Internet rights poster sparks UN fight

The United Nations is drawing fire after disrupting a meeting of rights activists at its internet governance convention in Egypt.

Over the weekend, UN officials asked organizers of a book reception at the Internet Governance Forum to remove a poster for a book, which mentioned censorship and the Great Firewall of China. The organizers, a group of activists known as the OpenNet Initiative, were told the poster had to be removed because of objections from a member state.

Ronald Deibert, co-founder of the OpenNet Initiative and director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, said the UN was being hypocritical by demanding the poster’s removal.

“If we cannot discuss issues of internet censorship, surveillance, and privacy at a UN forum on internet governance, then what is the point of the Internet Governance Forum?” he said.

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