Preserving freedom and progress – Why rejection of the Cyber Security Law amendments is justified - 30 July 2023

The widespread rejection and disdain of the recent amendments to the Cyber Security Law are justified. The writings and advice of the stoics warn of the consequences of curtailing freedoms, and history, and that scholar that teaches the wise, tells many a story that should guide those in charge of Jordan's destiny now.

Amartya Sen, a Nobel laureate and world-renowned development economist, described the development as freedom. Hence, his magnum opus, "Development as Freedom," where he argued that freedom is both the principal objective of development and the primary means of development.

There must be freedom of the press in all its forms
Among Sen's primary assertions is that political freedom and transparency are highly interlinked. To ensure transparency, which is the best cure for corruption and rent-seeking, there must be freedom of the press in all its forms.

But enough of theory, let us take a look at history
But enough talk of theory and philosophy; let us visit a true historical story from the great book, "Why Nations Fail," by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson.

In 1445, in Mainz, Germany, Johannes Gutenberg presented to the world his book press. Before him, books were written by hand, which made the books costly and only accessible to the clergy and the rich.

The cost of printing thus fell by 90 percent and learning became more accessible and possible. Within 15 years, in 1460, a press was established in Strasbourg, France, followed immediately thereafter by presses in Rome and Venice. In 1476, a press was set up in London, and another was set up in Oxford in 1478. Within three decades, presses were spread all over Europe, and Europe began to read and develop.

Three judges to rule
On the other hand, in 1485, the Ottoman Sultan, Bayazid II, banned Muslims under his rule from printing in Arabic, and Sultan Selim I enforced the ban in 1515.

In 1727, almost three centuries after the invention of the press, Sultan Ahmed III granted one man, Ibrahim Muterferrika, permission to print.

However, three judges had to read the printed books to ensure that there were no mistakes in them. A fourth judge supervised the whole process. As expected, few books were printed under this stifling control process. Only 17 books were printed under Ottoman rule during 1729-1743. Consequently, Ibrahim and his offspring gave up the press in 1797.

As for the countries under Ottoman rule, the press was only introduced in 1798 in Egypt when Napoleon’s army left it behind. And no wonder why Egypt came to lead the region in terms of cultural and scientific products. Meanwhile, the whole region was three and a half centuries behind the rest of the world.

The fax became obsolete
Another story is the ban on the fax machine in a neighbouring country until 1999, by which time the use of the fax was becoming obsolete as email replaced it. Another country banned its citizens from having passports until the 1960s so they would not be exposed to how people are governed in the outside world.

The moral of recounting these stories, if it is not apparent by now, is that one of the laziest exercises in governance, one that relieves the bureaucrat and harms the nation and its development, is to ban an activity instead of properly regulating it.

The many implied threats of severe punishments, exaggerated fines, vague descriptions of would-be crimes, and the obvious intent of curtailment of freedoms do not belong to a state that claims to seek modernity and development.

Let us focus elsewhere
Let us just do away with this miserable draft and focus on implementing the Economic Modernization Vision (EMV) and achieving its benchmarks (among the 100,000 jobs created this year or was it a year from its launch, I wonder!).

Published in Jordan News: 

https://www.jordannews.jo/Section-36/Opinion/Preserving-freedom-and-progress-30013