Representatives from the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Organization of American States, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights signed the "Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and the Internet", a document that urges governments not to limit freedom of expression online, reported EFE.
According to the document, governments "have the obligation to promote universal Internet access to guarantee the effective enjoyment of freedom of expression," which should not be restricted, "even for reasons of public order or national security," noted El Universal.
Dunja Mijatovic, of the OSCE, said there are cases where limits on content are justified, like in the fight against child pornography or terrorism, but Mijatovic insisted that such regulations should by no means pursue "political ends," according to the news agency EFE.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
