Iceland
Modern Media Initiative could create international haven for free speechPosted Feb 26 2010
If parliament passes legislation designed to provide high levels of protection for journalists and their sources, Iceland will be on track to resume Reporters Without Borders' 2007 assessment as No. 1 in the world for freedom of expression.
Members of Parliament submitted the resolution on Feb. 16. The New York Times reports the legislation is a combination of press protections from around the globe, including whistle-blower laws, source protection laws and an echo of New York's laws instated to work against “libel tourism”. According to The Huffington Post, libel tourism allows anyone wanting to place charges of libel to relocate to a country with laws that work in their favor and proceed from there.
“Iceland could become an ideal environment for Internet-based international media and publishers to register their services, start-ups, data centers and human rights organizations,” reads the initiative's Web site, which includes an introduction to the collective's goals as well as the entire proposal.
Julian Assange and Daniel Schmitt of Wikileaks.org proposed the original idea at the annual meeting of the Icelandic Digital Freedoms Society in December, The New York Times reports. Wikileaks.org is a Web site that began in reaction to Iceland's corrupt bank system and now works to “expose significant injustice around the world,” according to its Web site.
Nineteen out of 63 MPs, who represent the whole political spectrum, are sponsoring the legislation, which will be debated this week.