US Retracts Statement Regarding Jamaican Gov’t Illegally Monitoring Online Conversations
The US Statement Department has corrected a report on Jamaica which claimed that the Jamaican government was illegally monitoring citizens’ online conversations.
In its country reports on human rights practices for 2014, the report stated there were credible reports that the government monitored private online communications without appropriate legal authority.
This was denied by government which indicated that the State Department would be contacted to verify the claim. However today (July 2) the department issued a statement on the matter admitting that an inaccuracy was published in the internet freedom subsection of the 2014 Jamaica country report on human rights practices. It said the US Department of state has now corrected the report.
The section says “the government did not restrict or disrupt access to the internet or censor online content.”
It adds that there were no credible reports that the government monitored private online communications without appropriate legal authority. The US Authority says when there are inaccuracies, the department of state documents these errors online and issues corrections to ensure the integrity of the reports.
