Conflict and security filtering

ONI Blog: Threats to the Open Net: August 10, 2012

Iran's telecommunications minister announced on Sunday that the government's project to replace access to the global Internet with Iran's own domestic intranet system is scheduled to be completed within 18 months. The proposed insular intranet would be heavily regulated...

- Posted on 10/Aug/2012; tagged in Brazil, United States of America, Lebanon, United States/Canada, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Latin America, Legislation, Surveillance, Cybercrime and security, Privacy, Threats to the Open Net, Political filtering, Conflict and security filtering, Internet tools filtering

ONI Blog: Threats to the Open Net: July 13, 2012

The Russian Duma, the lower house of Parliament, unanimously passed a controversial Internet bill after four amendments were inserted. While these amendments were inserted to substantially narrow the criteria under which the government could shut down a site deemed...

- Posted on 13/Jul/2012; tagged in Canada, Sudan, Russia, United States/Canada, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Europe, Legislation, Arrests and legal action, Defamation, Human rights, Surveillance, Privacy, Threats to the Open Net, Political filtering, Conflict and security filtering

ONI Blog: Internet blackout in Sudan?

In response to recent protests, the government of Sudan has instituted tighter state control over both foreign and domestic news sources, particularly online sources. However, rumors of an impending Internet shutdown appear to be unsubstantiated for now. Students at the University...

- Posted on 27/Jun/2012; tagged in Sudan, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Arrests and legal action, Take-down, Human rights, Political filtering, Conflict and security filtering

ONI Blog: Threats to the Open Net: June 22, 2012

On Monday, Google released its bi-annual transparency report, documenting a drastic increase of takedown notices from around the globe. Highlights include a 49% increase in content censorship in India and a huge spike in requests from democratic regimes. The International...

- Posted on 22/Jun/2012; tagged in India, Iran, United States of America, Israel, Russia, Denmark, United States/Canada, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Europe, Legislation, Copyright, Cybercrime and security, Threats to the Open Net, Political filtering, Conflict and security filtering

ONI Blog: Threats to the Open Net: June 15, 2012

On Thursday, the UK Home Department released a draft of the Communications Bill. Home Secretary Theresa May defended the bill saying, “If we stand by as technology changes, we will leave police officers fighting crime with one hand tied behind...

- Posted on 15/Jun/2012; tagged in Iran, United States of America, Ethiopia, United Kingdom, United States/Canada, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Europe, Surveillance, Cybercrime and security, Privacy, Anonymity, Data retention, Threats to the Open Net, Political filtering, Conflict and security filtering, Filtering tech and software

ONI Blog: Syria ramps up cyber mining to target activists

While web surveillance is far from a new issue in Syria, it appears that under the current state of insecurity the Assad government is raising surveillance to the next level, militarizing the web and using the internet as a tool to target...

- Posted on 11/Jun/2012; tagged in Syria, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Human rights, Surveillance, Privacy, Anonymity, Conflict and security filtering

ONI Blog: Global Internet filtering in 2012 at a glance

The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) has been documenting Internet filtering globally since 2003. Since that time, the number of countries found to be engaging in the censorship of online content has increased dramatically. While early reports of Internet filtering only identified a small...

- Posted on 03/Apr/2012; tagged in Political filtering, Social filtering, Conflict and security filtering, Internet tools 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...

- Posted on 12/Aug/2011; tagged in United Kingdom, Europe, Arrests and legal action, Surveillance, Anonymity, Conflict and security filtering

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...

- Posted on 03/Jun/2011; tagged in Syria, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Conflict and security filtering

ONI Blog: ONI Releases 2010 Year in Review

The OpenNet Initiative is proud to announce the release of its 2010 Year in Review, a collection of the year's top instances of filtering, surveillance, and information warfare around the globe. Among the year's most well-known events are the banning of Blackberry...