Facebook forse non più accessibile in Sudan, ma la censura arriva da lontano

Omar, gestore di un noto locale che anima la vita notturna della capitale sudanese, mi spiega perchè il dibattito tra gli internauti sudanesi sul futuro di Facebook si sia fatto tanto acceso nelle ultime settimane. Per denunciare quanto potrebbe accadere presto si sono mobilitati anche numerosi bloggers sudanesi, come AnwarKing.

Il principale social network mondiale, infatti, ha proposto una Dichiarazione dei Diritti e delle Responsabilità che, qualora approvato in via definitiva, negherebbe l'utilizzo del servizio ai Paesi sotto embargo degli Stati Uniti (punto 4.3), tra cui, appunto, il Sudan.

"Hi Mauro,
we in Sudan are now facing two dilemmas, one being:

-The post link service in Facebook site has been blocked by Sudanese National Telecommunication Corporation. that was the first step.
We guess that the second step is to block Facebook site by National Telecommunication Corporation .
Why because there was some political groups against the government . -

and the other:

- Facebook Site Governance: You are bound by the laws of the country that you live in. You may also need to comply with the laws of other jurisdictions, including the laws of the United States (because our headquarters are based in the U.S.).

How are sections like 4.3 (embargoed countries) consistent with the “One World” principle in the proposed Facebook Principles?
As we state in the Principles, our principles are constrained by limitations of applicable law. -

I have addressed the facebook administrators to emphasize that by applying this facebook embargo on countries like Sudan you will be helping the dictatorial government of Sudan who also is working hard to sensor and control the use of facebook as it becomes the new opposition channel for Sudanese living abroad to communicate with the people of Sudan to try and organize opposition movement against the government. By doing so you will be participating to the death of such opposition."

Update: è lo stesso Omar a comunicarmi che, grazie all'attivismo di tantissimi internauti sudanesi e di tutto il mondo, Facebook ha deciso di rivedere il tanto discusso punto 4.3.