Global Censorship Update - January 2012

0: BAHRAIN: Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab Attacked, Hospitalised

1: BAHRAIN: Bahrain Tries 5 Police over Blogger’s Death in Custody during Anti-Government Protests

A lawyer for the family of a prominent Bahraini blogger says five police officers have gone on trial over the activist’s death while in custody. The lawyer, Mohammed al-Tajir, says the police were arraigned in the High Criminal Court on Wednesday. Two are charged with beating the blogger, Zakariya al-Asheri, with a water hose. Three others are charged with hiding the beatings from prison authorities. (Washington Post, 1/11)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/bahrain-tries-5-police-over-bloggers-death-in-custody-during-anti-government-protests/2012/01/11/gIQAzufrqP_story.html

2: BELARUS: Belarus Bans Browsing of All Foreign Websites

3: BELARUS: No, Belarus Is Not Cut Off From The Internet, But New Restrictions Are Still Pretty Bad

There is a lot of excitement over news that Belarus has supposedly cut itself off from the rest of the Internet, with headlines like, "It is now illegal to access any foreign website in the Republic of Belarus". Given the continuing concern over human rights in that country, this story has a certain plausibility to it. But it's worth exploring what the law in question actually says, since the situation is rather more complex than such headlines imply. (TechDirt, 1/3)

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120103/07193917260/no-belarus-is-not-cut-off-internet-new-restrictions-are-still-pretty-bad.shtml

4: BELARUS: Contrary to Reports, Belarus Plans no Internet Censorship

Businesses selling goods online to consumers in Belarus will face a number of new regulations effective January 6, but contrary to media reports, Belarus has no plans to ban access to foreign websites. Deutsche Welle, 1/5)

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15648186,00.html

5: BELARUS: Pro-Opposition News Website Attacked, Shut Down

It's not unusual for Charter 97, a Belarusian pro-opposition news website, to be disrupted online. CPJ has documented intimidations, threats, and arrests against its staff members, the murder of its founder, and denial-of-service attacks against the website. (IFEX, 1/2)

6: BULGARIA: Anti-Mafia Unit Raids Large Torrent Sites, Arrests 17-Year-Old Admin

Two of Bulgaria’s largest torrent sites have been raided by the country’s organized crime unit. The sites, which served in excess of three quarters of a million members, had been established for several years. Three locations were raided and two site admins, one just 17-years-old, were arrested. (Torrent Freak, 1/10)

7: BURMA: Musician Win Maw and blogger Nay Phone Latt included in large scale amnesty

The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International welcomes the release of leading musician Win Maw and prominent blogger Nay Phone Latt , who are among 651 prisoners to be freed as part of a presidential amnesty announced on 13 January 2012. (Pen International, 1/13)

8: CHINA: Tencent Weibo to Join in Real-Name Requirement for Microblogs

After the announcement that Beijing authorities had mandated real-name registration for Beijing microblogs, there was some speculation that Guangzhou-based Tencent might receive a flood of users defecting from Beijing-based Sina Weibo, as Beijing municipal regulations apply only to companies based in Beijing and thus didn’t apply to Tencent. Unfortunately for those who prefer anonymity, though, Tencent and six other Guangzhou and Shenzhou-based microblogging services have now also implemented real-name registration systems. (Penn-Olson, 12/22)

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/12/22/tencent-weibo-to-join-in-real-name-requirement-for-microblogs/

9: CHINA: Update On Weibo Real Name Registration And Associated Fees

Time Weekly looks at id5, a company that verifies real names in China and may the prime beneficiary of the real name requirement for microblogs such as Sina ($SINA) and Tencent’s Weibos. The article reports a rumor that the verification fee will be 2 RMB/account and raises questions about the background of id5 and its relationship with government regulators. (Digicha 1/5)

http://digicha.com/index.php/2012/01/update-on-weibo-real-name-registration-and-associated-fees/

10: CHINA: Online Writer Imprisoned in China

A 10-year prison term given to online critic Chen Xi last month is the latest severe sentence targeting dissenters in China, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. (Committee to Protect Journalists, 1/10)

http://cpj.org/2012/01/online-writer-imprisoned-in-china.php

11: EGYPT: Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Ends Hunger Strike after 130 Days

Imprisoned blogger Maikel Nabil ended his 130-day hunger strike on Saturday after being transferred to a prison hospital on 1 January following allegations of abuse in the jail where he has been held since March 2011. (Uncut, 1/3)

12: EGYPT: Letter from Reporters Without Borders to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers about Maikel Nabil Sanad’s Trial

Reporters Without Borders wrote yesterday to Gabriela Knaul, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, urging her to quickly intercede on behalf of Maikel Nabil Sanad, an Egyptian blogger who has been detained since 28 March 2011. The letter drew attention to the many irregularities in the military trials that led to his being sentenced to two years in prison on 14 December. (Reporters Without Borders, 1/3)

http://en.rsf.org/egypt-letter-from-reporters-without-03-01-2012,41617.html

13: INDIA: Cartoonist Faces Ban on Right to Poke Fun

Despite its status as the world’s largest democracy, the extent of India’s freedom of expression remains a controversial topic, be it through stalling films for  allegedly advocating “social unrest,” ransacking M.F. Husain’s exhibitions for allegedly provoking “religious militants,” or attempting to force Google, Facebook and others to prescreen postings for offensive material. Aseem Trivedi, a Kanpur-based cartoonist is the latest to be caught up in the push-and-pull over what constitutes free speech and what constitutes material so offensive that no one should see it. (Wall Street Journal, 1/4)

14: IRAN: Social Media Carries Prison Message From Iranian Activist

VIDEO: A well-known Iranian political activist, Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, has managed to send out an unprecedented video message from the Rajayishahr prison in which he dismisses Iran's repressive measures aimed at silencing dissent and predicts they will fail. (Persian Letters, 1/3)

15: IRAN: Iran Announces New Restrictions For Internet Cafes

Iran's cyberpolice have issued new guidelines for Internet cafes that appear to be part of the Iranian establishment's efforts to tighten its control of the Internet. (Persian Letters, 1/4)

16: IRAN: Will Iran Soon Have Its Own “Clean Internet”?

The Iranian regime may be losing its battle to filter content on the internet, but meanwhile it is trying new things - from slowing down internet speeds, to developing a so-called “national internet” or “clean internet”. (read Intranet). Iranian members of parliament have also discussed a proposal to place blogs, comments and SMS mobile messages under the same government regulation as the mainstream media. (Global Voices Advocacy, 1/4)

17: IRAN: Iran Clamps Down on Internet Use

Restrictions on cybercafes and plans to launch national internet prompt fears users could be cut off from world wide web. (The Guardian, 1/5)

18: IRAN: Iran Escalates Campaign Against Online Expression

The Iranian regime is doing everything they can to scare their citizens into silence. Ranked among the worst in the world in terms of online censorship, Iran has taken harsher, increasingly sophisticated steps to stifle free expression online and condemn the act of information sharing in light of increasing political and economic tensions. While a recent initiative to create a national “halal” Internet would essentially block Iranians from the outside world, last week the country’s Ministry of Information Communication Technology (MICT) also issued regulations that force Internet cafés to install security cameras, document users’ browsing history and usage data, as well as collect personal information for each session of use.  Worse still, bloggers continue to be arrested, detained, and now, even sentenced to death. (Electronic Frontier Foundation, 1/12)

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/iran-escalates-campaign-against-online-expression

19: GERMANY: German Court Decisions Make Everyday Use Of The Internet Increasingly Risky There

Perhaps there's something about the German legal system that encourages judges to push their interpretation of the law to the limit, without any concern for whether the results of that logic are absurd. At least that is the impression you might get from two recent cases whose judgments both make the use of Internet by ordinary citizens increasing fraught with legal risks. (Techdirt, 1/4)

20: KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakh Senate Approves Controversial Broadcast Law

Kazakh media NGOs and international experts say that country's new broadcast law would put restrictions on the freedom of information. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1/4)

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_senate_approves_controversial_broadcasting_law/24438533.html

21: MALDIVES: Leading Journalist Released but His Blog Remains Banned

Reporters Without Borders notes the decision by a Maldivian court to free the blogger Ismail Kilath “Hilath” Rasheed, arrested on 14 December four weeks after his blog was closed down on the government’s orders. (Reporters Without Borders, 1/9)

22: NETHERLANDS: Dutch Court Orders Block on Pirate Bay Website

Two Dutch cable companies were ordered by a court on Wednesday to block access to the website The Pirate Bay to prevent the illegal downloading of free music, films and games in a case brought on behalf of the entertainment industry. (Reuters, 1/11)

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/01/11/technology/tech-us-dutch-internet-ban.html

23: SPAIN: Website Blocking Law Implemented By New Spanish Government

Spain’s new government has wasted no time in approving tough new legislation to combat unauthorized file-sharing. After less than two weeks in power, the Partido Popular government has fully implemented the so-called Sinde Law. Spaniards can look forward to previously legal sites being blocked by ISPs or shut down completely, all within 10 days of a rightsholder complaint. (Torrent Freak, 1/3)

24: SPAIN: Spain's SOPA Law: How It Works And Why It Won't

Last week—less than two months after winning control over the Spanish parliament—the right-leaning Partido Popular passed a controversial new anti-internet piracy law that will impose strict penalties on website owners who fail to remove copyrighted material from their sites. Sound familiar? The law, named after the Culture Minister Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde, gives the Spanish government nearly the same broad ranging authority found in the proposed SOPA law, which is now grinding through the gears of the U.S. Congress. (IEEE Spectrum, 1/9)

25: SYRIA: RSF Launches Parody Video on Censorship

VIDEO: To draw public attention to media censorship in Syria, Reporters Without Borders and the JWT Paris ad agency have produced a short video inspired by parodies of Siri, the star app on the new iPhone 4S. It shows a man hunched over his iPhone failing to get any information from Siri about Syria except the weather forecast, the only news the government is not censoring. (IFEX, 1/9)

http://www.ifex.org/syria/2012/01/09/siri_in_syria/

26: UNITED STATES: U.S. Government Threatens Free Speech With Calls for Twitter Censorship

EFF has witnessed a growing number of calls in recent weeks for Twitter to ban certain accounts of alleged terrorists. In a December 14th article in the New York Times, anonymous U.S. officials claimed they “may have the legal authority to demand that Twitter close” a Twitter account associated with the militant Somali group Al-Shabaab. A week later, the Telegraph reported that Sen. Joe Lieberman contacted Twitter to remove two “propaganda” accounts allegedly run by the Taliban. More recently, an Israeli law firm threatened to sue Twitter if they did not remove accounts run by Hezbollah. (Electronic Frontier Foundation, 1/6)

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/us-government-calls-censor-twitter-threaten-free-speech