New media access a human right: Amnesty

12:59 AEDT Thu Mar 31 2011

AFP

| FLOCKS: 0

0 comments so far

Also on

Fake filmTeen suspended over bullying vid

No chuteDaredevil leaps from helicopter

Tipping overTruck filmed losing control

'Too hot'Woman 'fired for good looks'

confessionKelly cites Scientology

bunny timeKate Upton hits the bikini beach

More technology news:

Marine reserves sustain fish stock: study

May 25, 2012

Wanted: Bigfoot hair samples for study

May 24, 2012

Cyber crooks step up weapons production

May 24, 2012

Facebook used as terrorist tool: Expert

May 23, 2012

Aust science needs to attract more youth

May 23, 2012

Astronomers prepare for transit of Venus

May 23, 2012

Aussie Twitter addicts sought for study

May 23, 2012

Top alien hunter hangs up her telescope

May 23, 2012

Commercial spacecraft speeds toward space

May 23, 2012

Inventor of first wireless remote control dies

May 23, 2012

Unfettered access to new media, which has been restricted by some states including China and Iran, should be a human right, Amnesty International secretary general Salil Shetty said yesterday.

"The time has come to consider access to new media, and their use, a human right," Shetty told a press conference in Montreal.

He underscored the role of new media technologies in ousting the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, while warning of their use to help cement state power by China and Iran, which he said have poured "considerable resources into pro-government blogs."

Denouncing state censorship, he said dozens of governments have adopted China's model for controlling the Internet, allowing for economic growth but not freedom of expression.

He said bloggers in the Middle East, Azerbaijan, Cuba, China, Malaysia and Vietnam had been thrown in jail under false accusations.

He also expressed "grave concern" over threats to liberties in the United States over an investigation into Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange.

Take Control Of The Dark With Cyber-shot from Sony http://www.sony.com.au/cybershot

The Italian father at the centre of a bitter battle for custody of his four daughters has released photos of himself with the girls in a bid to clear his name.

Ill Elton John cancels Vegas showsElton John has cancelled three Las Vegas shows while he recovers from a respiratory infection.

Six charged over child prostitution ringTwo sisters who allegedly masterminded a Sydney child prostitution ring are preparing to face court along with four men who are alleged clients.

Gaga angers Thais with fake Rolex tweetLady Gaga has sparked an online uproar in Thailand after tweeting she was looking forward to buying fake Rolex there.

Poles nabbed trying to load corpse on trainTwo Poles were detained Thursday after a corpse rolled up in a rug fell out of a sofa-bed that they were trying to load on a local commuter train, a police officer said.

NSW police nab two men with $1.25m of iceTwo men have been arrested in southern NSW after a vehicle search revealed they were transporting $1.25 million worth of ice, police say.

Man says he suffocated missing NY boy

A man has told New York police he suffocated a long-missing six-year-old boy, in a possible break in a crime that helped launch a missing children's movement across the United States.

Boy, 11, urinates on $36k worth of MacbooksAn 11-year-old US boy destroyed $36,000 worth of Macbook computers at his school by urinating on them, according to police.

Drowned chef's friends 'will suffer entire lives'A young Melbourne man who drowned after jumping off a pier early this morning had been drinking with friends who convinced him to take the fatal plunge.

Wife caught husband in bed with teenA man's drug-fuelled relationship with a child was exposed when his wife caught them in bed together, a court has heard.