Legislation
ONI Blog: Google defies Kazakhstan’s attempt to “create borders on the web”, will re-route its users
As Google announced on its blog yesterday afternoon, it will start redirecting users of its customized Kazakh search engine, google.kz, to the international version. The move follows an order by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Communications and Information that all .kz domain...
- Posted on 08/Jun/2011; tagged in Kazakhstan, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Legislation
ONI Blog: Saudi Arabia Tightens Media Restrictions
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has issued a new Royal Decree introducing sweeping restrictions on the country’s media, with considerable fines and even closure of news organizations that “undermine national security.” The restrictions, which extend to writers as well, bar the...
- Posted on 09/May/2011; tagged in Saudi Arabia, Legislation
ONI Blog: German government gives up Internet filter law
On 5 April 2011 the German conservative-liberal government decided to give up their plans to establish Internet filters after a respective law to impede the access to child porn websites (Zugangserschwerungsgesetz) was set on hold for more than a year.
The law...
- Posted on 07/Apr/2011; tagged in Germany, Europe, Legislation, Social filtering, Voluntary filtering
ONI Blog: BBC's Application for U.S. State Department Funding Draws American Criticism
UPDATE: In April 2011, the BBC World Service Trust stopped vying for U.S. State Department funding for their efforts to combat censorship in China, Iran, and other countries. The Foundry reported that enough American public outcry at taxpayer money toward the...
- Posted on 31/Mar/2011; tagged in United States of America, United Kingdom, United States/Canada, Europe, Legislation, Political 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...
- Posted on 18/Mar/2011; tagged in Bahrain, China, Cuba, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Vietnam, Yemen, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Syria, Venezuela, Turkey, Nigeria, Japan, Mexico, Australia, Italy, Bangladesh, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Lebanon, Rwanda, South Africa, United States/Canada, Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Europe, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia/New Zealand, Legislation, Arrests and legal action, Copyright, Take-down, Human rights, Circumvention, Elections, ONI, Political filtering, Social filtering, Conflict and security filtering, IP blocking, Filtering tech and software
ONI Blog: Hungary's New Media Law Faces Opposition in the EU
Just three weeks after Hungary took over the European Union's presidency, the Hungarian government is already facing protests over a newly passed media law in the nation. According to Digital Civil Rights in Europe, the approved...
ONI Blog: Republican Rep Opposes FCC's Net Neutrality Proposal in Congress
Today, Republican congresswoman Marsha Blackburn slammed Federal Communication Commission's new proposal on net neutrality and argued against the government's attempts to regulate the Internet. During the State of the Net conference, the Tennessee representative who also serves on the House's...
- Posted on 18/Jan/2011; tagged in United States of America, United States/Canada, Legislation, Data retention, Social filtering, IP blocking
ONI Blog: Saudi Arabia Requires License for Bloggers
Drawing media attention for its nation-wide Blackberry ban last year, Saudi Arabia made news again concerning its telecommunications last week when its government invoked a blogging license policy. According to the Al Arabiya News Channel, the Culture and...
ONI Blog: Tunisia Shuts Off Internet Filter
Following a speech in which Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali stated that all censorship of the internet and traditional media will be halted, Tunisia appears to have shut off its Internet filtering system.
At around 9:45pm local time, Tunisian news...
- Posted on 13/Jan/2011; tagged in Tunisia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Legislation, Human rights, Political filtering, Social filtering, Internet tools filtering, Filtering tech and software
ONI Blog: Will Britain's Pornography Filtering Lead to Internet Censorship?
Last week, top-level British government official Ed Vaizey announced his plan to consider blocking all pornography on the Internet in the country. Vaizey, an MP and Britain's Communications Minister who cited “solutions to protect children” as the primary reason for...
