Twitter censorship plan provokes outrage

To cries of protest, Twitter announced last week that it will take a country’s laws and culture into account in conducting country-specific censorship. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who is also the second largest shareholder in News Corp., recently invested $300 million in Twitter. -db From the Courthouse News Service, January 27, 2012, by Adam [...]

Journalist’s arrest serious blow to democracy in Turkey

A Turkish investigative reporter was arrested on charges of plotting to overthrow the government. Ironically, he had been investigating the plot only a year earlier. Human rights groups say the government is trying to silence critics with a campaign that puts the government’s commitment to democracy in question. -db From The New York Times, January [...]

Opinion: China’s censorship regimen spreading around the world

Totalitarian regimes around the world are successfully using the Chinese model of censorship against their citizens, reports David Rohde in a commentary for Reuters. Rohde says the Stop Online Piracy Act would seriously erode the ability of the United States to fight the new tide of international Internet censorship. -db From a commentary for Reuters, [...]

Opinion: Online Piracy Act seen as censorship threat

The Stop Online Piracy Act would bring China-style Internet censorship to the United States, argues Rebecca MacKinnon in an op-ed in The New York Times. MacKinnon said the bill before Congress, designed to protect intellectual property, would “inflict collateral damage on democratic discourse and dissent both at home and around the world.” -db From an [...]

Internet blocking in China and Iran posing greater challenge

A study by a Canadian researcher has found that Internet blocking in China and Iran are becoming more effective in blocking news unpalatable to their authoritarian regimes. The authors of the study suggest that broadcasters combine forces to fight the censorship. From The New York Times, October 11, 2011, by John Markoff. Full story

Obama’s ‘Internet in a Suitcase’ sneaks free speech across borders

The Obama administration has invested $70 million to develop a “stealth internet” and cell phone system that will help dissidents in autocratic countries get around censorship and undermine dictatorships, the New York Times first learned from classified diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks. Among these high-tech “secret” weapons is the Internet in a Suitcase: “Financed with [...]

Techies strive to provide tools to circumvent Internet censorship

EFF’s Seth Schoen says that governments are constantly on the move to censor the web, recently forcing ISPs to censor sites from the DNS. They are counting on the users not realizing censorship is happening and that users will not know how to bypass the censors. Governments are also using the Internet to monitor the [...]

EFF lists projects underway to protect internet speech

Electronic Freedom Foundation’s Technology Director Chris Palmer says that a number of projects are underway to reduce centralization on the Internet and improve security and accessibility for the public. -db Electronic Freedom Foundation Commentary December 14, 2010 By Chris Palmer The past few weeks have highlighted the vulnerability of centralized information systems to censorship: online [...]

Free speech technology project collapses

A prominent US technology project designed to help Iranians evade internet censorship has collapsed amid recriminations this week after what its lead developer admitted had been a case of “hype trumping security.” The Financial Times September 15 2010 By Richard Waters in San Francisco The plan, known as Haystack, was part of a broader wave [...]

China starts asking new cellphone users for ID

The Chinese government started to implement a long-discussed measure that requires cellphone subscribers to register their identities when setting up an account, prompting concerns over privacy in the world’s largest mobile market. The Wall Street Journal September 1, 2010 By Loretta Chao BEIJING—The measure went into effect Wednesday, with customer service representatives at mobile operators [...]

Shutdown of blogging site sparks dispute

A free blogging site, Blogetery.com, went dark less than two weeks ago, and its disappearance is stirring controversy about the obligations of Internet services and threats to free speech on the Web. New York Times July 21, 2010 By Steve Lohr Visitors to Blogetery, which says it housed 73,000 blogs, now find a page that [...]

Groups try to block law written to shield children on Internet

Days after the state toughened up a law aimed at protecting children from offensive material online, advocacy groups moved to strike it down, saying the new law is too broad and cannot be enforced. The Boston Globe July 15, 2010 By John M. Guilfoil The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and a coalition of [...]

As China Internet Controls Increase, Freedom House Calls for Urgent International Response

The recent interruption of four major micro-blog services in China further highlights the Communist Party’s intent to control the internet and ‘plug holes’ where political discussions it cannot control take place, according to Freedom House. News/Press Release July 15, 2010 By Freedom House, Washington In recent days, reports have emerged of growing restrictions on internet [...]

China accepts WTO ruling on entertainment goods

News July 14, 2010 By Reuters GENEVA– China has agreed to open up its market for entertainment goods by March 19 next year in line with a World Trade Organization ruling, China and the United States said on Wednesday. The United States had challenged China’s barriers to imports and distribution of books, music, films and [...]

China seeks to reduce Internet users’ anonymity

As part of China’s Internet “real name system,” forum moderators would have to use their real names as would users of online bulletin boards.  Anonymous comments on news stories would be removed. – SMD News July 13, 2010 By AP BEIJING — A leading Chinese Internet regulator has vowed to reduce anonymity in China’s portion [...]

China Renews Google’s License

Google said that Beijing agreed to renew the company’s license to operate a Web site in mainland China, months after Google said it would stop censoring search results in China. Google’s challenge of Beijing’s authority, which followed a series of sophisticated online attacks which Google said originated in China, put into question Google’s ability to [...]

Civil liberties groups tell Congress Internet censorship no solution to curbing terrorism

Civil liberties advocates testified to a House committee on terrorism that the government should use the Internet to track terrorist threats but that to censor websites would be counterproductive. -db NextGov May 26, 2010 By Jill R. Aitoro Federal authorities should rely on the Internet to identify and track terrorist threats and to launch counterterrorism [...]

Chinese human rights activists mourn Google’s withdrawal from China

With Google poised to withdraw from China, there is recognition that China has dealt a blow to hopes for its gradual change to a more open and democratic society. db The Washington Post March 20, 2010 By John Pomfret BEIJING — When Google announced that it would pull out of China if it had to [...]

U.S. looking at issues of internet freedom after alleged Chinese cyberattack on Google accounts

After Google announced this week that hackers had tried to penetrate Gmail accounts in China including those of U.S. financial institutions and defense contractors, the Obama administration is considering their options in maintaining internet freedom. -DB NextGov January 13, 2010 By Aliya Sternstein An alleged cyberattack by the Chinese government into systems operated by Google [...]

Two Germans sue Wikipedia for violation of privacy

In a case pitting German privacy law against the U.S. First Amendment, two Germans convicted of murdering an actor in 1990 are suing Wikipedia for posting their names online, an act that they claim violates their privacy now that they have served their time and are out of prison. -DB The New York Times November 12, [...]

Organization for digital rights establishes new website to attack internet censorship

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has established a website “Takedown Hall of Shame” to call attention to internet censorship through what they say are “bogus copyright claims or other legal threats.” -DB Electronic Frontier Foundaton Press Release October 27, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO – Websites like YouTube have ushered in a new era of creativity and free [...]