Censorship in Cuba?

[727Goon]

I was wondering if any of you guys know of any sources that refute these claims or if this is an accurate portrayal of the situation.

A special permit is required for using the Internet in Cuba. Internet access is controlled and e-mail is monitored.[8][11]
Two kinds of online connections are offered in Cuban Internet cafes: a "national" one that is restricted to use an e-mail service operated by the government, and an "international" one that give access to the entire Internet.[11] The population is restricted to the first one, which costs 1.20 euros an hour. Most can't even afford the 4 euros an hour needed to browse the Internet, as this is approximately a third of the average monthly wage.[11] To use a computer, Cubans have to give their name and address - and if they write dissent keywords, a popup appears that the document has been blocked for "state security" reasons, and the word processor or browser is automatically closed.[11] Foreign visitors who allow Cubans to use their computers are harassed and persecuted.[11]

Cubans cannot read books, magazines or newspapers unless they have been approved/published by the government.[16] Cubans can not receive publications from abroad or from visitors.[16]

In 2002, “Following the Hip Hop Festival held in Havana in August, the Casa de Cultura in Alamar received an order from the Ministry of Culture to review the lyrics of rap songs before the start of any concert.” [24] Cuban rappers responded by altering their music/lyric styles. “Underground’s beat slowed down its tempo and rappers started changing up their lyrics. The strident notes coming from the barrios and caseríos that scared the State so much when they first came out started softening themselves to take advantage of the promotional opportunities offered by those same people who initiated the hunting spree.” [25]

The Interior Ministry has principal responsibility for monitoring the Cuban population for signs of dissent. Reportedly, the ministry employs two central offices for this purpose: the General Directorate of Counter-Intelligence and the General Directorate of Internal Order. The former supervises the activities of the Department of State Security, also known as the Political Police, reportedly dividing its counter-intelligence operations into specialized units. One of the units—known as "Department Four"—reportedly focuses on the "ideological sector," which includes religious groups, writers, and artists.

Cuba's provision regarding contempt for authority (desacato) penalizes anyone who "threatens, libels or slanders, defames, affronts (injuria) or in any other way insults (ultraje) or offends, with the spoken word or in writing, the dignity or decorum of an authority, public functionary, or his agents or auxiliaries." Such actions are punishable by three months to one year in prison, plus a fine. If the person demonstrates contempt for "the President of the Council of the State, the President of the National Assembly of Popular Power, the members of the Council of the State or the Council of Ministers, or the Deputies of the National Assembly of the Popular Power, the sanction is deprivation of liberty for one to three years."

The Criminal Code mandates a three-month to one-year sentence for anyone who "publicly defames, denigrates, or scorns the Republic's institutions, the political, mass, or social organizations of the country, or the heroes or martyrs of the nation." This sweeping provision potentially outlaws mere expressions of dissatisfaction or disagreement with government policies or practices, clearly violating free expression. The protection from insult of lifeless entities, and state-controlled institutions and organizations in particular, appears designed solely to preserve the current government's power.

Like defamation of public institutions and symbols, clandestine printing appears as a crime against public order in the Criminal Code. Preserving public order does not sufficiently justify the law's extremely broad prohibition on free expression and a free press. Anyone who "produces, disseminates, or directs the circulation of publications without indicating the printer or the place where it was printed, or without following the established rules for the identification of the author or origin, or reproduces, stores, or transports" such publications, risks from three months to one year in prison.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Cuba

[fa2991]

I think it's mostly true, though I know that it's not as hard for citizens to get on the Internet as this would indicate. Maybe they don't get on easily or legally, but...

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Wow....that is quite the list.

Am I the only one who has a problem with all these restrictions? It just seems awfuly extreme.

[Stand Your Ground]

Sounds a bit over the top, but I am not there so I cannot say if it's true or not.

[Red Commissar]

Can't comment on the first because I do not know much about the internet there. I remember awhile back a user here posted a link to a forum that was mostly Cuban users, and Cuban government promotes a build of Linux for their users.

The second and third are what they are, but the rest isn't unique to Cuba. Point three seems the same to me as security apparatus in other countries, and the last three just seem a further application of libel/slander laws.

And also considering Cuba is in a constant near-state of war against a certain neighbor, there will be "harsh" measures. It doesn't have the abundant resources or peace of mind that western nations have.

[Rafiq]

I was wondering if any of you guys know of any sources that refute these claims or if this is an accurate portrayal of the situation.















http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Cuba

Yeah, here's a tip, don't believe most things the Media tells you, because, they are very bias and...


Do you really expect them to say ANYTHING positive in Cuba..


For example, TV shows have to be approved by the Government in the US, right?

Those newspapers and books magazines, probably have to be approved not for political reasons, but for reasons such as inappropriate text, you know, pornography in Newspapers and so on..

Do you see how the Media makes up bullshit?


Let's say I work for North Korean television.. I am showing North Koreans what the US looks like.. So I go to downtown detroit, and all the Ghettos of the US, and say "Look, this is what it's like to live in America"...


The Media does the same with virtually ALL the US enemies..

[727Goon]

Yeah, here's a tip, don't believe most things the Media tells you, because, they are very bias and...


Do you really expect them to say ANYTHING positive in Cuba..


For example, TV shows have to be approved by the Government in the US, right?

Those newspapers and books magazines, probably have to be approved not for political reasons, but for reasons such as inappropriate text, you know, pornography in Newspapers and so on..

Do you see how the Media makes up bullshit?


Let's say I work for North Korean television.. I am showing North Koreans what the US looks like.. So I go to downtown detroit, and all the Ghettos of the US, and say "Look, this is what it's like to live in America"...


The Media does the same with virtually ALL the US enemies..

Right, this is why I was asking for sources that refute and prove wrong the claims.

If it's true I'm not sure how people justify calling Cuba socialist, I mean socialism is supposed to be a working class democracy and I can't think of anything more undemocratic than the censorship of books and ideas.

[Magón]

1. I don't think so, but I've never used the Internet, or a computer while in Cuba. It might be true, but probably not to such a radical extreme extent.

2. No, that's wrong as far as I know. I don't think you'll find any books written in American in Cuba, seeing how there's a big ass embargo on Cuba, but there are ways of slipping things through the cracks, that the government doesn't care about, and I think rather accepts. (Probably even more so now, that Raul is in charge.) But when I was there, you could find books from different countries, that weren't Embargoing Countries.

The rest, I'm not sure about. Haven't been there in a long time, so things probably have changed from last I remember.

[RadioRaheem84]

Doesn't anyone even realize that what the Cubans supposedly do in the open is what the US does in the dark, or possibly in the open and it's just under reported? The NSA has it's fingers everywhere and we cannot be so naive to think that COINTELPRO ended in the late 70s.

While I would never approve of extreme forms of censorship, I still think we're talking about the defense of a progressive state vs. one in defense of capitalism.

[727Goon]

Doesn't anyone even realize that what the Cubans supposedly do in the open is what the US does in the dark, or possibly in the open and it's just under reported? The NSA has it's fingers everywhere and we cannot be so naive to think that COINTELPRO ended in the late 70s.

While I would never approve of extreme forms of censorship, I still think we're talking about the defense of a progressive state vs. one in defense of capitalism.

And since when is the US the standard for a free and democratic society? If they have the kind of political oppression out in the open in Cuba that the US does in the dark, that's a pretty fucked up place to be.

[n17yids]

It's hard to believe every fine detail. I know most Americans would believe this because throughout our childhood in America, we are supposed to label Cuba as "evil." I'm sure there is heavy regulation of the Internet in Cuba but I can't believe everything the American media portrays. Also, it is hard to believe that the American government keeps their hands off of the Internet here. People are afraid to believe that the American government does in fact spy online.

[Magón]

It's hard to believe every fine detail. I know most Americans would believe this because throughout our childhood in America, we are supposed to label Cuba as "evil." I'm sure there is heavy regulation of the Internet in Cuba but I can't believe everything the American media portrays. Also, it is hard to believe that the American government keeps their hands off of the Internet here. People are afraid to believe that the American government does in fact spy online.

I think most Americans just repress the idea, rather than accepting it. Like many other things, the US People are just the US Government's Sheep.

[n17yids]

And the U.S. government is Corporate America's sheep

[RadioRaheem84]

And since when is the US the standard for a free and democratic society? If they have the kind of political oppression out in the open in Cuba that the US does in the dark, that's a pretty fucked up place to be.

Well I am talking about what the Cuban state is being accused of doing vs what the United States has openly admitted to doing.