American officials urged China on Friday not to censor its Internet after the government blocked access to the Bloomberg News Web site. The Chinese government had denied Web access to the financial news agency after an investigative article on massive wealth amassed by relatives of Xi Jinping, the man expected to become China’s president.
1st July 2012
Ethiopia has always been a country at the cutting edge of Internet censorship in Africa. In the wake of violence after the 2005 elections, when other states were only beginning to recognize the potential for online reporters to bypass traditional pressures, Meles Zenawi’s regime was already blocking major news sites and blog hosts such as blogspot.com.
More on the Weibo point-based censorship system:
According to a translation from the Wall Street Journal, its “purpose is to purify the Weibo environment and safeguard good order on Weibo by relying on the reports of numerous users to effectively reduce untrue information, invasions of privacy, personal attacks, plagiarized content, the assuming of others’ identities and harassment of others.”
The problem, of course, lies with the Chinese government’s interpretation of “untrue information.” Under the new system, users will be docked points for violations and awarded points for reporting people who break the rules. People who earn low enough scores risk penalties, including losing the ability to post on microblogs or gain new followers.
The Committee To Protect Journalists reports:
Filtering search results on microblogs and search engines is one way the government controls access to information. Few but the most politically savvy Internet users in China realize what is happening when their search results turn up empty or cleansed. China-based search engines are required to clean up the search results of politically sensitive terms so that no undesirable links appear. When Google moved its Chinese search engine to Hong Kong to avoid censorship, it was no longer required to edit search results. However, since then, users have found that when they search sensitive terms, their Internet connection is cut for a minute or more after they get a generic error message.
Last week Google announced that it has taken the unprecedented step of announcing to users which search terms cause the broken connection, thereby adding a layer of transparency to the online censorship process. When users search banned terms now, they receive a message that says, “Please note that searches from mainland China for ‘[search term]’ may lead to the user’s connection with Google being temporarily blocked. Google has no control over this interruption.”
Great op-ed in the New York Times.
The Internet stands at a crossroads. Built from the bottom up, powered by the people, it has become a powerful economic engine and a positive social force. But its success has generated a worrying backlash. Around the world, repressive regimes are putting in place or proposing measures that restrict free expression and affect fundamental rights. The number of governments that censor Internet content has grown to 40 today from about four in 2002. And this number is still growing, threatening to take away the Internet as you and I have known it.
Great op-ed in the New York Times.
The Internet stands at a crossroads. Built from the bottom up, powered by the people, it has become a powerful economic engine and a positive social force. But its success has generated a worrying backlash. Around the world, repressive regimes are putting in place or proposing measures that restrict free expression and affect fundamental rights. The number of governments that censor Internet content has grown to 40 today from about four in 2002. And this number is still growing, threatening to take away the Internet as you and I have known it.
China’s censors have blocked access to the terms “six four”, “23”, “candle” and “never forget”, broadening already extensive efforts to silence talk about the 23rd anniversary of the bloody 4 June crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
Reports The Guardian. Read the full article »
Great post by Dustin Main on the need for a VPN while traveling. All the issues he describes definitely served as our inspiration for creating GigaBadger!
Dustin’s five reasons for using a VPN on the road:
- Prevent Online Banking Lockouts
- Surf Securely Over Public Wifi
- Access Media Across Borders
- Bypass Censorship
- Access Restricted Websites & Services
Lawmakers in New York State are proposing a new legislation that involves the Web, and no, it’s not SOPA-esque or another CISPA-like spy-bill. Politicians in the Empire State want to outlaw anonymous speech on the Internet.
Republican Assemblyman Jim Conte says that the legislation he co-sponsors, Bill no. S06779, would cut down on “mean-spirited and baseless political attacks” and “turns the spotlight on cyberbullies by forcing them to reveal their identity.”
“The government right now is drafting the first-ever cyber law, given the mushrooming of … modern technology like Twitter and YouTube and email and all sorts of technology activity.
We need to prevent any ill-willed people or bad mood people from spreading false information, groundless information that could tend to mislead the public and affect national security or our society. We need to control this.”
