DAMASCUS — Syria is preparing to vote on an Internet law that has raised concerns about online media in a country which already keeps a tight control of the Web and where access to at least 240 sites is blocked.
Journalists say the law, which was approved by the government last week and is awaiting parliament's rubber stamp, could seriously curtail the online media that has enjoyed greater freedom than print.
During the past few years, dozens of news websites have emerged in Syria, and the Internet has become an important source of information given the state's close scrutiny of more traditional media.
Reports on sensitive subjects like a ban in Syrian universities of the niqab, or full-face veil, which received wide coverage on the Internet, are often absent from newspapers.
And even though the Internet is often slow in Syria and websites get shut down for specified periods of time, there is no existing law that regulates online activity.
The new law was "very severe," said Ayman Abdel Nour, director of the website all4syria.org, which is edited from Dubai but has numerous contributors in Syria.
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