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Worldwide Battle Rages For Control Of The Internet

Publication Date: 
August 21, 2009
Source: 
New Scientist
Author: 
Jim Giles

Visiting Professor Jonathan Zittrain's project, Herdict, which allows users to report censored websites, is mentioned in this article:

When thousands of protestors took to the streets in Iran following this year's disputed presidential election, Twitter messages sent by activists let the world know about the brutal policing that followed. A few months earlier, campaigners in Moldova used Facebook to organise protests against the country's communist government, and elsewhere too the internet is playing an increasing role in political dissent.

Now governments are trying to regain control. By reinforcing their efforts to monitor activity online, they hope to deprive dissenters of information and the ability to communicate.

The latest evidence of these clampdowns comes in a report on the Middle East and north Africa by the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a collaboration of researchers based in the UK and North America. Among the restrictions it reports are clampdowns on Facebook in Syria and the use of hidden cameras in Saudi Arabia's internet cafes.

...

Jonathan Zittrain has developed Herdict, a site that allows users to report sites that they find blocked. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are high on the list of affected sites on reports from around the world. The country from where the largest number of reports originates is China, with around 7500 complaints.