censorship

Iran reportedly moving on domestic Net plan, blocks Google

Iran is following through with previously reported plans to move its citizens onto a domestic Internet network, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, the country is about to start blocking Google, also according to Reuters. It's unclear whether the two moves are related.

A government deputy minister today announced the domestic Internet plans as a way to improve cybersecurity, adding that all government agencies and offices have been connected to the "national information network." The next step would be to connect everyday citizens to the network as well, he said.

Separately, state television reportedly announced Google's search engine and … Read more

Google finds itself embroiled in Libya, Egypt blasphemy charges

Google has found itself embroiled in a high-profile dispute pitting the traditional western value of free speech against Islam's strict proscription against blasphemy.

The company confirmed today that it "temporarily" blocked YouTube users in Libya and Egypt from accessing a YouTube video trailer from an amateur movie sharply critical of the Prophet Muhammad. And Afghanistan retaliated by unilaterally blocking all of YouTube for its citizens.

Those restrictions came less than a day after the U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans were killed in an attack by Muslim protesters. Protesters also entered … Read more

Google wipes Pirate Bay from Autocomplete searches

It seems like Google is finally complying with the Recording Industry Association of America's wishes by not showing alleged copyright infringing Web sites in its Instant and Autocomplete search features.

According to TorrentFreak, the search giant just added the Pirate Bay to its censorship list.

Now, when users type "thepiratebay.org" or any of the site's other domain names into their search box, nothing relating to the Pirate Bay's Web site pops up. However, the file-sharing site is still indexed in Google's overall search function.

The RIAA has been working hard over the past … Read more

Facebook: 'No plans' to enter China anytime soon

A Facebook executive has said at a social media conference in Hong Kong that there are no plans for the social network to hit the Chinese market.

Facebook's North Asia director, Jayne Leung, told conference attendees that the social network would not launch in the region any time soon, according to Meld Magazine editor Karen Poh on Twitter.

That statement comes nearly a year after chief executive Mark Zuckerberg expressed similar sentiments. Of course, at that time Zuckerberg also said that Facebook was in no hurry to make a bid for the stock exchange.

Less than six months later, … Read more

Indian government warns Twitter over not censoring tweets

India's government is instigating a full-fledged crackdown on social networks and various Web sites. After working with Facebook and Google to censor content, it's now clamping down on Twitter.

If Twitter doesn't go along with the government's demands of censorship, it may face legal action, according to The Times of India.

Here's what the Times of India wrote in an article today:

...a senior government official has said that Twitter has already been told that legal action may be taken against it as it had failed to cooperate with the Indian government in its efforts … Read more

India blocks Web sites, restricts bulk SMS

The Indian government has asked ISPs to restrict access to a number of Web sites, and has prevented bulk SMS messaging for two weeks.

Over 150 Web sites were blocked over the weekend according to official sources, PC World reports, after a large number of people received messages over SMS or online that threatened reprisals for recent violence in Assam between Muslims and indigenous communities.

In addition to the restrictions placed on text messaging services and Web sites, some people have also been charged for sending threatening messages.

According to the publication, India's Ministry of IT and Communications has … Read more

Malaysian law stirs online 'blackout' protest

Many high-profile Web sites in Malaysia are blacked out as part of a one-day protest against changes to a law that they say would restrict online freedom of speech.

Many home pages have been replaced with banners protesting the new amendment, dubbed "114A," to the Malaysian Evidence Act.

Revised in April, the Evidence Act 1950 was updated to include Section 114A, the "presumption of fact in publication," which critics claim would mean Web site administrators, Web hosting providers, Internet providers, and those who own a computer or mobile device "on which [content] was posted" … Read more

Iran wants Facebook's help in fighting porn

Iranian officials are hoping to team up with Facebook in an effort to remove Pages and Groups that feature pornography or are soliciting prostitution. More broadly, the Iranian police force has announced plans to cleanse the Internet of content its country deems inappropriate.

The new tidbit comes from the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA (via the Associated Press), which interviewed Commander Kamal Hadianfar, the head of Iran's cyber-police. He promised the country will work with Facebook for the new initiative, but did not elaborate on what the plan would entail.

"Pornography is a crime not just in Iran … Read more

Indonesia shuts down 1 million porn Web sites

Gearing up for Islamic holy month, the Indonesian government announced it has shuttered more than 1 million pornographic Web sites, according to the Times of India. And it hasn't stopped there -- the government said it has plans to crack down on millions more.

"We will block more porn sites during Ramadan," Indonesia's communications and information minister Tifatul Sembiring told the Times of India. Then, hinting at the possibility of keeping the sites shut down indefinitely, he said, "though that doesn't mean that we will allow such sites to operate during the rest of … Read more