Iceland to Become Safe Haven for Freedom of the Press

Though all the winds of doctrine or censorship were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, or soon in Iceland:

If you’re looking to say something contentious on the Internet, then Iceland is the place to go. The Icelandic Parliament unanimously passed a proposal yesterday to make the country a “new media haven” in an initiative inspired and strongly backed by Iceland-based whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

The proposal, entitled the “Icelandic Modern Media Initiative“, “resolves to task the government with finding ways to strengthen freedoms of expression and information freedom in Iceland, as well as providing strong protections for sources and whistleblowers.”

According to the text of the initiative, Iceland hopes to become the international home of news organizations worldwide by way of providing these protections:

‘The legislative initiative outlined here is intended to make Iceland an attractive environment for the registration and operation of international press organizations, new media start-ups, human rights groups and internet data centers. It promises to strengthen our democracy through the power of transparency and to promote the nation’s international standing and economy. It also proposes to draw attention to these changes through the creation of Iceland’s first internationally visible prize: the Icelandic Prize for Freedom of Expression.’

The mainstream press tends to condemn tax havens. Let’s see how much they love jurisdictional arbitrage when it’s in their wheelhouse.