Conflict and security filtering

ONI Blog: Amidst riots in the UK, calls to censor social media
The suspicion that social networks such as Twitter and Facebook as well as BlackBerry Messenger helped incite riots that gripped England earlier this week has led politicians to demand their shutdown. Prime Minister David Cameron directly blamed social media for the riots. In...
ONI Blog: Syria goes mostly offline as protests intensify
Renesys is reporting that as of 3:35 UTC (6:35 local time) on Friday, June 3, the majority of Syrian networks were disconnected from the global Internet. A graph shows the dramatic drop in reachable networks: Renesys documented...
ONI Blog: Egypt’s Internet Blackout: Extreme Example of Just-in-time Blocking
In a nearly unprecedented move, the Egyptian government appears to have ordered all Internet service providers to shut off connectivity. As of 1:00 am Cairo time on Friday, January 28 — a day of planned demonstrations — reports began to circulate...
ONI Blog: Tunisian Government Websites Attacked Via DDoS
The repercussions of Tunisia’s strict online censorship reached an apex in the Arab country this week as multiple DDoS attacks continue to target the government. Hackers known collectively as the Anonymous group took down at least eight government websites beginning...
ONI Blog: WikiLeaks: Reactions from the ONI Team
With WikiLeaks dominating the media over the past two weeks, a number of the OpenNet Initiative's principals and staffers have commented publicly on the implications of the leaks on the Internet. ONI co-principal investigator and director of the Citizen Lab Ron Deibert took...
ONI Blog: United Arab Emirates Arrests Activists, Bans BlackBerry Services
On July 29th, Reporters Sans Frontiers reported that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) arrested one BlackBerry user, detained another, and are pursuing five activists. The activists were planning a protest via BlackBerry Messenger against the increasing price of gasoline, and, unable...
ONI Blog: Afghanistan begins Internet filtering with Gmail, Facebook
Afghanistan has followed up on its promise to begin filtering the Internet: the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reports the country is now blocking Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, YouTube and a host of sites related to alcohol, gambling and sex. In March, the...
ONI Blog: Venezuelan news site accused of "attacking constitutional order" and "supporting a coup d’état"
On Sunday, Hugo Chávez ordered a federal investigation of one of the nation’s most widely read online news sources, Noticiero Digital. On his live, weekly television program, Aló Presidente, Chávez accused Noticiero Digital of “attacking constitutional order” and “supporting a...