News Archive
Libya blocks access to Youtube and independent websites
On January 24th, 2010, Libya Telecom and Technology (LTT) has blocked access to the popular video sharing website Youtube and to several Libyans based abroad political and independent websites such as Libya Al Youm, Al Manara, Jeel Libya, Akhbar Libya,and Libya Al Mostakbal.
And while Google didn't confirm the ban of ...
Pakistan: PTA Blocks President's “Shut-Up” Video
Sunday evening [7th February 2010] Youtube.com started facing intermittent reports of irregular inaccessibility across various ISP's in Pakistan. It initially started off with a simple white page displaying the word "This Site is Restricted" throughout the Youtube domain which were reported widely on Herdict Web, roughly displaying that the ...
SourceForge Removes Blanket Block
In late January, on the same day as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech on Net freedom, open source community SourceForge blocked access to users from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea, in an effort to keep in line with U.S. Treasury export restrictions on those countries. On Sunday, SourceForge announced that they had revoked the ban, unveiling their new strategy for complying with U.S. law.
Philippine blogger facing libel suit filed by former Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary
Januray 2010- In the Philippines, the National Bureau of Investigation filed a libel complaint against blogger Ella Ganda upon the request of former Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Esperanza Cabral, over a blog post, published on October 21, 2009, that exposed stockpiles of unprocessed relief goods ...
Global Voices and Google announce freedom of expression award jury
The Breaking Borders Award is a new prize created by Google and Global Voices and supported by Thomson Reuters to honor outstanding web projects initiated by individuals or groups that demonstrate courage, energy and resourcefulness in using the Internet to promote freedom of expression.
We are proud to announce our jury ...
China: More than 100 thousand websites shut down
According to Southern Metropolis' report on 18 Jan 2010, more than 100 thousand websites have been shut down in China since the white list policy has come into effect in December 2009. Self employed individuals who tried to maintain their business online were affected the most.
The internet cleaning was ...
Interview with blogger Wael Abbas and call for support!
On November 11th, 2009, prominent Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas has been sentenced in absentia to 6 months in jail and LE 500 pounds (92 USD) as a judiciary bail, as a lawsuit was filed against him by a citizen and his police officer brother on charges of damaging an internet ...
Google for good…or just for money?
Google’s recent opposition to Internet censorship in China went wildly underreported in Thailand. Yet this move to seize the moral high ground has vast implications to Thailand and every other censorship nation. The world’s censors have been put on notice by a company worth five billion dollars, more than many ...
Egypt: blogger Wael Abbas sentenced to jail. Another still in prison despite judicial release order
The prominent Egypt blogger Wael Abbas has been sentenced 6 months in jail and LE 500 pounds (92 USD) as a judiciary bail, as a lawsuit was filed against him by a citizen and his police officer brother on charges of damaging an internet cable! Wael was ruled in absentia ...
China: The monitoring of Mobile SMS
According to Xinhuanet's report, Mobile China Shanghai branch will start suspending a mobile phone's SMS function if they find the number distribute "vulgar", "pornographic" and other illegal content. The policy implies that all mobile messages would be monitored by the mobile company and made accessible to the government authority.
The ...
