censorship Archives - TandaaBiashara

Nov162015 by editorNo Comments

Turkish government has blocked access to Reddit

The Turkish government has officially blocked access to Reddit. Users first reported last night that they were unable to access the social media site, and as of Saturday the ban still appears to be in effect. It's not clear how long the block will remain in effect. Reports theverge.com An official government site confirms the ban with a generic message that reads, "After technical analysis and legal consideration ... administration measure has been taken for this website." The note is dated November 13th. According to the statement, Reddit was taken down under Turkey's controversial internet censorship law, known as Internet Law No. 5651. Under the law, Turkish Supreme Council for Telecommunications and IT (TIB) can ban websites and block internet content for a handful of reasons, includ...

Oct212014 by editorNo Comments

Chinese government launches man-in-middle attack against iCloud

Cyber Security, Internet

GreatFire.org, a group that monitors censorship by the Chinese government’s national firewall system (often referred to as the “Great Firewall”), reports that China is using the system as part of a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack on users of Apple’s iCloud service within the country. The attacks come as Apple begins the official rollout of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on the Chinese mainland. reports ARS Technica The attack, which uses a fake certificate and Domain Name Service address for the iCloud service, is affecting users nationwide in China. The GreatFire.org team speculates that the attack is an effort to help the government circumvent the improved security features of the new phones by compromising their iCloud credentials and allowing the government to gain access to cloud-stored c

Jul142014 by editorNo Comments

Blocking Facebook: A Hot New Trend in Southeast Asia?

Internet, social media

When clashes broke out in Mandalay in central Myanmar between Buddhists and Muslims early this month, the initial response of the government was to impose a curfew. Then, it blocked Facebook. Written byMong Palatino Police claimed blocking the social network would help prevent the spread of violence, but citizens and free speech advocates were skeptical of this rationale. In an interview with the Irrawaddy Magazine, Myanmar Chief Police Officer Win Kaung admitted that the government ordered the blocking. He explained that their aim was to stop religious extremists from using the Internet to incite more hatred between people of different faiths: Yes, we blocked it. We wanted to stop the instigation. When they are doing the instigation or spreading the unverified news, this could only ...

Apr252014 by editorNo Comments

Russia: Veto online Law to Restrict Online Freedom, Bloggers to use real names

Domains, Governance, Internet

Written by Human Rights Watch (Moscow) – Russia should not impose unjustified regulations on freedom of expression and privacy on the Internet, Human Rights Watch said today. A restrictive new law requires Russian bloggers with significant followings to register with the authorities and comply with the same regulations as media outlets. On April 22, 2014, Russia’s State Duma adopted amendments to counter-terrorism legislation, including a new law on “Internet users called bloggers.” The law requires bloggers with more than 3,000 daily visitors online to register with Roskomnadzor, the state body for media oversight. Once registered, bloggers will have the same legal constraints and responsibilities as mass media outlets, including verifying information for accuracy, indicating the minimal

Mar312014 by editorNo Comments

Turkey Blocks Access to YouTube days after Twitter ban

Governance, Internet, Mobile, social media

Turkey has blocked access to YouTube, just a week after the country blocked Twitter, and only three days ahead of local elections in the country. Turkish netizens started reporting the block after 10:30 a.m. ET. The ban was ordered on Thursday after leaked recordings of a security meeting were published on YouTube, according to Hurriyet Daily News. Turkey may lift the ban if YouTube agrees to remove the leaked audio recordings, according to a source inside the prime minister office consulted by Reuters. It's unclear at this point if Google will agree to that since the company already refused to remove videos alleging government corruption last week. The video that led to the block was uploaded to YouTube on Thursday by an anonymous user, according to Reuters. The video purported to be an a...

Mar212014 by editorNo Comments

Turkish Twitterers Respond Hilariously To The Government’s Attempt To Block Them

Internet, social media

Turkey has restricted access to Twitter, just hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened to shut down Twitter and other social media platforms. Turkish Twitterers — who can still access the service via SMS — have responded in the best way possible: by mocking Prime Minister Erdoğan's attempts at censorship with an endless stream of memes. Some have taken to using the art style made famous during President Obama's 2008 election: #turkeybannedtwitter this tweet is only possible through vpn apps. pic.twitter.com/6aydNvxPpp — Mali Erdogan (@malierd) March 20, 2014 Others have pointed out the absurdity of taking Twitter so seriously: The country banned from tweeting is also where users enjoy twitter most #twitterisblockedinturkey pic.twitter.com/4cZYa2dSBe — beko (@bekirbas