What’s wrong with this picture? Reporters Without Borders and the World Organization for Human Rights USA (“Human Rights USA”) are outraged that Anthony Chai, an American citizen from California, was interrogated by Thai officials in Thailand and again later in the U.S. for allegedly insulting the monarchy in 2006. Originally from Thailand, Chai was granted…
Showing all posts tagged internet
Radio New Zealand interview on Israel and blogging
I was interviewed this weekend on Radio New Zealand National Saturday Morning with Kim Hill on issues of Israel, Zionism, Jewish identity, blogging and internet censorship. It was a long interview (over 40 minutes) and offered a rare opportunity to explore key areas of Zionist responsibility for occupation in Palestine and why blogging and journalism…
What are “cloaked websites”?
A handy reminder, via PR Watch, that corporations are increasingly aware that the public can sniff shamelessness, so they need to increase their obfuscation: Jessie Daniels, an Associate Professor in the Urban Public Health program at Hunter College, New York, has identified a phenomenon she calls “cloaked Web sites,” or sites published by individuals or…
Only married men can open web cafes in Iran
The American Islamic Congress reveals details of the utterly absurd situation in Iran. It would be almost funny except we’re talking about people lives and freedom: Surveillance cameras? Check. Transparent glass? Check. Segregated seating? Check. If you want to open an Internet cafe in Mashhad – the hometown of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei –…
Iranian autocrats will have a harder time blocking material
Whenever any repressive regime tries to censor online content, rest assured somebody somewhere will find a way around it (Western governments also take note): While the Iranian government has intensified its aggressive efforts to expand Internet filters, Austin Heap, a young programmer in the U.S., says he has developed software that would enable Iranians to…
Give me the internet, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube
A nation of addicts proudly (and desperately?) need their daily fix: American college students are hooked on cellphones, social media and the Internet and showing symptoms similar to drug and alcohol addictions, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Maryland who asked 200 students to give up all media for one full…
Should there be limits on online advertising (including for women and children?)
We all love the internet and can’t live without it (or am I just speaking about myself?) but this kind of reality takes off the utopian glow: Craigslist, one of the most popular Web sites in the United States, is on track to increase its revenue 22 percent this year, largely from its controversial sex…
Why is Australia really moving forward with net filtering?
A strong editorial in today’s Sydney Morning Herald on the Australian government’s proposed internet censorship regime (destined to both fail and embarrass): Stephen Conroy, the Communications Minister, is feeling the heat over his attempt to censor the internet for Australians. The latest critic is the US government. Conroy, of course, is used to criticism. Internet…
Democracy in Cuba? Not any time soon
I was interviewed recently by Michael Hershman of Radio Free Europe about the civil situation in Cuba. My main message is that democracy in some form may well come to Cuba one day but at the moment both the insane US embargo and authoritarian Havana regime makes this very unlikely: Civil society in Cuba, long-embattled,…