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By: Matt LavigueurDate: 02 Sep 2011Categories: China, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Non-filtering content restrictions, Privacy, Geolocational Filtering, Threats to the Open Net
Uzbekistan launches its own internal social network; China cracks down on microblogging; Pakistan bans private browsing.0 comment(s) -
By: Qichen ZhangDate: 30 Aug 2011China's Ministry of Culture recently released a list of 100 songs to be banned on Chinese music downloading websites. Claiming the ban as an attempt to preserve cultural security, the government has included several popular American songs by artists including Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.
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By: Matt LavigueurDate: 26 Aug 2011Categories: China, Kazakhstan, Libya, Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Circumvention, Geolocational Filtering, Threats to the Open Net, Political filtering, Social filtering
Internet returns to Libya after months of blackouts. Kazakhastan blocks 13 foreign "extremist" sites, including LiveJournal.com. China takes steps for further crackdowns on Internet activity amidst uprisings in the Middle East and political unease at home. Facebook's spam filter becomes the target of criticism after blocking activist activities online. -
By: Matt LavigueurDate: 19 Aug 2011Categories: China, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, United States/Canada, Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Geolocational Filtering, Threats to the Open Net, Political filtering, Social filtering
China bolsters its online censorship regime following success of environmental protests in Dalian. BART and Anonymous face off over BART decision to shut down cellular service in an attempt to stem protests. The UAE is targeting the online rumour mill, promising up to 3 years in prison for those "spreading rumours" online. -
By: Jackie KerrDate: 12 Aug 2011Categories: Turkey, Russia, United Kingdom, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Europe, Legislation, Non-filtering content restrictions, Arrests and legal action, Surveillance, Privacy
Major stories this week relate to Internet filtering in Turkey, new actions by the hacker group Anonymous, reactions to social media's use in the London riots, and the submission of a new anti-extremism law in Russia in which blogs are subject to similar regulations to those of mass media outlets. -
By: Simon ColumbusDate: 12 Aug 2011Categories: United Kingdom, Europe, Arrests and legal action, Surveillance, Anonymity, Conflict and security filteringThe 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.
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By: renataDate: 11 Aug 2011After a complaint by the General Director of the Argentinean Ministry of National Security, a judge has ordered Argentina's ISPs to to temporarily block access to two websites that publish politicians' personal emails.
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By: Jane AbellDate: 10 Aug 2011Categories: United States/Canada, Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Defamation, Take-down, Human rights, Surveillance
Early this week, the online hacking community Anonymous launched a cyber attack on the Syrian Ministry of Defense website. This attack is one of the latest in a series of attacks by Anonymous/LulzSec against governments and companies perceived to be engaging in some form of Internet control and, more recently, human rights abuses. The defacement of the Syrian Ministry of Defense website provides an excellent example of the vigilante-style anti-censorship campaign which has characterized many of the group’s activities this year. -
By: Simon ColumbusDate: 10 Aug 2011Categories: Egypt, Tunisia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Sub-Saharan Africa, ONI, Political filtering, Social filtering
The OpenNet Initiative is excited to announce the addition of a full year of new data to its Social Media Filtering Map. The map gives users a visual overview of where Facebook, Flickr, Orkut, Twitter, and Youtube have been blocked since 2004. This update covers the last 12 months, bringing the map up to date with the latest information on social media censorship around the world. -
By: Simon ColumbusDate: 05 Aug 2011Categories: United Kingdom, United States/Canada, Asia, Europe, Copyright, Cybercrime and security, Political filtering
The United Kingdom abandons its plans to block illegal filesharing websites; in China, the censorship regime is probed by the anger of millions of microbloggers; a series of computer system intrusions has targeted dozens of international organizations over five years; and Europe reacts with filtering plans to attacks in Norway -
By: Jackie KerrDate: 04 Aug 2011Last week, the Russian language segment of the popular blogging platform LiveJournal experienced a massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. Frequent attacks of this nature in recent months are creating unease in the blogging community, making many wonder how this could affect public discourse going into next December’s State Duma elections.
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By: Simon ColumbusDate: 03 Aug 2011Throughout Europe, calls for increased Internet surveillance have emerged in response to the July 22 terrorist attacks in Norway. Police and security forces hope that by keeping a closer eye on online activities, they will be able to spot any "weak signals" that indicate potential threats.
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By: Matt LavigueurDate: 01 Aug 2011Chinese officials have recently unveiled plans for an expansion of the country's already extensive web filtering system, which would increase monitoring of wireless network activity of businesses in central Beijing.
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By: Rebekah HeacockDate: 01 Aug 2011Categories: Publications, Social filteringThe OpenNet Initiative (ONI) is pleased to release In the Name of God: Faith Based Internet Censorship in Majority Muslim Countries.
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By: Jane AbellDate: 29 Jul 2011Categories: United States/Canada, Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Europe, Legislation, Take-down, Surveillance, Data retention, Threats to the Open NetSaudi Arabia blocks website of Amnesty International; UK judges orders BT to block access to Newzbin2; Europe look to increase online surveillance in wake of Norway attacks; and China institutes new regulations requiring businesses to install web monitoring software.
