Ahoy, it’s doom and gloom for Reddit after the company welcomed investment from Chinese censorship overlord Tencent. Well, not quite. The reality is, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. In recruiting the company behind one of the internet’s largest and vibrant social networks — chat app WeChat — and countless blockbuster games, Reddit has pulled off […]
View More No, Tencent isn’t about to burn Reddit downCategory: censorshit
Tor pulls in record donations as it lessens reliance on US government grants
Tor, the open source initiative which provides a more secure way to access the internet, is continuing to diversify its funding away from its long-standing reliance on U.S. government grants. The Tor Foundation — the organization behind the service which stands for ‘The Onion Router’ — announced this week that it brought in a record […]
View More Tor pulls in record donations as it lessens reliance on US government grantsVietnam threatens to penalize Facebook for breaking its draconian cybersecurity law
Well, that didn’t take long. We’re less than ten days into 2019 and already Vietnam is aiming threats at Facebook after it violating its draconian cybersecurity law which came into force on January 1. The U.S. social network stands accused of allowing users in Vietnam to post “slanderous content, anti-government sentiment and libel and defamation […]
View More Vietnam threatens to penalize Facebook for breaking its draconian cybersecurity lawRejected journalist visa sparks press freedom fears in Hong Kong
There’s concern for the freedom of the press in Hong Kong after the government declined to renew the visa of a veteran Financial Times’ editor, dealing an alarming blow to the country’s thriving journalism community. Victor Mallet, the FT’s Asia news editor who is also vice-president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, is effectively being expelled after he was […]
View More Rejected journalist visa sparks press freedom fears in Hong KongMyanmar jails Reuters reporters who uncovered military atrocity
Reporting the news isn’t illegal, unless you’re in Myanmar. The Southeast Asian country this week sentenced two reporters from Reuters to seven years in jail in response to an investigative report that uncovered atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims by the army. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, the two Reuters staffers, have been in custody since […]
View More Myanmar jails Reuters reporters who uncovered military atrocityThere’s more: Google is also said to be developing a censored news app for China
Can Google’s week get any worse? Less than a day after the revelation that it is planning a censored search engine for China, so comes another: the U.S. firm is said to be developing a government-friendly news app for the country, where its search engine and other services remain blocked. That’s according to The Information which reports […]
View More There’s more: Google is also said to be developing a censored news app for ChinaThere’s more: Google is also said to be developing a censored news app for China
Can Google’s week get any worse? Less than a day after the revelation that it is planning a censored search engine for China, so comes another: the U.S. firm is said to be developing a government-friendly news app for the country, where its search engine and other services remain blocked. That’s according to The Information which reports […]
View More There’s more: Google is also said to be developing a censored news app for ChinaGoogle is reportedly planning a censorship-friendly search service for China
Google’s search service could be poised to make a dramatic return to China next year, according to an explosive report from The Intercept. Google yanked its search service from China in 2010 in the face of pressure over censorship, but now the publication reports that it has developed a censored version that could launch in […]
View More Google is reportedly planning a censorship-friendly search service for ChinaApple’s iCloud user data in China is now handled by a state-owned mobile operator
If you’re an Apple customer living in China who didn’t already opt out of having your iCloud data stored locally, here’s a good reason to do so now. That information, the data belonging to China-based iCloud users which includes emails and text messages, is now being stored by a division of China Telecom, the state-owned telco. […]
View More Apple’s iCloud user data in China is now handled by a state-owned mobile operatorVietnam’s new cyber security law draws concern for restricting free speech
Big tech firms including Google, Facebook and Twitter have expressed major concern after Vietnam’s government passed a law that promises to introduce tighter restrictions on free speech online. The new regulation passed this week strengthens the government’s position on censoring the internet, drawing Amnesty International to decry that it leaves “no safe place for people to […]
View More Vietnam’s new cyber security law draws concern for restricting free speechChina’s web censors go into overdrive as President Xi Jinping consolidates power
A week that begins with the repeal of regulation that prevents dictatorship in China is likely to be a busy one for the country’s censorship people, and so it has proven to be. China’s web scrubbers have been busy banning a collection of terms and dropping the hammer on user accounts after the Xi Jinping, the country’s premier, got the all-clear to become ‘President… Read More
Chinese police are using smart glasses to identify potential suspects
China already operates the world’s largest surveillance state with some 170 CCTV cameras at work, but its line of sight is about to get a new angle thanks to new smart eyewear that is being piloted by police officers. The smart specs look a lot like Google Glass, but they are used for identifying potential suspects. The device connects to a feed which taps into China’s state… Read More