The Blog — Censorship
The First Post After Filtering
An Iranian blogger known by the pseudonym, Vakil al-Raoaya, has a new post titled, “The First Post After Filtering.” Al-Raoaya’s blog had previously been targeted by filters, which the Iranian government frequently uses to block public access to websites that express criticism toward the regime.
Al-Assad Forces on Facebook
As expatriated Syrian activists use Facebook and other social networking sites to express their thoughts and keep in touch with Syrians on the ground, the Assad regime continues to harass them both in real life and online.
Pakistan Builds Web Wall Out in the Open
Many countries censor the Internet, but few spell out their intentions as explicitly as Pakistan. The government published a public tender last month for the “development, deployment and operation of a national-level URL filtering and blocking System.” Technology companies, academic institutions and other interested parties have until March 16 to submit proposals for the $10 million project — but anger about it has been growing both inside and outside Pakistan.
How to get past Internet filtering (if you aren’t concerned about being detected or monitored)
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.
techropology.blogspot.co
New YouTube ‘How-to’ Playlists: Circumvention and Staying Safe Online
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.
iPhone App Helps Fight the Assad Regime
Sourla Wa Bas is an iPhone and iPad app that gives users accurate information about activities of the Syrian opposition.
Some Creative Ways to Bypass Internet Censorship
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.
Cameras Everywhere Report 2011 by @witnessorg
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."
The information war that rages on the Chinese internet
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.
Luke Allnut
Uzbekistan Launches Its Own Facebook, Except It’s Not For Everyone
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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