CAIRO: The Jordanian government continues to block a number of websites from public employees. Rights groups around the region have called on Amman to reconsider its position on censorship in order to adhere to international standards of free access to media. The Jordanian government has said that by blocking the sites, it enables employees “to work at a more diligent rate and not get stuck in Internet searching,” as one Jordanian official said on Thursday. But the Cairo-based pan-Arabic media watchdog the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) disagrees, saying the excuses have nothing to do with work-related issues. “All reasons declared for this decision turned to be untrue as the blocking targeted independent news sites that report on issues of public opinion concern such as the teachers' crisis, veterans status and rights of day laborers,” ANHRI said in a press statement issued on Thursday. According to ANHRI, the Jordanian government has already blocked more than 40 websites at all public locations. The rights group claims this is the first step in a larger effort to crackdown on opposition sites that are critical of the Jordanian government. “However, after implementing the decision, it was found that most blocked sites are independent ones that report on what the state owned news agencies would conceal, especially public opinion issues,” ANHRI stated. Gamal Eid, ANHRI's Executive Director said that “the blocking decision is not only against the freedom of Internet use, which is a human right, but a decision that assumes naivety of citizens and that they will accept such poor reasoning as well. “The government knows quite well that this decision will not improve performance at work. The government should solve problems and make reform plans instead of concealing news and blocking sites,” he said. Jordan currently has approximately 28 percent Internet usage, translating to about 1.8 million users and half of whom are members of the social-networking site Facebook. BM
