WTO
Director-General Mike Moore has severely criticized recently-created
websites which mimic the WTO’s websites and create confusion among
the public. He says the WTO welcomes criticism and change, but is
concerned that the confusion created by the fake sites with their
misleading Internet links is a disservice to the public. This could
disrupt a much-needed debate by making WTO information more
difficult to obtain.
This is the text of his statement:
"I
am deeply concerned about the recent appearance of anonymous
websites which copy important design features of the WTO’s official
websites. This causes confusion among visitors looking for genuine
information from the WTO, disrupting a much-needed democratic
dialogue. It’s illegal and it’s unfair to those who have a genuine
case in criticizing the WTO, an organization that only functions
with the authority of sovereign governments.
"By creating confusion, the fake websites are interfering
with the public’s ability to obtain information from the WTO. They
have copied the WTO website’s design, and they use domain names such
as ‘www.gatt.org’ and page titles such as ‘World Trade Organization
/ GATT Home Page’ which make it difficult for visitors to realize
that these are fake pages. Whereas the WTO uses the image of the
official logo of the WTO Ministerial Conference as a hyperlink to
the official conference website, these fake sites use it to link to
anti-WTO material — further misleading web users.
"The WTO and its members uphold the rights of others to
criticize and comment on WTO affairs, including the right to protest
publicly. The WTO is, after all, a forum for governments to debate
and negotiate trade issues, reflecting the various concerns and
interests of their citizens.
"Confusing the public is another matter. Contrary to critics’
allegations, the WTO is highly transparent. The WTO website already
contains over 60,000 official documents in the three official
languages (English, French and Spanish), including minutes of
meetings, and some 200,000 visitors per month download the
equivalent of millions of pages of documents in addition to browsing
regular web pages. The vast majority of these documents are released
to the public immediately and the rest are derestricted within about
six months. The WTO Secretariat receives and replies to thousands of
enquiries each week by telephone and email, a large number coming
through the WTO website, either directly by email or via the contact
telephone numbers on the website.
"Those who wish to see the WTO become more transparent should
join me in deploring any action which makes it more difficult for
the public to gain access to WTO information. It’s ironic that while
the WTO is accused of lacking transparency, some critics who put out
misleading or false information are camouflaging their
identities. |
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