censorship

Thailand has endorsed Twitter's new censorship policy to block tweets in accordance to a particular country's laws, calling it a "welcome development."

Thailand's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry said it will work with Twitter to ensure tweets disseminated in the country are in compliance with local laws, the Bangkok Post reported today.

ICT permanent secretary Jeerawan Boonperm said in the report that Twitter's move to censor content deemed offensive in particular countries was a "welcome development." She added that the ministry would soon contact the U.S.-based microblogging platform to … Read more

Turns out it's pretty much business as usual today in social-network-land, despite earlier claims hackers would take down Facebook and despite a boycott of Twitter by users accusing the company of censorship.

Twitter did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment on the impact of the boycott, but the pace of tweets seems to have slowed, from this user's perspective anyway. It being Saturday, however, the news feeds we follow tend to slow down naturally, so it's hard to tell for sure. We'll update this post if we get any feedback today from Twitter.… Read more

Some Twitter users are trying to wield the organizing power of the social-networking site against the site itself: they're using the hashtags #TwitterBlackout, #TwitterCensored, and #J28 to spread news of a Twitter boycott planned for tomorrow.

Yesterday, Twitter said it was willing to remove tweets on a country-by-country basis when there are local restrictions against content in the tweets, and when a country requires the tweets to be taken down. That's why these Twitter users are up in arms.

The company said the new plan promotes freedom of expression, transparency, and accountability because even though these tweets may … Read more

As the case for Web censorship moves forward, Twitter announced today that it'll soon block tweets on a countrywide basis when they violate local restrictions, so we can look forward to our government making it illegal for Nickelback to fight back against their Twitter haters.

We're surprised that some Google users are upset about the company's new "streamlined" privacy policies--don't they know that Google knows more about you than your own mother?… Read more

We've put it off long enough, and today we'll finally spend time discussing Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), an incendiary bill written by Texas Congressman Lamar Smith that would effectively put an end to any Web site that would "steal America's innovative and creative products, attract more than 53 billion visits a year, and threaten more than 19 million American jobs."… Read more

Three of the Internet's most popular destinations--Google, Wikipedia, and Craigslist--launched an audacious experiment in political activism this evening by urging their users to protest a pair of Hollywood-backed copyright laws.

Wikipedia's English-language pages went completely black at 9 p.m. PT, with a splash page saying "the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet." The online encyclopedia's blackout, intended to precede next week's Senate floor vote on the legislation, is scheduled to last 24 hours.

Craigslist and Google have taken a more modest approach. Unlike Wikipedia, … Read more

China's Internet user tally is growing by tens of millions of people every year, the China Internet Network Information Center has revealed.

According to Reuters, which obtained a report from the organization and published its results today, China had 505 million Internet users at the end of the November 2011--a figure that exceeds the entire populations of many countries, including the U.S.

What's more, there's nothing but room for that number to grow. According to the Information Center, China's Internet penetration rate is just 37.7 percent. To put that figure into perspective, over … Read more

Iranians have lost the right to surf the Web anonymously at Internet cafes as the government reportedly moves closer to its ultimate goal of replacing the global network with a censored national intranet.

The Iranian Cyber Police published new rules on Wednesday designed to allow officials to know exactly who is visiting what Web sites. Before they can log on, Iranians are required to provide their name, father's name, address, telephone number and national ID, according to an Iranian media report cited by Radio Free Europe. Cafe owners will be required to install security cameras and to keep all … Read more

Beijing's city government has announced new rules that require users of local Twitter-like sites to register their real names with the services for verification by government authorities--a move apparently meant to quash anonymous posts critical of China's leaders and rob dissidents of a tool for organizing protests.

Quoting China's state-run Xinhua news agency, The Wall Street Journal reported that state secrets, material that threatens national security, posts that inspire ethnic resentment or discrimination, and posts involving rallies that "disrupt social order" were also being banned from microblogging sites.

The announcement comes as more and more … Read more