Stories about Sovereigns of the Cyberspace
Telegram channel administrator could get death penalty for “insulting the Prophet”
Article 262 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code dictates that “Anyone who swears at or commits qazf [slander] against the Great Prophet [of Islam]...shall be sentenced to the death penalty.”
Wanna Reach the Chinese Internet Market? Time to Register Your Domain in China.
New rules will require leading foreign companies including Microsoft and Apple to register their sites' domain names with local DNS providers in order to remain accessible in China.
Digital Citizen 3.0
Digital Citizen is a biweekly review of news, policy, and research on human rights and technology in the Arab World.
An Aggressive Turn in Chinese Censorship Practices: ‘The Great Cannon’
"It is likely that this attack, with its potential for political backlash, would require the approval of high-level authorities within the Chinese government."
China: Anti-Pornography Campaign Targets Tech Giant
Alongside literature websites and online games, tech giant Sina is a major target of the CCP's latest anti-porn campaign.
“Google Tax” Threatens Spain's News Aggregators
The Spanish government is reviewing a new intellectual property bill, an extension of the so-called Sinde law, which restricts the use of links and citations of publications.
Censorship, Prosecution Drive Exodus of Opinion Leaders from China's Sina Weibo
China's crackdown on online "rumor-mongering" has led many opinion leaders to quit Sina Weibo, the country's most popular social media platform.
How LINE Censors Users in China (and How to Get Around it)
New research from the Citizen Lab investigates government pressures on Asian companies developing instant messaging apps, information controls on LINE apps, and implications for users.
Cyber Stewards Network and Local Activists Investigate FinFisher in Mexico
Security researchers have found evidence that FinFisher, the big bad wolf of spy technologies, is being used in Mexico. Local advocates are using these findings to bring legal action to federal agencies involved in surveillance.
US Power and the Not-So-Democratic Global Internet
The US government has a disproportionately large influence on global Internet policy. What if these policies don't work for the rest of the world?
South Korea: Naver Provokes Push for Portal Regulation
Conservative party politicians and major news organizations are pushing for new regulatory measures aimed at Naver, South Korea's leading search and online content provider. In addition to dominating online advertising and content markets, Naver has been accused of prioritizing its own content in search results.
Why was Facebook Blocked in Cambodia?
On August 7, Facebook was inaccessible in Cambodia for several hours. Government officials and ISPs claimed that the blockage resulted from technical complications, but media freedom groups remained suspicious of a foul play by authorities.
Peru: Child Online Protection Bill Could Threaten Free Expression
In an effort to restrict children's ability to access pornography online, the country would adopt a complex content filtering system that could sweep in plenty of legal, age-appropriate content.
Nigerian Government to Ramp Up Internet Surveillance?
In April, Nigerian news site Premium Times revealed government plans to purchase equipment that would allow it to conduct online surveillance on an unprecedented scale. The government reportedly had contracted with Israeli company Elbit Systems Ltd to advance the Internet and computer-based gathering of Nigerian citizens' personal data.
Orphaned in US, SOPA Finds Home in Russia
America’s controversial Stop Online Piracy Act is back—and it’s poised to become law in a matter of weeks. SOPA, however, isn’t coming to the US, where a wide coalition defeated the legislation in January 2012. A law that creates similarly harsh penalties for online copyright violations is on the cusp of finding a home in Russia.
Everyone's Rights are at Stake: Global Reach of US Surveillance Programs
Last week's revelations about phone and Internet surveillance programs run by the US government's National Security Agency (NSA) sent shock waves throughout the United States and the western media, but also around the globe. While in the US, many privacy-minded lawmakers and even digital rights advocates used the news as an opportunity to demand better protections for Americans' online privacy, Internet users worldwide were left wondering how to protect their own data in the face of these threats.
If Your Blog Gets Hacked, Can WordPress Help?
In March, Vietnamese political news blog Anh Ba Sam underwent a series of attacks that left its content compromised and its administrators unable to access the blog’s back end. Although the site is now back under their control, restoring their ability access the blog was more difficult than administrators imagined.
Advocates Challenge Use of FinFisher Surveillance Software in Pakistan
The Pakistani human rights organisation Bytes for All is challenging the use of invasive surveillance software by the government of Pakistan. FinFisher, produced by Gamma International, a UK-based company named by Reporters Without Borders as one of five "corporate enemies of the internet" and "digital era mercenaries," is notorious for its advanced spying and surveillance capabilities which are used to target human rights movements all over the world.
Human Rights Verdict Could Affect Cisco in China
In 2011, two separate lawsuits were filed against Cisco Systems alleging that its technology enabled the government of China to monitor, capture, and kill Chinese citizens for their views and beliefs. To what extent are these human rights violations attributable to technology provided by Cisco?
Hong Kong Citizen Media Site Faces DDoS Attack From China
Hong Kong-based citizen media platform inmediahk.net was hit by a DDoS attack last week, coming mainly from China. Inmedia, a volunteer citizen media network, has been blocked in mainland China since 2007. Inmedia members believe that recent coverage of controversial issues, including a dock workers' strike in Hong Kong and the construction of a military pier in the city's center, may have triggered the attack.
