The role of the Chinese regime in hacking sensitive information just became even creepier: Reporters Without Borders is deeply disturbed and outraged by cyber-attacks on the Google E-mail accounts of several Beijing-based foreign journalists. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) sent its members a note today alerting them that at least two foreign news…
Showing all posts tagged censorship
Google’s likely China departure causes waves of debate
A key reason behind Google’s announcement this week that it will probably leave China was allegedly due to human rights concerns: Google moved quickly to announce that it would stop censoring its Chinese …service after realising dissidents were at risk from attempts to use the company’s technology for political …surveillance, according to a source with…
What is Google now doing in China?
My following article appears today on ABC Unleashed/The Drum: Google has threatened to withdraw entirely from China in protest at the authoritarian regime’s oppressive online censorship and continuing attempts by Chinese hackers to gain sensitive information of local human rights workers. Perhaps most significantly, Google’s Chinse search engine, Google.cn, now allows once banned material to…
Egyptian blogger continues to face repression behind bars
The definition of a US-backed police state, funded and armed by the US tax-payer: Reporters Without Borders deplores the way the authorities continue to persecute Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, a jailed blogger better known by the pen-name of Kareem Amer. For the third time in a row, one of his lawyers has been denied the…
Should we fear China?
With news that Google is threatening to leave China over its oppressive censorship and hacking systems, this news (which is impossible to verify) is either scare-mongering on a massive scale or signs of a brave new world: A classified FBI report indicates that China has secretly developed an army of 180,000 cyberspies that “poses the…
Jews, don’t be afraid of questioning Israel
What are the boundaries for acceptable debate over Israel according to Zionists? Usually, we’re told that criticism is acceptable…but then any discussion over Israeli crimes is deemed inappropriate. So, this blog post by James Besser, Washington correspondent for NY Jewish Week, is interesting (via Muzzlewatch). He highlights a recent Haaretz editorial that challenges Israel’s policy…
The BBC will not overthrow Tehran
The Islamic Republic increases its attack on “enemies” and outside forces. A paranoid regime – with, it must be said, some justified reason to fear attempts from the West for regime change – simply convinces its foes that it trusts nobody and fears everybody: Authorities in Iran intensified their campaign to blame the country’s political…
Reporting is a dangerous gig
Reporters Without Borders provides the brutal statistics of journalism from 2009: 76 journalists killed (60 in 2008) 33 journalists kidnapped 573 journalists arrested 1456 physically assaulted 570 media censored 157 journalists fled their countries 1 blogger died in prison 151 bloggers and cyber-dissidents arrested 61 physically assaulted 60 countries affected by online censorship
Meanwhile, away from Cairo, the region has its own pace
I’m flat-out here in Cairo working on multiple projects related to the Gaza Freedom March. But some interesting articles and reports on the Middle East are worth sharing: – 1 Year after Gaza Massacre: Over 500 Academics and Cultural Workers Call for Boycott. – On Sunday, 20 December 2009, Al Dameer Association for Human Rights…
How an old cleric challenged the Islamic Republic at its core
The death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri in Iran has caused huge public grief and anger: Blogger Cyrus Farivar reminds us of the man’s influence on Iran’s internet culture: I’m obviously fascinated with Montazeri’s small role in Iran’s Internet history. As best as I can tell, this is the first example of the Islamic Republic’s…