OSCE Safety for Journalists Guidebook
The Internet has had a transforming effect on societies, giving new or enhanced voice to community media, citizen journalists, bloggers and other users, as well as professional journalists.
However, as the importance of those activities has grown and added greatly to the pluralism of reporting, online journalists, bloggers and Internet users have increasingly become targets of violence and of spurious allegations of criminal behaviour intended to silence them.
Freedom of expression applies on the Internet as it does to all means of communication.
- The open nature of the Internet is to be ensured; Internet freedom should be promoted and maintained without mandatory blocking or filtering of content or websites
