For Arab governments that say they consider the freedom of expression as a western value and therefore undesirable, the internet becomes a very important tool for a public that find freedom of expression an integral right. This fact helps explains the expansion of internet users in the Arab World. In less than three years the number of users has multiplied from 14 million in 2004 to 26 million in 2006 (1).

Arab governments traditionally restrict freedom of expression and with the war on terror as a ready made excuse have further imposed more restrictions. Yet, with the blocking of thousands of websites, particularly by the governments of Saudi Arabia , Tunisia , and Syria , thousands others were established to compensate the blocked ones. Thus for example, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt set up tens of websites to compensate for the blocking of its websites in Egypt and Syria . This gives a clear indication of the difficulties any authority will face if they try to limit the amount of information available on the Internet. Especially if they find themselves in a situation when they have to lift the ban as it is no longer useful as was the case with the website of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Arab governments continuously announce their support of the new technology and implement programs enhance understanding of computers and the internet. While many Arab countries have succeeded in this, others have only distributed computers to its different bureaus without training employees (2).

Security services across the region were the only bodies that were able to unite. Meetings of Arab Ministers of Interior take place without any delays and end only once successful cooperation between the different police bodies in the region has been agreed. These agreements even cover the exchange of information and the new technology. The internet is used very extensively in security cooperation. Any policeman in any airport could simply inform you of your life history, the number of cases filed against you, your political inclination, and affiliations to human rights or political organisations (3). The meeting of the Ministers of Interior in February 2006 in Tunisia indicated clearly this harmony between Arab ministers with regards to blocking websites which "advocate terrorism" though they put forward no clear definition of terrorism (4).

On the other hand, the internet has provided an opportunity for Arab users to communicate with one another and with other people in the world. Such communication created an electronic unity through forums and interactive websites, especially in light of the similar experiences with regards to their oppressive regimes. We find, for example, that the Kefaya (Enough) movement in Egypt was followed by similar movements in Yemen , Libya , and Tunisia . Furthermore, Arab blogs have effectively contributed to the creation of harmony among Arab activists and have provided a venue for strong campaigns defending users who have been exposed to violations by their governments.

WSIS in Tunisia : The magic against the magicians
This was the headline used by Al-Jezeera on its websites to describe the consequence of holding the WSIS in Tunisia in November 2005 (5). Arab governments tried to manipulate this event so as to make it a propaganda tool. However, human rights organizations and those who call for reform well able to use the event in order to put the spot light on the dire reality of freedom of expression, particularly in Tunisia where 8 activists went on a hunger strike to attract attention to the deteriorated situation in Tunisia . In response, the Tunisian president accused them of treason (6).

Islamic websites:
Despite the fact that many secularist and non-religious websites have been set up, the highest number of websites are Islamic. This of course reflects interests of Arab internet users. However we cannot disregard the role played by Arab governments to control, censor and block websites. Usually this takes place against political, secularist, and human rights websites. For example the www.rezgar.com website, a secularist site known for its advocacy of freedom of expression, minority rights, and women's rights, was blocked by at least four countries: Saudi Arabia , UAE, Tunisia , and recently Bahrain .

Several other human rights and political websites have been blocked in several Arab countries. This is because they have covered violations perpetrated by governments or has criticized their policies. Such actions reveal the hypocrisy of Arab regimes with regards to the reason given for blocking. In the last few months, the Bahraini government blocked around 17 websites, included out own website at the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (hrinfo.net). This is a clear example of the lies told - claiming that the websites targeted are those that threaten values and that are anti-Islamic.

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1-Saudi Watan Newspaper, 25 November 2006 , http://www.alwatan.com.sa/daily/2006-11- .25/economy/economy04.htm
2-A visit to some offices in the ministry of justice in Egypt and the ministry of information in Yemen by Gamal Eid, HRinfo Executive director
3-Interviews with a number of political and human rights activists who have been stopped at different Arab airports, in addition to a personal experience when the writer was stopped in one airport and banned form entering the government because working for human rights is a threat to national security
4-http://hrinfo.net/press/2006/pr0209.shtml
5-http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/169EED60-F7BD-4BA3-869C-C9DCC2351251.htm
6-ibid