Israeli Censorship in the Digital Era

There is an important lesson that so many citizens, leaders and despots across the Arab world have learned the hard way, but which has yet to be internalized in Israel. A vast global revolution is changing priorities around the world, along with systems of government, culture and information. The digital revolution is tearing down walls, obliterating boundaries and bringing together disparate forces Anyone who fails to recognize that all the revolutions around us are the direct consequence of this massive digital revolution is condemned to be startled by its impact every day. Ideas and attitudes appropriate to old media and the world of yesteryear have no chance of survival in the era of new media.

But it takes more than just a satellite dish and an internet connection to survive in this new world. You need an open mind too. You have to keep up, and most of all, you have to understand that it is no longer possible to control the flow of information or to put a stop to information that has already leaked out.

This week in Israel, they tried to apply the methods of the past. When an investigative report on Ben Zygier was aired on Australia’s ABC network, someone still believed that imposing an across-the-board ban on the information could seal Israel off hermetically, as if we were North Korea.

If we’re talking about how people go about obtaining valid information, allow me to share a recollection from my childhood. Every morning, my father would tune one of those old radio sets that we had long ago so that he could hear the “real” news. By this I don’t mean the news that was broadcast on the Voice of Israel ('Kol Israel'), which was and remains subject to state supervision and control. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority has a government appointee responsible for everything it broadcasts, just like Arab broadcasters in the region.