Censorship
22 November 2012
Opinion: You Can't Say That on the Internet New York Times
A bastion of openness and counterculture, Silicon Valley imagines itself as the un-Chick-fil-A. But its hyper-tolerant facade often masks deeply conservative, outdated norms that digital culture discreetly imposes on billions of technology users worldwide.
18 November 2012
Microblogs and the party: China's leaders try to steer online discussions using clever propaganda The Economist
On November 9th the official microblog of People's Daily, the main mouthpiece of the Communist Party, posted a message about the party's five-yearly congress to the account's nearly 3m followers on Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter. It was by no means standard propaganda: "The ruling party must remember: the sense of crisis comes first, and reforms must race to stay ahead of crisis. Time is running out."
Google Transparency Report Shows Rising Trend of Government Surveillance Reporters Without Borders
Each year, Google receives thousands of demands from governments around the world seeking information about its users. People who use any of the search engine giant's free online services - such as Gmail, YouTube, Google or Blogger - leave digital footprints behind, and information relating to their accounts is increasingly sought out by law enforcement agencies. To raise awareness about this, Google publishes a Transparency Report every six months documenting how many requests it received for user data, and from which countries. The practice was recently emulated by Twitter.
Governments must control the export of surveillance technology Electronic Frontier Foundation
On occasion of the Internet Governance Forum in Baku, Reporters without Borders today published a position paper, calling on the EU Commission to make surveillance and censorship technologies from Europe subject to export controls. The paper has been introduced by Christian Mihr, Executive Director of Reporters without Borders German section, on a panel at the Internet Governance Forum and has also been submitted to Neelie Kroes, Commissioner for the Digital Agenda in Europe.
16 November 2012
Governments Worldwide Asking Google to Hand Over More Data New York Times
There is more uncomfortable news for people concerned about the privacy of their e-mail accounts after the F.B.I. investigation that led to the resignation of the C.I.A. director, David H. Petraeus.
14 November 2012
Chinese Authorities Putting Pressure on Businesses to Help Censor the Web New York Times
As the Chinese cyberpolice stiffened controls on information before the Communist Party leadership transition taking place this week, some companies in Beijing and nearby cities received orders to aid the cause.
Google: 'Government surveillance is on the rise' CNN
The tangled David Petraeus scandal highlights how easily the U.S. government can access citizens' private e-mails.
Azerbaijan: How to Measure Free Speech on the Internet? Eurasia
Civil society activists in Azerbaijan are trying to push back against government efforts to restrict space for public debate. And they're hoping a recent global Internet forum in Baku will expand international support for their cause.
13 November 2012
Censorship row over Russian internet blacklist The Guardian
Russian internet users warned on Monday that a new law aimed at blacklisting websites devoted to drug use, suicide promotion and paedophilia was being used as a tool for censorship after two popular sites were banned.
12 November 2012
British man arrested after picture of burning poppy posted on internet The Guardian
Police in Kent have arrested a man after a picture of burning poppy was posted on a social networking site.
Google is back online in China after blocking PC World
Access to Google services in China appeared to return Saturday morning after they were blocked briefly as the country prepares to appoint new leadership.
Pakistani officials consider options for filtering YouTube Washington Post
For two months, Pakistanis have been unable to call up YouTube to watch an anti-Islam video that sparked deadly riots here and elsewhere in the Muslim world. But neither have they been able to use the service to view the U.S. presidential debates, to catch the "Gangnam Style" craze or even to laugh at silly kitties in the Friskies Internet Cat Video Awards.
Beware, The Great Russian Firewall Of Internet Censorship SBS
This summer there was an unpleasant surprise for many Russian Internet users - the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia was shut down.
11 November 2012
Egyptian Prosecutor Orders a Ban on Internet Porn Electronic Frontier Foundation
Censorship circumvention software is about to become very popular in Egypt. On Wednesday, the country's Prosecutor General, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, ordered government ministries to enforce a ban on pornographic websites, based on a three-year old ruling by Egypt's administrative court, which declared that "freedom of expression and public rights should be restricted by maintaining the fundamentals of religion, morality and patriotism" and denounced pornographic content as "venomous and vile."
10 November 2012
Google Is Blocked in China as Party Congress Begins New York Times
All Google services, including its search engine, Gmail and Maps, were inaccessible in China on Friday night and into Saturday, the company confirmed. The block comes as the 18th Communist Party Congress, the once-in-a-decade meeting to appoint new government leadership, gets under way.
09 November 2012
Britain's crackdown on Web comments sparks free-speech debate Los Angeles Times
Facebook and Twitter have landed several Britons in court and even jail recently. Critics decry the trend as a worrisome overreaction.
Restrictions to limit Internet access on the rise, warns UNESCO United Nations
The United Nations agency which deals with freedom of expression on the Internet today warned that restrictions directly limiting Internet access appear to be on the rise, and called on governments to implement policies that facilitate broadband connectivity instead of putting up barriers particularly during political developments.
06 November 2012
The internet is not free in Azerbaijan: A letter to president Ilham Aliyev The Independent
Today Baku will host the Internet Governance Forum. Today the president ignores the truth about the lack of freedom in Azerbaijan.
02 November 2012
Russia enacts restrictive new cyber-law Al Jazeera
New internet laws have come into force in Russia, making it easier for the state to block access to certain online content it considers offensive.
01 November 2012
Russia internet blacklist law takes effect BBC News
A law that aims to protect children from harmful internet content by allowing the government to take sites offline has taken effect in Russia.
26 October 2012
China Blocks Web Access to New York Times After Article New York Times
The Chinese government swiftly blocked access Friday morning to the English-language and Chinese-language Web sites of The New York Times from computers in mainland China in response to the news organization's decision to post an article in both languages describing wealth accumulated by the family of the country's prime minister.
22 October 2012
US internet anti-censorship tools are being overwhelmed by demand Washington Post
U.S.-funded programs to beat back online censorship are increasingly finding a ready audience in repressive countries, with more than 1 million people a day using online tools to get past extensive blocking programs and government surveillance.
20 October 2012
Twitter removes French anti-Semitic tweets BBC News
Twitter has agreed to remove a flood of anti-Semitic tweets circulating on its service in France.
19 October 2012
Twitter blocks neo-Nazi account to users in Germany BBC News
Twitter has blocked access to a neo-Nazi account at the request of the German government.
14 October 2012
Shut up and play nice: How the Western world is limiting free Washington Post
Free speech is dying in the Western world. While most people still enjoy considerable freedom of expression, this right, once a near-absolute, has become less defined and less dependable for those espousing controversial social, political or religious views. The decline of free speech has come not from any single blow but rather from thousands of paper cuts of well-intentioned exceptions designed to maintain social harmony.
