• Aug 3, 2018 |
• Miles McCain |
• General Privacy News, Governments,

Google is expanding back into China. What does that mean for freedom of information?

Google will expand into China and launch a new search engine compliant with the Chinese government’s strict censorship rules, according to a recent report by The Intercept’s Ryan Gallagher. Versions of the app have been called “Maotai” and “Longfei,” and could launch in as soon as six months — once the Chinese government approves the … Continue reading “Google is expanding back into China. What does that mean for freedom of information?”

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• Jul 4, 2018 |
• Derek Zimmer |
• Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Oppression for Pennies – The Cost of Surveillance is Falling

Oppression for Pennies – The Cost of Surveillance is Falling If there’s one thing the Internet has taught us over the last 40 years, it is that information is power. The Internet has made and ruined careers, toppled corrupt regimes, made and broken millions of relationships, disrupted entire sectors of economies and created new markets … Continue reading “Oppression for Pennies – The Cost of Surveillance is Falling”

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• Apr 13, 2018 |
• Josiah Wilmoth |
• Censorship, General Privacy News, Governments,

Rhode Island Lawmaker Pulls Porn Censorship Bill, Citing Its ‘Dubious Origins’

A Rhode Island lawmaker has a yanked a controversial porn censorship bill, citing its “dubious origins.” The “Human Trafficking and Prevention Act” (HTPA), versions of which are circulating in more than a dozen statehouses across the US, would require device manufacturers to install permanent internet filters that block pornographic content by default. To remove the … Continue reading “Rhode Island Lawmaker Pulls Porn Censorship Bill, Citing Its ‘Dubious Origins’”

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• Jul 20, 2017 |
• Glyn Moody |
• Censorship, Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, VPN,

Putting together the pieces of the Chinese VPN jigsaw puzzle

VPNs are indispensable tools for today’s Internet users, and nowhere more so than in China. The famous “Great Firewall of China” – the name given to the set of technologies used to enforce censorship of foreign sites – can be circumvented by VPNs, but not in a consistent way. Sometimes VPNs are blocked, sometimes they … Continue reading “Putting together the pieces of the Chinese VPN jigsaw puzzle”

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• Jul 17, 2017 |
• Glyn Moody |
• Copyright, General Privacy News, Governments,

EU copyright reform goes from bad to worse

Privacy News Online has written a couple of times about the major review of copyright law currently underway in the European Union. It’s pretty bad: there are proposals to bring in a “snippet tax” as well as a requirement for sites to filter all uploads. The hope was that as the draft text passed through … Continue reading “EU copyright reform goes from bad to worse”

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• Jun 29, 2017 |
• Caleb Chen |
• Censorship, General Privacy News, Governments,

Canadian Supreme Court decision forces Google to participate in censorship by removing search results worldwide

A recent decision by the Canadian Supreme Court will force Google to remove a particular site from search results all around the world, not just in Canada. While Canada has committed to upholding net neutrality and treating all data traffic the same; they have definitely also taken a hard stance on how they wish to … Continue reading “Canadian Supreme Court decision forces Google to participate in censorship by removing search results worldwide”

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• Jun 7, 2017 |
• Caleb Chen |
• General Privacy News, Governments,

Most UK ISPs block Private Internet Access by default

VPN websites, like that of Private Internet Access, are actively being censored by internet service providers (ISPs) in the United Kingdom (UK). The website blocks were first put into place by UK ISPs on government order in an effort to censor pornography in 2014. Since then, more ISPs have joined in default blocking. However, research has shown that … Continue reading “Most UK ISPs block Private Internet Access by default”

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• Jan 23, 2017 |
• Caleb Chen |
• Censorship, General Privacy News, Governments,

Cameroon is actively blocking internet access in the English-speaking parts of the country

Bamenda, the English speaking region of Cameroon, is currently undergoing an internet blockade followed the ban of two political organizations, Southern Cameroons National Council and the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, and the arrest of some their leaders. Political tensions in the region have been present historically and continue to boil between the majority French … Continue reading “Cameroon is actively blocking internet access in the English-speaking parts of the country”

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• Jul 16, 2016 |
• Rick Falkvinge |
• Censorship, Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media,

A History of Media Control and Media Blackouts in Coups d’Etat

With the information disarray coming out of Turkey during the (seemingly failed) military coup, we see the same pattern of attempting to control media as we’ve seen for the past 500 years, in peacetime and wartime. Revolutions come quickly or slowly, violently or peacefully, but they still follow the same pattern of attempting to control … Continue reading “A History of Media Control and Media Blackouts in Coups d’Etat”

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