Eleanor Roosevelt never imagined the Internet. Neither did the other framers of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60 years ago when they enshrined the right to freedom of expression. Yet they wisely left room for just such a development by declaring in Article 19: “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.”

Today, the Internet is both the vehicle and the battleground for freedom of expression around the world. The struggle between writers and governments over this free flow of information has escalated this past year and promises to intensify in the years to come. Those supporting open frontiers for ideas and information need to be on high alert and take steps necessary to protect those silenced and to keep the Internet unencumbered.

Last year became the first time that more Web journalists were jailed than those working in any other medium, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. China, Burma, Vietnam, Iran, Syria, and Zimbabwe have led the clampdown. They have arrested writers, blocked websites and Internet access, set strict rules on cyber cafes, and tracked writers’ work. In the past year, writers in general have been arrested and imprisoned for such alleged charges as “inciting subversion of state power” (China), “insulting religion” (Iran), “threatening state security” (Burma), “defaming the President of the Republic” (Egypt), “storing cultural products with contents against the Socialist Republic” (Vietnam), and “spreading false news” (Syria).

International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee regularly tracks approximately 900 cases of writers around the world who are under threat, arrested, attacked, or killed, with roughly 150 new cases each year. “There has definitely been a rise in the numbers of Internet writers, editors, and bloggers attacked,” notes Sara Whyatt, director of International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee.

“The Internet has caused an explosion of free speech. Governments of all sorts are finding this a challenge.” There are legitimate concerns about those who misuse the Internet, but a balance is possible between privacy and a government’s ability to track criminal and terrorist networks.

Authoritarian governments should not use law enforcement needs as an excuse to shut down opposition and muzzle free expression. Keeping the digital highway open for the hundreds of millions of legitimate users is vital to freedom of expression and the free flow of

information worldwide. It will take vigilance, agreed standards, and technological innovations to protect the Internet’s open structure. One can imagine Eleanor Roosevelt today sitting at her computer sending out protests, even blogging as she and others frame the principles to keep this corridor of communication unfettered and free. — The Christian Science Monitor