The Blog — Censorship

There are a number of techniques to get past Internet filtering. If your aim is simply to reach pages or services on the Internet that are blocked from your location, and you are not concerned whether other people can detect and monitor your circumvention, these techniques may be all you need:

HTTPS

using alternative domain names or URLs to reach blocked content

using third-party Web sites to reach blocked content

using e-mail gateways to retrieve blocked Web pages over e-mail.

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From Syrian Sit-Ins on YouTube, to the worldwide Occupy movement, and the continued events following the transformative Arab Spring, web censorship rises as a prominent issue and concern for current social movements around the world. To share information between organizers and supporters through communication technologies has become, in some countries, risky and intensely challenging. A notable option to accessing blocked information and communicating securely is circumvention technology. Through the plethora of technologies available, digital activists of various movements and issues can both share their information with the world and mobilize within their country for change.

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Sourla Wa Bas is an iPhone and iPad app that gives users accurate information about activities of the Syrian opposition.

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As part of the "How to bypass Internet censorship" guide by Floss Manuals (which we published last week) they've included a secion on getting creative in your attempts to access blocked information. Check out these ideas, and the rest of the guide. 

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WITNESS  has released its 2011 'Cameras Everywhere' report. According to Peter Gabriel, the co-founder of WITNESS, "This report asks the hard questions about how to protect and empower those who attempt to expose injustices through video. It provides specific recommendations for immediate and future actions that can reduce danger for those risking their lives. This report is an important step to understanding how we can harness the power of video and technology to empower activists to protect and defend human rights. This is the age of transformative technology."

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There’s an intensifying struggle in China over information and at the heart of it is the internet. As we all know, controlling the internet is virtually impossible. But that doesn’t stop the Chinese government, backed with a very sophisticated system of censorship, from trying.

In a new development, the country’s popular Sina Weibo micro-blogging platform has informed its users that they risk having their accounts suspended if they spread rumours that provoke social unrest.

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This story was originally publisehd on Tangled Web, a blog of Radio Free Europe, by Luke Allnutt on Friday August 26.

Ever since social networks have come under greater scrutiny for their role in the Arab Spring -- and indeed in the U.K. riots -- repressive governments have been scrambling to find ways to rein in the unruly kids and their social networks.

Shutdowns aren’t always good things (except in times of crisis) as they generate bad headlines, so instead there has been a push from some governments to create their own sanitized networks. A new social network called Muloqot is being launched in Uzbekistan in conjunction with the state telecom monopoly. Muloqot can be translated as “dialogue” or “conversation”.

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Thanks to Facebook, a throng of over 8000 Malaysians can gather online and let their voices be heard. This particular meeting was triggered by the recent file sharing website ban imposed by SKKM, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

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Aiming to crack down on Internet crime, Brazilian congressman Eduardo Azeredo has introduced Law 84/99, which would spell out various penalties for illegal actions online. The Brazilian Institute for Consumer Defense, however, insists that the goal of this bill is much more sinister. According to the Institute, file sharing and even blogging could become punishable offenses, and Internet privacy and freedom would be compromised.Experts, as well as a petition with more than 163000 signatories, have backed this conclusion.

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First there was the train crash, then a clumsy attempt at a cover-up, followed by an outpouring of grief and outrage on the internet. Now there’s an investigation and the search is on to find a scapegoat. The Wenzhou bullet train crash has shocked the Chinese public and rocked the Chinese government.

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