Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently released a scathing new report focused on the crackdown on Russia’s civil society. Since December 2011, the Kremlin has committed to squashing nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that promote democracy and are alleged conduits of Western influence, HRW says. The report, titled “Laws of Attrition,” focuses on …
Chinese hackers have infiltrated the popular Internet messaging service Skype. The hackers have modified the operation of Skype so that the Skype programs on Chinese computers all have keyword systems to identify when the citizens use forbidden words, according to Jeffrey Knockel, a computer science researcher at the University of …
Earlier this week, three House subcommittees announced a joint hearing on February 5 to discuss the importance of keeping the Internet free from U.N. governance, which threatens U.S. economic interests and global Internet freedom. The U.N.’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has sought for years to expand its authority over the …
On November 27, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) launched a revolutionary website, appropriately named We Fight Censorship (WeFC), devoted to publishing content by victims of censorship. As the crackdown on information freedoms intensifies around the world, this website is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise tense period. The war …
Regulating the Internet is something Americans have resisted here at home. Now that fight is going global. The United Nations—of course—has an agency that oversees international telecommunications. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) was founded in 1865, when the telegraph was its main concern. Now it’s trying to expand its influence …
On September 27, Reporters Without Borders issued a report on the threat to Internet freedom that focused on the relationships of Google and YouTube in the Middle East and beyond. The call for censorship comes in response to the National Islamic Union’s complaint that Google has violated the “constitutional right …
Social media in China are pushing the envelope of government control, but China’s censors are demonstrating that they still have the stuff. For instance, where to turn for news if one of your country’s top officials has mysteriously disappeared? If you are Chinese and the official is vice president and …
Depending on Russian government-funded media to broadcast news from Voice of America (VOA) is about as brain-dead as depending on Russian spaceships to send American astronauts into space or depending on Russian fuel supply for the U.S. ground and air forces in Afghanistan. The outcome will surely not be in …
