Latest posts by Jillian York

For Bloggers at Risk: Creating a Contingency Plan

In 2011, we have witnessed the incredible power of bloggers and social media users capturing the world’s attention through their activism. At the same time, regimes appear to be quickening the pace of their cat-and-mouse game with netizens, cracking down on speech through the use of surveillance, censorship, and the persecution and detention of bloggers. Aware of the risks they face, some bloggers have created contingency plans to protect themselves and contacts in the event of an arrest. Here are some suggestions.

22 December 2011

US National Science Foundation Blocking GV Advocacy

Recently, the Global Voices  team learned that this site, https://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org, is blocked at the headquarters of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington, D.C.  As is common practice for many...

21 April 2011

Bahraini “Blogfather” Mahmood Al-Yousif Arrested

Shortly after 3am local time, prominent Bahraini blogger Mahmood al-Yousif was arrested in his home. Before leaving with police officers, the blogger tweeted, "Police here for me." His brother and son have both confirmed the arrest.

30 March 2011

How Much Does Internet Access Matter?

Amidst the ongoing debate of the role of social media in revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa lies another question: To what degree does Internet access matter in determining the role of the Internet and social media in these revolts? Jillian C. York looks at different ideas about the effects of Internet penetration on the effectiveness of social media organizing.

10 March 2011

Bahrain Blocks YouTube Pages and More

In the midst of protests in Bahrain's capital of Manama that resulted in over 200 arrests and at least one death, evidence suggests that the government has clamped down on...

14 February 2011

Nepal: Journalist Attacked for International Reporting

Nepalese journalist Shreedeep Rayamajhi is an accomplished blogger and journalist, writing for international news organizations such as GroundReport and CNN's iReport.  Rayamajhi writes for prestigious local publications as well, such...

24 December 2010

Turkey Unblocks YouTube, but Will Ban Be Short-Lived?

YouTube has been banned in Turkey since 2007. Now, for the first time in two years, the popular video-sharing site is once again accessible in Turkey. Since the site was unblocked, however, videos that were the initial impetus for the censorship have been restored. Will the unblocking be short-lived or will Turkey stand by this step toward Internet freedom?

2 November 2010

Facebook Responds to Activists

I’ve been writing about Facebook woes for nearly four months, so imagine my surprise yesterday when I received an e-mail from a Facebook staffer in response to my blog posts. Since I don’t have said staffer’s express permission to use his name or post his e-mail in its entirety, I will instead post the most remarkable excerpts with my own notes.

12 August 2010

Facebook Deactivations

This post originally appeared on Jillian C. York's blog. Over the course of the past week, I've gotten reports from a number of people whose personal Facebook pages have been...

8 April 2010

SourceForge Removes Blanket Block

In late January, on the same day as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech on Net freedom, open source community SourceForge blocked access to users from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea, in an effort to keep in line with U.S. Treasury export restrictions on those countries. On Sunday, SourceForge announced that they had revoked the ban, unveiling their new strategy for complying with U.S. law.

8 February 2010