Group items tagged

"China has been a notoriously difficult market to crack for overseas Web companies. Google, eBay and Yahoo, not to mention social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, have all struggled there, because of strong domestic competition as well as government blocking and censorship. But in its push into China, Softbank has avoided many of these headaches by focusing on e-commerce, local social networking sites and online games - sidestepping the difficulties of government censorship."

This article makes me wonder whether Softbank can bring new media and social networking, broadband Internet, etc. to China and allow China to continue it's censorship practices... IV

"Yesterday, Google announced its plans to re-route Chinese traffic to avoid censorship. Google will no longer censor google.cn. Instead, Google will now redirect all Chinese traffic to google.com.hk as a loophole around censorship imposed by Chinese government where it is no longer legally obliged to censor its content. * Google Reroutes China Traffic to Avoid Censorship In a statement, Google said it has discovered that the Gmail accounts of some of the human rights activists in China were being "routinely" accessed by third parties. "

Wow! Just a few days ago an article on YouTube censorship in Turkey! How relevant to section IV of our project!

Twitter and YouTube spread information about riots and political unrest. Can these media "get around" censorship?

Excellent collection of links on Censorship and Filtering posted by an Australian organization in 2008

Censorship has followed the free expressions of men and women like a shadow through history. In ancient societies, such as those of Israel or China, censorship was considered a legitimate instrument for regulating the moral and political life of the population.

Wikipedia has a great series of censorship by country that is linked to this page, plus links to some pretty good primary source materials.

The purpose of this article is to describe and critique emerging issues about Internet access in schools and school libraries. ... Or are they merely the latest technologies for censorship? ... To a certain degree, therefore, readers participate in creating the meaning of a text based on their own reading history,

Net provides a comprehensive look at these emerging tactics, raising concern over trends such as the "outsourcing of censorship" to private companies, the use of surveillance and the manipulation of online conversations by undercover agents. The study covers both repressive countries such as China and Iran and democratic ones such as India and the United Kingdom, finding some degree of internet censorship and control in all 15 nations studied.

Background information on censorship in public schools.

This is the Wikipedia site concerning Internet censorship in China. While Wikipedia is not the most reliable source, I posted this because of all the great links available at the bottom of the site.

Melanie/ Mary (filtering) "China has delayed a plan requiring all new computers sold in the country to be equipped with internet filtering software. The Green Dam software has become a major topic of discussion in the blogosphere."

The Green Dam ? a software proposed in June 2009 to be installed on all Chinese computers - plan has stalled. people can get through it. Intention was to block pornographic content and allow "comprehensive net surveillance"

Melanie/ Mary- "This comes as a surprise as the country's censorship has been such a topic of contention. Nevertheless, the study estimates that up to 92% of Chinese netizens use social media, meanwhile, only 76% of US netizens do the same."

Despite Staples' libertarian attitude towards availability of print materials, many websites remain off-limits to students operating on the Staples network. These sites range from social networking sites such as Facebook to pornographic content.

According to the Nashville Scene, "Roughly 80 percent of Tennessee school districts, including Metro Nashville, use filtering software to bar students from viewing gay education and gay rights websites." What "scandalous" Web sites are Tennessee Public Schools barring their students from accessing? Sites like the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) to name a few.

"workers quickly mopped up the blood, strapped him back in his seat and shut the door. Then, with the cameras rolling, the cabin door swung open again, revealing an unblemished moment of triumph for all the world to see. The content of Mr. Xia's speech, transcribed and posted online by someone who attended the May 15 lecture at Tianjin Foreign Studies University, has become something of a sensation in recent days, providing the Chinese a rare insight into how their news is stage-managed for mass consumption. "

An example of how Chinese news is "managed" for mass consumption.

IV - Example of social commentary video on Youtube

This is not a great video, but it is an example of someone who is commenting about censorship and media. He talks about the ugly side of travel that he attempts to show in his videos: litter in the Carribean, etc...

"YouTube's own guidelines already block videos featuring sex, violence, bestiality and child pornography. But under the "refused classification" rules, videos featuring subjects as diverse as euthanasia, drug use and graffiti, would also be banned. Google said it would not voluntarily censor videos on these subjects because exposing the topics to public debate was vital for democracy."

I'm surprised that a communications minister in Australia would request that Google voluntarility censor videos about drug use and euthanasia. Where would this type of censorship stop? Glad Google politely said "no" citing the importance of access to information for democracy.

Looking at the negatives of social media: A few states say that school conduct codes must explicitly prohibit off-campus cyberbullying; others imply it; still others explicitly exclude it. Some states say that local districts should develop cyberbullying prevention programs but the states did not address the question of discipline. Judges are flummoxed, too, as they wrestle with new questions about protections on student speech and school searches. Can a student be suspended for posting a video on YouTube that cruelly demeans another student? Can a principal search a cellphone, much like a locker or a backpack?

why censoring Twitter is difficult