Category Archives: Censorship

When it comes to censorship, librarians sit at ground zero.

"Librarians are on the front line in protecting our freedom to read," said Trisha Noack, supervisor of public relations for the Peoria Public Library.

Almost every day in the U.S. someone challenges a book and asks that it be removed from the shelf of a public or school library.

"They don't want you to read anything from 'Harry Potter' to 'Captain Underpants,' " said Noack. "People are still trying to keep you from reading 'To Kill a Mockingbird' - it gets challenged every year. If everyone backed down, there would be nothing on the shelves to read."

To draw attention to the issue, libraries all over the country will be participating in the American Library Association's Banned Book Week Sept. 30 through Oct. 6.

"It's a freedom we enjoy. You have to protect it," said Noack.

Books are not challenged often in Peoria. In the nine years Noack has been working at the library she has seen only onechallenge.

"The last challenge we had was to 'It's Perfectly Normal' by Robie Harris," said Noack. Meant for ages 10 and up, the book, whose full title is "It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health," describes puberty and human sexuality in a light, kid-friendly way.

"People seemed to object to the drawings, which are line drawings and somewhat humorous at times," Noack said. "They also objected to the practices described as 'perfectly normal.' "

The challenge was instigated by a national group protesting the book all over the country, Noack said.

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National banned book week sheds light on censorship

HONG KONG (CNN)

Draconian laws, brutal attacks against bloggers and politically motivated surveillance are among the biggest threats to Internet freedom emerging in the last two years, according to a new report from free speech advocates, Freedom House.

"Freedom on the Net 2012: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media," looked at barriers to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights in 47 countries across the globe. Estonia was rated as having the greatest degree of Internet freedom, while Iran, Cuba and China were viewed as the most restrictive.

While social media was key in the uprising in Egypt, censorship there continues apace, says Freedom House, a U.S.-based independent watchdog organization.

Although online activism is increasing, the report said authoritarian regimes were employing a wider and increasingly sophisticated arsenal of countermeasures.

According to Freedom House, China has the world's largest population of Internet users, yet the authorities operate the most sophisticated system of censorship. Its "great firewall" has become notorious for literally shutting down Internet "chatter" it views as sensitive. Earlier this year, censors blocked related search terms to prevent the public from obtaining news on prominent human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who caused a diplomatic storm when he escaped house arrest to seek refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Major web portals and social networking sites, though not state-owned, have had to comply with strict government censorship rules -- or risk being shut down. After launching a campaign to clean up "rampant online rumors," Chinese authorities in March ordered the country's leading micro-blogging sites -- including Sina Weibo -- to disable their comment function for three days. In China, bloggers are also required to register their real names -- though it's not clear how many have complied with the rules.

"It's a typical response by officials and quite a successful strategy in making it extremely difficult to spread information beyond some small circles of activists," Jeremy Goldkorn, a leading commentator on China's social media, told CNN at the time.

Freedom House claims Beijing's influence as an "incubator for sophisticated restrictions" has not gone unnoticed, with governments such as Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Iran using China as a model for their own Internet controls.

Unrest across the Middle East prompted increased censorship, arrests, and violence against bloggers as authoritarian regimes look to quell calls for reform. Social media was widely accepted to have played a key role in popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Fearing a similar "revolution" in Saudi Arabia, the authorities there took immediate steps to respond to what they regarded as a national security threat.

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Internet censorship up, report says

HONG KONG (CNN) -- Draconian laws, brutal attacks against bloggers and politically motivated surveillance are among the biggest threats to Internet freedom emerging in the last two years, according to a new report from free speech advocates, Freedom House.

"Freedom on the Net 2012: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media," looked at barriers to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights in 47 countries across the globe. Estonia was rated as having the greatest degree of Internet freedom, while Iran, Cuba and China were viewed as the most restrictive.

While social media was key in the uprising in Egypt, censorship there continues apace, says Freedom House, a U.S.-based independent watchdog organization.

Although online activism is increasing, the report said authoritarian regimes were employing a wider and increasingly sophisticated arsenal of countermeasures.

Read the full report

According to Freedom House, China has the world's largest population of Internet users, yet the authorities operate the most sophisticated system of censorship. Its "great firewall" has become notorious for literally shutting down Internet "chatter" it views as sensitive. Earlier this year, censors blocked related search terms to prevent the public from obtaining news on prominent human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who caused a diplomatic storm when he escaped house arrest to seek refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Major web portals and social networking sites, though not state-owned, have had to comply with strict government censorship rules -- or risk being shut down. After launching a campaign to clean up "rampant online rumors," Chinese authorities in March ordered the country's leading micro-blogging sites -- including Sina Weibo -- to disable their comment function for three days. In China, bloggers are also required to register their real names -- though it's not clear how many have complied with the rules.

"It's a typical response by officials and quite a successful strategy in making it extremely difficult to spread information beyond some small circles of activists," Jeremy Goldkorn, a leading commentator on China's social media, told CNN at the time.

Freedom House claims Beijing's influence as an "incubator for sophisticated restrictions" has not gone unnoticed, with governments such as Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Iran using China as a model for their own Internet controls.

Unrest across the Middle East prompted increased censorship, arrests, and violence against bloggers as authoritarian regimes look to quell calls for reform. Social media was widely accepted to have played a key role in popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Fearing a similar "revolution" in Saudi Arabia, the authorities there took immediate steps to respond to what they regarded as a national security threat.

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Internet Censorship on the Up, Report Says

iStockPhoto / RapidEye

Draconian laws, brutal attacks against bloggers and politically motivated surveillance are among the biggest threats to Internet freedom emerging in the last two years, according to a new report from free speech advocates, Freedom House.

"Freedom on the Net 2012: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media," looked at barriers to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights in 47 countries across the globe. Estonia was rated as having the greatest degree of Internet freedom, while Iran, Cuba and China were viewed as the most restrictive.

While social media was key in the uprising in Egypt, censorship there continues apace, says Freedom House, a U.S.-based independent watchdog organization.

Although online activism is increasing, the report said authoritarian regimes were employing a wider and increasingly sophisticated arsenal of countermeasures.

According to Freedom House, China has the world's largest population of Internet users, yet the authorities operate the most sophisticated system of censorship. Its "great firewall" has become notorious for literally shutting down Internet "chatter" it views as sensitive. Earlier this year, censors blocked related search terms to prevent the public from obtaining news on prominent human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who caused a diplomatic storm when he escaped house arrest to seek refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Major web portals and social networking sites, though not state-owned, have had to comply with strict government censorship rules -- or risk being shut down. After launching a campaign to clean up "rampant online rumors," Chinese authorities in March ordered the country's leading micro-blogging sites -- including Sina Weibo -- to disable their comment function for three days. In China, bloggers are also required to register their real names -- though it's not clear how many have complied with the rules.

"It's a typical response by officials and quite a successful strategy in making it extremely difficult to spread information beyond some small circles of activists," Jeremy Goldkorn, a leading commentator on China's social media, told CNN at the time.

Freedom House claims Beijing's influence as an "incubator for sophisticated restrictions" has not gone unnoticed, with governments such as Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Iran using China as a model for their own Internet controls.

Unrest across the Middle East prompted increased censorship, arrests, and violence against bloggers as authoritarian regimes look to quell calls for reform. Social media was widely accepted to have played a key role in popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Fearing a similar "revolution" in Saudi Arabia, the authorities there took immediate steps to respond to what they regarded as a national security threat.

Read more:
Big Brother still watching: Internet censorship up, report says

Chinese censors blocked information on the blind activist at the center of a diplomatic storm this year.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Draconian laws, brutal attacks against bloggers and politically motivated surveillance are among the biggest threats to Internet freedom emerging in the last two years, according to a new report from free speech advocates, Freedom House.

"Freedom on the Net 2012: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media," looked at barriers to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights in 47 countries across the globe. Estonia was rated as having the greatest degree of Internet freedom, while Iran, Cuba and China were viewed as the most restrictive.

While social media was key in the uprising in Egypt, censorship there continues apace, says Freedom House, a U.S.-based independent watchdog organization.

Although online activism is increasing, the report said authoritarian regimes were employing a wider and increasingly sophisticated arsenal of countermeasures.

Read more: The full report

According to Freedom House, China has the world's largest population of Internet users, yet the authorities operate the most sophisticated system of censorship. Its "great firewall" has become notorious for literally shutting down Internet "chatter" it views as sensitive. Earlier this year, censors blocked related search terms to prevent the public from obtaining news on prominent human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who caused a diplomatic storm when he escaped house arrest to seek refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Read more: News on blind activist's escape

Major web portals and social networking sites, though not state-owned, have had to comply with strict government censorship rules -- or risk being shut down. After launching a campaign to clean up "rampant online rumors," Chinese authorities in March ordered the country's leading micro-blogging sites -- including Sina Weibo -- to disable their comment function for three days. In China, bloggers are also required to register their real names -- though it's not clear how many have complied with the rules.

Excerpt from:
Big Brother still watching: Internet censorship is up, report says

Chinese censors blocked information on the blind activist at the center of a diplomatic storm this year.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Draconian laws, brutal attacks against bloggers and politically motivated surveillance are among the biggest threats to Internet freedom emerging in the last two years, according to a new report from free speech advocates, Freedom House.

"Freedom on the Net 2012: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media," looked at barriers to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights in 47 countries across the globe. Estonia was rated as having the greatest degree of Internet freedom, while Iran, Cuba and China were viewed as the most restrictive.

While social media was key in the uprising in Egypt, censorship there continues apace, says Freedom House, a U.S.-based independent watchdog organization.

Although online activism is increasing, the report said authoritarian regimes were employing a wider and increasingly sophisticated arsenal of countermeasures.

Read more: The full report

According to Freedom House, China has the world's largest population of Internet users, yet the authorities operate the most sophisticated system of censorship. Its "great firewall" has become notorious for literally shutting down Internet "chatter" it views as sensitive. Earlier this year, censors blocked related search terms to prevent the public from obtaining news on prominent human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who caused a diplomatic storm when he escaped house arrest to seek refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Read more: News on blind activist's escape

Major web portals and social networking sites, though not state-owned, have had to comply with strict government censorship rules -- or risk being shut down. After launching a campaign to clean up "rampant online rumors," Chinese authorities in March ordered the country's leading micro-blogging sites -- including Sina Weibo -- to disable their comment function for three days. In China, bloggers are also required to register their real names -- though it's not clear how many have complied with the rules.

See more here:
Big Brother still watching: Internet censorship on the up, report says

Published: Sept. 28, 2012 at 3:13 PM

WAHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Internet censorship is increasing as authoritarian regimes attempt to impose more restrictions on online activism, a U.S. watchdog organization reports.

Free speech group Freedom House said repressive laws, violent attacks on bloggers and government surveillance are among the biggest emerging threats to Internet freedom, CNN reported Friday.

Freedom house analyzed restriction of access, content censorship and violations of users' civil rights in 47 countries.

Iran, Cuba and China were the most repressive in terms of restricting Internet usage and freedoms, the group said.

Authorities in China conduct the most sophisticated censorship efforts, Freedom House said, because major Web portals and social networking sites, even though not state-owned, must obey with strict government censorship rules or risk being shut down.

Beijing's influence as an "incubator for sophisticated restrictions" has not gone unnoticed, the group said, with governments including Belarus, Uzbekistan and Iran following China's model for their own Internet crackdowns.

"The findings clearly show that threats to Internet freedom are becoming more diverse," Sanja Kelly, a project director at Freedom House, said.

"As authoritarian rulers see that blocked websites and high-profile arrests draw local and international condemnation, they are turning to murkier -- but no less dangerous -- methods for controlling online conversations."

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Global censorship of Internet on the rise

Government censorship isnt confined to the religious hotbeds of the Eastern Hemisphere: Googles top executive in Brazil was just released from custody after YouTube refused to take down a video critical of a local candidate. The recently freed Fabio Jose Silva Coelho is set for an undetermined court hearing after YouTube did not remove a salacious video allegedly revealing details of a mayoral candidate demanding her lover get an abortion. Since 1965, Brazil bans content that offend the dignity or decorum of the electoral process. Google is appealing the decision that ordered the removal of the video on YouTube because, as a platform, Google is not responsible for the content posted to its site, the company reports.

Brazil has also sided with a few Middle-Eastern and Asian nations in demanding that Google take down an offensive anti-Islamicvideo responsible for deadly riots around the world. Google agreed to censor the video in a few countries, such as Egypt and Libya, but not take it off the site and is (apparently) not taking it down in Brazil either.

The struggle highlights the growing struggle between self-expression, sovereignty, and the pervasiveness of technology.

[Via The Hill, Via Reuters]

View original post here:
Censorship In The Americas: Google Brazil Chief Just Released From Custody

Polling day procedure may have been in place, but censorship ruined any chance of a free parliamentary election in Europes last dictatorship, says Andrei Aliaksandrau

Alexander Lukashenko turns up to cast his vote in Belaruss parliamentary election, accompanied by his son Nikolay

Last Sunday the people of Belarus learnt the new composition of the lower chamber of its parliament. But you cant really say that members of the parliament were elected. Most observers say that there are no genuine elections in Belarus, and that the parliament is insignificant because the power of the president is almost complete. A large part of the population shares that view.

The Belarus authorities claim that elections in Belarus are transparent. Journalists joke that they are so transparent that they are almost invisible. Although the Central Election Commission claimed that 72.3 per cent of voters went to the polling stations, independent observers say that turnout was no more than 35-40 per cent. The authorities falsified the turnout to give the elections the veneer of legitimacy.

There are no surprises in the composition of the new parliament. Most of the democratic opposition boycotted the election in different ways. Some parties European Belarus, the Christian Democrats and the Belarusian Movement announced from the start that they were not participating in the farce. Others, including the United Civil Party and the Belarus National Front, decided to get candidates registered to give themselves a platform but later withdrew, denouncing the election as a fraud. Some opposition parties ran candidates all the way through to election day but predictably without any success.

The lack of unity of approach among the opposition was criticised by civil society groups. All of the opposition was really in favour of a boycott, said Uladzimir Matskevich, chair of the coordination committee of the National Civil Society Forum. Even those people who called for participating in the campaign until the bitter end did so only in order to use the opportunity for publicity. So why not agree about a common strategy from the very beginning?

The disunity of the opposition meant that it failed to send a clear message to voters. If ordinary people boycotted the election it had little to do with activities of oppositional groups and a lot to do with a general sense that the National Assembly has no real influence because of the overwhelming power of the president.

We dont have public politics in Belarus, said Zhanna Litivina, chair of the Belarus Association of Journalists (BAJ). Even when we had election debates on TV, it was obvious the candidates themselves did not really care about them.

A BAJ analysis of election media coverage shows that the state media, which are dominant in the country, misrepresented the campaign, focusing on the Central Election Commission rather than candidates or their programmes. There were cases of direct censorship as state TV refused to broadcast candidates statements. Debates were never live but always pre-recorded. No appeal for a boycott of the elections ever appeared in the state media.

The official explanation from Lidzija Yarmoshyna, the CEC chair, was that airtime was dedicated to campaigning, not boycotting. According to the chair of the United Civil Party, Anatol Labiedzka, 32 addresses by the partys candidates were not broadcast and state-owned papers refused to print 11 of its candidates programmes.

Continued here:
Belarus’s illusion of democracy

While Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York, his cronies at home are shutting every single one of their citizens out of the internet. Their reasoning: 'we may get attacked by zionist viruses.' Riiiight.

On Sunday, the Iranian state television network announced that Google and Gmail would be blocked "within a few hours." The ban will remain in effect until further notice.

Meanwhile, a government deputy minister announced they were going to put all their citizens in a "domestic internet network." While Iran has blocked sites that go against the government's views in the past, this will cut citizens off the internet completely.

This time they are planning to take everyone off the grid and into their own government-controlled corral. People are not longer going to be able to use virtual private networks to bypass governmental censorship and access information freely.

The deputy communications and technology minister Ali Hakim-Javadi says the operation is already under way: "In recent days, all governmental agencies and offices... have been connected to the national information network."

Officially, every Iranian will be in this cage by March 2013 but the government has not announced yet when they will effectively shut down access to the internet.

With Syria, Egypt and Libya still resonating in their twisted brains, the government and state media are babbling all kinds of excuses to what it seems like a simple move to blindfold its citizens and control the people by having full control of the information they have access to.

The first excuse was given by the Iranian Students' News Agency, who says the blocking was caused by the infamous "Innocence of Islam" video hosted on Google's YouTube service.

The government, however, says that they are doing this because two reasons. First, the "control over the Internet should not be in the hands of one or two countries" (which of course, is pure hypocrisy, given that they are forcing citizens onto their own network).

The second reason is computer attacks by external forces. According to Communications and Technology Minister Reza Taqipour, you can't trust the internet "especially on major issues and during crises." Major issues like Google taking the name Persian Gulf out of Google Maps, or crises like the virus that attacked their nuclear plants. [Reuters]

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Iran Shuts Down Google, Will Completely Cut Citizens Off the Internet [Censorship]