Stories about Sovereigns of the Cyberspace from March, 2013
Victory for Transparency: Microsoft Reports on Government Requests for User Data
Last week Microsoft released its first transparency report, which covers all requests for user data from law enforcement and judicial authorities received in 2012. The report offers specific data on Skype, a particularly important step towards building trust with users who may be vulnerable to government surveillance, describes Microsoft's approach to complying with US law, as well as law enforcement and privacy laws in other countries.
China: Researchers Uncover Microblog Filtering Mechanisms
In a recent paper entitled "The Velocity of Censorship: High-Fidelity Detection of Microblog Post Deletions," a group of computer scientists describes their study of censorship practices on Sina Weibo, China's most popular microblogging service. Sina Weibo employs a large number of site moderators to monitor and, when necessary, stop the flow of dissenting ideas on the social media platform.
