Too Much Freedom of Expression for the UN

The watchdog group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is criticizing the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for dropping its sponsorship of RSF's Online Free Expression Day. As part of the event, RSF published a list of countries it dubbed "Internet Enemies," for imprisoning people for their writings online. The list includes Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe. RSF accused UNESCO of "groveling" to "authoritarian regimes." UNESCO responded that RSF's event "did not follow the arrangements agreed upon." UNESCO said the event included information "concerning a number of UNESCO's Member States, which UNESCO had not been informed of and could not endorse. Furthermore, UNESCO's logo was placed in such a way as to indicate the Organization's support of the information presented."