Jordan's Web policy mistake

[Commentary] This month, Jordan blocked local access to about 300 domestic websites. Ironically, this action coincided with the rollout of Abdullah's "democratic empowerment" project.

Putting aside the incongruous timing, the assault on Internet freedom had been legislated months ago. Still, not surprisingly, publishers of these websites accused the palace of implementing the law now to silence dissent. After all, many of the blocked sites are critical of the government and focus reportage and commentary on anti-government demonstrations, news of the tribal opposition movement known as the Hirak and alleged corruption. During a protest outside the journalists union headquarters June 3, Basil Okoor, the publisher of jo24.net — whose site is among those blocked — described the government measures as "political and not legal," and warned that "tomorrow, the state will extend its powers over print journalism." Given the ongoing turmoil in the region, it would be unwise to press for radical political reform in Jordan now. Indeed, the majority of Jordanians are not clamoring for such change. But rolling back the nation's already limited freedoms is not a recipe for enhanced stability. As Abdullah works to insulate Jordan from domestic and foreign threats, the last thing he needs — at home and abroad — is to associate his benign and traditionally enlightened monarchy with the region's most repressive regimes.

[Schenker is director of the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy]