Threats to the Open Net: March 2, 2012

By: Qichen Zhang on 2 March 2012
Posted in China, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Pakistan, Russia, Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Europe, Threats to the Open Net
  • Chinese users circumvent the Great Firewall to flood President Obama's Google+ campaign page with comment. Messages left included tongue-in-cheek references to the Occupy Wall Street movement, requests for green cards, and criticism of China's heavy-handed censorship practices.
  • The Committee to Protect Journalists released its 2011 Attacks on the Press report. The series of articles stresses the importance of fighting for freedom of expression on the Internet in order to build a "global coalition" against censorship. The report also mentioned the countries who pose the largest threats to online freedom, including Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.
  • Russian bloggers take to the Internet to protest Putin before the national elections this Sunday. Although there are fears of a media crackdown, there are also some signs of increased freedom of speech. Alexei Navalny told PBS that he, along with other critics of the Kremlin, would not recognize the results of this election, which Putin is predicted to win.

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