Telecommunications in the Bahamas is accomplished through the transmission of information by various types of technologies within The Bahamas, mainly telephones, radio, television, and the Internet.
international: landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber-optic submarine cable that provides links to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US;[1]
2 stations (one in Nassau and one in Freeport, a rebroadcasttransmitter, commercially run Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas (BCB); multi-channel cable TV subscription service is available (2007).[1]
Access to the Internet is unrestricted.[6] There were no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without judicial oversight.[7]
The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press combined with a relatively effective—albeit extremely backlogged—judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system ensures freedom of speech and press. The constitution prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice.[7] Strict and antiquated libel laws dating to British legal codes are seldom invoked.[6]
In April 2013, the Bahamas Commissioner of PoliceEllison Greenslade warned that the police would press charges against people who post “lewd” or “obscene” pictures on social media websites and Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson announced that the government was working on legislation that will police information posted on the Internet. "We have to balance freedom of the press with protecting the public,” she added.[8] Also in April Rodney Moncur was charged with "committing a grossly indecent act" by posting autopsy photographs of a man who died in police custody on his Facebook page.[9]
^ ab"Bahamas", Freedom in the World 2013, Freedom House. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
^ ab"The Bahamas", Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.