Thimphu, June 24, 2007: When the internet was first introduced in Bhutan in 1999, the government was upbeat about regulating all porn and other sleazy sites bad for popular consumption. Some eight years down today, these lurid sites continue to enthrall the Bhutanese netizens.

The reason for the government’s failure to keep this Herculean promise is obvious: the policy makers failed to envision the global size of this phenomenon. Nevertheless, the government did create a regulator.

And Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA), the sole regulator for all Internet Service Providers in Bhutan including Druknet, is surely having one hell of a time given the nature of task it is entrusted with.

Its global nature and reach, highly unregulated content, and the Amazon of information it carries, has made the regulatory task totally impossible. Even the bigger nations like China and several Islamic countries bent on feeding their citizens politically correct information are grappling with this ever-elusive phenomenon.

But BICMA is still doing its bit. The latest site it blocked was www.bhutantimes.com. It also claims to have shut down some other sites the public complained against.

“We get orders from the regulator and we follow their instructions. If we are asked to block certain sites, we block them,” said a spokesperson from Bhutan Telecom, country’s first and biggest service provider.

Certainly BICMA has the authority to regulate websites and any other form of media in Bhutan in line with the national Media Act. Officials said that BICMA looks after the content of every media and if they find anything against the government or any personal attacks, it is instantly suspended.

“We regulate as per the law. According to article 27(P) of the Media Act, if a statement on the paper or on the net defames somebody then we have all the right to withdraw that media,” said a spokesperson from BICMA, adding that certain websites are blocked based on genuine complaints from the general public. “When people file in written complaints, we do a thorough study then pass our judgment.”

On the other hand, article 7(4) of the Constitution states that “there shall be freedom of press, radio, TV and other forms of dissemination of information, including electronics.”

Thus, observers point out that what BICMA is authorized to do by the Media Act defeats the spirit of the constitutional right guaranteed to all Bhutanese citizens.

“When higher authorities block certain websites, it is fundamentally not right. Our right to information is infringed,” said a civil servant under anonymity. “And especially when discussion forums are blocked, it means that our right to freedom of speech, opinion and expression is also infringed.”

Blocking sites, however, may not seem as easy as it sounds. Regulating a website to control internet pornography has been a major failure worldwide.

A spokesperson from Bhutan Telecom told BT: “When we initially blocked all porn sites, we found out that it was also blocking certain e-mails and its contents. We had no other options then to re-open X-rated sites.”

There has never been a single regulatory mechanism which could claim to be an effective regime to control internet content. The existing law is also altogether ineffective in regulating internet content. The fact remains that the global nature of the internet has made the enforcement issues difficult and challenging.

According to BICMA officials, blocking www.bhutantimes.com was purely based on complaints from the general public. “This website had comments and statements against the kingdom of Bhutan. It also had personal attacks and several defamatory contents,” said a BICMA official. “We discussed this issue with the information ministry along with some key people before blocking the site.”

The blocked page, however, continues to be accessible through hyperlinks and by-passing proxy servers. In such cases BICMA is helpless.

Meanwhile, the blockage of the site has raised several voices. People are asking why the site was blocked.

“The internet is presently the only forum where all opinions are equal and neutral. We don’t believe the World Wide Web should be in any manner curtailed, censored or managed,” wrote one forum user.

Another regular user wrote that blocking certain websites would portray Bhutan in a negative light. “I thought we were headed for democracy where people have the right to opinion and expression guaranteed by our Constitution. But why is this website blocked?”

Users say that if bypassing the blockage is so easy why does the government even bother to block sites? “There are hundreds and thousands of proxy servers on the World Wide Web. Instead it would be better if we had a team of media specialist to manage the media,” wrote another user to BT forum.

Official from the Department of Media and Information Authority told BT that, bringing out certain grudge and personal attacks on the public domain does not do any good to the society. “In this case the regulator has the authority to block the site. However, if blocking the site has adversely affected the people then they can always appeal to the court.”

[source]

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• BICMA
• druknet
• internet
• proxy
• website