internet censorship

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Facebook Moms Protest Breast Ban

Breast feeding not obscene, angry group declares

(Newser) - A 58,000-strong Facebook group plans to protest the site's ban on breast feeding photos through, er, Facebook. Cyber-organizers are asking users to temporarily swap their profile photos this weekend for breastfeeding pictures banned by the Facebook policy, reports the New York Daily News. The revolt started when the networking...

China's Great Firewall Back Up
 China's Great Firewall Back Up 

China's Great Firewall Back Up

Censorship, relaxed during Olympics, on rise again as economy slows

(Newser) - China has quietly reinstated the web censorship lifted during its Olympics image cleanup, the New York Times reports today. As in the past, the tightening comes as growing unemployment raises the government’s fears of social unrest. The government defended its right to censor sites that violate Chinese secession laws,...

Spam Filters Silently Censoring Your Email
Spam Filters Silently Censoring Your Email
OPINION

Spam Filters Silently Censoring Your Email

Internet blacklists invisible but powerful

(Newser) - With spam running rampant across the net, in-boxes have become heavily armed fortresses against the unsolicited hordes. Unfortunately, we’ve overdone it, writes James McGrath Morris in the Washington Post. Morris recently discovered that spam filters would gobble up the latest issue of his newsletter, the Biographer’s Craft, because...

China Cracks Down on Internet Cafes

Users must be photographed for national database of Web surfers

(Newser) - China has resumed a strict crackdown on Internet users less than two months after the Olympic Games, ending the more relaxed regulations that accompanied the international spotlight, reports the Times of London. All visitors to Internet cafes in Beijing will be required to have their photograph taken, reports the Times...

China's Great, Baffling Failure: Public Relations

Beijing completely misses 'crass value of cultivating the press'

(Newser) - It’s no secret that China is moving into position as a global superpower, writes James Fallows in the Atlantic, and this only further highlights its leaders’ baffling inability to understand how the country is viewed from the outside—and how to change those opinions for the better. Officials just...

Should This Game Be Banned?
 Should This Game Be Banned? 

Should This Game Be Banned?

Web-based game, where aim is to 'wipe out the Muslim race,' hard to regulate

(Newser) - Muslim Massacre, a Web-based game where players aim to “wipe out the Muslim race,” has earned widespread condemnation from Islamic groups, the Guardian reports. In the game, the US has declared war on Islam and the unnamed “American hero” slaughters terrorists and civilians alike to face Osama...

Thai Protests Trigger Web Crackdown

After violent protests, state hopes to quash 400 sites that threaten 'national security'

(Newser) - Thai authorities are trying to shutter 400 websites, the Guardian reports, in the wake of anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok that led the prime minister to declare martial law yesterday. The move targeted sites that were said to have “disturbed the peaceful social order and morality of the people, and/or...

Al-Qaeda Stuck in Web 1.0
Al-Qaeda Stuck in Web 1.0
OPINION

Al-Qaeda Stuck in Web 1.0

Osama not up on his Facebook, YouTube; US should exploit populist backlash

(Newser) - At its height, al-Qaeda had mastered how to amplify the effect of real-world attacks with virtual representations—videos, audio recordings, and articles reproducing its mayhem online. But as the Web has transformed into a more social entity, the terrorist organization is " stuck in 1.0," writes analyst Daniel...

Blogger Busts Tripled Last Year: Report

Political crackdowns especially harsh in Egypt, Iran and China

(Newser) - The number of blogging "citizen journalists" arrested worldwide in political crackdowns tripled in 2007 from the previous year, Ars Technica reports. Over half of last year's 36 arrests occurred in Egypt, Iran, and China, according to a new survey, which sorted arrests into six categories, most related to stirring...

China Won't Stop Censoring Web for Olympics
China Won't Stop Censoring Web for Olympics
ANALYSIS

China Won't Stop Censoring Web for Olympics

Despite push for openness, Chinese law appears to allow much room to maneuver

(Newser) - China apparently will continue to censor the Internet during August's Olympics, but says the international press will have the access it needs to function, Jacqui Cheng writes on Ars Technica. Officials said they would guarantee as much access “as possible,” but “controls on some unhealthy websites” would...

Bill's Charity Linked to Tibet Crackdown

'Philanthropic dynamo' took '05 donation from shady Internet firm

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton's strong public stance against the crackdown in Tibet flies in the face of her husband's past fundraising ties in China, reports the LA Times. At the crux is a 2005 speech the former president gave for which he received an undisclosed donation to his charitable foundation—from Internet...

China Wikipedia Access Not So Impressive
China Wikipedia Access Not So Impressive
OPINION

China Wikipedia Access Not So Impressive

Recent move isn't enough to meet IOC's request for openness

(Newser) - It's good for Chinese Internet users that the government has lifted bans on Wikipedia and Blogspot, but the move isn't the great breakthrough it may seem to be. If the policy change was intended to fulfill requests from the International Olympic Committee for an open internet, it falls well short...

Beijing Eases Limits on Wikipedia
Beijing Eases Limits on Wikipedia

Beijing Eases Limits on Wikipedia

But topics such as Tibet, Tiananmen remain off limits

(Newser) - Prodded by the International Olympic Committee, China has seemingly eased restrictions on the English-language version of Wikipedia, Reuters reports. But authorities continue to block access to articles related to sensitive topics such as Tibet and Tiananmen Square. Users in Shanghai and Beijing, the site of the summer Olympics, reported being...

China Blacklists Video Sites
 China Blacklists Video Sites 

China Blacklists Video Sites

Todou.com is among those warned, 25 sites closed

(Newser) - China shuttered 25 video-sharing websites today and warned numerous others, as authorities moved to enforce stricter controls on online content announced late last year, Reuters reports. Chinese video heavyweight Tudou.com was among those that received a warning to eliminate pornographic and political material. "We're working hard to upgrade...

EU May Name Censorship a Trade Barrier

Measure takes aim at the 'Great Firewall of China'; would inject web into trade talks

(Newser) - The EU is out to hack down the Great Firewall of China, Ars Technica reports. A new proposal would classify the web censorship China and other oppressive regimes employ as a trade barrier, an approach its creator calls “unusual, but effective.” The measure already sailed through the European...

Pakistan Bans Access to YouTube
Pakistan Bans Access to YouTube

Pakistan Bans Access to YouTube

Anti-Islamic video prompts government crackdown

(Newser) - Pakistan has blocked the country’s YouTube access over anti-Islamic videos on the site, the AP reports. One official conceded that a particular video offended authorities: a trailer for an upcoming film by Dutch legislator Geert Wilders. The filmmaker has said that his piece paints Islam as a fascist religion...

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