Censorship Live Blog

10 weeks 1 day ago - Bahrain

Bahrain rejected a new report by an international media watchdog describing the Gulf Arab state as an "enemy of the internet" after it crushed a pro-democracy uprising last year.

"Bahrain offers a perfect example of successful crackdowns, with an information blackout achieved through an impressive arsenal of repressive measures," the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a report published this week.

The report cited exclusion of the foreign media, harassment of human rights defenders, arrests of bloggers and internet activists, prosecutions and defamation campaigns against free expression activists, and disruption of communications after mass protests first erupted in February 2011.

It said Bahrain slowed down the internet and increased filtering during the uprising, which was put down by force after one month in March 2011.

Bahrain fell in RSF's 2012 press freedom index to number 173, seven places from the worst offender, Eritrea, the watchdog said.

In its response, the Bahrain government said it was in the process of improving media standards, according to the recommendations of a commission of international legal experts which criticised media policy in a hard-hitting report in November.

"The government of Bahrain remains committed to meeting international media regulation standards and is working hard to improve its domestic media environment. Nevertheless, reform is a process and not an event," the government's Information Affairs Authority (IAA) said.

For more of Al Jazeera's special coverage visit our spotlight page: Bahrain crackdown

Tags censorship, RSF Reporters Sans Frontiers RWB Reporters Without Borders
11 weeks 3 days ago - Syria

From the official WhatsApp twitter account, comes the latest instance of censorship by the Syrian authorities:

WhatsAppWe are told that WhatsApp is now being blocked in Syria. A blow to free speech and open communications everywhere. Sad day for freedom.Mon Mar 05 02:46:16 2012
Tags censorship, WhatsApp
15 weeks 17 hours ago - Egypt

The public policies of Egypt's Nour Party, which represents the country's ultraconservative Salafi Muslim community, are anything but easy to predict. Today, Nour leaders have simultaneously come out in favor of media censorship and democracy-advocating, US-funded NGOs under investigation.

Nour Party chairman Emad Abdel Ghafour said that his party had gone to the US-based National Democratic Institute for training on public opinion polls and monitoring party manifestos and that "there's no doubt" their work "was a type of enrichment of political life".

On Wednesday, MPs from Ghafour's party expressed distrust for the media and requested that parliament sessions not be broadcast live.

“It’s irreligious to let people see government officials insulted,” Abdel Aziz al-Aqrasa said.

Tags censorship, NGO, nour, salafis
29 weeks 5 days ago - Syria

According to a report published in the Wall Street Journal, Blue Coat Systems, a US internet security company, has admitted that 13 of its devices are being used by the Syrian government to block the internet. 

The company claims that it does not know how the devices made their way to Syria, having shipped them to Dubai late last year with the understanding that they would be used by a section of the Iraqi government.

The WSJ reports that according to computer code seen by that publication, other Blue Coat products are also in use by the Syrian government, raising questions of whether the US company has violated US trade rules regarding Syria.

 "We don't want our products to be used by the government of Syria or any other country embargoed by the United States," Steve Daheb, Blue Coat senior vice president, has said. He said the company was "saddened by the human suffering and loss of human life" in Syria.

Tags Blue Coat, censorship, internet, Technology, United States
30 weeks 5 days ago - Syria

A California-based company is under review for allegations that their is currently being used by the government of Bashar al-Assad to censor the internet and track dissidents.

An official from the US Department of State told the Washington Post that the allegations against Blue Coast Systems are being taken very seriously, especially given US trade sanctions placed against the Assad government earlier this year.

 

Tags censorship
30 weeks 5 days ago - Syria

A california-based company is under review for allegations that software developed by them is currently being used by the government of Bashar al-Assad to censor the internet and track dissidents.

An official from the US Department of State told the Washington Post that the allegations against Blue Coast Systems are being taken very seriously, especially given US trade sanctions placed against the Assad government earlier this year.

 

Tags censorship
46 weeks 1 day ago - Yemen

Glen Johnson's father tells Al Jazeera that the New Zealand reporter has arrived in Dubai, though the family is yet to receive word from him.

We're just happy that he's out of Yemen. We've appreciated those within the media that have helped Glen.

Tags censorship, Glen Johnson, Lahij, media freedom, Sanaa

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