Author Archive for Jillian York
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About Jillian York
I am a writer, blogger, and activist based in Boston. I am the Project Coordinator for OpenNet Initiative and cover Morocco for Global Voices Online. I blog here.
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Recent Posts
Morocco: Press Freedoms Backsliding
2009 has not been a good year for press freedom in Morocco, and over the past few months, actions against journalists seem to be escalating. Although journalists are aware of the country's press law - which forbids criticism of the royal family, Islam, and the Western Sahara - many choose ...
Morocco: Human Rights Activist Jailed for Whistleblowing
A human rights activist critical of Moroccan drug policies was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison. Chakib Al Khayari's sentence was called "a stark reminder of Morocco's tenuous and uneven progress on human rights" by Human Rights Watch. As President of the Association for Human Rights in the ...
OpenNet Initiative Releases Results on Filtering in Asia
From the Great Firewall to the Myanmar Wide Web, Asia is well-known for its practices in Internet filtering. China has long taken the lead in blocking Web sites, filtering sites across the spectrum - from social to political content, pornography to Internet tools. The OpenNet Initiative (full disclosure: I'm involved) ...
LinkedIn Restores Services to Syrian Users
Last week, Global Voices Advocacy broke the news that Syrian users had been cut off from LinkedIn's services. The business-oriented social networking site had stated in e-mails to several of its users that, "Under the User Agreement, LinkedIn Users warrant that they are not prohibited from receiving U.S. origin products, including services or software. As such, and as a matter of corporate policy, we do not allow member accounts or access to our site from Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria."
Announcing Herdict Web: Report Inaccessibility Now!
Global Voices Advocacy is proud to announce the launch of Herdict Web. Herdict Web is a natural extension of The OpenNet Initiative; but whereas ONI views Internet filtering through an academic lens, Herdict Web crowdsources reports from users to discover, in real time, what users around the world are experiencing ...
Bahrain and Qatar: Disappearing the Internet
It would seem that another crackdown on Internet freedoms is occurring in the Middle East. Once thought to be the last bastion of free speech, the Internet has recently been subjected to a spate of blockings; and while censorship is no new thing to the region, the willingness of countries such as Bahrain and Qatar to adopt strict Internet policies akin to those in neighboring Saudi Arabia has created a sense of alarm amongst the online community.
Three Easy Steps to Block Sites in Turkey
In a clear instance of vexatious litigation, a Turkish court has blocked the Web site of prominent evolutionist Richard Dawkins following complaints from Islamic creationist and author Adnan Oktar. Oktar, who writes under the nom de plume Harun Yahya, filed the complaint last week; when Turkish Internet users now attempt to access Dawkins’ site, they are presented with a message that reads: ‘access to this site has been suspended in accordance with a court decision’.
