Web Censorship on the Increase

mid-devonian writes "Close on the heels of the temporary blocking of YouTube by a Turkish judge, a group of academics has published research showing that Web censorship is on the increase worldwide. As many as two dozen countries are blocking content using a variety of techniques. Distressingly, the most censor-heavy countries (which includes China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Burma and Uzbekistan) seem to be passing on their technologically sophisticated techniques to other areas of the world. 'New censorship techniques include the periodic barring of complete applications, such as China's block on Wikipedia or Pakistan's ban on Google's blogging service, and the use of more advanced technologies such as 'keyword filtering', which is used to track down material by identifying sensitive words.'"

Comments

Uh oh

[eviloverlordx]

I was just reading about *CENSORED* on the *CENSORED*, when all of a sudden some guys *CENSORED* into my apartment and started *CENSORED* my stuff and *CENSORED* my wife.

This is good news

[Anonymous Coward]

As a citizen of the People's Republic of China, I can only see this as good news. It is heartening to see that the people of the world are outgrowing their childish attachment to outdated notions like "freedom" and "individualism" and realizing that future progress of humanity depends on subordination of individual drives to the good of harmonious society and beneficial development of the motherland.

At this time in history, people all over the world are waking up to the damage that capitalism and "Democracy" have brought to the world. America and Europe and their nineteenth-century ideas of "rights" and "freedom" have brought little else but war, genocide, terrorism, environmental devastation, immoral depravity, exploitation, and chaos.

Small wonder that a recent Beijing Star poll shows that People's Republic of China is the most respected nation on earth. We move forward together harmoniously into twenty-first century, the century of Communism.

Re:Proud to be an American

[R2.0]

Yeah - we think we're hot shit, but everyone else's Mom and Dad thinks we are vulgar and violent.

And when they aren't looking, all their kids try to get inside us, sometimes when we don't want it, but we let it happen anyway 'cause it feels so good.