VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTU #0053/01 0221727
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 221727Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7190
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS TUNIS 000053 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR R, NEA/PPD, AND NEA/MAG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPAO KDEM OIIP TS
SUBJECT:  SECRETARY'S SPEECH ON INTERNET FREEDOMS PROVOKES LIVELY 
DEBATE IN TUNISIA 
 
Ref:  STATE 4203 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Secretary Clinton's January 22 speech on Internet 
freedom was well-regarded by Tunisian contacts, though it did not 
receive any coverage in the official press, given government 
oversight and censorship of Tunisian media.  Discussions following 
Embassy-sponsored speech viewing parties and informal conversations 
following the speech revealed that Tunisians are frustrated with 
what they see as heavy government and social influence over the 
Internet and press, though some saw the wisdom of some sort of 
Internet watchdog to prevent the spread of misinformation or 
personal attacks.    End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Embassy Tunis hosted six bloggers at a viewing party on a 
large screen in the Embassy multipurpose room.  Despite occasional 
connection problems, the live speech and ensuing follow-up questions 
were well-received by the group.  A lively impromptu discussion in 
French and Arabic about internet freedoms and challenges followed 
the viewing.  Internet freedom became a metaphor for freedom of 
expression for the group.  Though the bloggers ranged in age, 
educational background, gender, and their blogs span topics as 
diverse as analysis of Tunisian politics, personal anecdotes, and 
intellectual criticism, all the bloggers agreed that the Tunisian 
blogosphere has a problem with censorship, whether coming from the 
government or - more perniciously - self-censorship.  One blogger 
noted that while she could easily change the name and location of 
her blog following all-too-common government shutdowns of her site, 
it is much harder for her to continue to post honestly after being 
accused by visitors to her site of being a "kafir" or infidel due to 
her liberal ideas about Islam and the veil.  The group conceded that 
the worst ambushes generally came from fellow Tunisians online, not 
government interventions.   However, the group agreed that the 
Tunisian blogosphere was legally fragile, and at risk of government 
control through subversion by online youth groups from the ruling 
party, the RCD. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) A common conversation theme was that the web represents 
democracy, as each individual can have an equal voice online, and 
that this is especially important in the Arab World, where 
governments often repress free speech of individuals and dissident 
groups.  Colorfully, one blogger delighted in the fact that "Anyone 
can have a blog, whether you are a minister or a streetwalker." 
Writing online, a woman said, was akin to being a true citizen 
because it represented civic participation at its most essential. 
One man likened the Tunisian blogosphere to a "vital bubble of 
oxygen in an air-deprived country".  They lauded the existence of 
over 500 active blogs in Tunisia and that fact that over ten percent 
of the country has a Facebook account as proof that freedom of 
expression in Tunisia is not dead. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Interestingly, while all of the bloggers followed each 
other's work online, this event was the first time many of them had 
met in person.  The group came to the consensus that while Tunisia 
surpassed Morocco in quality-of-life for most citizens, it suffered 
by comparison to what they saw as Morocco's vastly more open space 
for criticism and debate, whether in the written press or in the 
blogosphere.  One blogger commented that whereas Tunisians wait 
anxiously to see when the president will die and who will replace 
him, Moroccans know that their king will always be king and thus 
they feel safe in pushing the boundaries of free speech and debate, 
and are allowed to protest and organize legally.  He cited the 
existence of actual opposition newspapers as proof of the existence 
of liberty in Morocco. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The group noted that Facebook was not as useful an 
organizing tool for activists as they had originally hoped.  They 
said that "groups" that form on Facebook do not generally lead to 
action in Tunisia, as they have in Egypt in the form of protests and 
demonstrations, as there are strict rules against the formation of 
groups and societies by the Tunisian government.  The bloggers 
agreed that the creation of a pan-Mediterranean union of bloggers, 
ranging across North Africa and perhaps based out of Marseille, 
would strengthen the ability of Tunisian bloggers to bring their 
intellectual debates to a broader audience, and make their work 
safer from government censorship. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Embassy Tunis also hosted a second successful viewing party 
of the Secretary's Internet freedoms speech at the American Corner 
at AMIDEAST in downtown Tunis.  Over 20 students between the ages of 
18 and 25 attended the speech and following conversation.  Following 
the speech, an Embassy officer engaged the group in a discussion of 
their thoughts and reactions to the Secretary's speech.  Several 
were intrigued by the social entrepreneurial aspect of information 
technology and impressed by what others had been able to accomplish 
through Facebook and mobile phones. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Audience members took particular note at Tunisia being 
 
referenced in the speech as having "stepped up [its] censorship of 
the Internet" in the past year, and acknowledged that there is still 
a long way to go in their country before they will be able to enjoy 
unrestricted access to the Internet and full freedom of expression. 
However, the majority of the group did not see censorship as 
necessarily a bad practice.  First, they mentioned that censorship 
does not pose many problems for them since they are all tech-savvy 
and know how to use proxy servers to access YouTube and the like. 
Furthermore, a large number voiced their opinion that some governing 
body should be allowed to censor what material is available to the 
public on the basis that some information is deleterious to society 
and its citizens. 
 
¶8. (SBU) During a dinner for visiting DAS Wittes, hosted by the 
Ambassador on the evening of January 21, Tunisian civil society and 
business contacts voiced lively opinions about the level of freedom 
of expression and challenges to democratic development in Tunisia. 
There was broad consensus among guests that Tunisia was far behind 
the curve on democracy, but several gave credit to the Ben Ali 
government for delivering relative prosperity and upholding 
protections for women.   Guests were very interested to hear about 
the Secretary's speech and particularly her mention of Tunisia among 
countries that need to do more on Internet freedom. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Press coverage of the Secretary's speech was limited to a 
single article in the French-language daily Le Quotidien referencing 
the Secretary's criticism of China for hijacking the Google email 
accounts of human-rights advocates.  The blogosphere took notice, 
however:  links to videos of the speech were posted on several 
blogs, along with photos of the Embassy viewing event taken by a 
blogger who attended.  Noting an empty chair next to a blogger in a 
photo, one poster asked humorously, "Is this empty chair 'Auntie 
Hillary's' seat?" Another noted, "Many others before [the blogger] 
went to the [American] Embassy but at the end we can only rely on 
Tunisians." 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment:  While the government-controlled Tunisian media 
has not so far acknowledged Secretary Clinton's criticism of 
Tunisian Internet freedoms in her January 21 speech, it is clear 
that Tunisians are listening, and that their government's repression 
of free speech on the Internet has not gone unnoticed or unopposed 
by the Tunisian public.  End comment. 
 
 
 
GRAY