Old issues, new debates on Internet freedom in India
Just how free should the Internet be in India? And whose job is it to police the Web? Two recent court cases turn on these questions and, more specifically, whether Internet companies have a responsibility to filter content. In a country where Internet usage is growing exponentially, but where the scars of communal violence, terrorism,…
What’s behind India’s Internet censorship?
We have been posting a lot about the challenges facing the Internet in India recently–see Mannika Chopra’s “India struggles to cope with growing Internet penetration.” On Tuesday, Angela Saini, a guest blogger on The Guardian’s Comment Is Free site, posted “Internet censorship could damage India’s democracy,” with the subhead “Google and Facebook have been asked…
Iran detains, harasses relatives of BBC Persian service staff
New York, February 3, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention and harassment in Iran of relatives of BBC Persian service staff who work outside the country, which is part of a sustained campaign to intimidate journalists into not reporting critically on Tehran’s activities.
Can selective blocking pre-empt wider censorship?
Last week, Twitter provoked a fierce debate online when it announced a new capability–and related policy–to hide tweets on a country-specific basis. By building this feature into its website’s basic code, Twitter said it hoped to offer a more tailored response to legal demands to remove tweets globally. The company will inform users if any…
Does the Internet boost freedom? We decide, book says
The Internet doesn’t bring freedom. Not automatically, anyway. That’s one of the main messages of Rebecca MacKinnon’s new book, Consent of the Networked, which had its New York launch at the offices of the New America Foundation last night. In a conversation with CNN managing editor Mark Whitaker, MacKinnon, a CPJ board member, said it’s…
Ahead of Iran elections, crackdown on press continues
New York, February 2, 2012–At least 10 Iranian journalists were jailed in the month of January as the government continued its crackdown on dissent ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled in March, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Recent news reports identified three previously undisclosed arrests.
For journalists, cyber-security training slow to take hold
For centuries, journalists have been willing to go to prison to protect their sources. Back in 1848, New York Herald correspondent John Nugent spent a month in jail for refusing to tell a U.S. Senate committee his source for a leak exposing the secret approval of a treaty with Mexico. In a digital age, however,…
Google+, real names and real problems
At the launch of Google+, Google’s attempt to create an integrated social network similar to Facebook, I wrote about the potential benefits and risks of the new service to journalists who use social media in dangerous circumstances. Despite early promises of relatively flexible terms of service at Google+, the early days of implementation were full…