Internet in Armenia is a platform for civil society formation, expert says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Internet in Armenia is a platform for a civil society formation, according to information security expert Samvel Martirosyan.

“You remember the videos showing violence in schools and army and the reaction of the Ministries of Education and Defense which followed,” Martirosyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

“The TV is censured, however the same can’t be said of the internet. For example, А1+ which was forbidden as a TV channel but freely operates in the internet,” he said.

According to blogger Karen Vrtanesyan, Armenian authorities do not exert pressure on internet users.

“I openly criticize Armenia’s policy regarding education, state debt and economic cooperation with international organizations,” he said. “The only censorship that was ever imposed was the blocking of some resources under the state of emergency after the presidential election in 2008.”

Meanwhile, during a conference in Tbilisi, Freedom House’s Sam Patten said that authorities in Armenia and Azerbaijan keep control over the internet in their countries.