Stories about Censorship from March, 2017
The Internet Blackout in English-Speaking Cameroon Continues
How and why Cameroon has denied internet access to its English-speaking population.
Iranians See Arrests and Intimidation of Telegram Administrators and Journalists Ahead of the Elections
Revolutionary Guards have previously attempted to limit Telegram's free flow of information with arrests for immoral or obscene content. This is the first time crackdowns have focused on political affiliation.
China's Great Firewall Gives Rise to a Robust Industry of Information Smugglers
More often than not, information smugglers prioritize things like click rates over hard-hitting public interest journalism.
Netizen Report: Why Did YouTube Censor Your Videos? You May Never Know.
A Brazilian blogger is forced to identify his sources, Iran cracks down on speech pre-election, and Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission hears testimony from bloggers persecuted under Ben Ali.
UAE Authorities Arrest One Rights Activist and Extend the Detention of Another
On 20 March police arrested human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor from his home. Meanwhile, UAE authorities have refused to release Osama al-Najjar, despite him having served out his prison sentence.
‘Those who tortured him [should] tell us the truth': Tunisian Commission Hears Net Freedom Testimonies From Dictatorship
The Truth and Dignity Commission is investigating rights abuses committed during the dictatorship era, including internet freedom violations.
Fake News and Fake Solutions: How Do We Build a Civics of Trust?
When posing solutions to fix fake news, we need to be careful not to build our own self-censorship machines.
Brazilian Facebook User Prosecuted for Posting a Joke About a Politician
The administrator was prosecuted not for defamation, but rather for violating Brazil's anonymity laws.
Netizen Report: Azerbaijani Bloggers Targeted with Legal Threats, Spearphishing
Censorship is up in France, China is censoring scientists (again), and Facebook tells developers to stop using network data for surveillance.
Jaysh Al-Islam Is Leading Peace Talks in Geneva, While Clamping Down on Speech in Syria's Eastern Ghouta
The group controlling the region has shut down a magazine and five well-known civil society organisations, according to activists.
Chinese Scientists Speak Out Against the Great Firewall (Again)
"...it takes at least 10-20 second to access a page. Sometimes it takes more than half an hour to access some university websites…"
South Africans Want Their Government's Hands Off Social Media
South Africa's Minister of State Security announced that his government is contemplating regulating social media to counter false narratives and the spread of fake news.
France Sees Sharp Rise in Blocked and De-listed Websites
Authorities have blocked or de-listed more than 2,700 websites in the fight against child pornography and terrorism, but with little oversight.
In Azerbaijan, Another Blogger Gets Jail Time
"Instead of investigating credible allegation of ill-treatment, Azerbaijan jails outspoken critic #MehmanHuseynov for two years."
Netizen Report: Social Media Users Arrested for Political Speech in Myanmar, Palestine, Turkey
Global Voices Advocacy's Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in Internet rights around the world.
Ukraine Will Blacklist Websites That ‘Undermine Ukrainian Sovereignty’
The list, like Ukraine's new Information Security Doctrine, is directed at countering the dissemination of pro-separatist and pro-Russian information.
