Attendees of the Cop27 climate meeting have discovered that the conference’s internet connection is blocking access to the global human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) as well as other key news websites needed to get information during conversations.
HRW is to lead a panel discussion at Cop27 together with Amnesty International, whose website is accessible from the conference wifi. The list of blocked sites also includes blogging platform Medium, Egypt’s only independent news outlet Mada Masr, and Qatari news channel Al Jazeera.
Alexandria Villaseñor, an activist who runs the youth climate organization Earth Uprising, tweeted: “There are so many websites blocked in Egypt on #Cop27, it’s notorious and difficult for us to work. We can’t use our site @ Earth_Uprising Medium, because Medium is blocked. The news agencies we refer to are blocked.” He added: “There is no climate action without truth and information.”
Observers and conference attendees fear the blockades at Cop27 are part of efforts by Egyptian authorities to separate vital climate negotiations from human rights issues by controlling what participants in the remote resort of Sharm el-Sheikh they can see over Egypt’s decades-long record of repression. on human rights and limiting their understanding of the country where the talks are taking place.
Egyptian telecommunications providers temporarily lifted the ban on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls at Cop27, such as WhatsApp calls. However, the authorities put in place a sophisticated and extensive system to block websites deemed critical of the Egyptian authorities, including independent media and human rights organizations. Internet freedom groups such as Qurium and Citizen Lab have documented how deep packet inspection technology provided by Canadian company Sandvine allows Egyptian authorities to block websites at will.
“Egyptian authorities have blocked access to around 700 websites, including independent media and civil society groups. This severely restricts access to information that needs to be discussed, including environmental and human rights issues. Effective climate action requires more people to speak up, not less,” said HRW’s Environment Director Richard Pearshouse.
The number of blocked sites has increased since Egypt began blocking independent news sites in 2017, starting with Mada Masr and Al Jazeera, which Egyptian authorities have frequently targeted since 2013, including a trial profile of Al Jazeera journalists.
As of September 2020, the Arab Human Rights Information Network and Mada Masr reported that 628 sites were blocked in Egypt, including 116 news sites, 15 dealing with human rights issues, 27 political criticism sites, and 349 sites that allow users to download the virtual private network. services (VPN), which are also banned in Egypt and therefore prevent internet users from subverting the website ban.
Earlier this year, the block of news sites was expanded to include the independent outlet Al-Manassa, prompting the free-speech organization Article 19 to say that “so far no government agency has announced your responsibility for these blocking decisions.”
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HRW reported shortly before Cop27 that the Egyptian state’s crackdown on environmental activism and independent research began, driving many activists into exile and greatly reducing what groups based inside the country are able to do, for fear of arrests, the closure of their organization or worse.
“Another obstacle to independent research is the severe limitation of access to information,” he said. “This massive censorship, along with systematic arrests and prosecutions of journalists, have severely restricted access to information and reporting on topics the government considers prohibited, including environmental issues.”