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The OpenNet Initiative is proud to announce the release of our 2009 research on filtering and controls in the Middle East and North Africa.
Today’s release of new data and analysis follows the ONI’s May 2007 release of its first global survey, and the subsequent publication of Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering (MIT Press, 2008). In the coming months, the ONI will release additional updated reports on countries in Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Europe, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as on North America and on Australia and New Zealand. These reports will provide the analytical basis for a book to be released in early 2010, Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights and Rule in Cyberspace.
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On the heels of a crackdown on television and radio in Venezuela, a law has been proposed which would route all Internet traffic through a state telecom during times of emergency. Critics say the law would severely limit freedom of speech in the South American nation.
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Over the past year, ONI has witnessed consideration of filtering schemes by several Western countries, as well as the leaking of "secret block lists" for a few others (such as Norway and Denmark). The latest country to consider a nationwide policy is Germany; in April of 2009, its coalition government drafted a bill aimed at cracking down on child pornography. The bill, which passed on June 18, has received significant opposition from activists who believe that stopping child pornography requires more than just hiding it from view.
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Categories: Burma,
China,
India,
Malaysia,
North Korea,
Singapore,
South Korea,
Thailand,
Vietnam,
Nepal,
Japan,
Bangladesh,
Indonesia,
Asia,
Non-filtering content restrictions,
Surveillance,
Publications,
ONI,
Political filtering,
Social filtering,
Conflict and security filtering,
Internet tools filtering,
Voluntary filtering,
IP blocking
New research from the OpenNet Initiative reveals accelerating restrictions on Internet content as Asian governments shift to next generation controls. These new techniques go beyond blocking access to websites and are more informal and fluid, implemented at edges of the network, and are often backed up by increasingly restrictive and broadly interpreted laws.
ONI, in conjunction with ONI Asia, is proud to announce the release of reports on Asia and China, available now on our Web site.
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An Egyptian court has recently banned pornography Web sites, labeling them "venomous and vile," according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Egypt, which strictly bans offline pornography, already has a regulation which requires Internet cafe users to sign a form saying that they will not attempt to access or download pornography.
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Categories: Burma,
Egypt,
Iran,
Saudi Arabia,
Tunisia,
Syria,
Asia,
Middle East and North Africa (MENA),
Europe,
Latin America,
Sub-Saharan Africa,
Human rights
The Committee to Protect Journalists has released its list of the top ten worst countries in which to blog. While CPJ has captured the very worst, the unfortunate truth is that the mistreatment of bloggers is on the rise.
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Herdict Web, the proud child of ONI, has just launched its new Arabic user interface. In the past 24 hours since the launch, the Herdict team has been thrilled to note a high number of reports coming from the Middle East and North Africa, with Saudi Arabia as the front runner.
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Freedom House has released key findings in regard to emerging threats to Internet freedom. The study, covering 15 nations, ranks countries from "free" to "not free," based on a number of variables.
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In an unprecedented move, the Telecommunications and Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE is giving users the opportunity to submit feedback over its filtering policy. Internet Service Provider (ISP) du, followed larger ISP Etisalat last year in blocking certain "offensive" sites, including Skype, a number of blogs, and information on the Dutch anti-Islam film Fitna.
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Users of Facebook beware: In a precedent-setting decision by a Toronto judge, a man injured in a car accident has been ordered to turn over information from his Facebook page which is off-limits to the public.
The lawyers of the lawsuit's defendant, Janice Roman, believe information posted on John Leduc's private Facebook page may be relevant to a claim he made that an accident in 2004 interfered with his quality of life. Leduc is now required to submit to cross-examination regarding the content of his Facebook page.
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Many a DVD collector over the years has been disappointed upon learning that their rare DVD from Taiwan or France can't be played on their American DVD player. Just as DVD region codes limit viewing to a geographic area, the geofiltering of web-based videos and other sites limits viewers from outside of a particular region from accessing them.
This technique is often applied to the Web sites of television stations (such as CBS, Hulu, and Netflix in the United States), gambling sites, and dating sites, as well as a number of U.S. and other military sites, but appears to be catching on in other realms.
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From January 18th until the end of the month, major Kyrgyz Internet service providers serving 80% of the nation’s Internet users were under a major hackers’ attack essentially leaving the country offline.
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In May 2008, it was reported that the Arabic language version of Wikipedia had been filtered by Syrian authorities. The site remained blocked until last week, when it was reported that the site had become accessible on all Syrian ISPs. Recent reports to Herdict Web corroborate that fact.
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According to one user of
Qatar Living, popular site "Tagged" has been blocked by
QTEL, which operates in 17 countries and is currently Qatar's only Internet service provider (Vodafone has also been given a license and will begin service soon,
according to ictQatar, the country's regulatory body).
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It is the right of private companies to block access to certain sites for their employees or customers, certainly. But in the United States, some customers of Panera Bread, a popular nationwide chain restaurant that offers free wifi, are frustrated. It seems that Panera practices what is popularly known as overblocking: the unintentional filtering of harmless web sites.
The OpenNet Initiative is proud to announce the release of our 2009 research on filtering and controls in the Middle East and North Africa. Today’s release of new data and analysis follows the ONI’s May 2007 release of its first global survey, and the subsequent publication of Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering (MIT Press, 2008). In the coming months, the ONI will release additional updated reports on countries in Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Europe, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as on North America and on Australia and New Zealand. These reports will provide the analytical basis for a book to be released in early 2010, Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights and Rule in Cyberspace.0 comment(s)
New research from the OpenNet Initiative reveals accelerating restrictions on Internet content as Asian governments shift to next generation controls. These new techniques go beyond blocking access to websites and are more informal and fluid, implemented at edges of the network, and are often backed up by increasingly restrictive and broadly interpreted laws. ONI, in conjunction with ONI Asia, is proud to announce the release of reports on Asia and China, available now on our Web site.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has released its list of the top ten worst countries in which to blog. While CPJ has captured the very worst, the unfortunate truth is that the mistreatment of bloggers is on the rise.
Herdict Web, the proud child of ONI, has just launched its new Arabic user interface. In the past 24 hours since the launch, the Herdict team has been thrilled to note a high number of reports coming from the Middle East and North Africa, with Saudi Arabia as the front runner.
Many a DVD collector over the years has been disappointed upon learning that their rare DVD from Taiwan or France can't be played on their American DVD player. Just as DVD region codes limit viewing to a geographic area, the geofiltering of web-based videos and other sites limits viewers from outside of a particular region from accessing them. This technique is often applied to the Web sites of television stations (such as CBS, Hulu, and Netflix in the United States), gambling sites, and dating sites, as well as a number of U.S. and other military sites, but appears to be catching on in other realms.
It is the right of private companies to block access to certain sites for their employees or customers, certainly. But in the United States, some customers of Panera Bread, a popular nationwide chain restaurant that offers free wifi, are frustrated. It seems that Panera practices what is popularly known as overblocking: the unintentional filtering of harmless web sites.
