propaganda.lege.net/misperceptions/examples/rsf/belgium
http://propaganda.lege.net/misperceptions/examples/rsf/belgium/
Reporters Without Borders
Belgium
Source: http://rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=7124
Or: http://rsf.fr/print.php3?id_article=7124
19.06.2003
Almost a third of the population uses the Internet, up from only half a million people in 1998. Ninety per cent are men between 24 and 45, two-thirds of them with a university degree or the equivalent. This rapid growth is partly because Brussels, the capital of Europe and site of the European Union's major institutions, was a pioneer of introducing new technology. The growth of the Internet is also fed by the many commercial incentives offered by fiercely competing local ISPs.
Belgium is keen on free expression and human rights, but it was one of the first European countries to pass a law on retention of Internet connection data. In 2001, even before the 11 September attacks, such retention had been extended to a year. The concern to have and use this information is probably because the country has been traumatised in recent years by several paedophilia scandals and the exploitation of children through the Internet.
LINKS :
* Electronique Libre association: http://www.ael.be/
* Internet Rights Observatory: http://www.internet-observatory.be/
Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom throughout the world, as well as the right to inform the public and to be informed, in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Reporters Without borders has nine national sections (in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), representatives in Abidjan, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Tokyo and Washington and more than a hundred correspondents worldwide.
© Reporters Without Borders 2002
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