Jordan Blocks Local Access to 300 News Web Sites

The Jordanian government has blocked local access to about 300 news Web sites under a new law that the sites’ editors and international journalism experts have derided as dangerous censorship aimed at quelling criticism of King Abdullah II.

The law, enacted last September as the opposition to King Abdullah grew more outspoken, requires news sites in the country to register with the government, pay $1,400 in licensing fees and hire unionized journalists as editors, steps that the site operators say they cannot afford. The law also makes editors legally responsible not only for the content of articles they publish but also for comments posted by readers, many of them anonymous. Access to roughly 300 sites was blocked starting on June 2, when Jordanian news outlets were highlighting a paper issued by the king titled “Towards Democratic Empowerment and Active Citizenship.” About 80 people demonstrated in protest outside the journalists’ union on June 3, carrying signs saying, “No to the muzzling of online media.” There were plans for another demonstration outside Parliament on June 6.