Internet cafes in Eritrea to move to ‘educational and research centres’

ASMARA, Oct 21 (AFP) — Internet cafes in Eritrea are set to move to “educational and research centres, as well as libraries,” Information Minister Ali Abdu told AFP on Thursday, explaining the measure was aimed at protecting minors from pornography.

“It is most likely that the Internet cafes will be transfered physically in schools or libraries, which already exist. It will depend on a technical committee,” the minister said.

To prevent children from surfing on pornographic websites, “we are going to have an awareness campaign, tell them what is healthy and what is unhealthy, but we will not check on which sites they go onto,” he added.

“People were complaining that children had totally free access to internet,” he added.

The “decision was adopted so as to protect internet users, especially youths from exposure to harmful practices such as accessing pornographic web pages,” according to an Information Ministry statement.

Internet cafes in the capital, Asmara, were open as usual Thursday.

“For the moment, we haven’t received any orders,” said the manager of one, who asked not to be named.

When the measure will be adopted “has not been decided, it will be in the near future,” said Ali Abdu.

Asked if the measure might restrict access to the Internet, he replied: “This measure is for the under-age people. Our policy is unlimited access to information. We will not control what people look at.”

But a diplomat in Asmara who asked not to be named was very sceptical about the development, especially since private media in Eritrea were “suspended” in 2001.

“Before when we criticised the Eritrean authorities on the absence of the freedom of the press they used to answer: ‘but the population has access to all the information in the world via the Internet cafes.’ And now the government adopts such a measure,” he lamented.