Closing Plenary of the OSCE 2013 Internet Conference

15 February, 2013

ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆԻ ՀԱՆՐԱՊԵՏՈՒԹՅԱՆ ՊԱՏՎԻՐԱԿՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ
DELEGATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE

Statement
Closing Plenary of the OSCE 2013 Internet Conference
February 15, 2013

We thank Ms. Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media for organizing the conference on Internet which apparently attracted great interest among all stakeholders.

We will carefully study various opinions expressed throughout deliberations and we will pay particular attention to good practices offered here.

The main good practice that Armenia can invoke here is a free and unrestricted internet. We do understand that this is only one of good practices and we are eager to study all others which are consistent with the OSCE commitments and values.

In our view, access to internet is essential to exercise human rights. Hence it cannot be denied to individuals and groups of population in the entire OSCE region.

Internet is destined to become a daily reality for almost everyone in the OSCE region.
In the past two years Armenia has witnessed enormous increase of internet users and currently roughly 60% of the Armenian population is connected to internet. Different social networks have more than one million users which represents one third of population.

That being said, let me stress that internet remains a medium of communication which can be efficiently utilized in an environment where human rights are uphold, particularly with regard to the right of freedom of expression.

Armenia has recently registered strong progress in promoting and protecting freedom of expression through: decriminalization of libel and creation of a predictable and transparent framework for defining administrative fees in connection with libel. The decisive input of the Armenian civil society has been indispensable in registering this progress.

We would like to highlight the important role of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media in providing much-needed guidance and we look forward to continuing our fruitful cooperation.

MFA RA
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