[NCUC-DISCUSS] UN censored and banned some Brazilian activists from IGF

[Joao Carlos Caribe]

Direto do #IGF2015

In exercising their freedom of expression, activists from brazilian civil society organizations held a silent and peaceful protest during the opening session of the 10th Internet Governance Forum (#IGF2015), an event promoted by the UN and Comitê Gestor da Internet (CGIBr), in João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba.

The IGF – Internet Governance Forum participants took half a dozen posters and a banner to call attention to the defense of net neutrality and the risks that this principle for the free flow of information on the Internet has been suffering in Brazil and worldwide. There was also a banner protesting against the project financed by Facebook, the Internetorg.

Protest against Internetorg at IGF is repressed by UN (youtube)

The protest was repressed by the UN security guards, some of them using of physical strength. After that, the activists were filmed, photographed, some were pressured to show their cellphones and were surveilled during all the session, in an explicit act of intimidation and violation of their privacy. Beyond that, they also had their credentials photographed and withheld by security and were forbidden to participate at IGF>

This kind of repression is incompatible inside an event that is precisely discussing how to protect freedom of speech at the Internet and how to guarantee privacy of those who use the world wide web.

We demand that the credentials are returned and that the right of each and every one to express her and himself democratically be preserved in a United Nations event. We hope that the brazilian authorities manifest themselves to guarantee that the access of organizations and activists is not prevented.

João Pessoa, november 10 2015.

Articulação Marco Civil Já

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João Carlos Caribé
(21) 9 8761 1967
Skype joaocaribe
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