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Ed Webb

Sex, Social Mores, and Keyword Filtering: Microsoft Bing in the "Arabian Countries" | OpenNet Initiative - 0 views

opennet.net/crosoft-bing-arabian-countries

internet censorship filtering search MENA ArabWorld microsoft Bing

shared by Ed Webb on 06 Jan 12 - Cached
  • There is no filtering by keywords if a user chooses another country (e.g., United States, Canada) as their location even if they are physically located in an Arab country. - One anomaly we found when probing filtering by keywords is that filtering does not work if a filtered Arabic keyword is used together with another non-filtered keyword. For example, a search using the Arabic word for “sex” is banned, but using the Arabic term for “sex stories” is not banned.
  • We found no evidence of filtering of keywords in Arabic or English that could return results in other content categories. We tested keywords that could yield politically sensitive content (e.g., “democracy”, “freedom”, “opposition”), content related to violence and terrorism (e.g., “torture”, terror”, “explosive”), Web sites related to minority and religious rights (e.g., “Shiite”, “Baha’i”, “Christian”, “Jews”), and content related to women’s rights (e.g., “gender”, “equality”). None of the tested keywords were found banned.
  • It is interesting that Microsoft’s implementation of this type of wholesale social content censorship for the entire “Arabian countries” region is in fact not being practiced by many of the Arab government censors themselves. That is, although political filtering is widespread in the MENA region, social filtering, including keyword filtering, is not practiced by all countries in MENA. ONI 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 testing and research found no evidence of social content filtering (e.g., sex, nudity, and homosexuality) at the national level in countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Libya.10
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • filtering at the keyword level results in overblocking, as banning the use of certain keywords to search for Web sites, not just images, prevents users from accessing—based on Microsoft’s definition of objectionable content—legitimate content such as sex education and encyclopedic information about homosexuality.
  • The current approach uses a region-wide standard for filtering content as opposed to the more targeted, granular, and country-specific policy. A more targeted approach—either country-based or preferably, defined by the user—is more generally consistent with minimizing the impact on freedom of speech. Through its involvement in the Global Network Initiative, Microsoft has signaled its willingness to be at the forefront in protecting freedom of expression around the world. It is difficult to reconcile this position with Bing’s current filtering standards.
Ed Webb

ONI Releases 2009 Middle East & North Africa Research | OpenNet Initiative - 0 views

opennet.net/...dle-east-north-africa-research

opennet censorship middle_east middleeast news analysis internet socialnetworking

shared by Ed Webb on 12 Aug 09 - Cached
  • While not all countries in the Middle East and North Africa filter the Internet, censorship across the region is on the rise, and the scope and depth of filtering are increasing. Testing has revealed political filtering to be the common denominator across the region; however, social filtering is on the rise.
  • Based on ONI testing results, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, and the West Bank do not currently filter any material; however, none of those are without regulations.
  • Bahrain, Iran, Syria and Tunisia have the strictest political filtering practices in the region.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Although increased filtering is the rule and unblocking the exception, there are a few instances of the latter since our last report. Syria has restored access to Arabic-language Wikipedia, Morocco has lifted a ban on a number of pro-Western Sahara independence Web sites, and Libya has begun to allow access to previously banned political sites. Additionally, Sudanese filtering of sites containing LGBT, dating, and health-related content has lessened since the last round of ONI testing.
  • Iran is among the strictest filtering regimes in the world, pervasively filtering political and social content, as well as Internet tools and proxies, and substantially filtering content related to conflict and security.
  • In the Middle East and North Africa, the filtering of social media and social networking sites has become relatively commonplace. For example, YouTube and Facebook are currently filtered Syria and Tunisia, and Orkut and Flickr are blocked in Iran and the UAE. Iran also filters a local social networking site, Balatarin.com, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia filter certain YouTube videos, though not the entire site.
  • Blocking Web sites in a local language is approximately twice as likely as blocking sites only available in English or other international languages.
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