The Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights indicated their support for the Global Internet Freedom Act via this letter to Reps. Hyde and Lantos. For more details and background about this bill, H.R. 5524, please see my previous postings here, here, and here. Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Censorship
Child Online Protection Act Back in Court
The controversial Child Online Protection Act which specifies the “requirement to restrict access by minors to materials commercially distributed by means of the World Wide Web that are harmful to minors,” is currently under review again by U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. In May 2002, the Supreme Court remanded the case, Ashcroft v. ACLU,… Continue Reading
Supreme Court to Review CIPA Case
The Supreme Court will review a number of cases this week, including United States v. American Library Association, No. 02-361, requiring the use of filtering software by all libraries receiving federal funds. For up-to-date information on this case, see the American Library Association web site on CIPA. Continue Reading
Advocacy Group for Free Speech
The Free Expression Project, founded in 2000, is sustained by grants from a diverse group of backers that include the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation. The organization advocates in court, through the publication of reports and surveys, and by the sponsorship of conferences, for an end to restrictions of… Continue Reading
Data Removed From Federal Sites
The Memory Hole reports that a group of 12 members of Congress, lead by California Rep. Henry Waxman sent a letter to Continue Reading
Internet Censorship in China
Senator Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.), Rep. Christopher Cox (R., Calif.), and Rep. Tom Lantos (D., Calif.) authored this commentary on China’s censorship of their citizen’s access to the Internet. Cox and Lantos, co-sponsors of the Global Internet Freedom bill, want to focus attention on how China is blocking access to a wide range of content… Continue Reading
Google Removes Sites From Germany and France Search Results
This BBC commentary by Bill Thompson reviews the much discussed actions of search engine giant Google who has exluded content from their German and French search results. Content that is no longer available originates in what be called hate sites that are actually banned in these countries. See this excellent report, Localized Google search result… Continue Reading
UAE Minister Criticizes Internet Censorship
This story via Reuters offers insight into the role that the Internet is playing in countries where censorship is commonplace. Continue Reading
Internet Filtering Around the World
Professor Jonathan Zittrain and law student/Technology Analyst Ben Edelman are conducting research on Internet filtering in countries worldwide. July 15 marked the release of the first study in the series, reporting some 2,000+ web pages blocked in Saudi Arabia. Zittrain and Edelman have also posted another article, Real-Time Testing of Internet Filtering in China, which… Continue Reading
Global Internet Censorship
There is a growing concern in the U.S. about state sponsored Internet censorship in countries throughout the world. Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman at Harvard are skillfully documenting this activity. Now Congress is responding to Web filtering with a bi-partisan legislative initiative, H.R. 5524. This bill seeks to “develop and deploy technologies to defeat Internet… Continue Reading
Public Access to Government Information
OMB Watch is a non-profit advocacy group that has been shining a bright light on the activities of the Office of Management and Budget since 1983. Post 9/11, their work has become more prominent as they track new government guidelines and regulations that restrict public access to data. Continue Reading
