Filtering by category 'Internet' containing 307 posts

Abortion (5)
Academia (10)
Access (118)
Accountability (1)
Activism (1)
Africa (44)
Animal Rights (2)
Anonymity (48)
Antisemitism (8)
Arab Spring (70)
Art (72)
Article 19 (12)
Atheism (11)
Australia (13)
Blackwell's Panel (7)
Blasphemy (105)
Blogger (29)
Books (6)
Brazil (4)
Buddhism (10)
Burma (19)
Canada (8)
Catalonia (2)
Catholicism (1)
Celebrity (5)
Censorship (215)
Charlie Hebdo (16)
Child abuse (4)
China (52)
Christianity (65)
Citizen journalism (1)
Civil liberties (1)
Civility (181)
Colonialism (16)
Copyright (55)
Corruption (11)
Counter-speech (1)
Debate (4)
Defamation (122)
Democracy (124)
Denialism (15)
Denmark (13)
Discrimination (32)
Diversity (2)
Education (98)
Egypt (26)
Europe (24)
Exclusion (6)
Facebook (50)
Film (5)
Finland (4)
France (17)
Freedom (200)
Gaza conflict (5)
Gender (5)
Genocide (28)
Germany (35)
Google (31)
Governance (20)
Hate speech (153)
Hinduism (3)
History (118)
Homosexuality (10)
Hong Kong (2)
Human rights (1)
Humour (14)
Hungary (9)
Hunger strike (7)
India (79)
Institutions (1)
Intellectual Property (1)
International law (1)
Internet (307)
Internet access (1)
Internet companies (1)
Iran (7)
Islam (125)
Israel (9)
Italy (2)
Japan (4)
Journal (1)
Journalism (144)
Kenya (10)
Knowledge (162)
Language (56)
Latin America (16)
Law (291)
Lese majesty (1)
LGBT (1)
Liberalism (27)
Libya (11)
Literature (39)
Lord Ken MacDonald (4)
Malaysia (1)
Media (323)
Memory (1)
Memory laws (12)
Middle East (75)
Mijatović (1)
Minorities (31)
Money (53)
Morality (45)
Multiculturalism (52)
National security (192)
Nationalism (3)
Net neutrality (101)
Netherlands (3)
New Zealand (4)
Nigeria (1)
No-platforming (11)
Norway (4)
Nudity (7)
Occupy movement (1)
Open source (9)
Pakistan (25)
Palestine (6)
Philippines (4)
Philosophy (4)
Piracy (4)
Poland (7)
Politics (269)
Pornography (45)
Power (293)
Privacy (135)
Propaganda (1)
Protest (115)
Public Morality (96)
Race (3)
Radio (16)
Regulation (30)
Religion (193)
Reputation (64)
Right to information (277)
Robust Civility (7)
Russia (14)
Russian interviews (5)
Rwanda (5)
Safe spaces (1)
Satire (41)
Saudi Arabia (12)
Science (31)
Scientology (1)
Secrecy (4)
Secularism (1)
Self-Censorship (1)
Singapore (7)
Snowden (6)
Social media (122)
South Africa (12)
Southeast Asia (8)
Sport (7)
Surveillance (31)
Syria (8)
Tanzania (1)
Technology (150)
Terrorism (16)
Thailand (2)
Tolerance (2)
Tunisia (5)
Turkey (49)
Twitter (47)
Ukraine (2)
United Kingdom (94)
United States (75)
University (7)
Violence (194)
Whistleblowing (18)
Wikileaks (13)
Wikipedia (12)
Yemen (2)
YouTube (9)

			
					“Monopoly is really dangerous for free speech”
				
Ana Kasparian of #yourMSC asks our director Timothy Garton Ash about Facebook, free speech and democracy at the Munich Security Conference 2019.

					Glasnost! Nine ways Facebook can make itself a better forum for free speech and democracy
				
Free Speech Debate co-authors an Oxford-Stanford report on Facebook.

					Don’t blame news polarisation on the internet…it’s not the technology, stupid!
				
The internet does not guarantee polarised news, argues Richard Fletcher.

					Is there a universal right to free speech and what are its limits?
				
Timothy Garton Ash in conversation with Nigel Warburton, as part of the Philosophy in the Bookshop series at Blackwell’s, Oxford.

					Wikipedia at 15: The sum of human knowledge?
				
Martin Poulter, Wikimedian in residence at Oxford University, considers the active encyclopedia’s first 15 years.

					Noam Chomsky: Does America have uncensored, diverse, and trustworthy media?
				
Noam Chomsky talks about Edward Snowden, laws regulating historical memory, no-platforming, internet echo chambers and the lack of diversity in the American media.

					From another spectrum: the net neutrality debate in India
				
Nikhil Pandhi discusses the debate about net neutrality in India.

					The public voice in internet governance
				
James Fishkin and Max Senges describe how an innovative democratic mechanism was used at the global Internet Governance Forum to revive Athenian democracy and draw up plans for extending internet access to the next billion users.

					Russia tightens control of the internet
				
Yury Sorochkin describes the implications of the Russian government’s decision to ban Rutracker.org, the country’s most popular torrent tracker.

					Chinese journalists test free speech limits
				
Former investigative journalist Haiyan Wang describes the ways in which Chinese reporters push the boundaries of press freedom.

					Shirin Ebadi on the fight for free speech and human rights in Iran
				
A transcript of our conversation with Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, who spoke to Free Speech Debate about her book ‘Until We Are Free’.

					Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi: How has free speech changed in Iran?
				
Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi talks to Free Speech Debate about her book Until We Are Free and the state of free speech and human rights activism in Iran.

					Evgeny Morozov on the dark side of internet freedom
				
Evgeny Morozov highlights the dangers that can emerge when governments and corporations harness the internet to serve their own objectives.

					Policing the internet for extremist material
				
Josh Cowls discusses the Oxford Internet Institute’s report on the complexities of balancing security and privacy online.

					Luciano Floridi: What contribution can the philosophy of information make to our understanding of free speech?
				
Luciano Floridi, Professor at the Oxford Internet Institute of the University of Oxford, speaks to Free Speech Debate about the philosophy of information, European data protection, and contemporary challenges to free speech.

					What happened to ‘the right to be forgotten’?
				
Free Speech Debate tells the story of the advisory council to Google on the right to be forgotten, and talks to council member Luciano Floridi.

					Fortress besieged: Russia’s nationalisation of the internet
				
Maksim Orlov analyses the Russian government’s attempts to substitute Russian for western internet services.

					Free Speech Debate’s highlights of 2015
				
Neil Dullaghan sums up a year of conflict and controversy for free speech, catalogued on our website.

					‘Innocence of Muslims’ and the manufacture of outrage
				
Danyal Kazim explores the violent reaction to the YouTube video in Pakistan – starting with trying to access it from there.

					US landmark ruling on net neutrality
				
Dana Polatin-Reuben examines the fiercely contested 2015 FCC rules and their free speech implications.

					Law restricting online speech struck down in India
				
Max Harris examines a historic judgment by India’s Supreme Court and its lessons for other countries. 

					Should ‘revenge porn’ be illegal?
				
Max Harris explains how Britain legislated against it and compares this with the position in other common law countries

					John Naughton: Are private superpowers a threat to free speech?
				
John Naughton discusses the state of the internet, net neutrality and private companies.

					Has Demotix democratised journalism?
				
Demotix founder Turi Munthe discusses the role of citizen journalism and Demotix in today’s media environment.

					What did the Buddha mean by ‘right speech’?
				
Matthew Walton explores the deeper Buddhist context of right speech – and soul-searching on Buddhist internet message boards.

					How a Weibo post gets censored
				
Jason Q Ng traces the path of a censored Weibo post and tracks keywords that trigger automatic review.

					Google grapples with the ‘right to be forgotten’
				
Katie Engelhart attends the public hearing of Google’s Advisory Council, set up in response to a European Court of Justice judgement.

					How can you tell what’s banned on the internet?
				
Joss Wright describes the technical and ethical challenges in investigating online censorship.

					National Security: Sample our intellectual buffet. Or make your own meal.
				
Timothy Garton Ash introduces a sample tour of the content on our site. 

					Religion: Sample our intellectual buffet. Or make your own meal.
				
Timothy Garton Ash introduces a sample tour of the content on our site. 

					Vote for Hong Kong – on the streets and online
				
In 2014, the citizens of Hong Kong staged an unofficial civil referendum in protest against the Beijing authorities’ attempts to undermine its independence. As Rebecca Wong reports, the majority of the votes were cast via a voting app on mobile phones.

					Imported repression in the Middle East
				
A leaked document in June 2014 from Egypt’s ministry of the interior invited tenders for cyber-surveillance technology to combat blasphemy, sarcasm and ‘lack of morality’ – the technology would likely come from the west.  Max Gallien reports. 

					Should ISPs be told to block “adult” content?
				
Internet Service Providers do not merely route data packets from end-to-end, but are heavily involved in monitoring  their customers’ online activities. Ian Brown discusses the implications of Britain’s suggested “voluntary” opting out of “adult content”, with little parliamentary and court involvement. 

					14 year-old’s Twitter prank leads to arrest in the Netherlands
				
A prank by a 14 year-old Dutch girl on Twitter prompted both her arrest – and broader questions about free speech, as Max Harris discusses.

					How an attempt at ‘libel tourism’ rebounded on a Tanzanian tycoon
				
A British citizen blogged about a Tanzanian media magnate involved in throwing her and her husband off their Tanzanian farm. He sued for libel in a British court. Dominic Burbidge explains.

					Ann Wright: Is secrecy necessary for peace and diplomacy?
				
Former US Diplomat Ann Wright speaks to Kim Wilkinson on the need for whistleblowers and institutions like WikiLeaks, but stresses that in some instances secrecy is necessary, such as in peace-making negotiations. 

					The way Xi moves: free speech under assault in China
				
Shi Yige examines different approaches to censorship in China, and argues that while internet controls might avail the leadership in the short term, they are unsustainable.

					Opt-in for porn? Then why not for religion?
				
Leslie Green, a distinguished legal philosopher who has written extensively about issues of obscenity and pornography, challenges our case study on online porn filters.

					Britain’s proposed online porn filters
				
How do we strike the right balance between freedom of expression and child protection? Sarah Glatte explores a proposal by the British government.

					Internet access in the age of the surveillance state
				
Oxford University’s Ian Brown asks what Europe can do to protect our digital rights and privacy. 

					Is Facebook just the new chamber of commerce and Twitter the new telegraph?
				
Political theorist Rob Reich discusses what adaptations we need as freedom of speech and association move increasingly from the offline to the online world. Can the old principles still apply in new circumstances?

					Who is tracking the trackers? Use “Collusion” to find out.
				
The debate raised by revelations of NSA surveillance has drawn our attention to how we are being tracked online. Sebastian Huempfer describes a new tool to show us how those electronic cookies crumble.

					The UN’s search for international consensus on free speech
				
 Josh Black hears the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, discuss the quest for shared laws and standards.

					Twitter, free speech, and sexism – an #outcry from Germany
				
Sarah Glatte explores the potential and pitfalls of social media in combating sexism.

					The bizarre story of how lippy librarians faced down a silly publisher
				
A university librarian faced a lawsuit over a critical blog post about the publishing house Edwin Mellen Press but online solidarity won out. By Dominic Burbidge.

					Is privacy getting lost in Google’s “cracks and crevices”?
				
A globally-effective privacy regime is a realistic goal, argues Ian Brown. But it needs giants like Google to get behind it.

					Free Speech Bites
				
Nigel Warburton spoke with Timothy Garton Ash for Index on Censorship’s Free Speech Bites about the Free Speech Debate Project and global free speech standards.

					The Copyright Alert System: coming to a home near you?
				
The question of how best to respond to the unauthorised dissemination of copyright-protected expression over the internet has long troubled copyright owners. But the proposed solution of a Copyright Alert could potentially erode free speech, writes Graham Reynolds. 

					Is the ‘hands-off’ internet different to internet freedom?
				
At the invitation of Index of Censorship and the Editors Guild of India, Timothy Garton Ash joins Kirsty Hughes at a panel discussion in Delhi with Shri Ajit Balakrishnan, Shri Sunil Abraham and Ramajit Singh Chima. 

					Cyber-bullying that led to suicide
				
On 10 October 2012 the Canadian teenager Amanda Todd committed suicide after years of cyber-bullying and harassment. Judith Bruhn describes a shocking case.

					Open access academic journals: go for gold?
				
The world of academic publishing stands at a crossroads with public institutions demanding open access to publicly funded research. Dominic Burbidge explores the difficulties that stand in the way.

					A right to lie about government?
				
In the landmark case of New York Times v Sullivan, in 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that criticism of public officials must be protected, even if some of the claims were inaccurate. Jeff Howard explains.

					In the Philippines, be careful of what you retweet
				
A new cybercrime law in the Philippines would give unfettered powers to the state to monitor internet users, take down websites and imprison citizens writes Purple S. Romero

					The future of free speech
				
Human Rights activist Aryeh Neier speaks about the future of free speech.

					Ayreh Neier: Why free speech is important in averting atrocities
				
Aryeh Neier, human rights lawyer and president emeritus of the Open Society Foundations speaks about the future of free speech.

					Why Rwanda and Libya need free speech – and media regulation
				
Jerry Timmins describes a new report on media in two post-conflict societies, and argues that countries like Britain should do more to support them.

					Why did Facebook delete a call for an anti-fascist rally in Hungary?
				
Facebook’s automatic detection of the word ‘Jude’ led to the blocking of A Hungarian anti-fascist group’s post. Tamas Szigeti explores the worrying implications of automatic filtering for freedom of speech.

					A sticky WCIT and the battle for control of the internet
				
At the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), authoritarian governments staked worrying claims. But the US-dominated model of non-governmental internet governance brings its own problems, writes Alison Powell. Beware of the Clinton Paradox. 

					Brazil’s online crossroads between authoritarianism and democracy
				
Despite Brazil’s democratic accomplishments, laws used to regulate websites date from the 1960s, giving arbitrary power to the state. A proposed ‘Marco Civil da Internet’ has the capacity to change this, writes Marcos Todeschini.

					Cookies
				
Our web developer, Simon Dickson, explains the cookies in FSD’s kitchen.

					Former British agent, Annie Machon: What is the case for whistleblowing?
				
Former British MI5 agent Annie Machon revealed,  together with David Shayler,  alleged criminal behaviour within the agency. In an interview with Sebastian Huempfer she speaks about the need for official channels through which whistleblowers can voice their concerns.

					What is it like to be charged with libel for cybercrime in the Philippines?
				
Filippino journalist Marites Vitug speaks about her experience being charged with libel for her investigative journalism, freedom of the press in the Philippines and the new cybercrime law.

					Does a murderer have the right to be forgotten?
				
 In 2008 two convicted murderers asked for their names to be removed from Wikipedia and other online media outlets, in accordance with German law. Does the individual’s right to be forgotten take priority over the public’s right to know?

					Facebook’s over-zealous face tagging
				
Should Facebook automatically suggest who is in a photo? Sebastian Huempfer asks whether Facebook’s photo tagging software infringes the privacy of its users.

					How Ushahidi maps the voices of those in need
				
Dominic Burbidge discusses how Ushahidi’s transformative crowdsourcing techniques have alleviated crises in Kenya and beyond. 

					What’s a nice UN Internet Governance Forum doing in a place like this?
				
The Oxford Internet Institute’s Ian Brown writes from Azerbaijan, asking whether a country that suppresses online freedom should be allowed to host a gathering devoted to discussing it.

					What are the best ways to facilitate internet usage in Mexico?
				
Aleph Molinari, founder of Fundación Proacceso ECO, speaks to Brian Pellot about why his Mexico-based non-profit organisation promotes information and communication technologies for development and why the internet should be considered a basic right.

					Brazil confronts Google – and it’s personal
				
A top Google executive was arrested in Brazil when the company refused to remove YouTube videos that made accusations against a local mayoral candidate. Felipe Correa discusses the case.

					Can Google’s algorithm slander a politician’s wife?
				
Type ‘Bettina Wulff’, the name of a former German president’s wife, into Google and the autocomplete function will add ‘escort’. Is this algorithmic addition a form of defamation? Sebastian Huempfer explores the case.

					The Kremlin’s grip tightens on Russia’s answer to Facebook
				
Russian social network VK launched six years ago and has since attracted 122 million users. But as Olga Shvarova explains, political and copyright crackdowns are limiting the free flow of information and ideas its users once enjoyed. 

					How WCIT could fix – not kill – the internet as we know it
				
FSD user and regular commenter Luke Landau, a telecommunications engineer, argues the International Telecommunications Regulations are long overdue for an update.

					Ahmed Mansoor on blogging his way into a UAE prison
				
One of the United Arab Emirate’s most prominent human rights activists, Ahmed Mansoor was imprisoned in 2011 for criticising the country’s leadership. Here he discusses the death threats, defamation campaigns and physical attacks he continues to face for speaking his mind. 

					What are the biggest debates concerning Islam and free speech?
				
FSD’s Katie Engelhart sat in on this Frontline Club debate to discuss controversy surrounding the YouTube video Innocence of Muslims. 

					Yahoo, free speech and anonymity in China
				
In 2002 Wang Xiaoning was sent to prison for 10 years after Yahoo passed on personal information Chinese authorities used to identify him. Judith Bruhn explores a case of conflicting laws and moral expectations.

					A Muslim responds to the YouTube movie – on YouTube
				
While a Pakistani minister offers a $100,000 reward for the murder of the man who made the notorious Innocence of Muslims video, a British Muslim responds in exemplary fashion to “this imbecile named Sam Bacile”. Timothy Garton Ash commends his clip.

					The topless duchess
				
Judith Bruhn explores the theory and practice of privacy in Europe and whether a court injunction was enough to salvage the Duchess of Cambridge’s privacy. 

					Has Innocence of Muslims ended the innocence of YouTube?
				
Join us to debate the role internet platforms like YouTube should play in setting free speech agendas in your country, your language and across the world. Online editor Brian Pellot kicks off the discussion. 

					Why the Arab world needs community radio
				
Social media and satellite television played a crucial role in the Arab uprisings, but Daoud Kuttab argues community radio must be embraced to effect positive change in the region.

					Eli Dourado: Why is anonymity important in ensuring transparency in international telecommunications?
				
The WCITLeaks.org co-founder discusses how anonymous uploads to his website are shedding light on the upcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications.

					Censoring a billion voices to save a nation
				
Manav Bhushan, an Indian member of the Free Speech Debate team, makes the case for blocking hate-filled websites in his country.

					Amelia Andersdotter: Why the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is dangerous
				
The Swedish Pirate Party’s outspoken MEP explains why the European Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in July and discusses WCIT, the internet’s next four-letter foe.

					Orlando Figes and the anonymous poison pen
				
What exactly was wrong with a historian publishing caustic anonymous reviews of his competitors’ books on Amazon?  Katie Engelhart explores the issues raised by a tragic-comic case.

					When an iPhone can be dangerous
				
The speed and ubiquity of mobile devices have changed the context of “hate speech” online, writes Peter Molnar.

					Evgeny Morozov: What is the dark side of internet freedom?
				
Author Evgeny Morozov highlights the dangers that sometimes emerge when governments and corporations harness the internet to serve their own objectives. 

					Haiyan Wang: What is it like being an investigative journalist in China?
				
Former investigative journalist Haiyan Wang describes the ways in which Chinese reporters push the boundaries of press freedom. Interview by Judith Bruhn.

					Online language bubbles: the last frontier?
				
Scott A Hale explores the effect of language in seeking and imparting information on the broader web.

					Netherlands passes Europe’s first net neutrality legislation
				
Amendments approved by the senate of the Netherlands limit the ability of internet service providers to block or slow down applications and services on the internet, writes Graham Reynolds.

					How open access to scientific journals can help the developing world
				
Open access publishing models are having a significant impact on the dissemination on scientific information but their impact on the developing world is uncertain, writes Jorge L Contreras.

					China’s human flesh search engines
				
While China’s human flesh search engines can help reveal government corruption they can also be used to humiliate ordinary citizens, writes Judith Bruhn.

					Censoring The Scorpions
				
In 2008, six British ISPs blocked access to a Wikipedia page featuring an album cover with an image of a prepubescent naked girl, writes Maryam Omidi.

					David Kirkpatrick: What is the Facebook Effect?
				
The author of The Facebook Effect talks to FSD about privacy, anonymity whether the social network plans to go into China.

					Why should Amazon be our taste and decency police?
				
The online retailer has been criticised for profiting from ebooks featuring terror and violence. No one should tell us what to read, says Jo Glanville. 

					Tim Berners-Lee: Are stretch-friends the future of the internet?
				
Tim Berners-Lee argues that stretch friends, individuals who are outside of your social circle online, will help break down cultural barriers 

					The knowledge commons: research and innovation in an unequal world
				
To mark the launch of the St Antony’s International Review, a panel of experts discuss Ushahidi technology, academic journals in Latin America and the geographies of the world’s knowledge. 

					Is it time for a global conversation on free speech?
				
A panel of experts joins FSD Director Timothy Garton Ash at London’s Frontline Club to discuss some of the world’s most pressing free speech issues.

					Moving towards the zettabyte era
				
According to a new report, annual global internet traffic will increase nearly fourfold between 2011 and 2016, moving us into the zettabyte era, writes Maryam Omidi.

					Africa: media and free speech
				
“People in Africa don’t have the freedom to speak freely and hold governments accountable,” says Nqobile Sibisi of Highway Africa’s Future Journalists Programme. 

					Jillian York: Is hacktivism ethical?
				
The director of international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation talks about the ethics and motivations of hacktivism.

					On Free Speech: The power of the web
				
This latest episode looks at the ethics of hacktivism, crowdsourcing in war zones and the right of Christians in the UK to wear the cross at work.

					How can connections between the traditional press and the internet freedom movement be kept open?
				
Punishing internet intermediaries for their content will have a chilling effect on free speech, says Kevin Bankston of the Centre for Democracy and Technology.

					Does ACTA threaten online freedom of expression & privacy?
				
An academic, an NGO worker, a Member of European Parliament and an activist go head-to-head on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. 

					The tension between data protection and freedom of expression
				
EU member states should reform the data protection framework to address the realities of life in the Web 2.0 age, writes David Erdos

					Is China actually helping free media in Africa?
				
China may provide censorship tools to autocratic regimes in Africa, but western companies still dominate this market, writes Iginio Gagliardone, a post-doctoral fellow at Oxford University.

					Punishing users of extremist websites
				
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed a law to punish readers of websites promoting terrorism and violence, writes Clementine de Montjoye.

					ACTA & the internet: freedom of expression & privacy
				
Join Free Speech Debate and ARTICLE 19 in London on Thursday 3 May  for a panel discussion on the impact of ACTA on global free expression

					Mapping edits to Wikipedia from Africa
				
Egypt made more edits to Wikipedia than any other African country between 2010 and 2011, according to new research.

					ACTA: Open agreement secretly arrived at?
				
The secretive approach adopted by parties in negotiating the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement constrained the ability of the public to challenge limits on free expression, writes Graham Reynolds.

					A student’s racist tweets
				
Liam Stacey, a 21-year-old student, was sentenced to 56 days in prison for posting racially offensive comments on Twitter, writes Maryam Omidi.

					Moez Chakchouk: Can the Tunisian Internet Agency defend net neutrality?
				
Online censorship is futile as it can almost always be circumvented, says Moez Chakchouk, the head of the Tunisian Internet Agency.

					On free speech: The fine art of activism
				
The third episode of the On Free Speech podcast features exclusive interviews with filmmaker Nick Sturdee on the Russian art collective Voina and stand-up comedian Tom Greeves on the UK’s parody laws. 

					Wadah Khanfar: Was Al-Jazeera partisan under his watch?
				
The former head of Al Jazeera denies allegations that the network was in any way partisan under his watch, a criticism frequently levelled at the broadcaster, which is funded by the emir of Qatar.

					Should you have to reveal your real name on Facebook?
				
Lord Allan of Facebook and author Viktor Mayer-Schönberger wrangle over the social networking site’s real name policy, its claim to transparency and its use of personal data. 

					Hungary’s new media regulation
				
In 2010, the Hungarian prime minister passed a series of laws, giving excessive control over all private media to the government, writes Peter Bajomi-Lazar, a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford.

					Patriot Act and FISA without end?
				
How the Obama administration continues use of Bush-era powers to suppress legitimate debate about the needs of US national security. By Jeff Howard.

					Free speech at the heart of the Arab Spring – part two
				
In the second part of this panel discussion just off Tahrir Square in Cairo, a panel of bloggers, journalists and human rights experts ask what are – and what should be – the limits to freedom of expression in Egypt today.

					Free speech at the heart of the Arab Spring – part one
				
In this panel discussion just off Tahrir Square in Cairo, a panel of bloggers, journalists and human rights experts ask what are – and what should be – the limits to freedom of expression in Egypt today.

					Rebecca MacKinnon: How do we ensure that the consent of networked citizens?
				
The co-founder of Global Voices discusses the nexus between governments, internet companies and citizens.

					The enemies of the internet
				
Belarus and Bahrain are the latest additions to the Reporters Without Borders’ “Enemies of the Internet” 2012 list while France and Australia are “under surveillance”.

					World map of social networks
				
The number of social networking sites around the world has fallen from 17 in June 2009 to six in December 2011, according to the latest Vincos map.

					On Free Speech: China, India and the art of ‘Zuckering’
				
The second episode of FSD’s monthly podcast looks at free speech in India, internet censorship in China and Facebook’s attitude towards privacy.

					Paolo Mancini: Will the internet transform Italian politics?
				
Professor Paolo Mancini argues that while new technologies offer opportunities, they also lead to political and social polarisation.

					The Berlin Twitter Wall v the Great Firewall of China
				
In 2009, the Chinese authorities blocked access to the Berlin Twitter Wall from within China following a flood of tweets calling for an end to internet censorship, writes Judith Bruhn. 

					The trial of Naguib Sawiris
				
Naguib Sawiris was accused of contempt for tweeting an image of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, respectively sporting a bushy beard and veil, writes Jacob Amis

					A Saudi blogger’s “blasphemous” tweets
				
As of August 2012, Saudi Arabian writer Hamza Kashgari faced a trial for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Twitter, writes Brian Pellot. 

					YouTube in Turkey
				
YouTube was banned for three years in Turkey on the grounds that certain videos were insulting to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the modern republic’s founder, or to “Turkishness”, write Funda Ustek and Irem Kok.

					Facebook, privacy and you
				
Is the age of privacy over? Lord (Richard) Allan from Facebook and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, author of Delete, go head to head on privacy and the right to be forgotten in the internet era.

					Tim Wu: Would the right to be forgotten hinder entrepreneurialism?
				
Tim Wu, the author of ‘The Master Switch’, says that while the right to be forgotten is a good idea in theory but wouldn’t work in practice.

					Google Street View in Germany
				
In March 2011, a Berlin court ruled that Google Street View was not illegal after a private citizen filed a lawsuit, claiming the technology was an infringement of her property and privacy rights. Sebastian Huempfer looks at the case. 

					Is online deletion a virtue or a form of denialism?
				
The first of Free Speech Debate’s monthly podcasts, featuring selected highlights from the site.

					Wenzhou train collision
				
On July 23, 2011, two high-speed trains traveling on the Yongtaiwen railway line collided near the eastern coastal city of Wenzhou killing 40 people and injuring 191. A week later, all traces of the train accident had disappeared from newspaper and television programmes, writes Amy Qin.

					The Grass Mud Horse Lexicon
				
The Grass Mud Horse Lexicon, a catalogue of subversive online witticisms in China, is an example of the unflagging creativity of the human spirit, writes Amy Qin.

					Tim Wu: Why do information empires fall?
				
Tim Wu, author of The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires, tells us why Facebook should not go into China and why Twitter’s new take-down policy may harm the microblog

					Should Germany have introduced a right to be forgotten?
				
Sebastian Nerz, the chairman of the German Pirate Party talks about ACTA, the right to be forgotten and privacy in Germany.

					Ying Chan: Free speech can help transcend east and west
				
The east should not simply follow the west, but jointly search for universal values, says Ying Chan, director of the journalism and media centre at Hong Kong University.

					Ian Brown: How should cyberspace be regulated?
				
In part one of this interview with Timothy Garton Ash, Ian Brown of the Oxford Internet Institute talks about the internet and freedom of expression, net neutrality, internet service providers and censorship by both democratic and autocratic governments. 

					Free Speech Debate launch with Jimmy Wales
				
For those of you who missed it first time round, here’s Timothy Garton Ash, director of Free Speech Debate, speaking to the Wikipedia co-founder, a day after the encyclopedia’s English pages were blacked out in protest against two anti-piracy bills in the US. They talk about SOPA and PIPA, the controversial Muhammad cartoons and Wikipedia’s decision to go dark.

					Richard Stallman: What is freedom-respecting software?
				
The founder of the free software movement talks about internet giants Google and Facebook, Creative Commons and internet freedom.

					Ezra Levant: Why public powers are the real threat to internet freedom
				
Private powers are not a “large threat” to free speech, the Canadian lawyer and publisher tells Katie Engelhart. 

					The Stop Online Piracy Act
				
The Stop Online Piracy Act is currently being debated in the US house of representatives. Brian Pellot considers the potential consequences of the bill.

					Criticism of the Thai king
				
US blogger Joe Gordon was sentenced to two and a half years in a Thai prison for publishing links on his blog to an unauthorised biography of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej. A case study by Maryam Omidi.

					Han Han, the Chinese blogger
				
With a readership of over 300 million, Han Han is one of China’s most influential online personalities. Judith Bruhn looks at his blog as an example of an individual citizen creating more open and diverse media in difficult circumstances.

Search

Your account

Language