UK unveils extremism blocking tool

BBC News, UK unveils extremism blocking tool, 13 Feb 2018 "ASI Data Science said the software can be configured to detect 94% of IS video uploads."

May at Davos

ITV News, Theresa May to demand more from Facebook and Google to fight online terror - but has she identified real enemy?, 24 Jan 2018 "Governments are more likely to see them as ‘publishers’ or ‘broadcasters’, just like ITV, which should be entirely accountable for the content it hosts." Also see BBC News, Davos: Theresa May to warn tech firms over terror content, 25 Jan 2018

Facebook Says It Is Deleting Accounts at the Direction of the U.S. and Israeli Governments

Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, Facebook Says It Is Deleting Accounts at the Direction of the U.S. and Israeli Governments, 30 Dec 2017 "What makes this censorship particularly consequential is that “96 percent of Palestinians said their primary use of Facebook was for following news.” That means that Israeli officials have virtually unfettered control over a key communications forum of Palestinians." Important article from Gleen Greenwald.

Converting the preachers

The Economist, Converting the preachers "Now Saudi preachers face a new constraint: starting next year authorities will install centrally monitored cameras in every mosque to record what goes on inside. The move is ostensibly meant to prevent theft and regulate energy use, but few doubt the real intention is to tighten the state’s grip on Islam, part of a trend across the Middle East."

Persepolis censored - in Chicago

Guardian, Persepolis battle in Chicago schools provokes outcry, "[Marjane] Satrapi herself, speaking to the Chicago Tribune, said the restriction was "shameful", and dismissed the CPS's concerns about what it had described as "powerful images of torture". "

"These are not photos of torture … seventh graders have brains and they see all kinds of things on cinema and the internet. It's a black-and-white drawing and I'm not showing something extremely horrible. That's a false argument. They have to give a better explanation," said Satrapi."

You might expect such censorship elsewhere!

Malaysia Evidence Act

Bikya Masr, In Malaysia, Evidence Act threatens online freedom, 14 Jun 2012 : "For Yassin Detuk Sari, writing about his country has become an almost daily endeavor, contributing his thoughts to a number of community blogs in Malaysia, but a new bill threatens his freedom online, reports suggest."

Freedom of the Press 2012: Breakthroughs and Pushback in the Middle East

Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2012: Breakthroughs and Pushback in the Middle East "The Middle East and North Africa saw dramatic if precarious gains in press freedom in 2011, and for the first time in eight years, global media freedom did not experience an overall decline, according to a Freedom House report released today." Report pdf link here

Battle for the Internet

Guardian, Battle for the Internet useful series of articles "The Guardian is taking stock of the new battlegrounds for the internet. From states stifling dissent to the new cyberwar front line, we look at the challenges facing the dream of an open internet."

Iran: Innovations in Cyber Dictatorship

Fred Petrossian, globalvoicesonline.org, Iran: Innovations in Cyber Dictatorship, 7 Feb 2012 “The Iranian regime not only represses bloggers and filters websites and blogs, but has many times used the internet creatively as a tool to increase pressure or spread fear.”

Veena Malik

washingtonpost.com, Outcry over actress Veena Malik’s revealing FHM cover dominates Pakistani news, 14 Dec 2011 "The Web editor of a local newspaper said the popular actress’s latest coup has already surpassed Osama bin Laden’s death in terms of the site’s Web traffic."

Net filtering issues

rsf.org, New Internet filtering system condemned as backdoor censorship, 2 Dec 2011 "An Internet content filtering system that Turkey’s Information Technologies and Communications Authority (BTK) introduced on 22 November is proving controversial both domestically and abroad. The outcry has coincided with a conference on the Internet in Turkey that began in the southwestern city of Izmir on 30 November."

Tunisian election 2011: protesters demand freedom of speech - video

Guardian, Tunisian election 2011: protesters demand freedom of speech - video

 

'Iran: Internet Access Limited Further'

eurasiareview.com, Iran: Internet Access Limited Further, 4 Oct 2011 "Iran has widely blocked the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to keep Iranian web users from circumventing the government’s filters."

KSA media

Angus McDowall, Reuters, Analysis: Saudi media bypass stricter rules after Arab Spring, 21 Sep 2011 "Saudi Arabian bloggers and journalists say the arch-conservative Islamic kingdom will find it hard to douse glimmers of more open reporting despite a tightening of media rules after the spread of popular revolts through the Arab world."

Libya: 'Internet spy room'

Two pieces relating to Libya, which I have caught up on today:

Paul Sonne and Margaret Coker, Wall Street Journal, Firms Aided Libyan Spies: First Look Inside Security Unit Shows How Citizens Were Tracked, 30 Aug 2011 "The recently abandoned room is lined with posters and English-language training manuals stamped with the name Amesys, a unit of French technology firm Bull SA, which installed the monitoring center. A warning by the door bears the Amesys logo. The sign reads: "Help keep our classified business secret. Don't discuss classified information out of the HQ.""

There's also this: Peter Murray, Singularity Hub, Internet Spy Room Found In Tripoli – Packed With Western Technology, 12 Sep 2011 which contains some further links and comments.

'Iran bans ‘love triangles’ and ‘half-naked men’ on TV Special'

digitaljournal.com, Iran bans ‘love triangles’ and ‘half-naked men’ on TV Special, 13 Sep 2011 "One young blogger from Tehran, who has written in English since his Persian blog was filtered, thinks the bans on love triangles and half-naked men will have no impact on content. “Who does this affect? Swimmers? I have never seen much flesh in TV except during sports.”

OpenNet Initative report

Neal Ungerleider, fastcompany.com, Muslim-Majority Nations Stifling Online Expression: Report, 11 Aug 2011 "Majority-Muslim countries regularly engage in faith-based censorship of the Internet, according to a new report by prominent watchdog group, The OpenNet Initative. The study, written by Helmi Noman, examined 15 states and territories. Out of these, 14 blocked sites that were considered to be critical of Islam and five blocked “liberal, secular, and atheistic comment.”"

The report is here: ONI, In the Name of God: Faith Based Internet Censorship in Majority Muslim Countries [pdf] Looks interesting, but I haven't read it yet...

Pakistan escalates its internet censorship

Jillian C. York, aljazeera.net, Pakistan escalates its internet censorship, 26 Jul 2011 "The latest incident involves the blocking, by at least 13 of the country's ISPs, of the website of popular American music magazine Rolling Stone. The block comes shortly after the magazine published an article highlighting Pakistan's "insane military spending". The article, by Rolling Stone blogger Matt Taibbi, linked to a New York Times article for background information, a fact that some have used to argue that Rolling Stone may have been blocked for other reasons, such as the fact that the site hosts myriad images of scantily-clad women. But as Pakistani free expression group Bytes For All has pointed out, most major pornography websites are not censored in the country."

See Bytes for All

"Iran keeps snooping online"

Jason Ukman, washingtonpost.com, Iran keeps snooping online; U.S. struggles to intervene, 1 Jul 2011
"U.S. officials know that Tehran is using communications equipment — some perhaps acquired from American firms — to monitor and, in some cases, interfere with Iranians’ use of the Internet and mobile phones. And yet it’s proven difficult to do anything about it."

Pakistan internet filtering

Daily Times - Plea to control circulation of obscene literature on Internet: "Justice Malik Shehzad Ahmed Khan of the Lahore High Court (LHC), on Friday, issued notice to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Ministry of Religious Affairs on a petition filed in LHC requesting to direct the minister of telecommunications to control circulation of obscene literature on Internet."