10 Aug 2011 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, minipost
India’s Department of Telecommunications has been asked to monitor Twitter and Facebook, because of fears that the sites are being used to plan terrorist attacks. In April, the Indian Information Technology (IT) Act of 2008 was amended, giving officials the ability to monitor web activity. It also provides officials with access to private information, including passwords, without a court order. However, Facebook and Twitter do not release the information of their users without a court order. This coincides with India’s threat to outlaw the usage of Blackberry devices, because of Research in Motion’s refusal to comply with demands to lower the level of encryption of messages.
29 Jul 2011 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
The potent reaction from both Chinese netizens and mainstream media in response to Sunday’s deadly train crash in Wenzhou has shown how the state’s propaganda machine is being increasingly challenged. The majority of Chinese media (including state-owned organs) this week ignored directives issued by the Central Propaganda Ministry not to report on the causes of the crash. Meanwhile, netizens’ use of social media, both to chronicle the disaster and to express their fury at the government’s handling of the situation, has led outspoken paper Southern Metropolis Daily to claim “no one, not even someone with the lowest IQ, would choose to challenge the public at this particular point in time.”
15 Jun 2011 | Uncategorized
The case of Joanne Fraill, who faces jail for breaching jury rules by contacting a defendant through Facebook, is a reminder of the seriousness of the challenge to the British justice system posed by the internet. There is more at stake here than Tweeting about the private lives of celebrities. (more…)
16 Mar 2011 | Index Index, minipost
New York City Ballet bosses have taken the decision to censor their dancers’ tweets. This move was announced after Devin Alberda ridiculed a major donor and wrote disparaging remarks about the director’s arrest for drink-driving. He has allegedly been “silently booing” benefactor David Hoch, who has donated $100 million to the company to fund the Lincoln Center theatre.
