Overblocking

Report: Apple MobileMe Brief
July 2011 Summary OpenNet Initiative researchers examined allegations that email messages sent from Apple’s MobileMe service are being censored because of sensitive political content. This brief concludes that Apple is not censoring because of political content; messages are likely being dropped because of overzealous...
ONI Blog: A Moment in Time: A Very Short History of Content Regulation
Renata Uitz of Central European University welcomes Rob Faris, research director of the Berkman Center and the OpenNet Initiative. "A bunch of smart people invented the internet," says Faris, highlighting the wonderful ways in which the Internet brought millions of people together.  "People...
Report: Policing Content in the Quasi-Public Sphere
September 2010 Authored by Jillian C. York, with contributions from Robert Faris and Ron Deibert, and editorial assistance from Rebekah Heacock To view this bulletin as a PDF, click here. Introduction Online conversations today exist primarily in the realm of social media and blogging platforms,...
ONI Blog: Pakistan Lifts Facebook Ban; Bangladesh Cracks Down
As Pakistan lifted a two-week long ban on Facebook Monday, Bangladesh began blocking the site. Both bans followed the creation of a Facebook group promoting "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day," an event that encourages participants to submit artistic representations of the prophet...
ONI Blog: Facebook Blocked in Pakistan Following "Draw Mohammad Day" Competition
Last month, following controversy over Comedy Central's decision not to show a depiction of the prophet Mohammad on the popular TV show South Park, Seattle-based cartoonist Molly Norris came up with the idea for "Draw Mohammad Day," to assert the right...
ONI Blog: More than half a billion Internet users are being filtered worldwide
The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) has been monitoring Internet filtering around the world since 2002. Currently, more than 40 countries are filtering the Internet to varying degrees, while a number of others, including Australia, Iraq, and Spain, are considering enacting filtering policies....
ONI Blog: Overblocking in Oman
The OpenNet Initiative recently released new profiles for a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including updates of previously researched countries. In one such country, Oman, our research found there to be significant social filtering, as well as...
ONI Blog: Australia's Conroy named Internet Villain of the Year
Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy has come under fire from Australian citizens and digital activists around the world for his attempts to increase Internet filtering in Australia. This week, the UK Internet Service Providers'...
ONI Blog: Livejournal Blocked in Uzbekistan
Uzbek information agency Fergana.ru reported that national Internet service providers blocked access to the most popular blogging service in the country. According to the allegations, the website was blocked because of pictures of a local entrepreneur posted on Livejournal user’s blog....

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