June 18, 1998 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Digital Freedom Network is turning to the Internet to fight censorship around the world.
The Hackensack, N.J., non-profit group has posted on its Web site essays, letters, and other writings by people who have been imprisoned, persecuted, or otherwise silenced in their home countries.
“In the ‘80s, dissidents used fax machines to try to disseminate information. Now they are increasingly using the Internet,” says Bobson Wong, executive director of the Digital Freedom Network. “With a few keystrokes, you can send information to millions of people around the world.”
Writings from dissidents in at least 17 countries are featured on the site. Among the controversial offerings: a series of satirical cartoons about pedophilia that were not allowed to be distributed in Belgium, a 25-year-old South African poem that has been labeled racist and banned on several different occasions, and a 1997 letter from Chinese dissident Bao Ge to the president of that country offering suggestions for greater democratization of China.
Mr. Wong says that the Internet is a powerful tool with which to battle censorship because it is extremely difficult for government officials to monitor. “They can’t read every single e-mail message that comes in and out of China,” he says.
To get there: Go to http://www.dfn.org.
