Part I Access Contested: Theory and Analysis
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THE BUSINESS of CENSORSHIP: CONTENT MANAGEMENT and the CHINESE ECONOMY By
THE BUSINESS OF CENSORSHIP: CONTENT MANAGEMENT AND THE CHINESE ECONOMY by JOSHUA CLARK B.A. (Hons.), Queen's University at Kingston, 2009 MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Political Science) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2010 ©Joshua Clark, 2010 Abstract Content control and censorship on the Internet are increasingly important topics for scholars of democratization, media and communications. Most studies have examined the relationship between the Internet, content management and various elements important to democratization such as the formation of civil society organizations. This thesis attempts to expand this discussion by examining the effects of online content management on economic systems, using the People's Republic of China as an example. China features a globally integrated economy that is increasing dependent on manufacturing and services while simultaneously maintaining one of the most extensive online content management systems in the world. This paper attempts to show how the Communist Party of China is able to reconcile the need for connectivity in order to drive their economy while maintaining political control. It also discusses the long-term implications of this strategy. The first section consists of a series of quantitative and qualitative tests to determine how various classes of websites are managed. These tests reveal that in order to maintain the flow of information necessary for a globally integrated economy, the Chinese Communist Party utilizes strategies that manage but not block the information flows related to business. This survey is followed by a case study examining the relationship between Google and China, and the implications of Chinese regulation and control for the broader economy. -
West Censoring East
West Censoring East The Use of Western Technologies by Middle East Censors 2010-2011 Executive Summary The OpenNet Initiative has documented network filtering of the Internet by national governments in over forty countries worldwide. Countries use this network filtering as one of many methods to control the flow of online content that is objectionable to the filtering governments for social, political, and security reasons. Filtering is particularly appealing to governments as it allows them to control content not published within their national borders. National governments use a variety of technical means to filter the Internet; in this paper, we analyze the use of American- and Canadian- made software for the purpose of government-level filtering in the Middle East and North Africa. In this report, the authors find that nine countries in the region utilize Western-made tools for the purpose of blocking social and political content, effectively blocking a total of over 20 million Internet users from accessing such websites. 1 The authors analyze as well the increasing opacity of the usage of Western-made tools for filtering at the national level. Helmi Noman and Jillian C. York authored this report. ONI principal investigators Ronald Deibert, John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, and Jonathan Zittrain authored the foreword. Noman is a Senior Research Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, and is a Berkman Center Research Affiliate. York is the coordinator for the OpenNet Initiative at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. The authors would like to thank James Tay of Citizen Lab for technical support and test data analysis. -
Everyone's Guide to Bypassing Internet Censorship
EVERYONE’S GUIDE TO BY-PASSING INTERNET CENSORSHIP FOR CITIZENS WORLDWIDE A CIVISEC PROJECT The Citizen Lab The University of Toronto September, 2007 cover illustration by Jane Gowan Glossary page 4 Introduction page 5 Choosing Circumvention page 8 User self-assessment Provider self-assessment Technology page 17 Web-based Circumvention Systems Tunneling Software Anonymous Communications Systems Tricks of the trade page 28 Things to remember page 29 Further reading page 29 Circumvention Technologies Circumvention technologies are any tools, software, or methods used to bypass Inter- net filtering. These can range from complex computer programs to relatively simple manual steps, such as accessing a banned website stored on a search engine’s cache, instead of trying to access it directly. Circumvention Providers Circumvention providers install software on a computer in a non-filtered location and make connections to this computer available to those who access the Internet from a censored location. Circumvention providers can range from large commercial organi- zations offering circumvention services for a fee to individuals providing circumven- tion services for free. Circumvention Users Circumvention users are individuals who use circumvention technologies to bypass Internet content filtering. 4 Internet censorship, or content filtering, has become a major global problem. Whereas once it was assumed that states could not control Internet communications, according to research by the OpenNet Initiative (http://opennet.net) more than 25 countries now engage in Internet censorship practices. Those with the most pervasive filtering policies have been found to routinely block access to human rights organi- zations, news, blogs, and web services that challenge the status quo or are deemed threatening or undesirable. -
Deep Packet Inspection and Internet Censorship: International Convergence on an ‘Integrated Technology of Control’1
Deep Packet Inspection and Internet Censorship: International Convergence on an ‘Integrated Technology of Control’1 Ben Wagner, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and Universiteit Leiden Introduction* The academic debate on deep packet inspection (DPI) centres on methods of network management and copyright protection and is directly linked to a wider debate on freedom of speech on the Internet. The debate is deeply rooted in an Anglo-Saxon perspective of the Internet and is frequently depicted as a titanic struggle for the right to fundamentally free and unfettered access to the Internet.2 This debate is to a great extent defined by commercial interests. These interests whether of copyright owners, Internet service providers, 1 (Bendrath 2009) * A first draft of this paper was presented at the 3rd Annual Giganet Symposium in December 2008 in Hyderabad, India. For their advice and support preparing this paper I would like to thank: Ralf Bendrath, Claus Wimmer, Geert Lovink, Manuel Kripp, Hermann Thoene, Paul Sterzel, David Herzog, Rainer Hülsse, Wolfgang Fänderl and Stefan Scholz. 2 (Frieden 2008, 633-676; Goodin 2008; Lehr et al. 2007; Mueller 2007, 18; Zittrain 2008) Deep Packet Inspection and Internet Censorship: International Convergence on an ‘Integrated Technology of Control’1, by Ben Wagner application developers or consumers, are all essentially economic. All of these groups have little commercial interest in restricting free speech as such. However some might well be prepared to accept a certain amount of ‘collateral damage’ to internet free speech in exchange for higher revenues. It can be argued that more transparent and open practices from network service providers are needed regarding filtering policy and the technology used. -
The Internet and Elections: the 2006 Presidential
ONI Internet Watch 001 2 About OpenNet Initiative’s Internet Watch Reports Internet Watch reports investigate emerging trends in Internet filtering and control. These occasional reports take a detailed look at events, policies, technologies and countries where filtering and content controls are occurring in new and unexpected ways, or where filtering has been alleged but undetected using conventional ONI testing methodologies. They are designed to test hypotheses, refine monitoring techniques, and report on the cutting edge of the global informational battle space. Internet Watch reports are available in download or hard copy from the ONI. ONI Internet Watch 001 3 Executive Summary As Internet penetration increases globally, so too does its importance to political contests. Both the Internet and cell phones were used to mobilize the masses during the recent “colour revolutions” in the former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, which brought down long-standing authoritarian regimes. This first Internet Watch report, which focuses on election monitoring, represents a pilot venture for the OpenNet Initiative. The motivating hypothesis is that in democratically-challenged countries, the openness of the Net is likely to come under increasing pressure at key political times. One key conclusion thus far is that state tampering with the Internet during election periods is likely to be multi- faceted, elusive, less direct, and more difficult to prove than outright filtering and blocking. A second conclusion, based on the first, is that monitoring the Internet for openness during elections is an extremely slippery task that requires the development of new testing methodologies and monitoring capabilities. This report presents the findings of ONI’s efforts to monitor the Internet during the March 2006 presidential elections in Belarus. -
Recording As Heckling
Recording as Heckling SCOTT SKINNER-THOMPSON* A growing body of authority recognizes that citizen recording of police of®cers and public space is protected by the First Amendment. But the judicial and scholarly momentum behind the emerging ªright to recordº fails to fully incorporate recording's cost to another im- portant right that also furthers First Amendment principles: the right to privacy. This Article helps ®ll that gap by comprehensively analyzing the First Amendment interests of both the right to record and the right to privacy in public while highlighting the role of technology in altering the First Amendment landscape. Recording information can be critical to future speech and, as a form of confrontation to authority, is also a direct method of expression. Likewise, efforts to maintain privacy while navi- gating public space may create an incubator for thought and future speech, and can also serve as direct, expressive resistance to surveillance regimes. As this Article explains, once the First Amendment values of both the right to record and the right to privacy are systematically understood, existing doctrineÐincluding the concept of the ªheckler's vetoºÐcan help restore balance between these sometimes-competing forms of ªspeech,º permitting citizen recording of police and allowing govern- ment regulation of certain recordings that breach the privacy shields of other citizens. Just as a heckler's suppression of another's free speech justi®es gov- ernment regulation of the heckler's speech, the government may limit the ability to record when recording (a form of speech) infringes on and pierces reasonable efforts to maintain privacy (also a form of expres- sion). -
Factors That Push Bangladeshi Media to Exercise Self-Censorship
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations August 2020 Factors That Push Bangladeshi Media to Exercise Self-Censorship Abu Taib Ahmed University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Journalism Studies Commons Recommended Citation Ahmed, Abu Taib, "Factors That Push Bangladeshi Media to Exercise Self-Censorship" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 2445. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/2445 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FACTORS THAT PUSH BANGLADESHI MEDIA TO EXERCISE SELF-CENSORSHIP by Abu Taib Ahmed A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts in Media Studies at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee August 2020 ABSTRACT FACTORS THAT PUSH BANGLADESHI MEDIA TO EXERCISE SELF-CENSORSHIP by Abu Taib Ahmed The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2020 Under the Supervision of Professor David S. Allen Self-censorship is one of the biggest threats to press freedom. Press freedom, as well as freedom of the expression, is an indicator of a society’s freedom and democracy. If the media cannot act freely, it can impact society’s ability to function as a democracy. Journalists often face pressures from various power structures to engage in self-censorship. While journalistic self- censorship has been examined in a number of different countries, no studies of journalistic self- censorship in Bangladesh have been undertaken or no studies have been undertaken to see what factors influence journalists to exercise self-censorship or to figure out reasons that make journalists in Bangladesh filter media content. -
The International Politics of Authoritarian Internet Control in Iran
International Journal of Communication 12(2018), 3856–3876 1932–8036/20180005 Transforming Threats to Power: The International Politics of Authoritarian Internet Control in Iran MARCUS MICHAELSEN1 University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Authoritarian Internet control is generally explained by domestic power preservation: to curtail dissent within their borders, authoritarian regimes censor, monitor, and shape online communications. Yet this focus neglects important external factors. As a global communication technology, the Internet carries strategic and normative interests of competing international actors. This article investigates the influence of international politics on practices of Internet surveillance and censorship. Using the case of Iran, I analyze how opposition to the West, and particularly to the United States, led the Iranian state to perceive the Internet as a strategic battleground for regime stability. I argue that external threats in the form of democracy promotion, cyberattacks, and sanctions have created conditions enabling the Iranian state to advance and justify capabilities for censorship and surveillance. They have also pushed the regime to build a “national Internet” that is more resistant to outside influence and open to state control. Authoritarian practices are thus produced in international struggles over the use, content, and infrastructure of digital technologies. Keywords: information and communication technologies, censorship, surveillance, authoritarianism, international relations, Iran The fundamental aim of authoritarian rulers is to maintain and expand political power. In the field of Internet politics, authoritarian power holders have pursued this aim by establishing sophisticated systems of Internet control to curb alternative information and dissent perceived as challenge to their rule. They have also come to benefit from digital communication technologies for information manipulation, monitoring, and surveillance. -
A Comparative Analysis of the Film Censorship and the Film Censorship Board in Malaysia and Bangladesh
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE FILM CENSORSHIP AND THE FILM CENSORSHIP BOARD IN MALAYSIA AND BANGLADESH BY MD. ZAHIDUL ISLAM A thesis submitted in fulfilment of requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Laws Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws International Islamic University Malaysia SEPTEMBER 2017 ABSTRACT Since the 19th century film censorship has been being practiced by Malaysia and Bangladesh to protect society from any possible negative and immoral influences. In so doing, film censorship laws and guidelines were adopted by both countries. However, here exists some weaknesses in film censorship laws of both countries which are affecting the film industry to achieve a better position. Thus study adopts doctrinal and non-doctrinal methods of legal research to collect data. For the doctrinal method, the study uses a qualitative content analysis by analysing contents of library and online based literature, statutes, and case laws. For the non doctrinal method, the study uses semi-structured interview to collect data from the directors, actors, actresses and members of the film censorship board. It is found that film censorship laws are not the barrier to the freedom of speech and expression rather they are working as a mechanism to protect the entire society in various aspects. Moreover, the film censorship laws of both countries provide discretionary power to the Minister or the government which is a threat to the film industry. It is also found that film censorship laws of both countries did not mention any qualification for the member of the film censorship board. It is, therefore, suggested that there is a need for amendment of film censorship laws of both countries. -
Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users
Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users Erica Newland, Caroline Nolan, Cynthia Wong, and Jillian York† The Berkman Center for Internet & Society and The Center for Democracy & Technology September 2011 † Erica Newland is a Policy Analyst at the Center for Democracy & Technology. Caroline Nolan is a Senior Project Manager at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Cynthia Wong is Director of the Center for Democracy & Technology’s Project on Global Internet Freedom. Jillian York is Director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The authors wish to thank their colleagues at the Global Network Initiative (GNI) for their feedback and suggestions for improvement. They are also grateful to participants in the GNI’s shared learning workstream on account deactivation and content removal for their inputs and review. 1 Executive Summary From the role of Facebook during protests in the Middle East and North Africa,1 to the use of YouTube, Twitter, and other tools in the wake of earthquakes in Haiti and Japan and the wildfires in Russia,2 platforms that host user-generated content (UGC) are increasingly being used by a range of civic actors in innovative ways: to amplify their voices, organize campaigns and emergency services, and advocate around issues of common concern. However, while these platforms and services may be perceived as public, their users are subject to the rules and controls that private companies create and implement. Intentionally or not, private entities assume a primary role in providing and controlling access to the ‘networked public sphere.’ This ‘networked public sphere’ has supplanted, in part, the traditional town square by providing an open and dynamic online space for social and political debate and activism where citizens around the world increasingly exercise their rights to free expression, opinion, assembly, and association. -
State Power 2.0.Pdf
STATE POWER 2.0 Proof Copy 000 Hussain book.indb 1 9/9/2013 2:02:58 PM This collection is dedicated to the international networks of activists, hactivists, and enthusiasts leading the global movement for Internet freedom. Proof Copy 000 Hussain book.indb 2 9/9/2013 2:02:58 PM State Power 2.0 Authoritarian Entrenchment and Political Engagement Worldwide Edited by MUZAMMIL M. HUSSAIN University of Michigan, USA PHILIP N. HOWARD University of Washington, USA Proof Copy 000 Hussain book.indb 3 9/9/2013 2:02:59 PM © Muzammil M. Hussain and Philip N. Howard 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Muzammil M. Hussain and Philip N. Howard have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company Wey Court East 110 Cherry Street Union Road Suite 3-1 Farnham Burlington, VT 05401-3818 Surrey, GU9 7PT USA England www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows: Howard, Philip N. State Power 2.0 : Authoritarian Entrenchment and Political Engagement Worldwide / by Philip N. Howard and Muzammil M. Hussain. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4094-5469-4 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-1-4094-5470-0 (ebook) -- ISBN 978- 1-4724-0328-5 (epub) 1. -
Circumventing Web Surveillance Using Covert Channels
Bard College Bard Digital Commons Senior Projects Fall 2019 Bard Undergraduate Senior Projects Fall 2019 CovertNet: Circumventing Web Surveillance Using Covert Channels Will C. Burghard Bard College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_f2019 Part of the OS and Networks Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Burghard, Will C., "CovertNet: Circumventing Web Surveillance Using Covert Channels" (2019). Senior Projects Fall 2019. 38. https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_f2019/38 This Open Access work is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been provided to you by Bard College's Stevenson Library with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this work in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COVERTNET: CIRCUMVENTING WEB CENSORSHIP USING COVERT CHANNELS Senior Project submitted to The Division of Science, Mathematics and Computing by Will Burghard Annandale-on-Hudson, New York December 2019 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks to all professors in the Computer Science department, including my advisor Robert McGrail, for making this project possible and for an enriching experience at Bard. TABLE OF