“Freedom Online Coalition” the 5th Conference is going to be hosted in Mongolia between May 4th-5th. Please tell me about participation of the ITPTA in the event.
The short and long term advancements of information technology are fundamental to the development of a nation, we would like to emphasise the importance of the 5th FOC Ministerial Conference being hosted in Mongolia and acknowledge that we are proud to be an official partner.
At the conference, where representatives of 26 countries will participate, we aim to express the Mongolian people’s stance on the subject of freedom of internet, the level of internet communication development in our country and the roles Mongolians play in the international internet market.
Would you please share your opinion about Freedom and Security of Individual and Intellectual Property in cyberspace?
In my opinion, the issue of intellectual property violation is the first of many problems we have in cyberspace. At present, there are far too many individuals and institutions suffering losses because of this unharnessed violation. It shows that decisive measures and legislative solutions to be implemented by the Intellectual Property Office are urgently required. Since in Mongolia protection of intellectual property online is a comparatively new concept, regulation of intellectual property or copyright laws may look sufficient enough to solve the issue. However this kind of solution is not sufficient in social media. For instance, let’s say someone uploaded a movie in his or her website infringing copyright. In this case there is a law to penalise the uploader but no law to penalise the downloader or who shared the infringement material. This problem needs to be fixed at once. Apart from this issue, individual online freedom is well ensured in the Mongolian legal environment. In compliance with the resolution by the Communications Regulatory Commission, online statements for libel and defamatory purposes or statements which may have negative effects on one’s social life, is shown in, or blocked by, star symbols (***).
What defines online human rights in your view? It has not been long since pornographic websites were banned in Mongolia for the so-called reason that online pornography has immoral and bad influences on children. But is the ban not a violation of human rights to access information freely?
Actually we need to implement an international system called ‘Child Code’ in which access to pornographic sites are granted upon entry of a PIN code for registered users, to prevent children from being psychologically harmed by the adult videos.
Banning of these adult only sites is not only our call. We were frequently contacted by police departments advising that the sites were encouraging youth into criminal activity. Therefore the Communications Regulatory Commission passed a resolution to ban the sites with our assistance and participation. Actually we need to implement an international system called ‘Child Code’ in which access to pornographic sites are granted upon entry of a PIN code for registered users, to prevent children from being psychologically harmed by the adult videos. Having provided such preventative measures, adults are free to enjoy their rights to information. Of course, it is not our intention to keep the sites permanently banned. But it is plain to see that the sites should be closed for now until such preventative measures are introduced in Mongolian cyberspace. In the modern world, every nation’s main focus is to build a clean internet environment free of negative impacts for the younger generation. The Mongolian government should follow this example and introduce policy regulation. Today, even small children are able to download videos and games on smart devices, PC’s and laptops. So we as adults are required to pay special and constant attention to see if the games are appropriate for children’s psychology. Since it is every parent’s utmost wish to raise their children as citizens full of love, respect, responsibility and commitment to their parents and country, we have got to have concern for what our children are playing with. Also, it should be kept in mind whether or not the games designed and produced for children of totally different backgrounds are suitable for children in the opposite hemisphere.
But almost 70% of total websites in operation around the world are for adults. So is it such an effective measure to ban them in Mongolia?
I am confident that it is an effective measure for the sake of childrens upbringing and education. At present, most of the popular adult sites accessible in Mongolia are closed. There are a lot of users who are aware of only a handful of porn sites. So the chances that sites they know are included in the list of banned pornographic sites is very high. However, I do not deny the fact that they can find and visit any sites they like easily with the help of search engines like Google. But again I say that we had the preventive action of banning the sites with the sole intention of preventing the promotion of pornography, prostitution and criminal ideas amongst children and youth. I agree that as you have said, the ban is, to some extent, a violation of freedom of access to information. But those who oppose the ban should admit that the sites have a harmful impact on social psychology, especially on the community of youth. To pass the regulation to introduce the aforementioned preventive measures, we conducted related surveys. According to the survey, the risk of negative impacts on a population of 1 billion or 100 million or 60 million are relatively low, but are very high on a small population of 3 million.
A number of websites with intellectual rights infringements are still working on different domain addresses. What actions do you take in this regard?
We are taking triple action in this regard, to protect the interests and online products of those who are working in compliance with copyright laws, those who encourage companies that buy the products and those who restrict online illegal operation.
For example, if we successfully manage to deal with online piracy of foreign and domestic movies, the Mongolian online reputation will be highly evaluated on the international stage. But currently, Mongolian televisions are highly dependent on pirated products to fund their operation because they lack financial capacity to produce contents of their own. We should start taking measures to stop it now. We should respect copyright and intellectual property right. And we should always remember that my rights are limited by your rights – I can move freely but I should not touch you.
Sometimes Mongolia is not included in the surveys conducted by UNESCO. Why do you think we are excluded from international research?
Recently, a few employees from ITPTA visited Kazakhstan and held a meeting with evaluation agency personnel from the UN. A student who studies in New York City majoring in information technology was invited to fill out a form/questionnaire. It is justifiable that since the student was not aware of activities by the Information Technology Authority, he chose to answer “Do not know”. When the survey team contacted the Mongolian government for further information, they were advised that this information was confidential. As there is no access to online service by foreign agencies, the survey team were given the impression that there was no need to have Mongolia among the countries to be covered by the survey. Therefore we should study the techniques and methodologies used in international evaluation surveys in comparison with Mongolian laws and exchange opinions with representatives at the FOC Conference. Although there are no legal restrictions by the state on the use of Facebook, Twitter, Google, and YouTube in Mongolia, it is prohibited to use offensive slang, swears, insults etc. But in countries where human rights are advocated, support on social media for any expression banned by the constitution (discrimination by race, religion, sex) is considered a penal offence. It is surprising that there is still no legal solution founded in Mongolia to regulate such online problems, even though Mongolian’s use of the internet and social media has advanced greatly in a short space of time.
In the present world where the internet has become a necessary part of daily life, there is an urgent need to have regulatory policies to provide appropriate use of the internet. One of the policies should focus on the issue of children online. Some may ask what is wrong with children surfing on the internet. Are there any alarming consequences arising from internet use by children? Well, actually there is. It is even related to national security. Small countries (underdeveloped) like Mongolia must take extreme caution regarding the internet. We as a nation, with an extremely small population, should really have a policy to defend our vital national interests online such as language and culture in this period of globalisation supported by internet. Today, there is still no application for Mongolian language installed in iPhones due to our small population and small market size.
Although we use the internet freely, we fail to strengthen our internet freedom in areas outside of our power. We have submitted our requests to Google and Twitter to have Mongolian recognised as an official language in their programs. And as a chairman of the ITPTA and an individual who supports online freedom, I see the FOC Conference as golden opportunity to raise our request again. Right now we are all talking about CISCO. But first we should ask ourselves a question “What do they think of us?”
Nowadays people use the English word “Hi” to greet one another. It may sound like no big deal or a kind of indication of globalisation, but actually it is the beginning of the collapse of the Mongolian language.
Today, people really should understand that “internet freedom” and “freedom to use the internet” are separate concepts. Over a year and a half ago, a very funny thing happened in Mongolian political life when a Member of Parliament initiated a law draft offering the use of the Latin alphabet for Mongolian language. The irony was that in his draft he, himself, did not even write the Latin alphabet correctly. Nowadays people use the English word “Hi” to greet one another. It may sound like no big deal or a kind of indication of globalisation, but actually it is the beginning of the collapse of the Mongolian language. Today it is commonly said that internet freedom is restricted in China. But it is not entirely true. Within the policy implemented by the Chinese government for economic and national interests, it is encouraged to support the domestic online industry instead of paying a huge sum for Facebook, Twitter, Google, Youtube etc.
You have said during an interview that you would never allow a fifth mobile phone operator as long as you were the Chairman. Please explain this. Everybody knows that competition is a key factor to reduce price and help consumers, is it not?
Well, we always tend to forget another factor called capacity. We Mongolians say “No need of 60 bulls for 100 cows”. In Mongolia almost 4 million cell numbers have been sold meaning every consumer has cell phones from each operator. So here raises a health issue. Everybody knows there are health issues that follow mobile phones, laptops etc. But I know I should respect one’s freedom to possession. Now I am going to explain another reason why I agreed to this rule. Investment is made when it is certain to make profits. Five operators for consumers of less than 3 million is quite a high number. It is the same as if everyone becomes a chef. But without a farmer, a herder or simply a supplier, the chef can cook nothing. So whilst I am the Chairman of ITPTA, no more mobile operators will be granted a license to operate.
Just two years ago, there was an incident where the General Police Authority was under cyber-attack. Has online information security in Mongolia been improved since then?
There is a special object containing classified data under the careful watch of the “Cyber Security Department” and the “National Data Center” which provides preventive and defensive measures for governmental organisations against cyber-attacks. As for the cyber-attack on the software of the General Police Authority, the police worked on the case and found out the cause. Irresponsible activities inside institutions are a common cause of cyber-attacks. The third world war has already started in the online world or cyber space. Therefore institutions must be extremely cautious and active regarding online security.
Please tell us about the latest news regarding ITPTA.
When I started my career as the Chairman for the authority, I set seven strategic targets to achieve respecting the Big Dipper, seven stars of Mongolians worship. The targets are national satellite, effective service by state, high-speed local internet, intellectual jobs with high salary, e-products for international market and smart post. I am proud to say that we have achieved six targets, save the satellite. We have submitted our plan to the National Security Council and are waiting for their response.
“Freedom Online Coalition” the 5th Conference is going to be hosted in Mongolia between May 4th-5th. Please tell me about participation of the ITPTA in the event.
The short and long term advancements of information technology are fundamental to the development of a nation, we would like to emphasise the importance of the 5th FOC Ministerial Conference being hosted in Mongolia and acknowledge that we are proud to be an official partner.
At the conference, where representatives of 26 countries will participate, we aim to express the Mongolian people’s stance on the subject of freedom of internet, the level of internet communication development in our country and the roles Mongolians play in the international internet market.
Would you please share your opinion about Freedom and Security of Individual and Intellectual Property in cyberspace?
In my opinion, the issue of intellectual property violation is the first of many problems we have in cyberspace. At present, there are far too many individuals and institutions suffering losses because of this unharnessed violation. It shows that decisive measures and legislative solutions to be implemented by the Intellectual Property Office are urgently required. Since in Mongolia protection of intellectual property online is a comparatively new concept, regulation of intellectual property or copyright laws may look sufficient enough to solve the issue. However this kind of solution is not sufficient in social media. For instance, let’s say someone uploaded a movie in his or her website infringing copyright. In this case there is a law to penalise the uploader but no law to penalise the downloader or who shared the infringement material. This problem needs to be fixed at once. Apart from this issue, individual online freedom is well ensured in the Mongolian legal environment. In compliance with the resolution by the Communications Regulatory Commission, online statements for libel and defamatory purposes or statements which may have negative effects on one’s social life, is shown in, or blocked by, star symbols (***).
What defines online human rights in your view? It has not been long since pornographic websites were banned in Mongolia for the so-called reason that online pornography has immoral and bad influences on children. But is the ban not a violation of human rights to access information freely?
Actually we need to implement an international system called ‘Child Code’ in which access to pornographic sites are granted upon entry of a PIN code for registered users, to prevent children from being psychologically harmed by the adult videos.
Banning of these adult only sites is not only our call. We were frequently contacted by police departments advising that the sites were encouraging youth into criminal activity. Therefore the Communications Regulatory Commission passed a resolution to ban the sites with our assistance and participation. Actually we need to implement an international system called ‘Child Code’ in which access to pornographic sites are granted upon entry of a PIN code for registered users, to prevent children from being psychologically harmed by the adult videos. Having provided such preventative measures, adults are free to enjoy their rights to information. Of course, it is not our intention to keep the sites permanently banned. But it is plain to see that the sites should be closed for now until such preventative measures are introduced in Mongolian cyberspace. In the modern world, every nation’s main focus is to build a clean internet environment free of negative impacts for the younger generation. The Mongolian government should follow this example and introduce policy regulation. Today, even small children are able to download videos and games on smart devices, PC’s and laptops. So we as adults are required to pay special and constant attention to see if the games are appropriate for children’s psychology. Since it is every parent’s utmost wish to raise their children as citizens full of love, respect, responsibility and commitment to their parents and country, we have got to have concern for what our children are playing with. Also, it should be kept in mind whether or not the games designed and produced for children of totally different backgrounds are suitable for children in the opposite hemisphere.
But almost 70% of total websites in operation around the world are for adults. So is it such an effective measure to ban them in Mongolia?
I am confident that it is an effective measure for the sake of childrens upbringing and education. At present, most of the popular adult sites accessible in Mongolia are closed. There are a lot of users who are aware of only a handful of porn sites. So the chances that sites they know are included in the list of banned pornographic sites is very high. However, I do not deny the fact that they can find and visit any sites they like easily with the help of search engines like Google. But again I say that we had the preventive action of banning the sites with the sole intention of preventing the promotion of pornography, prostitution and criminal ideas amongst children and youth. I agree that as you have said, the ban is, to some extent, a violation of freedom of access to information. But those who oppose the ban should admit that the sites have a harmful impact on social psychology, especially on the community of youth. To pass the regulation to introduce the aforementioned preventive measures, we conducted related surveys. According to the survey, the risk of negative impacts on a population of 1 billion or 100 million or 60 million are relatively low, but are very high on a small population of 3 million.
A number of websites with intellectual rights infringements are still working on different domain addresses. What actions do you take in this regard?
We are taking triple action in this regard, to protect the interests and online products of those who are working in compliance with copyright laws, those who encourage companies that buy the products and those who restrict online illegal operation.
For example, if we successfully manage to deal with online piracy of foreign and domestic movies, the Mongolian online reputation will be highly evaluated on the international stage. But currently, Mongolian televisions are highly dependent on pirated products to fund their operation because they lack financial capacity to produce contents of their own. We should start taking measures to stop it now. We should respect copyright and intellectual property right. And we should always remember that my rights are limited by your rights – I can move freely but I should not touch you.
Sometimes Mongolia is not included in the surveys conducted by UNESCO. Why do you think we are excluded from international research?
Recently, a few employees from ITPTA visited Kazakhstan and held a meeting with evaluation agency personnel from the UN. A student who studies in New York City majoring in information technology was invited to fill out a form/questionnaire. It is justifiable that since the student was not aware of activities by the Information Technology Authority, he chose to answer “Do not know”. When the survey team contacted the Mongolian government for further information, they were advised that this information was confidential. As there is no access to online service by foreign agencies, the survey team were given the impression that there was no need to have Mongolia among the countries to be covered by the survey. Therefore we should study the techniques and methodologies used in international evaluation surveys in comparison with Mongolian laws and exchange opinions with representatives at the FOC Conference. Although there are no legal restrictions by the state on the use of Facebook, Twitter, Google, and YouTube in Mongolia, it is prohibited to use offensive slang, swears, insults etc. But in countries where human rights are advocated, support on social media for any expression banned by the constitution (discrimination by race, religion, sex) is considered a penal offence. It is surprising that there is still no legal solution founded in Mongolia to regulate such online problems, even though Mongolian’s use of the internet and social media has advanced greatly in a short space of time.
In the present world where the internet has become a necessary part of daily life, there is an urgent need to have regulatory policies to provide appropriate use of the internet. One of the policies should focus on the issue of children online. Some may ask what is wrong with children surfing on the internet. Are there any alarming consequences arising from internet use by children? Well, actually there is. It is even related to national security. Small countries (underdeveloped) like Mongolia must take extreme caution regarding the internet. We as a nation, with an extremely small population, should really have a policy to defend our vital national interests online such as language and culture in this period of globalisation supported by internet. Today, there is still no application for Mongolian language installed in iPhones due to our small population and small market size.
Although we use the internet freely, we fail to strengthen our internet freedom in areas outside of our power. We have submitted our requests to Google and Twitter to have Mongolian recognised as an official language in their programs. And as a chairman of the ITPTA and an individual who supports online freedom, I see the FOC Conference as golden opportunity to raise our request again. Right now we are all talking about CISCO. But first we should ask ourselves a question “What do they think of us?”
Nowadays people use the English word “Hi” to greet one another. It may sound like no big deal or a kind of indication of globalisation, but actually it is the beginning of the collapse of the Mongolian language.
Today, people really should understand that “internet freedom” and “freedom to use the internet” are separate concepts. Over a year and a half ago, a very funny thing happened in Mongolian political life when a Member of Parliament initiated a law draft offering the use of the Latin alphabet for Mongolian language. The irony was that in his draft he, himself, did not even write the Latin alphabet correctly. Nowadays people use the English word “Hi” to greet one another. It may sound like no big deal or a kind of indication of globalisation, but actually it is the beginning of the collapse of the Mongolian language. Today it is commonly said that internet freedom is restricted in China. But it is not entirely true. Within the policy implemented by the Chinese government for economic and national interests, it is encouraged to support the domestic online industry instead of paying a huge sum for Facebook, Twitter, Google, Youtube etc.
You have said during an interview that you would never allow a fifth mobile phone operator as long as you were the Chairman. Please explain this. Everybody knows that competition is a key factor to reduce price and help consumers, is it not?
Well, we always tend to forget another factor called capacity. We Mongolians say “No need of 60 bulls for 100 cows”. In Mongolia almost 4 million cell numbers have been sold meaning every consumer has cell phones from each operator. So here raises a health issue. Everybody knows there are health issues that follow mobile phones, laptops etc. But I know I should respect one’s freedom to possession. Now I am going to explain another reason why I agreed to this rule. Investment is made when it is certain to make profits. Five operators for consumers of less than 3 million is quite a high number. It is the same as if everyone becomes a chef. But without a farmer, a herder or simply a supplier, the chef can cook nothing. So whilst I am the Chairman of ITPTA, no more mobile operators will be granted a license to operate.
Just two years ago, there was an incident where the General Police Authority was under cyber-attack. Has online information security in Mongolia been improved since then?
There is a special object containing classified data under the careful watch of the “Cyber Security Department” and the “National Data Center” which provides preventive and defensive measures for governmental organisations against cyber-attacks. As for the cyber-attack on the software of the General Police Authority, the police worked on the case and found out the cause. Irresponsible activities inside institutions are a common cause of cyber-attacks. The third world war has already started in the online world or cyber space. Therefore institutions must be extremely cautious and active regarding online security.
Please tell us about the latest news regarding ITPTA.
When I started my career as the Chairman for the authority, I set seven strategic targets to achieve respecting the Big Dipper, seven stars of Mongolians worship. The targets are national satellite, effective service by state, high-speed local internet, intellectual jobs with high salary, e-products for international market and smart post. I am proud to say that we have achieved six targets, save the satellite. We have submitted our plan to the National Security Council and are waiting for their response.