Liberia’s journalists union unhappy with blockage of internet during protest
Monrovia, Liberia (PANA) - The Press Union of Liberia Monday expressed shock at the government’s decision to block internet platforms during a peaceful and lawful citizens’ assembly despite its professed commitment to free expression.
“To outrightly restrict access to the internet for whatever reasons, especially during a peaceful protest on June 7, was a deliberate attack on free expression and access to information,” the Union stressed.
It noted: “Access to Internet is intertwined with the right to freedom of the press and of speech” which are at the fulcrum of the universal free expression campaign led by the United Nations and other international bodies.
“Only authoritarian regimes,” the Union said, “are found blocking and restricting access to internet, especially amidst mass citizens’ action or petition of their government,” the PUL said.
“Jittery governments view the internet’s power as the crust for the removal of a government’s control of information. The Internet provides a platform for any individual to publish and have access to alternate information void of ‘government official’ version; this is exactly why Friday’s restrictions are worrisome,” the PUL asserted.
The journalists union expressed concern that the government “is now treading the path of intolerance to dissent and double standards toward free expression”, decriminalizing speech offenses and at the same time blocking access to information.
“This latest action of the Weah Administration erodes recent gains made in enabling free expression in Liberia with the decimalization of speech offenses in the country,” the Union decried.
“It was confirmed that social media sites were restricted during the protest in Monrovia. We are not saying that the protesters were carrying out things detrimental to the nation, but the national security apparatus said there were threats to the country and the services were temporarily disrupted and have been restored,” Information Minister Eugene Nagbe said.
Meanwhile, the Press Union of Liberia has cautioned the government to end emotional reactions to situations involving civil liberties.
-0- PANA PTK/RA 10June2019
