In 2001, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an agency of the United Nations, selected Tunisia to host the second and concluding part of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), from 16 to 18 November 2005. This was despite the Tunisian government’s poor human rights record, including its imposition of severe constraints on freedom of expression. It was hoped, however, that the choice of Tunisia as a host country would prompt the Tunisian government to allow greater freedom and relax its controls on free speech and peaceful association. This has not occurred.
