NEW DELHI (AP) — Google India has removed web pages deemed offensive to Indian political and religious leaders to comply with a court case that has raised censorship fears in the world’s largest democracy, media reported Monday. (more)
Twitter is prepared to begin censoring tweets in some countries in the hopes of growing its user base. (more)
Twin bills in the House and Senate purport to protect American copyright and trademark holders from foreign infringers, but in practice create an unprecedented system of censorship of the Internet in America. This wrong-headed approach is contained in Patrick Leahy’s Senate bill 98, the PROTECT IP Act, and its counterpart: Lamar Smith’s House resolution 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA. (more)
BEIJING—The Beijing city government published rules Friday requiring users of popular Twitter-like microblogging services in China to register their real names with service operators, according to state-run media, in the government’s strongest official measure to control the fast-growing industry. (more)
(Reuters) - China will intensify controls of online social media and instant messaging tools, the ruling Communist Party said in an agenda-setting document that marks the government’s highest-level reaction so far to the explosive growth of microblogs. (more)
Every year, it seems a new, high-profile Federal Communications Commission case ends up in court. (more)
China has shut down more than 60,000 pornographic websites this year and arrested 5,000 people as it steps up a campaign against obscene material. (more)
Grambling State University is in a dispute over its prohibition of “disruptive or offensive” emails, which includes bans on all “joke emails” and offensive comments regarding “hair color.” These intrusions, along with prohibitions on political and religious discourse, have caught the ire of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which have called for an immediate renunciation of the policy and denounced it as illegal. (more)
In a further step in the direction of transcending all world government, Google has decided to post a Transparency Report, or a map of where its services are blocked in different foreign countries, in an effort to discourage “censorship.” (more)
Embattled online classified service Craigslist apparently made a change to its website early Saturday, censoring its adult services section. (more)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A government-backed proposal to limit Pakistani broadcasters’ terrorism coverage and criticism of the state is causing concern among journalists who fear it will stifle the country’s feisty, flourishing media. (more)
HANOI (AFP) – Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused Vietnam of mounting a sophisticated and sustained attack against online dissent, including detaining and intimidating anti-government bloggers. (more)
Comedy Central might censor every image of the Prophet Muhammad on “South Park,” yet the network is developing a whole animated series around Jesus Christ. (more)
Seventeen Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonists, including “Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau and 2010 winner Mark Fiore, have signed a petition to condemn “threats” against Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of the Comedy Central show “South Park,” by a group calling itself Revolution Muslim. (more)
The outcry from Comedy Central’s decision to censor an episode of South Park with depictions of Muhammad last week led a cartoonist and a Facebook user to fight back. That is until they realized it might be controversial, apparently. (more)
In response to Comedy Central’s recent decision to censor potentially offensive images of Mohammed from a “South Park” episode — which followed thinly veiled threats against the shows’ creators’ lives — the Citizens Against Citizens Against Humor have declared May 20 ‘Everybody Draw Muhammad Day.’ (more)
Comedy Central censored any mention of the word “Muhammad” in a recent “South Park” episode following threats from a radical Islam group, and one terrorism policy expert says the network’s decision is part of a trend of America surrendering its freedom of speech in the face of intimidation. (more)
Attempts to ban a deplorable “rape simulator” video game have only caused it to spread virally across the internet, leading to calls for sites hosting the game to be blocked by internet censors. (more)
While America has been battered by the ObamaCare Putsch, other events of interest have gone a bit under-reported. One such was an e-mail written by François Houle, Provost of the University of Ottawa, to Ann Coulter in anticipation of her giving a speech on his campus. Its content was publicized by FiveFeetofFury.com and others, including columnist Mark Steyn. The e-mail threatened criminal prosecution under Canada’s hate speech laws or suits for defamation if she promoted “hatred.” More than a few observers believe Houle’s e-mail directly encouraged students at his university to violently prevent Coulter from delivering her speech, thereby violating the hate laws with which he threatened her. Coulter has filed a complaint with Canada’s Human Rights Commission and seems to be enjoying her ironic counterattack immensely. I’d like to send an open letter to Provost Houle in reply to his e-mail. (more)
