Category Archives: Transhuman News

Privatized Enforcement and Corporate Censorship: The Future of Freedom of Expression
Lucy Purdon, Programme Support Manager, IHRB Joe McNamee, Executive Director, EDRi Gabrielle Guillemin, Legal Officer Article 19 Anita Ramasastry, Law Profes...

By: Access

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Privatized Enforcement and Corporate Censorship: The Future of Freedom of Expression - Video

Index on Censorship award winner Shahzad Ahmad - acceptance speech
The Doughty Street Advocacy Award winner Shahzad Ahmad gives his acceptance speech at Index on Censorship Awards 2014.

By: Georgia Hussey

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Index on Censorship award winner Shahzad Ahmad - acceptance speech - Video

Disney #39;s FROZEN (Censored): Longer and Dirtier -- SPOILERS -- Unnecessary Censorship
Warning! Spoilers! In which a potty-mouthed princess goes on an adventure to the stop the winter started by her bad-example-of-a-sister with a foul-mouthed i...

By: Kyle J. Britt

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Disney's FROZEN (Censored): Longer and Dirtier -- SPOILERS -- Unnecessary Censorship - Video

Anonymous Turkey Censorship is a crime!
A message from Anonymous Turkey. Greetings World. This most recent bill you have drafted aims to prevent the development of the people of Turkey. If you have...

By: Jb Bj

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Anonymous Turkey Censorship is a crime! - Video

Alaric Moore -- On Loneliness and Self-Censorship

By: Alaric Moore

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Alaric Moore -- On Loneliness and Self-Censorship - Video

CHILDHOOD RUINED: SpongeBob Squarepants Censored! Pt 1
Part of my #39;Childhood Ruined #39; Series. There are going to be a lot more spongbob censored videos. Also, let me know what else you guys would like me to censor...

By: Mock Censorship

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CHILDHOOD RUINED: SpongeBob Squarepants Censored! Pt 1 - Video

To mark World Day Against Cyber Censorship on 12 March, Reporters without Borders published a report targeting institutions that are deeply involved in cyber censorship, using national security as a pretext.

Last June, Edward Snowden revealed the extent of the surveillance methods used by the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the US National Security Agency (NSA). Although it is hardly news that countries such as China and Syria practice censorship and surveillance, it is perhaps surprising to learn that a number of national organs in more democratic countries are also indulging in such practices. This is however precisely what the explosive report Enemies of the Internet 2014 by Reporters Sans Frontires (Reporters without Borders), published to mark World Day Against Cyber Censorship, reveals. The RSF report lists thirty-two institutions which the watchdog says are at the heart of censorship and surveillance, and highlights the lengths to which these bodies go to maintain security at the cost of fundamental rights. What is worrying is that on the pretext of national protection, GCHQ and the NSA have used extensive espionage tactics, which we only found out about following Snowdens revelations, warned Grgoire Pouget, head of the New Media desk at RSF.

For example, the NSA paid a US standards-setting organisation to lower encryption levels and arranged with a French company to leave backdoor security gaps in systems, which enabled NSA to hack a wide range of routers. However hacking into systems and leaving security gaps amount to a very short-term view of security, argues Pouget, explaining: If the NSA exploits a security flaw this exposes the flaw and in the long term it will be exploited by others. RSF also points the finger at many other national agencies e.g. in Colombia where a digital surveillance unit has been set up that has enabled the authorities to intercept 26,000 emails between members of the FARC revolutionary movement and international journalists; and in Tunisia, where a Technical Agency for Telecommunications has been established by decree without any consultation through the democratic process and without any accountability, in order to combat information and communication crimes. Moreover, it seems to be fairly common nowadays to enact laws designed to protect national security which encroach on peoples rights. In France, parliament has passed a Military Programming Law which authorises communications surveillance without a formal court order, the justification for such measures being national security, the preservation of Frances economic assets, and the fight against crime.

In the same vein, in Turkey, a recent amendment to the Internet Law turns Internet Service Providers into instruments of censorship and surveillance, forcing them to join a new organisation that centralises demands for content blocking or removal. If they do not join and install the surveillance tools demanded by the authorities they will lose their licence, says the report. However, such censorship is not limited to public policy organs. Private companies also play a major role in surveillance and censorship on the Internet, underlines Grgoire Pouget. Drawing attention to the dangers of mass surveillance, the report criticises the major role played by private companies that specialise in intercepting communications and blocking online content, without which censorship and surveillance by bodies that are enemies of the Internet would simply not be possible, stresses the report. On the enemies list we also find what RSF describes as surveillance dealerships, i.e. the three major international Arms trade fairs: ISS World, Technology Against Crime and Milipol. These arms fairs, two out of the three of which were held in France in 2013, are closed to journalists, Pouget points out. To bring greater control to these snooping technology marketplaces, the report recommends that the United Nations draft an international convention on the export of Internet surveillance technology.

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Enemies of the Internet: RSF lists agencies and companies from all over the world

Now, for some good news for Filipino netizens.

Despite worries about attempts to clamp down on their right to free speech, they dont have to deal with some really brazen, even shameless, forms of Internet censorship.

In fact, the Philippines is not on the list of the worlds notorious Enemies of the Internet compiled by a prominent international journalism organization.

Well, at least, not yet.

The list is in the Enemies of the Internet report by Reporters Without Borders and includes countries like China, Tunisia, Somalia, Bangladesh and even the U.S. where the government data-gathering operation was exposed last year.

Filipinos are wrestling with politicians who are trying to use an anti-cybercrime law as a way to intimidate them. Netizens of other nation face bigger problems.

Reporters Without Borders offers some stunning examples.

Take Chinas efforts to help Iran create a national version of the Internet that would be disconnected from the World Wide Web and under the governments complete control.

In Syria and Iran, according to the report, Internet speed is often reduced drastically during demonstrations to prevent the circulation of images of the protests.

Some cases border on the ridiculous, the report continues. In Somalia, for example, the Islamist militia Al-Shabaab banned using the Internet in January 2014. As it did not have the required skills or technical ability to disconnect the Internet, it ordered [service providers] to terminate their services within 15 days. Ironically, to ensure that the public knew of the ban, it was posted on websites sympathetic to Al-Shabaab.

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PH not (yet) on enemies of the Internet list