Stories about Free Expression from November, 2016
Internet Freedom Declines in Russia and Ukraine, Improves in Belarus
Russia, Belarus and the Central Asian states were all rated "not free" in Freedom House's 2016 "Freedom on the Web" report.
Brazil Superior Court Rules in Google's Favor, Against ‘Right to Be Forgotten’
The court ruled that forcing search engines to adjudicate removal requests would give too much responsibility to search engines, effectively making them into digital censors.
Despite Suppression, Founder of Prize-winning Chinese Citizen Journalism Website Remains Optimistic
This post was written by Catherine Lai and originally published on Hong Kong Free Press on November 12, 2016. The version below is published on Global Voices under a partnership agreement. Despite the continued detention of his reporters and having been imprisoned twice, the founder of the citizen news site…
Omani Film Critic Sentenced to Jail Over Facebook Posts
"As long as there is a human being exploiting a human being, there are revolutionary dreams, and dreams make the future."
Cameroonian Government Launches Campaign Against Social Media, Calls It “A New Form of Terrorism”
The government of Cameroon considers social media “a new form of terrorism.”
Ethiopian Authorities Arrest Zone9 Blogger Befeqadu Hailu Citing ‘State of Emergency’
Hailu was told that his arrest was prompted by the interview he gave for Voice of America's Amharic Service about Ethiopia's state of emergency.
A French Videographer is Detained, Highlighting France's Odd Use of ‘State of Emergency’
Gaspard Glantz, Taranis News site creator and video reporter focusing on protest movements in France is facing legal challenges that constraint his work.
Turkey Continues to Arrest Kurdish Politicians, Restrict Internet Use
"What was done tonight is not only a coup but also an operation to separate the country!"
Demystifying Social Media Censorship — in Arabic, Spanish and English
Social media platforms have terms of use that restrict several types of content including nudity, hate speech, and violence. But these difficult-to-define rules are always subject to interpretation.
In Oman, Independent Media Suspended Until Further Notice
Albalad is the second independent media to stop publishing of its own accord this year. Another newspaper, Alzamn, was suspended by the government last August.
Netizen Report: Will Indonesians Enjoy the ‘Right to Be Forgotten’?
As Indonesians question a broad-reaching Right to Be Forgotten, Turkey blocks the Internet in Kurdistan, Vodafone lands in Iran, and Sweden takes a swipe at drone cameras.
