Media Helping Media

The Bhutan Times is reporting that the government block on its service within the country has been lifted. According to sources at the Bhutan Times, the earlier action had been taken because officials claimed the site had been covering 'controversial issues'.

The move has been reported on The Bhutan Times site..

"A good decision has been taken by government: BT is now no longer blocked in Bhutan.

"Also, we have upgraded the site to ensure the highest security for our readers. We now have SSL technology (secure socket layers) which has about the same standard of encryption used in commerce over the internet.

"We thank our generous readers who contributed towards meeting the cost of this long overdue and necessary feature."

The news of the block was reported on this site by TP Mishra on 21 July who wrote..

"The Bhutan Times has been seen as a popular sites for forum discussions where people can register and express their opinion on important national issues.

"The editorial policy of news organisation has been to offer balanced and indepth news, covering both sides of the story.

"However, some forum discussions were seen to be critical of the minister Sangey Nidup, who is maternal uncle of the present Crown King.

"The regime’s decision to block the site is a direct violation of individual’s right to information."

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) had expressed its concern over the blocking and called on the Bhutanese government to reverse the decision.

In a statement on the IFJ site, the organisation's  director for the Asia-Pacific region, Jacqueline Park, said the action was both alarming and hypocritical.

"We strongly urge the Bhutanese government to overturn this decision, which can only be described as blatant censorship, and allow the Bhutanese people full access to the bhutantimes.com.

"It is a hypocritical move by the government to block local access to this website, particularly after taking so many positive steps towards a freer media, such as allowing the introduction of media privatisation last year."