Venezuelan gov't exerts arbitrary control over Internet

At least 500 websites have been blocked in the country

DANIEL GONZÁLEZ CAPPA |  EL UNIVERSAL

Thursday March 20, 2014  01:19 PM

Blocks and attacks against Internet in Venezuela have been on the rise. As many as 500 websites are estimated to have been blocked.

Ricardo Holmquist, a representative for the Venezuelan Internet Society (ISOC), believes the number of websites arbitrarily blocked could be higher than 500 and particularly in connection with information about the unofficial forex rate, the health state of late President Hugo Chávez, and critiques against the Government.

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Heritage Takes the Message of Economic Freedom to Ukraine

The Heritage Foundation sought to bring a small measure of encouragement to Ukrainians this week as they continue their months-long protests for democratic and market reforms in the streets of Kyiv and throughout Ukraine.
At a presentation sponsored by the U.S.–Ukraine Business Council and the Bleyzer Foundation on February 13, Heritage analysts reviewed Ukraine’s economic freedom scores in the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom and urged the adoption of reforms by the Ukrainian government.
Although there have been some improvements in Ukraine’s economic freedom performance since the Index began in 1995, the country’s score of just 49.3 means that its economy remains in the bottom Index category “repressed.” Ukraine is the 155th freest out of 178 countries ranked in 2014 and is last among the 43 countries measured in the European region.
Heritage analysts noted that the protest movement in Ukraine is about more than just local politics and Russian political interference it is also a cry by the Ukrainian people for economic freedom. Ukraine has lost many of the gains it enjoyed after the fall of communism two decades ago, but even the modest improvements in economic freedom in recent years has whetted the appetites of Ukrainians for more.
Also featured at the February 13 Heritage event was Oksana Kuziakiv from the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting in Kyiv. Kuziakiv reviewed her recently published study on the key impediments of business development in Ukraine. She noted that increased regulatory pressure, on top of economic uncertainty due to political unrest, has had a very negative effect in investment and economic growth in Ukraine.
Over the 20-year history of the Index, Ukraine’s economic freedom score has advanced by over nine points with gains in half of the 10 freedom indicators, including better monetary stability and greater openness to global trade. Since President Viktor Yanukovych took office in 2010, however, the country has registered steadily deteriorating scores on property rights, corruption, financial freedom, and investment freedom.
As Heritage Vice President Jim Carafano notes, the period of maximum danger for Ukraine will begin the moment the Olympic torch in Sochi is snuffed out. That is when Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to give the all-clear signal to his buddy Yanukovych to start up the rough stuff again with the protesters. And that is why the message of economic freedom is so important today.

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U.S. drops to 46th in press freedom

According to Reporters Without Borders, America dropped 13 spots on the World Press Freedom Index 2014, designed to rank 180 countries in terms of the freedoms journalists enjoy and the regulations placed on them by government authorities.
The Index, published Feb. 11, shows that America now ranks number 46, below countries like South Africa and France. The Index has been published annually since 2002, but the 2014 ranking for America marks one of the most significant declines ever reported.
According to Christophe Deloire, the Reporters Without Borders Secretary General, the World Freedom Index is based on seven criteria: the level of abuses, the extent of pluralism, media independence, the environment and self-censorship, the legislative framework, transparency and infrastructure.
Investigative journalist James Risen believes the Index rightly shows the drop in American journalists’ freedoms due to crackdowns on reporters and whistle blowers and the efforts of the Obama administration and the National Security Agency to limit the amount of information America has concerning the “War on Terror” and other subjects.
“I think 2013 will go down in history as the worst year for press freedom in the United States modern history,” James Risen said.
Risen, who has reported for the New York Times since 1998, said he has personally felt some of the backlash of the guarded Obama administration and has seen some of his colleagues suffer repercussions as well.
Rather than pursue journalists, the Obama administration has focused on their sources the two most scrutinized whistle blowers being Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden.
“We have an administration that came in claiming that it was going to be the most transparent in history when in fact it is one of the most secretive in history, and certainly the most aggressive anti-press administration in modern American history,” Risen said.
The day after Obama’s inauguration in 2009, he signed an executive order into law that would hold the government accountable to the American public.
“Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency,” Obama said.
However, the Associated Press, the NSA, and IRS scandals have marred Obama’s reputation for transparency.

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GOP Rep. Hits Obama on Faith: He Doesn't Really Believe in Religious Freedom

President Obama spoke at the annual National Prayer Breakfast recently defending religious freedom, but at least one member of Congress wasn’t too pleased with it. Republican Steve Southerland recently expressed outrage about it on Washington Watch with Christian conservative Tony Perkins, saying he was “stunned by the hypocrisy” of what Obama said, for, as he argued, the president has never really cared about upholding people’s religious freedoms.

Republicans have taken issue with Obama over religious freedom when it comes to things like the contraception mandate, and Southerland was no doubt referring to that, among other things, when he said, “To insult those who really believe those words we just don’t believe the messenger of those words and to trivialize our deeply held beliefs by making statements that are so contrary to his actions and those of his administration is the ultimate disrespect.”

He added, “When a child is robbed of life, they are robbed of that very dignity,” concluding that Obama’s words just “stunned” and “shocked” him.

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Obama: We’re all about freedom of religion

Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning, President Obama said that “freedom of religion is under threat … around the world.” That’s true, and we have spent considerable time in writing about the persecution of Christians here at Hot Air while most of the media and the Obama administration do their best to avoid the topic. But the freedom of religious expression as defined by Barack Obama in this clip is under attack here too … by Barack Obama (via Deacon Greg):
Today, we profess the principles we know to be true. We believe that each of us is
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