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A leaked confidential document reveals that authorities are planning strict measures to control internet content. The guidelines, obtained by Association for Progressive Communication member, Bytes for All, propose laws allowing officials to block any online material that it finds “objectionable”. “Objectionable” is not defined, leading critics to argue that the move gives the government “carte blanche” over internet content. The move follows recent widespread blocking of websites including Facebook and YouTube.
On 23 June, Viacom’s $1bn lawsuit against YouTube was thrown out by a US judge. The entertainment company had raised the claim citing widespread copyright infringement by the Google owned video hosting site. However, in his summary judgment, District Judge Louis Stanton held that Youtube was protected by the “safe provision” in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act because they had swiftly removed all offending videos when prompted.
The Lahore High Court has ordered that several websites, including Google, Yahoo, Amazon and YouTube should be blocked by the government. The move came after the court found that the sites carried and promoted “blasphemous” material .
Earlier this year, Pakistan blocked Facebook in protest against the “Let’s Draw Mohammed Day” group that appeared on the social networking site.
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Turkey’s Internet censorship hit the news this week when the country’s own president raised his objections to the policy on Twitter. Yaman Akdeniz explains the state’s recent struggles with Google and YouTube
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