#IMWeekly: July 11, 2014

Jordan Since June 2013, Jordan's Media Commission has blocked access to over 260 sites on the grounds that they violate a crucial licensing law. This week, it added nine more websites to this growing list, many of them news and information portals, under the justification that they do not have the required license to operate websites. Perhaps the most prominent of these sites is 7iber, a pro-free speech and media freedom site that was originally blocked a year ago. 7iber had changed its URL from .com to .org to circumvent this blockage, only to find itself restricted once again last week. The blocking takes after Jordan's Press and Publication Law, which was last amended in 2012. Article 49 of this law states that any news, investigations, and articles on political affairs in the Kingdom must obtain a license from the Press and Publication Department. 7iber's Editor-in-Chief, Lina Ejeilat, refused to apply for a license because of her belief that this requirement constitutes a form of government-mandated censorship. The eight other sites blocked along with 7iber, however, have applied for licenses, casting doubts on the Commission’s justifications for censorship. Ejeilat recently penned a long-form think piece for Global Voices Advocacy on the restrictions facing media advocacy groups like 7iber in the country.

Myanmar Buddhists and Muslims clashed in Mandalay earlier this month, prompting the government to impose a curfew before it blocked Facebook – a tactic the government claimed would curb violence fueled by religious extremists. The riots began after a story of a Buddhist woman getting raped by her Muslim employers went viral on Facebook (the country is rife with tensions between majority Buddhists and minority Muslims). The platform then saw the proliferation of religious hate speech leveled by both sides against one another. Facebook, FirstPost reports, was offline in the country for two days. To Mong Palatino of Global Voices Advocacy, this curb on free speech signals a dangerous trend within Southeast Asia. Palatino questions whether these governments, as they move toward greater democratic reforms, may be compromising rights of free expression in the process.

Mongolia On July 9, IFEX reported that a website in Mongolia was blocked after a journalist posted a picture critical of the Prime Minister. Mongolia's Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) blocked amjilt.com on the grounds that the photo defamed the Prime Minister. Globe International Center suspects that the CRC, which usually has a more robust and drawn-out process for informing website