Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from November, 2015
Russian Lawmaker Suggests Banning Telegram Messenger ‘Because It's Used by ISIS’
Should Telegram be banned because it's used by extremist organizations such as ISIS? One Russian lawmaker believes it should, but plenty of others in Russia disagree.
Russia Changes Its Mind, Asks Twitter to Store Russian User Data Locally
Previously, Roscomnadzor had said Twitter was exempt from the norms of the data localization law as the kind of user data Twitter collects did not qualify as “personal information."
Russia's Internet Watchdog May Soon Get More Extrajudicial Website Blocking Powers
Roscomnadzor can already make websites unavailable for Russian users without a court order, but they remain available to users outside Russia—something the new, broader mandate could end.
Hungarian Woman Fined for Facebook Post About State Spending
The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union has started a crowdsourcing campaign to support Maria Somogyi as part of its work to end the abuse of libel laws.
Why Did the Giant Ears Cross the Road? To Protest State Surveillance in Macedonia
The wiretap "bombshells" released by opposition party leaders almost one year ago revealed that the communications of more than 20,000 individuals in Macedonia had been secretly recorded.