Editing Telecommunications in Haiti (section)

==Internet censorship and surveillance==

{{Further|Human rights in Haiti}}

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors [[e-mail]] or Internet [[chat rooms]] without judicial oversight.<ref name=USDOS-Haiti-2012>[https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=204458 "Haiti"], ''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2013.</ref>

The law provides for [[freedom of speech]] and [[Freedom of the press|press]], and the government and elected officials generally respect these rights in practice. The independent media are active and express a wide variety of views without restriction. However, there have been incidents of local officials harassing or threatening journalists and others who criticized the government. Journalists complain about [[defamation]] lawsuits that the government threatens or files against the press for statements made about public officials or private figures in the public arena.<ref name=USDOS-Haiti-2012/>

Defamation carries both criminal and civil penalties. Some journalists practice [[self-censorship]] on stories related to drug trafficking or allegations of business and political corruption, likely due to past patterns of retribution against activists and journalists engaged in investigative reporting. The law prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, but the government does not always respect these prohibitions in practice.<ref name=USDOS-Haiti-2012/>