(Source: Deutsche Welle)
Internet and mobile phone users in South Sudan are not able to access the websites of at least four independent media outlets. The government has grown increasingly hostile to the media since civil war began in 2013.
The South Sudanese government has blocked access to the websites of Dutch-backed Radio Tamazuj, as well as the popular news blogs Nyamilepedia and Paanluel Wel. Internet users said that the website of the Paris-based Sudan Tribune was also affected on some mobile phone and Wi-Fi networks.
Radio Tamazuj and the Sudan Tribune are reputable sites which have been critical in their coverage of South Sudan’s government, which has grown increasingly hostile towards the media since civil war broke out in 2013.
The government is justified in blocking the websites to protect citizens from outlets that “disseminate subversive material,” South Sudan’s Minister of Authorities Michael Makuei Lueth told the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).[…]
Continue reading at Deutsche Welle online.
Fortunately, the South Sudan communities I’ve worked with through Ears To Our World have access to shortwave radio which is not affected by an Internet block.
No doubt, shortwave radio is the ultimate free speech medium, as it has no regard for national borders, nor for whom is in power (or not in power) at any moment.
Shortwave radio may be a sunsetting technology, but it’s also the most accessible and effective vehicle of the free press. What other technology can thoroughly blanket the globe with news and information yet can also be be received with a simple $20 battery-powered portable device?
This photo was taken in South Sudan, after Ears To Our World distributed radios in this rural community for the fourth year running. We’ve been distributing radios in South Sudan through our partners there since 2009.
Check out these recent comments from the head of DW regarding the importance of international broadcasting. Thanks for the tip, Rich!
Today’s morning in Hanoi: Half of the Internet is gone. And in countries like Vietnam or China never you know what that means. BBC and WordPress f.e. are blocked for years now. They are full of fear and therefore unpredictable.
But Germany is blocking too. New is to block single persons from social media.
Google “country name internet censorship”.
Everyone should have a SW receiver. Just in case.
Your organization is providing a great service to the world Thomas, you should be proud.
When are these radio station execs going to get their heads out of the sand and realize the internet is not the answer to this worldwide problem of broadcasting objective news programs. Here’s a great example of how well that works!
Just a single example of how petty despots and dictators can bring the sacred internet to a screeching halt. Shortwave radio IS indeed the medium of free speech. Yes, it can be jammed, but a frequency agile transmitter can jump ahead and around the jammers. This is an important lesson that must be taken to heart by all who value the free dissemination of information.