Stories about Censorship from August, 2019
30 August 2019
Kazakhstan pauses interception of encrypted traffic, but for how long?
This was the authorities’ third attempt to enforce the use of a “national security certificate.” Although the authorities have relented, there are signs that it won’t be the last.
29 August 2019
Netizen Report: Critic calls Indonesia’s provincial internet shutdown ‘racist’
Indonesia's regional internet shutdown continues, YouTube blocks 210 channels over suspected links to China and Tonga threatens to block Facebook.
Months after pledge to open internet, Ethiopia disrupts connectivity amidst communal violence, tension
Ethiopian authorities have resorted to shutting down entire networks in response to recent ethnic and political tensions. A lack of transparency makes it impossible to challenge.
25 August 2019
Indonesia sends in troops and cuts internet as West Papua protesters denounce racist treatment of students
"Blocking and restricting access to the internet in Papua and West Papua will make it harder for people living outside of the two provinces to verify facts."
23 August 2019
In Prague, a bleeding monument reopens old wounds
The statue of Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev is often targeted by protestors on the anniversary of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, but this year the controversy is more heated than...
22 August 2019
Netizen Report: The shutdown in Kashmir continues
Kashmir's communications blackout continues, Russia goes after 'illegal' protest videos online, and Google re-opens its office in Egypt.
21 August 2019
Remembering the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
Over a third of young Czechs are unable to make a link between the date of August 21, 1968 and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
20 August 2019
Mozambique pushes for SIM card registration, raising privacy concerns
The measure would make it easier for the authorities to identify the owners of registered SIM cards.
19 August 2019
Pakistan's government suspends relations with India in show of solidarity with Kashmiris
After Narendra Modi's government in India scrapped Article 370, many Pakistanis asked the ruling party to take action.
Mainland Chinese netizens face ‘pink terror’ of patriotic trolls amid Hong Kong protests
Those who do not toe the official party line are identified and subjected to doxxing.
16 August 2019
Vitriolic response to art exhibit tests the limits of freedom of speech in Japan
A controversial art exhibition at an arts festival in Japan has led to government criticism, threats, at least one arrest, protests by artists and questions about freedom of expression.
Indian government asks Twitter to remove accounts ‘spreading rumours’ about Kashmir
With the communication blackout inside Kashmir, netizens elsewhere resorted to Twitter to speak out against India's revocation of the region's autonomous status.
Indian-administered Kashmir is like an ‘open prison’, says observers
"What is happening in Kashmir is 'normal' in the sense that state-backed violence, deceit and lies, gag on civilian voices, and govt propaganda have always been a 'normal' in Kashmir."
12 August 2019
Withheld in Turkey: How the government exploits removal requests to silence critical and independent voices
For years, Turkey has been exploiting tools offered by social media platforms to restrict illegal content in a particular jurisdiction, to silence critical voices.
9 August 2019
Netizen Report: Journalists are under fire from Cambodia to Cuba — and beyond
Across the globe, journalists are facin charges of everything from espionage to tax evasion.
6 August 2019
Sentencing of Turkish social media influencer sparks debate on free speech
A Turkish Twitter celebrity is being sued for allegedly advocating drug consumption, reigniting the debate about online freedom of expression
2 August 2019
Ugandan feminist Stella Nyanzi deploys nude protest to challenge free speech sentence
Feminist scholar Stella Nyanzi, known for "radical rudeness" as protest, flashed her breasts and shouted obscenities in protest in court after receiving 9 more months in prison for cyber harassment.
