07 Dec 11 | Index Index, minipost
Palestinian security services in Gaza City raided a social media conference on Sunday, stopping it from taking place. The police stormed The First Palestinian Conference on Social Media which was being held at Light House venue in the city, and halted the event, on the grounds organisers had not obtained the necessary permits.
Event organisers claimed that they had received permission from the Ministry of Information in the Gaza Strip. But security forces said this was insufficient and shut down the conference, which was attended by approximately 180 journalists and bloggers, and academics from Gaza universities.
06 Dec 11 | Index Index, minipost
The Indian Government have asked internet companies and social media organisations to censor internet content before it goes online. India’s acting telecommunications minister Kapil Sibal met with top officials from the Indian units of Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook on Monday to discuss implementing the removal of disparaging, inflammatory or defamatory content before being published online.
Three un-named executives of Internet companies were told in a previous meeting that Sibal expected them to set up a proactive pre-screening system using people, not technology.
02 Nov 11 | Digital Freedom, Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
Governments must not crack down on internet and mobile phone networks during times of unrest, the British Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday. Speaking at a two-day international cybersecurity conference in London, Cameron said that cybersecurity should not be an “excuse for censorship or to deny their people the opportunities that the internet represents”.
Speaking at the same conference, Index on Censorship CEO John Kampfner said: “as soon as our own Western-style stability of the state is called into question then freedom of expression is expendable. There should be one rule for all, including Western governments.”
19 Oct 11 | Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has stressed the need to keep freedom of speech as a priority, even in times of civil unrest. Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco on Monday, Costolo stood by the decision not to suspend the service or reveal user identities to authorities in the wake of the UK riots this summer. Talks between representatives from Facebook, Twitter, BlackBerry Messenger and Home Secretary Theresa May during the riots caused speculation that the government would try to temporarily suspend the digital networks.
