Al-Jazeera.net is one of the top 10 most innovative and influential websites in online politics, according to PoliticsOnline (www.politicsonline.com), a specialist in using the internet for political and public affairs. Announcing the world’s top 10 political sites at the 5th World Forum on eDemocracy in Paris at the end of September, judges described Al-Jazeera as ‘the symbol of free expression in the Middle East’.
“Certainly when it comes to censorship we have suffered a great deal,” said Al-Jazeera spokesperson Jihad Ballout. “We’ve had more than our fair share of attention from the powers that be, but we’ve maintained as independent a line as possible.”
In September, Iraq’s interim government extended an indefinite ban on Al-Jazeera TV, claiming that the station may encourage kidnappings by showing pictures of hostages. In 2002, Bahrain banned Al-Jazeera, accusing it of Israeli bias. Despite these setbacks, Al-Jazeera has prevailed to become the ‘world’s foremost uncensored Arab news service’, said the judges.
PoliticsOnline asked its 40,000 readers to name the people and organisations which they believed had the biggest impact on internet politics. A panel of experts then selected the top 10 from 292 nominations.
“We are witnessing virtual revolutions in the way we do politics in the 21st century,” said Phil Noble, PoliticsOnline CEO, speaking at the forum. We honour the most innovative ideas and the most influential individuals in the world of internet and politics.”