Censorship

Traditionally: Deletion of materials that the gorvernment or media considers to be objectionable

Internet censorship often just blocks access

World Map Of Censorship

Blue = no censorship Yellow = some censorship Red = Under Surveillance Black = Most heavily censored nations

Image courtesy of Wikipedia and Reporters Without Borders

Censorship in Iran

political/religious in nature

widespread to the point of omnipresence

built into almost every facet of life

done without explanation and without recourse

History of Iranian Censorship1979 – Iranian Revolution

non-Islamic newspapers banned

1980’s – growth of censorshipradio, print, and television sources monitored

2000 – media crackdownreformist newspapers banned, journalists jailed

early 2000’s – the InternetIran begins to censor websites

Internet Censorship in Iran

Internet originally relatively uncensoredused as a bypass for censorship in other media

2003, censorship beginsoriginally used to suppress dissent

spread to general sites such as Facebook, Youtube

currently cracking down on women’s rights, anti-Islamic, gay/lesbian sites, etc.

•According to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), there are more than approximately 20 millions of people who have access to the internet.

•A large number of the internet surfers worry the Chinese government because it makes the media and news harder to control. To neutralize critical online opinion comes after a series of anti-Japanese, anti-pollution and anti-corruption protests, more than 30,000 internet police were employed by the government agency to monitor internet forums, blogs, and major portal to erase any critical comments that “defame Chinese government agencies, split the nation, or leak secret secrets.”

•According to the laws released from Public Security, violator of the regulation would face up to ￥ 15,000 (or $1,800) fine.

Golden Shield Project

It started in 1998 and began the process in November 2003.

It is owned by the Ministry of Public Security of China, and it is to

construct a communication network and computer information system

for internet police to improve their capability and efficiency.

It is also known as the Great Firewall of China, in reference to both its

role and a network firework and to ancient Great Wall of China

The system blocks content by preventing IP addresses from being

routed through and consisted of standard firewalls and proxy servers at

the Internet gateways.

The system also selectively engages in DNS poisoning when particular

sites are requested.

Chinese Wikipedia (zh.wikipedia.org secure.wikimedia.rog)

and other versions of Wikipedia

Hongkong Economic Journal (www.hkej.com) since 2009-05

Facebook

Youtube

Itunes (blocked during the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing after more than 40 athletes downloaded a pro-

tibetan album from the service.

Selected Censored Websites

Censorship in the United States

Though many people relate censorship to countries such as China, even the United States has had a history involving censorship.

This censorship dates back long before the internet, and was prevalent in newspapers and in the film industry.

Censorship in the United States

The 1st Amendment of the United States ensures the right to freedom of speech... but has this protection been limited by the digital age and the internet?

For the most part this right does exist within the internet.  However, this excludes cases involving libel, pornography, or infringing on the rights of others (hosting copyrighted content, etc.)

Censorship in the United States

In 1997, the Communications Decency Act was struck down by Congress.  This act would have substantially decreased rights and free speech on the internet.

On the other hand, “inappropriate materials” are required to be blocked in all public schools and libraries and some other federally funded institutions. Congress is also considering including social networking sites in this list

Censorship in the United States

Overall, there is no large-scale filtering of the internet in the United States, and the First Amendment is upheld to a high degree.

The ONI (Open Net Initiative) places the U.S. in the “nominal” category.

Even though censorship in the U.S. is minimal, we should remember it does exist and could get worse.

In Conclusion…

Censorship does not allow for all forms of free speech because it restricts specific informationThe USA is more liberal than the other countries mentioned, and therefore allows more access to websites which are considered “harmful” in other countriesCensorship is due to increasing security due to threats from other countries/organizationsCensorship is used to prevent spread of “malicious and harmful” content