KINGSTON, Jamaica – The U.S. State Department on Thursday corrected its 2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, stating that it had no reason to believe that the Jamaican Government was monitoring citizens’ online conversations.
The department said that an error was published in the Internet Freedom subsection of the 2014 Jamaica Country Report on Human Rights Practices last Friday.
The report stated, “The Government did not restrict or disrupt access to the Internet or censor online content. There were credible reports, however, that the Government monitored private online communications without appropriate legal authority.”
Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Julian Robinson then challenged U.S. authorities to provide proof of the allegations laid against the Portia Simpson Miller-led Government.
Today, the State Department updated the report which now reads, “The Government did not restrict or disrupt access to the Internet or censor online content. There were no credible reports that the Government monitored private online communications without appropriate legal authority. According to the International Telecommunication Union, 38 percent of citizens used the Internet in 2013.”
Source: www.jamaicaobserver.com
