online censorship

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Microsoft: 'Human Error' Caused Famous Pic to Vanish Online

Company denies censorship led Bing to stifle search results for Tiananmen Square's 'Tank Man'

(Newser) - Friday was the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in China, which means lots of people headed online to peruse articles and pictures of the incident that led to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of protester deaths. One photo that interested parties in several countries couldn't initially find, at least...

India Kicks Entire Region Off Social Media

ISPs ordered to block 22 sites for a month

(Newser) - India has ordered internet service providers in Indian-controlled Kashmir to immediately block Facebook, Twitter, and 20 other social media sites and online applications for one month, after several videos and photos depicting alleged abuses of Kashmiris by Indian security forces sparked outrage and fueled protests. The government said the restrictions...

There's Now a News Site on the Dark Web

ProPublica launches 'hidden' version

(Newser) - The "dark Web" isn't all guns, drugs, and child pornography: The hidden reaches of the Internet are home to discussion forums, radio stations, and now, a major news site. ProPublica has launched a version of itself that can only be accessed through the Tor anonymity network, allowing users...

Facebook: Decapitation Video Not OK After All

But will still allow other violent content

(Newser) - After on Monday defending a gory video of a man beheading a woman posted on the site, Facebook has done a 180, deciding the violent video wasn't OK after all and removing the offending clip. The site initially deemed such violent content fine as long as it wasn't...

Facebook: Beheadings Now OK, but No Breasts

Ban on gore lifted, as long as acts are condemned

(Newser) - Facebook users might want to brace for bloodier newsfeeds: The site has quietly dropped a ban on gory photos and videos, including those showing beheadings. Gory videos were temporarily banned earlier this year, but the policy has now changed again, the BBC found when investigating a complaint about Facebook's...

NYT Launches Chinese Website

Times ' microblog accounts go offline, spurring rumors of gov't censorship

(Newser) - The New York Times launched a Chinese-language edition yesterday, along with accounts on a number of Chinese microblogging sites, joining the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and several other major newspapers trying to get a piece of the huge China market, reports the AP . It quickly racked up 10,...

Google Provokes China With Tool to Skirt Censorship

Typing bad term brings Google message warning user

(Newser) - Google and China have long had a rocky relationship over the software company's overly thorough search engine and refusal to filter search results, and for many years searching for a forbidden or even a sensitive word could cause a China user's Google connection to be cut off for...

Pakistan Blocks Twitter
 Pakistan Blocks Twitter 
May 20, 2012 7:56 AM CDT

Pakistan Blocks Twitter

(Newser) - Pakistan has decided it's had about 139 characters too many of Twitter, yanking the microblogging site over material it says is offensive to Islam, reports al-Jazeera . The material in question was promoting a Facebook contest to post images of the prophet Mohammed—which are considered blasphemous, even those framed...

Arizona Bill Outlaws Being Annoying Online

Critics say anti-trolling bill violates the First Amendment

(Newser) - Arizona is hunting trolls. The state's House and Senate have passed a bill that would make it illegal to post messages online "with the intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy, or offend," HLN reports. The bill is descended from old phone laws targeting prank callers and...

Iran Disrupts Internet as Elections Loom

Authorities take early steps to prevent protests, say experts

(Newser) - With parliamentary elections looming in Iran next month, authorities are ramping up censorship of the opposition, disrupting much of the country's Internet in the process, reports Reuters . Millions are having trouble accessing their email and social networking sites, which played an important role in the protests that followed the...

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