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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 08 Apr 2009
How free is the Russian media? Judging by the description in the Western press, the media are little more than a minimally updated version of the Soviet era. The most common adjectives used to describe Russian media are "controlled," "censored" and "muzzled."
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 07 Apr 2009
Potential misconceptions over the Federal Government's contentious Internet filtering scheme will not affect demand for filtering software, according to security vendors and distributors.
The Federal Government is moving ahead with trials of a clean feed Internet scheme, part of a A$128 million Plan for Cyber Safety, that will impose national content filtering for all Internet connections and block Web pages detailed in a blacklist operated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 07 Apr 2009
Graphic sexual images which appear to contravene national legislation have been posted on the website of a Sunshine Coast swingers club which can be accessed by any member of the public.
With the click of a mouse, internet users are able to access graphic images of hardcore pornography.
The Noosa Swingers site contains images taken by group members of penetrative and oral sex, masturbation and bondage fetishes.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 07 Apr 2009
The Freedom on the Net Index has ranked Tunisia second only to Cuba and on par with China in censoring the Internet. The Tunisian government is notorious for blocking websites critical of the Ben Ali regime which is entering its 33rd [22nd] year.
The nation prohibits access not only to opposition websites and sites run by critical exiles, but also such popular sites as YouTube and Daily Motion as banned due to their hosting of videos documenting prison abuse in Tunisia. Further, the nation’s employs sophisticated blocking devices that allows Tunisians to access, say, the New York Times or the BBC, but bans pages critical of the regime.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 07 Apr 2009
The Chinese government has ordered a new crackdown on online video and audio content which could result in a tightening of internet censorship and limit the broadcasting of western films and entertainment programmes on the web.
In a notice published on its website earlier this week, the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television published a long list of video and audio content which it declared illegal.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 06 Apr 2009
Big Internet companies that do business abroad often find themselves in a quandary. While at home they champion privacy and free speech rights, overseas they often have to play by rules that don't reflect those same freedoms.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 06 Apr 2009
The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, has admitted that Bill Henson images were added to the communications regulator's list of prohibited websites in error, while blaming the addition of a dentist's site to the blacklist on the "Russian mob".
Meanwhile, the website of the Federal Government's censorship body, the Classification Board, was hacked last night and defaced with an anti-censorship screed.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 06 Apr 2009
The Internet is already filtered, says cyber-law academic Alana Maurushat, often in ways even less transparent than legislated ISP-level filtering.
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 01 Apr 2009
WASHINGTON (AFP) — China's "sophisticated and multi-layered" efforts to censor and control the Internet earned it a "not free" rating by a US rights group in a report released Wednesday.
Freedom House, which examined web freedom issues in 15 countries, listed Cuba, Iran and Tunisia as three other nations it considered "not free" due to government control of online activity.
Seven countries studied -- Egypt, India, Georgia, Kenya, Malaysia, Russia and Turkey -- were considered "partly free" while four others -- Brazil, Britain, Estonia and South Africa -- were labeled "free."
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By: Jillian C. York
Date: 01 Apr 2009
YouTube is once again inaccessible in China, after briefly reappearing on Monday.
Last week, the video-sharing site became inaccessible in China , around the same time that the Tibetan Government-In-Exile released a video allegedly showing Chinese forces beating Tibetans during protests last spring.
The Chinese government doesn’t address blocking specific sites, but a Foreign Ministry spokesman asked about it last week said the government had “taken up management of the network according to the laws.”
