Introduction With the exception of Cuba, systematic technical filtering of the Internet has yet to take hold in Latin America. The regulation of Internet content addresses largely the same concerns and strategies seen in North America and Europe, focusing on combating the spread...

Background The government of Hugo Chávez is in the process of consolidating power after a number of electoral victories and a failed coup in 2002. This process has taken two forms: undermining judicial independence and wresting greater control over the media. Judges on...

Internet in Cuba In October 1996 Cuba first connected full time to the Internet, and in 1998 Cuba had only a single 64-Kbps satellite connection run by Sprint in Florida and allowed by an exception for communications to the U.S. trade embargo....

The OpenNet Initiative is proud to release its 2009 Year in Review, a look into instances of filtering, surveillance, and information warfare around the world in 2009. The events of 2009 demonstrated a global rise in third-generation Internet controls. ...

The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) has been monitoring Internet filtering around the world since 2002. Currently, more that 40 countries are filtering the Internet to varying degrees, while a number of others, including Australia, Iraq, and Spain, are considering enacting filtering policies....

In ONI's in-depth 2007 study of Internet filtering and controls in Venezuela, we declared Internet use to be "not subject to extensive content restrictions" but remarked upon concerns that the "Chávez administration could institute Internet filtering in the near future." It would...

Guatemala's ongoing political crisis, which began with the murder of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg and has been fueled largely by YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and blogs, reached a new level over the weekend when several ISPs began blocking access to WordPress.com. ...

By Renata Ávila and Firuzeh Shokooh Valle On March 25, 2009 the Government of Venezuela issued a decree (Decree 6649) that implements measures to reduce the superfluous or luxurious expenses of the government. The decree establishes that “superfluous or luxury spending is...

The headlines in Guatemala's top newspaper, as well as on internationally popular site Boing Boing reported that a Twitter user was arrested by Guatemalan authorities, facing charges of “intent to incite financial panic." The last couple of weeks have been complicated...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has just released a list of the ten worst countries in which to blog. Topping the list is Burma, followed closely by Iran, Syria, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Tunisia, China, Turkmenistan, and Egypt. In determining...