The Internet in Libya might be considered the only space of freedom available to a people living in a state of oppression and bereft of all public freedoms including the freedom of expression.

      Though Internet service had started in Libya by the end of 1998, access was limited to those who were close to the authorities. Libyan citizens did not gain access to the Internet until early 2000. The rapid growth in the number of the Internet users in Libya since that time indicates the degree to which Libyans had been yearning for a space in which they could freely express themselves and view the outside world from outside the frame provided by governmental controlled media.

     In 1998, the number of Internet users in Libya did not exceed 100 people. By early 2001, after Internet service was extended to the public, the number reached 300,000. By mid-2003, the number was estimated to be 850,000. It is rapidly reaching one million users, an immense number considering that the population in Libya is 6 million people.

Between the Libyan Government and the Opposition

The uninterrupted growth in the number of Internet users in Libya resorts to the awareness of both the Libyan government and authorities in one hand, and the Libyan oppositional groups in the other hand of the significance of the Internet, the information circulation and the efficient active communication, as well as, the important role played by the ICT sector in the economic development.

The Libyan government

     The Libyan government planned to have experiences and efficiencies in the field of the ICT. It prepared itself for ICT by establishing advanced institutes to train technicians and engineers, sending missions and fellowships to Italy, Japan and Britain, and inviting experts from developed countries. Libya has invited 230 experts and sent more than 5,000 students to study ICT in countries with programs of advanced study. Upon completing their studies abroad, these students return to Libya to help improve the governmental sectors and institutions. (1)

     There are 3000 Internet public centers and private net cafes located in Libyan cities. The wide availability of Internet access has helped raise the number of Internet users.

     Mohammad Muammar Al-Qadafi was appointed chairman of the General Company for Post, Wireless and Wire Connections. The fees for the Internet connection were decreased by 50%. The private sector was allowed to invest in the ICT field. Currently, there are seven Internet companies in Libya; last year, there were only two: Libya for Communications and Modern Communications World. In order to best assure the success of the investment in information technology, hundreds of workshops and training courses were held in schools, institutes and universities. The result has been an increase in the Libyan economy by four hundred percent..(2)

The Opposition

     The spread of Internet service provides Libyan dissidents scattered around the world with the opportunity to contact Libyan citizens and to strengthen their networks in the country. Oppositional Libyan web sites have become the most common type of Libyan website on the Internet and the most well-known websites within Libya. The number of Libyan oppositional websites is even greater than that of foreign-based Saudi oppositional websites. Most of these Libyan groups are based in Europe and receive several advantages from being located outside their native lands, one of which is their contact with advanced technological societies and early exposure to the Internet. Indeed, Libya's "Internet Pioneer" was a dissident, D. Ibrahim Ghonwa; the first Libyan website was called "Libya our nation." (3)

     Oppositional websites, human rights websites, forums, news websites, and even literary websites-all of which are based abroad-soon followed in appearance. According to the groups behind these websites, the Libyan government has appointed one of the closest friends of the Libyan President Moussa Kosa to monitor oppositional websites and attempt to limit their growth.

      Moussa Kosa summoned experts from Russia, Poland and Pakistan to help block these websites. (4) He forced owners of net cafes to place stickers on computers that warn visitors from logging onto websites deemed oppositional. (5)

     The roles played by the Libyan government and its opposition made the electronic situation in Libya different from that in other Arab countries. It is difficult for the Libyan government to roll back the privileges it granted its information society and to do what other Arab governments have done: grant a single company a monopoly over Internet service provision so as to limit the availability of oppositional websites and their impact on Libyan citizens.

      The Libyan government cannot limit the progress made by oppositional and human rights groups, whose savvy use of the Internet has gained them the approval and support of the many Internet users in Libya. This support will allow these groups to take real steps towards improving the human rights situation and the scope of civil liberties in Libya. Time will tell.


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Footnotes
1- Al-Bayan, 22/02/01, accessed on 30/03/04
http://www.albayan.co.ae/albayan/2001/02/22/eqt/19.htm
2- Akhbar Libya web site, 28/11/03, accessed on 22/04/04
http://www.akhbarlibya.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8818
3- Al-Haqiqa magazine, published on the Internet. We prefer to not reveal its address so as to prevent it from being blocked.
4- National Front for Libya Salvation website, accessed on 03/04/04,
http://www.nfsl-libya.com/NewsComments/2080.htm
5- Akhbar Libya web site, visited on 17/05/04
http://akhbar-libya.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11977