Outdated laws and limited, expensive internet access slow Cuba's progress

Outdated laws and limited, expensive internet access slow Cuba's progress
Committee to Protect Journalists 2 May 2017
By Carlos Lauría

Cuba's media landscape has begun opening up in recent years, transformed
by a lively blogosphere, an increasing number of news websites carrying
investigative reporting and news commentary, and an innovative breed of
independent reporters who are critical of, yet still support, socialist
ideas.

The energized press scene contrasts with the island nation's restrictive
legal framework, which curbs freedom of speech under the guise of
protecting the "independence or territorial integrity of the state."
Though the constitution bans private ownership of the press and all
media are supposedly controlled by the one-party Communist state, the
spread of independent reporting is a sign of change.

Reporters, from the most critical - who are known as dissidents - to
journalism school graduates, documentary filmmakers, and
pro-revolutionary bloggers, are opening new spaces for free expression
and entrepreneurial journalism that seemed off limits just a few years ago.

Bloggers said they have embraced the loosening of restrictions. "We are
seeing opportunities that were inconceivable five years ago," said
Alejandro Rodríguez, who quit his job in 2012 at Adelante, a state-run
weekly in the eastern city of Camagüey, to start a blog.

However, many said that more work needs to be done, with the threat of
arbitrary detention, vague and outdated laws, and limitations on
internet access slowing Cuba's press freedom progress.

Internet access in Cuba, which the U.N. rates among the lowest in the
Western Hemisphere, is still inaccessible to most citizens. And though
large-scale systematic state repression has eased significantly, the
most strident opponents in the media say they still face harassment and
intimidation from authorities.

Read the full article on CPJ's site.
https://www.cpj.org/2017/04/connecting-cuba.php

Source: Outdated laws and limited, expensive internet access slow Cuba's
progress - IFEX - https://www.ifex.org/cuba/2017/05/02/leyes-arcaicas-cuba/