censorship

Reports: China 'hijacking' Google, Yahoo, Microsoft search sites

Ticked off that the United States gave the Dalai Lama the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal this week, China may be taking out its aggression by "hijacking" American search engines.

Over at Search Engine Land, Danny Sullivan reports that numerous users trying to access Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft search engines from within China or using Chinese Internet service providers are being redirected to Chinese-owned search engine Baidu.

Sullivan says it's not exactly clear how that process is working, but he cites a news report from 2002 that indicates this sort of thing has happened in China before. At … Read more

Amid political protests, Net shut off in Burma

As Burma's military government attempts to suppress the largest pro-democracy protests by Buddhist monks and civilians in decades, there are numerous reports on Friday that it has also cut off its citizens' Internet access and cell phone lines.

Burma--officially the Union of Myanmar--is already labeled by watchdog groups as one of the most restrictive locales in the world when it comes to blocking Internet content. But like in China and other censorship-happy countries, dissidents have come up with technological work-arounds such as proxies that connect them directly to computers outside the prohibitive country.

Now there are widespread reports that … Read more

Verizon refuses to carry activist text messages

This news may hit CNET tomorrow as a New York Times cross-post, but I haven't seen anything about it yet so I wanted to be sure it was reported here.

According to the Times, Verizon, one of the nation's two largest wireless carriers, told NARAL that it would not allow the reproductive rights organization to send text messages through a program using Verizon's mobile network, on the grounds that Verizon has the right to block "controversial or unsavory" text messages.… Read more

Facebook group ignites protest

When creating a broad forum or social-networking site like Facebook, deciding what, if any, content should be prohibited is always a difficult decision. Pornography and unauthorized copyrighted material are usually forbidden, but any other restrictions will often spark calls of censorship and accusations that the forum infringes on the freedom of speech guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. In reality, the constitution doesn't dictate what must be allowed in these circumstances, just as you are permitted to make certain subjects off-limits in your own home. Despite the fact that there is no constitutional issue, there is a perception of one, and the concerns about censorship are very real and do have merit.

Lately, Facebook has been dealing with a growing controversy surrounding one of its groups. F**k Islam has more than 800 members, has generated almost 20,000 wall posts, and sparked a number of similar groups in addition to a host of groups built around their opposition to the group's existence. The debate has recently spilled into The New York Times.… Read more

A comic controversy

We all remember the massive protests that sprung up after a Danish newspaper published a series of editorial cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. Recently another controversy involving newspaper comics and Islam has sprung up. and this time the debate centers around how some news media refused to publish the comic, as opposed to those who did.

In this case, the comic was the August 26 edition of Opus, and a September 2 follow up to the storyline. Approximately 25 newspapers opted not to publish the comic including The Washington Post.… Read more

Thailand reopens YouTube access, but with limits

Thailand has lifted a ban on YouTube about five months after videos mocking King Bhumibol Adulyadej prompted the military-installed government to block domestic Web surfers' access to the site.

But there's a catch, of course.

In a Friday interview with the Financial Times, the Southeast Asian nation's information and technology minister attributed the restoration to an agreement that the Google-owned service will block any clips that the government flags as illegal. Thai law, among other things, forbids mocking monarchs, an act punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

According to the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, Thai … Read more

Manhunt 2 gets M rating, will see light of day

Originally branded with an AO (adults only) rating--the film equivalent of NC-17--Rockstar Games' creepy sequel to 2003's original Manhunt has just been graced with the more socially acceptable M-for-mature rating. In addition, Rockstar has announced that Manhunt 2 will be released on the appropriate date of October 31 for the PS2, PSP, and the Wii.

The AO rating was widely publicized in June after reports out of the UK claimed the game would never make it to store shelves. Following the ruling, Rockstar immediately announced that the title's release would be suspended until further notice. Censorship in videogames … Read more

AT&T admits it censored other bands

It looks like Pearl Jam isn't the only band that has had its politically charged comments bleeped from concerts streamed from AT&T's Blue Room Web site.

AT&T issued a statement on Friday admitting that this kind of thing has happened before. And the company once again apologized.

"It's not our intent to edit political comments in Webcasts on attblueroom.com," the company said in a statement. "Unfortunately, it has happened in the past in a handful of cases. We have taken steps to ensure that it won't happen again.&… Read more

AT&T calls censorship of Pearl Jam lyrics a mistake

Apparently, saying disparaging things about President George Bush is enough to get you censored. At least that's what happened to the band Pearl Jam Sunday night during AT&T's Webcast of the Lollapalooza concert in Chicago.

According to fans who watched the concert on AT&T's Blue Room Web site, portions of the song "Daughter," in which singer Eddie Vedder altered lyrics to include anti-Bush sentiments, were bleeped out. The lyrics came during a segue into Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall."

The lyrics that were missing from the … Read more