US tests technology to foil foreign web censorship

15 Aug 2009 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost

The U.S. government is covertly testing technology in China and Iran that lets residents break through screens set up by their governments to limit access to news on the Internet. The “feed over email” (FOE) system delivers news, podcasts and data via technology that evades web-screening protocols of restrictive regimes, said the U.S. government’s Broadcasting Board of Governors. Read more here

Malaysia in web censorship U-turn

13 Aug 2009 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, minipost

Malaysian rights activists have welcomed the government’s decision not to implement a controversial plan to create an Internet filter blocking “undesirable” websites. The proposal had been described as a “horror of horrors” by the opposition which said it would destroy the relative freedom of the Internet in Malaysia, where the mainstream press is tightly controlled. Read more here

China scales back Green Dam plans

13 Aug 2009 | Index Index, minipost

China has scaled back its plans to install controversial net filtering software, “Green Dam Youth Escort” on its citizens’ computers. The government has now said that citizens can choose whether they use the program, although installations on public computers will still go ahead. Read more here