censorship
The government of Pakistan currently has plans to filter the internet, which will affect freedom of expression, speech and opinion in the country. Bytes for All fears the internet will be further restricted as the 2013 general elections approach. Read the public statement by Bytes for All.
A recent petition which calls on Pakistani internet service providers to filter the internet has sparked concern among internet rights advocates. APC criticises the proposal as inappropriate in a democratic society which values freedom of expression and the right to information.
<p>photo by brionv</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/brionv/" title="http://www.flickr.com/people/brionv/">http://www.flickr.com/people/brion...
On 1 January 2011, a new law came into effect, which now enables the ruling party to gain control of the internet through the creation of a powerful censorship authority. To show our concern for fundamental rights and free speech we will black out our online presence on the 5 January 2011 for 24 hours. We ask that everyone concerned about fundamental rights and free speech to black out its onli...
By Sabeen Mahmud.After lifting the nationwide Facebook ban on May 31, the Lahore High Court directed authorities to devise methods to permanently block “blasphemous content” on the internet in Pakistan. “We believe that this order will be misused by the government to block citizens access to online activism and curb voices against corruption and corrupt practices by the government functio...
Pakistanis woke up on Thursday 20 May to find sites like Facebook and YouTube blocked after a government crackdown on “blasphemous” websites. “We consider this ban unnecessary, based on wrongful accusations against civil liberties and it will further instigate hatred among international Muslim and non-Muslim communities,” APC member Bytes For All tells APCNews. In an update, we are told...
The proliferation of sexual content on the internet and the considerable size of the pornography market online is a concern to lots of different groups. However while the online adult sex industry accounts for 12% of web pages, the internet has also been used to express and explore a range of sexual experiences, relationships and content that cannot be considered “harmful”. This kind conten...
A poster promoting a new book called "Access Controlled" was removed by the IGF's organisers who claimed a sentence in the poster violated UN policy. The sentence in question reads "The first generation of Internet controls consisted largely of building firewalls at key Internet gateways; China's famous "Great Firewall of China" is one of the first national Internet filtering systems."
It is obvious that the discourse around content regulation has shifted mostly towards the protection of children from harmful content and child pornography on the internet. Any references to gender-related concerns were dropped, including even problematic conceptions that women and children need the paternalistic protection of the state or international bodies from harmful content. One can spec...
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