By Amjad Baker
Albawaba.com - Amman
Many managers of Arab internet service providers (ISPs) are keeping silent regarding speculation that web use may be more heavily censored or monitored in the wake of reports that terrorists used the internet in the planning and implementation of their terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
Responding to a question by Albawaba.com about the issue, staff at a number of Jordanian and Saudi ISPs said that it was too early to talk about strict censorship. However, some human rights organizations warned against censorship of e-mail messages, claiming that this would jeopardize the users’ privacy.
“Censorship of chat rooms and email messages do not constitute a direct interference at present, but rather a legitimate right for the US to safeguard itself against dangers,” the chairman of the Egyptian Al Risalah ISP, Rida Audeh, said in a telephone interview with Albawaba.com.
The Egyptian expert, however, views the “issue as more than just an attempt at censorship, gathering information or interfering in peoples’ private affairs.
“Some nations seek specific information that will help them maintain security in their countries,” said the expert.
“The matter will be considered as interference in the private affairs of ordinary citizens, because terrorists will go around the censorship measures by many ways, including stenography, which was used by intelligence agents to hide secret messages under images,” said the spokesman of the renowned German Society for Internet Hacking, Eddie Mohler.
The head of the internet section at the Saudi Al Sahafa Corp. described censorship on the internet as difficult but not impossible, and added the US might seek help from Arab countries to monitor Arabic sites, chat rooms and email messages.
Some company managers have refused to confirm or deny whether they would help the US by monitoring the internet, saying it was too early to comment.
The chairman of Al Risalah group said that his organization “cannot interfere with the privacy of its subscribers unless they receive an official request from the Egyptian government” because his company operates under Egyptian law.
“The same applies to those who operate under the Saudi or UAE laws,” he added.
The Egyptian expert, for his part, asserted that censorship would be easy, since most ISPs are American-made and are subjected to purely American control.
For their part, many American companies, particularly AOL, have expressed willingness to fully cooperate in uncovering evidence related to the latest terrorist attacks in the US.
