Letter to Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, Re: Internet Censorship Deal

Letter

SENATORS CALL ON OLYMPIC COMMITTEE TO REVERSE INTERNET CENSORSHIP DEAL
Inhofe, Brown Demand that International Olympic Committee Ensure Free and Open Access to Media Covering Games

United States Senators Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) today called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reverse a reported internet censorship deal it has made with China. In a letter to IOC President Jacques Rogge, the Senators demanded that the committee ensure free and open access to all media covering the games.

"China had promised to provide media covering the games with the same access and freedoms enjoyed at all other Olympic Games. This has yet to happen," the Senators write.

"Censorship is anathema to the very spirit of the Olympic Games, which celebrates diversity, emphasizes mutual respect, and demands dispassionate, unadulterated representation of each competition," they continue. "If Olympic hosts are permitted to curtail and manipulate information available to the Games' global audience, that breach of trust will inevitably undermine the credibility of the Olympics itself."

Rogge and other top officials will be meeting this weekend to discuss internet censorship and a variety of other issues in advance of the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

A full copy of the Senators letter is below:

July 31, 2008

IOC President Jacques Rogge
International Olympic Committee
Château de Vidy
1007 Lausanne
Switzerland

Dear Mr. Rogge:

Recent reports that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed to an internet censorship deal with China are extremely disturbing. China had promised to provide media covering the games with the same access and freedoms enjoyed at all other Olympic Games. This has yet to happen.

Media personnel covering the Olympics were denied access to the websites such as the Hong Kong based Apple Daily and the BBC Chinese Language Service. Reports continue to come in highlighting additional website censorship. Now we have learned from Kevan Gosper, spokesperson for the IOC, that "there will be limitations on website access during Games time." This is in direct violation of the promises made by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). Gosper is also on record stating, "IOC officials negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked on the basis they were not considered Games related." Such targeted censorship was never part of any agreement made by the Chinese with the IOC.

Censorship is anathema to the very spirit of the Olympic Games, which celebrates diversity, emphasizes mutual respect, and demands dispassionate, unadulterated representation of each competition. If Olympic hosts are permitted to curtail and manipulate information available to the Games' global audience, that breach of trust will inevitably undermine the credibility of the Olympics itself.

With the Olympics starting next week, it is imperative that you ensure free and open access to all media covering the games. The IOC must hold BOCOG to agreements made regarding open media. The IOC cannot sacrifice the Olympic ideals in the name harmony with its host city. IOC complicity threatens the integrity of not only this, but all future games.

Sincerely,

Senator Sherrod Brown

Senator James Inhofe

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