Electronic media censorship halted [Archives:2008/1132/Front Page]

SANA'A, Feb. 24 ) All websites, whether local or international, were unblocked Sunday, Feb. 24, and residents in Yemen now have full access to all websites.

The unblocked sites include Yemenportal, Al-Umah, Free Yemen, Aden Press, South Voice Forum, and Al-Taif News Network, media sites that had been blocked by Yemeni authorities because they were publishing opposition news. Some of the sites have been blocked since 2004, while the majority have been created and blocked more recently.

Full access to the web was granted for over a week, yet there is no official explanation as to why this sudden space for electronic media has been granted. Sources at Yemen Net explained that the release of the websites could be attributed to the maintenance the service provider is carrying out.

Some of the recently unblocked website owners could not credit this to the state's provision of better space for media, and claim that lifting the block occurred because of the President's visit to Germany, as he “wants to give a good impression of Yemen's promotion of press freedoms.”

Yemen Net is the only technical service provider through which residents in Yemen can access the Internet. It does not hold an authority over what site should be blocked and what should be allowed; however, there is no clear indication as to which concerned authority controls electronic media. The Ministry of Information told the Yemen Times they have no relation to this issue due to the absence of legislation that controls the operation of electronic media.

International organizations and donor countries advocating press freedom had expressed concern about what they say is a deteriorating level of press freedom in recent years, citing journalist beatings, newspapers closures and more recently, blocking of political websites.
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