Stories about Censorship from August, 2014
Ukraine Asks Facebook’s Zuckerberg to Discipline Kremlin Bots
Ukrainian Facebook users have complained to Mark Zuckerberg himself that their accounts are being blocked on the site in droves—and they're blaming the Kremlin's bot army.
Three Years After the Arab Spring, Tunisian and Egyptian Musicians Continue to Fight Censorship
Hind started the TeMa Rebelle Festival to bring together young socially conscious musicians from the Arab world with their European counterparts so that they would meet and collaborate.
Activist Blogger in Vietnam Gets 3 Years Behind Bars for ‘Obstructing Traffic’
A court has sentenced a prominent Vietnamese activist blogger to three years in prison for posing a “serious obstruction to traffic.” Her two other companions will join her behind bars.
With Body Bags Returning from Ukraine, ‘the War’ Comes Home to Russians
At the wrong ends of bullets and bombs, people have been dying in Ukraine for months already. Now there are new signs that Russian soldiers are joining in the bloodshed.
Two Months After Flooding, Digital Freedoms in Serbia Are Still in Trouble
In the wake of devastating floods that hit Serbia in May 2014, several local websites that published materials that criticized the government's relief efforts suffered technical attacks.
Macedonian Police Harass Journalists Covering Protests
Police harassment of media seems to have become a regular occurrence in Macedonia, which has included the detainment and sentencing of some journalists in the country. On August 25, 2014,...
Blogger Law Traps Russia's Activists in Limbo
The new blogger law's vagueness makes it an extremely potent tool for controlling dissent in Russia.
China Blocks Beijing Independent Film Festival
Beijing authorities blocked an annual independent film festival from opening on August 23, 2014. The move is seen as a sign that Beijing is tightening ideological controls. According to indie director Huang...
Leaked Documents Reveal How the Chinese Communist Party Channels Public Opinion
What exactly do China's online "opinion analysts" do? A recent scandal at Peking University sheds light on the question.
‘Revolutionary’ Band Laal Speaks Out Against Pakistan's Facebook and YouTube Bans
As Pakistan continues to restrict access to YouTube and Facebook, activist band Laal discusses the silencing effect that these bans have on artists, and discusses the future of free expression.
Google Docs in Amharic: A Security Tool for Ethiopian Bloggers
Cyber Ethiopia explains why Google Docs in Amharic is an important internet security tool for Ethiopian bloggers and how to enable it: The Ethiopian government uses many methods to spy...
Iranian Minister Says Government ‘Never Promised’ to End Web Censorship
ICT Minister Vaezi's words contradict President Hassan Rouhani's pledge to lift bans on popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
SMS Death Threats Stoke Fears on Fate of Abducted Journalist in Maldives
The messages came just days before the unexplained disappearance of journalist and democracy advocate Ahmed Rizwan Abdulla.
The Internet Never Forgets: Join a Global Conversation on the EU’s ‘Right to Be Forgotten’
If the 'Right to be Forgotten' were implemented in your country, would it threaten the public interest? Global Voices editors are asking experts worldwide for their thoughts on the issue.
Sex, Censorship, and the Internet: Take the EROTICS Survey
The Association for Progressive Communications is asking LGBT activists, women's rights activists, queer bloggers and anyone with an active voice on issues of gender and sexuality on the Internet to participate...
Russia's Mockery of Jen Psaki Has Failed
One of the RuNet's latest attacks on the U.S. State Department spokesperson reveals how even Russia’s noblest patriots seem to rely on American resources when deriding the White House.
Donetsk's Guerrilla Separatists Kidnap the Ukrainian Guerrilla Artist Who Dared to Mock Them
A Ukrainian guerrilla artist who has been stealthily putting up artworks mocking the separatists of the Donetsk People's Republic in the occupied city of Donetsk was captured by the rebels.
Twitter Popularity Brings No Joy to Self-Dubbed “Shitty Slovyansk” Blogger
The information war and the real one have almost become synonymous for a Ukrainian Twitter blogger from Slovyansk, and he is sick of both.
Iran Vows to Block All “Unlicensed” Websites
On the day to recognize journalists, Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance announced that all news websites must henceforth obtain a state license -- or face automatic censorship.
Russia Just Doubled Its Internet Surveillance Program
At first glance, "SORM 2.0" seems redundant, but the reform of police surveillance online could vastly expand the reach of the Kremlin.
Even Pussy Riot Fears Russia’s New Internet Crackdown
There was no way to predict that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, the former Pussy Riot political prisoner, would curtail her online activism to avoid being targeted by the Attorney General.