Enemies of the Internet named and shamed

All the listed countries are believed by the human rights group to be blocking freedom of expression on the World Wibble. While the list is published every year, this is the first time an online protest has been organised to go hand in hand with the release. An RSF spokesman said of the online protest, "we wanted to mobilise net users so that when we lobby certain countries we can say that the concerns are not just ours but those of thousands of internet users around the world."

The RSF is involved in other web action too - on the RSF site, users are encouraged to leave voicemail for Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, letting Mr Yang know that the internet is not happy with China's involvement with Yahoo - it has helped the Chinese government block access to certain Web pages.

There's a newcomer to the Online Oppression Club, and it's Egypt - added to the list because of a negative and troubling stance toward bloggers, with three having been arrested the last year, instead of general web censorship. Other countries on the list include North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, Cuba, Syria and Iran.

The good news, however, is that three countries have been taken off the list - Nepal, Maldives and Libya. Although Libya has been taken off the list, it's believed by the RSF group that Libya's President Maummar Gaddafi is still a "predator of press freedom," reports the Beeb.

If you fancy reading in detail just why the countries have been named Web Enemies by the group, head on over to the Reporters Without Borders web page. µ