to the Internet café buildings, but this does not justify the control of special services over network traffic,” the report of Reporters Without Borders states.
“In a country where all media is controlled by the government, access to independent online sources of information is becoming particularly important,” the report of the RSF said this week.
In Cuba, as in China, access to the Internet is controlled by the authorities. Only those who have received special permission from government bodies have direct access to the network; their access passwords, by the way, can be bought on the black market.
')
The report notes that only 2% of Cubans use the Internet, while the level of education is one of the highest in the world.
All Internet cafes in the country, in particular the Correos de Cuba café network, are fully controlled. Emails are scanned for the presence of some words in them, in particular, are the names of dissidents mentioned in the messages; when such words are detected, the computer simply turns off.
Most citizens use the so-called “national” tariff for access to the network, which includes the provision of a special email address on the Cuban server and implies restricting access to many foreign sites. The cost of the tariff is $ 5 per hour (1/3 of the average Cuban salary per month).
The Cuban government explains these restrictions by the low bandwidth of access networks and criticizes the United States for economic sanctions that prevent the installation of fiber optic cables across the seabed. As a result, according to representatives of the Cuban authorities, access to the Internet has to be made through a more expensive satellite connection.
“Such statements can explain why users are given a very low speed of Internet access and why so many wires stretch to the Internet café buildings, but this does not justify the control of special services over network traffic,” the report of Reporters Without Borders states.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/4569/
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