Stories about Free Expression from February, 2019
Journalists, teachers, and activists targeted in attacks on free speech in the Philippines
"These are attempts by those in power to drown out the voice of the marginalized...displaying Duterte’s fear of committed journalism that seeks to inform, educate and guide the public."
How Saudi leaders are using religion to consolidate power and silence critical voices
''Oppression is a comprehensive system, and [in our country] it is enabled by religion.''
Singaporean activist sentenced to 16 days in jail after hosting video chat with HK youth leader Joshua Wong
"There’s no sentence that I’d consider fair, because he should never have been charged."
As Putin preaches ‘sovereignty’ and tech modernization, experts lament loss of online freedoms
As Vladimir Putin promises Russians a faster, more reliable internet, two reports by independent expert groups paint an unrelentingly bleak picture of more crackdowns on online freedom of speech.
Samoa arrested blogger ‘King Faipopo’ accused of defaming prime minister
"New legislation, based on old criminal libel laws from colonial times, forces Samoa leaders to look backwards, not forwards."
EU proposal pushes tech companies to tackle ‘terrorist content’ with AI, despite implications for war crimes evidence
AI tools can assess whether a video is violent or graphic. But can they determine the video’s intended purpose?
Censored on WeChat: As tensions in China-US trade conflict rose, so did WeChat censorship
The second installment in our series looks at the most censored topic in the 2018 WeChatscope dataset: the China-US trade war.
Venezuelans see the politics of humanitarian aid play out in online attacks
A unique and technically sophisticated attack this week targeted VoluntariosxVenezuela, an opposition-aligned humanitarian aid website.
Netizen Report: Will India’s regional internet shutdowns ever end?
Internet shutdowns continue apace in India, Venezuela's opposition websites are under pressure and Uganda's social media tax is driving down internet use.
Users flood Reddit with China censorship memes, balk at $150 million investment from Tencent
While Chinese companies regularly invest in US media companies, this makes for an unusual match.
Bulgaria's parliament and an educational institute named top privacy violators in ‘Big Brother Awards’
The Bulgarian edition of the Big Brother Awards is back as a means of shaming the worst violators of citizens’ privacy.
Censored on WeChat: A year of content removals on China's most powerful social media platform
Our team tracked censored posts from more than 4,000 public accounts covering daily news on WeChat. Here is what we found.
Uganda's social media tax is leaving people disconnected — and failing to meet revenue targets
Prior to the tax's implementation, 47.4% of people in Uganda were using the internet. Three months later, that number had fallen to 35%.
Netizen Report: Philippine news outlet faces ‘cyber libel’ charges
Philippines DOJ takes another swing at Rappler news site, Facebook tackles disinformation in Indonesia and Russia moves to outlaw fake news.
Russian ‘anti-fake news’ bill rushed through parliament despite vocal opposition
Both the "anti-fake news" bill and its twin initiative against offending the authorities use Germany and other Western countries' laws as inspiration.
#FreeAmade: Journalist arrested and tortured after reporting on violence in northern Mozambique
The journalist was detained by Mozambican police while reporting a story in Cabo Delgado.
With tensions rising ahead of 2019 presidential elections, Nigerians fear internet shutdown
The use of social media to call attention to the government's violations and illegal actions have led to fears that of online censorship in upcoming elections.
Netizen Report: How Venezuela’s political crisis is playing out online
As Venezuelans continue to face internet censorship, Turkmenistan is blocking Google Play, Lebanon is blocking Grindr and Brazil is chipping away at is FOI law.
