Tag: Censorship

From Malaysia, to Uganda, to Tanzania, there are worrying laws that can send people to jail for what they post online. Here’s how activists are pushing back.

Rights groups won a major victory for free expression in Malaysia as a High Court lifted a three-month ban on The Edge Media Group. The decision follows months of sustained pressure by local advocacy groups in Malaysia and international organizations including Access Now. Sarawak Report, another major media organization in Malaysia, remains blocked.

Vodafone employees accessed journalist Natalie O’Brien’s call and text records in 2011, after she wrote reports about problems with the company’s Siebel security system. According to a leaked email, Vodafone managers asked employees to use “any means available” to uncover the source of O’Brien’s information. Vodafone commissioned an investigation by a top accounting firm, the results of which it refuses to release, while denying any “improper behavior.” However, after public pressure intensified this week, Vodafone reversed course and has asked federal police to investigate. We call on Vodafone to cooperate fully with investigators, release the independent report it commissioned, publicly explain what actions the company took after it became aware of the breach, and promise non-repetition. The company should strive to implement encryption, including end-to-end encryption, which would prevent employees from being able to access user data like this in the future.

The island nation of Nauru may be tiny — only 21 square kilometers (8.5 square miles) — but what is happening there should reverberate around the world. Over the past few weeks, the government of Nauru has imposed an internet shutdown, blocking people from using certain sites on the pretext of protecting them from online pornography. At the same time, it has passed a dangerous new provision in its criminal code that could restrict free expression. These developments are putting people who care about human rights on high alert.

Internet censorship in Nauru could lead to other human rights abuses.

Turkey recently blocked users’ access to Twitter and YouTube in an effort to censor material posted by users, just as it did in March of last year. If users are willing to fight back against government censorship, social media companies should support them in their efforts

The court’s ruling is still a victory for online speech in the country, despite skirting the issue of website blocking, says Access’ Asia Consultant Raman Jit Singh Chima.

Access complied the following list of readily available digital security tools to help internet users in Thailand exercise fundamental freedoms in a safe and secure manner online.

Activists involved in the organization of the first Gezi park protests in Turkey are currently standing trial, which Amnesty International describes as “a vindictive, politically motivated show trial without a shred of evidence of actual crimes.”