FYI
https://www.wikimedia.cat/2019/11/13/statement-about-the-spanish-new-royal-decree-law-of-public-security/
--
Statement about the Spanish new Royal Decree-Law of public security
On November 5th, The Official State Gazette (BOE) published the Royal
Decree-Law 14/2019
(https://boe.es/boe/dias/2019/11/05/pdfs/BOE-A-2019-15790.pdf), which
was passed on October 31st, whereby the General State Administration
reserves the right to suspend, exceptionally and precautionary, the
transmission of data and the connection to Internet claiming reasons of
public order.
According to Chapter IV, modification of the Law 9/2014 of General
Telecommunications, the State reserves the right to take over any types
of infrastructure, network, service or digital resource that may affect
public security within the framework of national defense. The power of
immediate action is granted to the Government of Spain for the closure
of websites and other services through the Ministry of Economy and
Business, as well as the control and operation of all networks during
transitory periods described as exceptional. No prior judicial
requirement is needed.
From Amical Wikimedia we hereby express our profound disagreement with
this new decree and our growing concern for the restriction of digital
rights in Spanish territory. First of all, the lack of debate on this
law in Parliament, its approval under a caretaker government, during the
electoral campaign and under the formula of a royal decree-law
represents a drastic regression of the freedom to information in key
moments. Secondly, vaguely defined concepts such as “national security,”
“public order,” “transitional period,” or “exceptional situation” allow
for indiscriminate action based on political interests for the
repression of ideological dissent.
Thirdly, we are concerned that the preamble of this law contextualizes
and aims to justify the adopted measures for the ongoing socio-political
mobilizations in different areas of the Spanish territory. Amical
Wikimedia, in this regard, has previously declared itself in favor of
the organization of actions that defend basic civil rights and the
freedom of expression throughout all the Catalan-speaking areas. The
abovementioned decree seriously violates the freedom of information,
which should be open and accessible to the public as is the case of
Wikipedia and its sister projects. Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights upholds that “Everyone has the right to
freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
There are recent precedents of digital censorship which have had very
serious social impact. In February 2014, the Turkish parliament passed
the Law No. 5651, granting new powers to the state telecommunications
authority regarding Internet regulation. A few years later, on April
2017 and making use of this law, access to all idiomatic versions of
Wikipedia were blocked based on Turkish Government claims of
state-funded terrorism on the English Wikipedia.
For all these reasons, Amical Wikimedia reaffirms its rejection of this
decree-law and demands its immediate withdrawal. Our organisation stands
unequivocally in favor of digital freedom and the human rights of
expression, peaceful assembly, and access to information.
--
Toni Hermoso Pulido
Amical Wikimedia
-------------------------
https://www.wikimedia.cat
_______________________________________________
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https://www.wikimedia.cat/2019/11/13/statement-about-the-spanish-new-royal-decree-law-of-public-security/
--
Statement about the Spanish new Royal Decree-Law of public security
On November 5th, The Official State Gazette (BOE) published the Royal
Decree-Law 14/2019
(https://boe.es/boe/dias/2019/11/05/pdfs/BOE-A-2019-15790.pdf), which
was passed on October 31st, whereby the General State Administration
reserves the right to suspend, exceptionally and precautionary, the
transmission of data and the connection to Internet claiming reasons of
public order.
According to Chapter IV, modification of the Law 9/2014 of General
Telecommunications, the State reserves the right to take over any types
of infrastructure, network, service or digital resource that may affect
public security within the framework of national defense. The power of
immediate action is granted to the Government of Spain for the closure
of websites and other services through the Ministry of Economy and
Business, as well as the control and operation of all networks during
transitory periods described as exceptional. No prior judicial
requirement is needed.
From Amical Wikimedia we hereby express our profound disagreement with
this new decree and our growing concern for the restriction of digital
rights in Spanish territory. First of all, the lack of debate on this
law in Parliament, its approval under a caretaker government, during the
electoral campaign and under the formula of a royal decree-law
represents a drastic regression of the freedom to information in key
moments. Secondly, vaguely defined concepts such as “national security,”
“public order,” “transitional period,” or “exceptional situation” allow
for indiscriminate action based on political interests for the
repression of ideological dissent.
Thirdly, we are concerned that the preamble of this law contextualizes
and aims to justify the adopted measures for the ongoing socio-political
mobilizations in different areas of the Spanish territory. Amical
Wikimedia, in this regard, has previously declared itself in favor of
the organization of actions that defend basic civil rights and the
freedom of expression throughout all the Catalan-speaking areas. The
abovementioned decree seriously violates the freedom of information,
which should be open and accessible to the public as is the case of
Wikipedia and its sister projects. Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights upholds that “Everyone has the right to
freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
There are recent precedents of digital censorship which have had very
serious social impact. In February 2014, the Turkish parliament passed
the Law No. 5651, granting new powers to the state telecommunications
authority regarding Internet regulation. A few years later, on April
2017 and making use of this law, access to all idiomatic versions of
Wikipedia were blocked based on Turkish Government claims of
state-funded terrorism on the English Wikipedia.
For all these reasons, Amical Wikimedia reaffirms its rejection of this
decree-law and demands its immediate withdrawal. Our organisation stands
unequivocally in favor of digital freedom and the human rights of
expression, peaceful assembly, and access to information.
--
Toni Hermoso Pulido
Amical Wikimedia
-------------------------
https://www.wikimedia.cat
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>