at unplugged – fifth al jazeera forum

22 May, 2010  Random

So I’m sitting at Al Jazeera’s fifth forum right now. The event is called unplugged. I’ve seen quite a number of people speak on stage but I still haven’t seen the real juicy stuff.

We talk about the importance of Internet freedom and how social media can affect public opinion or bring us information at record seeds, but aren’t they preaching to the quire?

Anyway, it’s a discussion which is a step forward in the right direction.

For my tweets, follow http://Twitter.com/iloveqatar

Freedom of Expression

    Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which the Qatari Government is a signatory of states: 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 medias and regardless of any frontiers.

    The Emiri Decision Number 86 of the year 2007 on the establishment of the Doha Free Information Centre marked yet another step towards establishing a State of rights and freedom of speech. The decision stipulated that the Centre be a non-profit organization, headquartered in Doha City, and have the authority to establish other affiliated centres inside and outside Qatar. It is worth mentioning that His Highness the Emir issued a decision in 1998 annulling the ministry of information, giving birth to a new era of freedom of speech where censorship was removed from local media.