Rumor, Lies, and Weibo: How Social Media is Changing the Nature of Truth in China

via Rumor, Lies, and Weibo: How Social Media is Changing the Nature of Truth in China – Helen Gao – International – The Atlantic.

Stop the Great Firewall of America

via Firewall Law Could Infringe on Free Speech – NYTimes.com.

This Op-Ed makes an explicit connection between censorship and the SOPA and PIPA bills that were recently defeated. But as we know from the similar provisions being inserted into the TPP Pacific Trade treaty, the goals of those bills are certainly not dead.

Mentions several proposals for more formal government management of the Internet, “codes of conduct,” and other moves.

India’s proposal for government control of Internet to be discussed in Geneva

via The Hindu : News / National : India's proposal for government control of Internet to be discussed in Geneva.

Unsealed Court Records Confirm that RIAA Delays Were Behind Year-Long Seizure of Hip Hop Music Blog | Electronic Frontier Foundation.

A common statement is that the US does not censor web sites, but rather polices “crime.” The definition of crime, however, depends on the government doing the defining. In this case, a site was shut down based on linking to news stories about piracy.
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“Record labels have a very strong voice when it comes to arguing for their particular business model, which is in fact out of date,” he said. “The result is that laws have been created which make out as if the only problem on the internet is teenagers stealing music. The world is bigger than that. The internet is bigger than the music industry. The economic impact of the internet is bigger than the music industry.”

via Berners-Lee: Don't let record labels upset web openness.

Chilling Effects aims to help you understand the protections that the First Amendment and intellectual property laws give to your online activities. We are excited about the new opportunities the Internet offers individuals to express their views, parody politicians, celebrate their favorite movie stars, or criticize businesses. But we’ve noticed that not everyone feels the same way. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some individuals and corporations are using intellectual property and other laws to silence other online users. Chilling Effects encourages respect for intellectual property law, while frowning on its misuse to “chill” legitimate activity.

via Chilling Effects Clearinghouse.

As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.

Until now, the only way we could take account of those countries’ limits was to remove content globally. Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why.

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via Twitter Blog: Tweets still must flow.