Free Yemen's Internet Identity

"A country's domain should serve its people, not a militia."

Since the Houthi militia seized Sana’a in 2015, Yemen’s national domain, .YE, has been under their complete control via the state telecom provider, TeleYemen. This hijacked digital identity is now a weapon used to run propaganda, enforce censorship, and surveil Yemenis. The same group has kidnapped, disappeared, and killed independent journalists and detained UN and NGO staff. The time for ICANN to act is now.

DEMAND ACTION FROM ICANNVIEW CORRESPONDENCE

The Problem: A Governance Failure

A Global Precedent, an ICANN Responsibility

Allowing armed groups to hold national TLDs normalizes digital state capture and undermines the credibility of the global DNS. There is precedent for redelegation after state collapse (e.g., .SO Somalia). ICANN should uphold its core principle that a ccTLD must serve the local Internet community.

ICANN would never allow a militia to run .fr or .uk. Silence on .YE is a double standard Yemenis pay for.

The Solution: Our Demand to ICANN

This is within ICANN’s mandate. We demand they:

  1. Review the delegation of .YE based on failure to serve the local community.
  2. Redelegate .YE to a neutral trustee until representative governance is restored.
  3. Protect users by refusing to legitimize a ccTLD run by a militia that targets press and civil society.

Be Part of the Solution. Free Yemen's Digital Voice.

SIGN THE PETITION

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