The internet in Lebanon is horrible, we all know that. But, to have it censored, become a privilege and expose our lives and livelihoods to the unregulated, biased, bureaucratic government bodies, is something we’d expect from China or Iran, or some other repressive regime.
A draft law which was written up in 2003, by MP Ghinwa Jalloul, is going to be voted upon today in the Lebanese parliament. This law, if passed, will force me to pay 10,000,000 LL in fines for posting this, and spend 3-6 months in jail. Why? Well, here’s broadly the tyrannical implications of this absurd law.
- No one may supply or utilize the internet, for business or leisure, for personal reasons or academic ones, without a license given out by a special governmental body
- The specialized governmental body is not subject to any law or the Lebanese judiciary
- It may operate and regulate the information technology sector as it sees fit
- It is allowed to raid and confiscate any information, hardware or software, whether it be personal (like facebook) or fiscal (like e-banking) or business-related (e-commerce)
- It is allowed to compete on the market, giving it a completely unfair advantage over other ISPs and internet-based businesses
These are some of the points that will come into effect if this law is passed today. Imagine a world where our access to the internet is in the hands of an appointed team of most probably biased, one-sided politicized individuals. Imagine not only being censored, but taken advantage of by the governmental body, and usurping the promising prospects for e-businesses in Lebanon.
So far, the Future Movement Block seems to support this law, for reasons beyond my understanding (probably to get that monopoly?). As for the Change and Reform Block, some of its MPs have agreed to abstain from voting. ABSTAIN?! You should be fighting this till the end, not concerning yourself with 11 Billion USD already in offshore accounts!
