<nettime> Tamil Media Website Blocked in Sri Lanka

[s|a|m <sam@myspinach.org>]

Hi,

During the past couple of days reports had surfaced from various people
about the difficulty of accessing TamilNet - the pro Tamil Tiger website.
Now it seems to official - TamilNet.com has been blocked by the Sri
Lankan Government. As of this moment (20 June 2007), it is not possible
to access www.tamilnet.com via an ISP in Sri Lanka.

TamilNet is NOT an independent media, however it's an important source
of information for those living in Sri Lanka.

http://www.groundviews.org/2007/06/19/sri-lanka-blocks-tamilnet/

And for it to be described as the voice of a liberation movement,
depends on the way the Tamil Tigers (or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
/ LTTE) are perceived. The LTTE are labeled a terrorist organisation by
the US, EU, India and Canada. They have a persistent track record of
recruiting child soldiers. They popularised the suicide bomber. The
LTTE, for the past 25 years, claimed to be fighting for a separate
homeland for the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka, who they claim they
represent. It is next to impossible to determine how much support the
LTTE really has.

But, the Sri Lankan State - according to your perspective, is no better.
Abductions, killings, extortion and intimidation allegations have been
leveled against the Government and its proxies. The Sri Lankan
Government's human rights record is condemned internationally.

For some background, read:
http://nautilus.rmit.edu.au/forum-reports/0712a-de-silva.html

In Sri Lanka, the media is in crisis. Earlier this year,  . There is the
State run media - which is effectively a propaganda channel for the
Government. Then there are a number of private media that shape their
output depending on their own interests.

In order to ascertain a picture of Sri Lanka - it's essential to read
across many media, and that includes reading what TamilNet publishes.

## Call to mirror TamilNet.com

It would be an interesting action for a tech-group or individual to
mirror www.TamilNet.com under another URL. This would make obsolete the
blocks already in place. It is possible to access the website via Google
- but the browsing conditions aren't ideal.

It may be that the website has already been mirrored...

For more information about media freedom in Sri Lanka,
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20798

Best, Sam.


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