ORG’s censorship monitoring project

ORG are building tools to monitor the effects of default filtering in the UK

We want to end the UK-wide censorship system of web blocking by holding ISPs and the Government accountable.

We know that default filters prevent people accessing important and legal information. Over-blocking is a serious and unavoidable effect of filtering. Yet ISPs give website owners and customers minimal information on why and what is being blocked, or how to report problems.

Saudi Arabia Threatens to Lay Siege to Qatar: Cooperation or Confrontation?

Saudi Arabia has threatened to blockade its neighbouring Gulf State Qatar by land and sea unless it cuts ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, closes Al Jazeera, and expels local branches of two prestigious U.S. think tanks, the Brookings Doha Center and the Rand Qatar Policy Institute.

Google battles legal fallout of copyright ruling on anti-Islamic film (copyright linked to censorship)

The video had flimsy production values and was just 14 minutes long, but internet service providers fear they will pay a lasting price for Innocence of Muslims. A court order to remove the anti-Islamic film from YouTube has paved the way for attempts to menace other creative visual works under cover of copyright, some legal experts have warned.

Turkey may ban Facebook and YouTube if ErdoÄŸan wins elections

The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, said Facebook and YouTube could be banned following local elections in March after leaked tapes of an alleged phone call between him and his son went viral, prompting calls for his resignation.

ErdoÄŸan claims social media sites have been abused by his political enemies, in particular his former ally US-based Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, who, he says, is behind a stream of "fabricated" audio recordings posted on the internet purportedly revealing corruption in his inner circle.

EFF Statement on Dismissal of 11 Charges Against Barrett Brown

The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas today filed a motion to dismiss 11 charges against Barrett Brown in a criminal prosecution that would have had massive implications for journalism and the right of ordinary people to share links. EFF has written extensively about the case and had planned to file an amicus brief on Monday on behalf of several reporters groups arguing for the dismissal of the indictment.

Barrett Brown: The Criminalization of Web Links

This– A LINK– could have sent me to jail. Another link came very, very close to sending Barrett Brown to jail. First, a quick recap of how the internet works. People from all over the world put stuff on the web (“posts”). In many cases you the viewer do not know who posted something, when they did it, where they live or where they obtained the information they posted. It is just there on your screen. If the info is of interest, you can link to it, sending instructions via chat, email, HTML, Facebook or whatever to someone else, telling them where to find the information.

The act of linking is analogous to saying “Hey, did you see that article in the Times on page 4? Check it out.” It is kind of what the internet is about. Here’s how the government seeks to criminalize linking from one article on the web to another.