Censorship
Internet Censorship: Chopping the Head off LulzSec
For a while, it seemed that the hacker group with the silly name was running rings around the FBI. In the end, however, it appears it was the FBI running the show. In the summer of 2011, LulzSec – supposedly short for “Lulz Security” – erupted out of nowhere and began a flashy string of [...]
Internet Censorship: Top Hacker Turns Snitch, Alleged ‘Anonymous’ Leaders Busted
Several alleged leaders of the international hacking organization “Anonymous” are not anonymous anymore. U.S. officials Tuesday announced the arrests of six high-profile hackers, including Hector Xavier Monsegur. Documents filed in a federal court in New York indicate that Monsegur, known in the hacking community as “Sabu,” cooperated with the investigation, leading to the arrests. The [...]
DMCA: Horrors of a Broad and Automated Censorship Tool
The DMCA was once drafted to protect the interests of copyright holders, allowing them to take infringing content offline. Today, however, the system is systematically abused by rights-holders as an overboard censorship tool. One third of the notices sent to Google are false, companies like Microsoft censor perfectly legal sites, and others use the DMCA [...]
Internet Censorship: CCP Proposes Cells For Microblogs
China’s ruling Communist Party wants to set up branches at all major microblogging sites. Authorities plan to establish propaganda department branches of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the offices of Chinese Internet companies providing microblogging services, according to reports and netizens. The Party’s move, first reported by Taiwan’s United Daily News, is part of [...]
Media Censorship: Media Freedom Worsens in China
Tightened press controls followed official concerns about ‘Jasmine’ uprisings. China has fallen once again in world press freedom rankings, following a year marked by crackdowns around the world, the Paris-based press monitor Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in an annual report. “Control of news and information continued to tempt governments and to be a question [...]
Burma: Censorship Abolished In ‘Months’
The head of Burma’s censorship board says a law has been drafted and is awaiting approval. Burma’s censorship chief insisted Wednesday that the country’s censorship board will be abolished in “a matter of months,” despite recent reports of a rollback on press freedoms in the lead-up to elections. Tint Swe, director of the Press Scrutiny [...]
China’s Top Official in Tibet Orders New Media Clampdown
China’s top leader in Tibet is urging local authorities to clamp down on Internet and mobile phone use in the region, as Beijing prepares to open its annual National People’s Congress and Tibetans honor those who have died protesting Chinese rule. The state-run Tibet Daily quotes regional Communist Party chief Chen Quanguo as saying that [...]
Somali Journalist Killing Is Latest in Violent Trend
A Mogadishu radio-station director has became the third Somali journalist killed in as many months. The death underscores the constant threat against journalists working in the war-torn country. Abukar Hassan Mohamoud is the latest journalist to be killed in the bullet-ridden Somali capital, Mogadishu. Witnesses say unidentified gunmen assassinated the Somaliweyn radio station director late [...]
Internet Opens Russia for Democracy Movement
Russia’s protest movement grew and got organized with speed that startled many in the political establishment. Russia’s uncensored Internet allows people to communicate, coordinate and raise money for rallies, all through their computers. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is running for president in elections March 4. His campaign website photos show him skiing, skating and fighting [...]
Art Censorship: Pissy Pussy Comic – ‘Getting Social’
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Internet Censorship: The Wiki Blackout, One Day Later
Just What, If Anything, Did Wednesday’s Protest Achieve? Not content to leave the battle un-joined, the hacker group Anonymous stepped into the SOPA fray Thursday evening by launching a massive denial of service attack on several SOPA supporters, including Universal Music, the RIAA and MPAA. Also targeted was the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. [...]
