Censorship in Cuba - Internet

Internet

The Cuban internet is among the most tightly controlled in the world. A special permit is required to use the Internet and all e-mails are intricately monitored. Cuba has been listed as an "Internet Enemy" by Reporters Without Borders since the list was created in 2006. The level of Internet filtering in Cuba is not categorized by the OpenNet Initiative due to lack of data.

Two kinds of online connections are offered in Cuban Internet cafes: a 'national' one that is restricted to a simple e-mail service operated by the government, and an 'international' one that gives access to the entire Internet. The population is restricted to the first one, which costs €1.20 an hour. To use a computer, Cubans have to give their name and address - and if they write dissent keywords, a popup appears stating that the document has been blocked 'for state security reasons', and the word processor or browser is automatically closed. Foreign visitors who allow Cubans to use their computers are harassed and persecuted.

Cuban ambassador Miguel Ramirez has argued that Cuba has the right to "regulate access to Internet and avoid hackers, stealing passwords, access to pornographic, satanic cults, terrorist or other negative sites".

Because of limited bandwidth, authorities give preference to use from locations where Internet access is used on a collective basis, such as in work places, schools, and research centers, where many people have access to the same computers or network. Authorities claim that 1,600,000 or about twelve percent of the population have access to Internet, and there were 630,000 computers available on the island in 2008, a 23% increase over 2007. But it is also seen as essential for Cuba’s economic development.

Reporters Without Borders suspects that Cuba obtained some of its internet surveillance technology from China, which has supplied other countries such as Zimbabwe and Belarus. However, it should be noted that Cuba does not enforce the same level of internet keyword censorship as China.

Guillermo Fariñas, a Cuban doctor of psychology, independent journalist, and political dissident, held a seven-month hunger strike to protest Internet censorship in Cuba. He ended it in the autumn of 2006, with severe health problems, although he was still conscious. He has stated that he is ready to die in the struggle against censorship.

In recent times, censorship of the Internet has slowly relaxed. For example in 2007, it became possible for members of the public to legally buy a computer. Digital media is starting to play a more important role, bringing news of events in Cuba to the rest of the world. In spite of restrictions, Cubans connect to the Internet at embassies, Internet cafés, through friends at universities, hotels, and work. Cellphone availability is increasing.

Alan Phillip Gross, under employment with a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development, was arrested in Cuba on 3 December 2009 and was convicted on 12 March 2011 for covertly distributing laptops and cellular phones on the island in furtherance of subversive activities.