[Chapter-delegates] Content filtering and jurisdiction of cyberspace

[Imran Anwar]

Being a Pakistani born American, and having pioneered Internet services and co-founded .PK ccTLD for Pakistan, I can understand, appreciate and relate to Faisal's concerns about offensive content on the Internet.

That being said, I am both confused, and concerned, about his blanket statement "filtering is not a solution, instead efforts must be taken to remove content from the source." That to me is quite opposite to the whole idea of a free and open platform like the Internet. 

Granted some things, like child pornography, can be targeted for "remove content from the source" type efforts, but almost anything else on the Internet is something that someone, somewhere, sometime or another, can find "objectionable" and come up with "valid" sounding excuses demanding it be taken off.

So, much that I do not like the idea of governments, especially in developing nations, spending millions on trying to play the role of censor, or content monitor, trying to filter what may be unsuitable for them, it is, at least in my humble opinion, slightly more palatable than the idea of insisting that any and all content anyone finds objectionable be removed from all sources. 

To me it sounds like developing nations with highly illiterate populations (and even the now political correctness fever ridden modern societies) need to learn to ignore things rather than trying to control or erase what they find objectionable. Quite frankly, and sadly, I find it laughable how our fellow Muslims will use objectionable content (say a video or cartoon) to do things far more objectionable to God, and to Prophet Muhammad, like killing innocent people in "protests". Even the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) did not punish those who directly insulted him or even physically dumped things on him (some on a regular basis when he used to say his prayers). It seems like current Muslims like to think they are representing Islam and the Prophet's way of life by doing the exact opposite of what he did or would like to see.

The answer to hate, or abuse, is not to go killing the messenger or destroying the medium, it is to engage the abuser magnanimously, or, at worse, ignoring them. 

And an essential ingredient to going down that path is to promote education... 

As I often say in my speeches to different audiences on similar topics, the first word of Wahi that God sent Prophet Muhammad was not "Jihad" or "Kill X, Y, Z" or "Block YouTube"... 

The word was... "Iqra".... READ.... 

How ironic that it is the same Muslim countries populations that sadly have the highest percentages of illiteracy, from Afghanistan to Pakistan, from Bangla Desh to places in Africa. 

Let's teach people everywhere to engage, not offend, and to ignore if offended, than to go try to kill people or a platform.

These are my personal opinions, not representing any organization, government, business, or other individuals.


Imran Anwar
http://imran.com
http://facebook.com/IMRAN.TV



On May 30, 2013, at 4:27 PM, Faisal Hasan <hasansf at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Friends,
> 
> Bangladesh Govt. plans to filter internet contents. We know that this option of filtering is not a solution, instead efforts must be taken to remove content from the source. The move actually stemmed from Google’s refusal to take down the trailer of a religiously sensitive film from its website Youtube.com. Bangladesh even asked Google to install a mirror server for Bangladesh nine months ago so that such videos could be filtered out. Youtube is still blocked in Bangladesh since last September.  Recently, in Bangladesh the Internet has become a double edged sword which is used not only by activists to raise voice for legitimate reasons but also by some bad politicians to provoke innocent people to create deadly violence. We have already have had 'our spring' last February. Clearly, the government is in a dire situation.
> 
> From our chapter we are initiating a dialogue with the government in two weeks time. We would like to get your inputs about this issue. I know many govts have implemented filtering like this and all most all the report I have seen suggest that this does more harm than good for the people. The situation in a country like Bangladesh deserves special care as there are millions of people here who donot have basic education and are easily agitated by inappropriate/fake content. To give you an idea about the seriousness of the issue, I would say that in a single day in February 40 people were dead!
> 
> Please let us know what you think can be done? What is the alternative? Does global companies have more responsibility in making their policies such that it takes care about issues in developing countries?
> 
> Thanks
> Faisal Hasan, PhD
> Internet Society Bangladesh Dhaka Chapter
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