censorship

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Is Google Hiding Porn on Image Search?

Some users cry foul over safe search changes

(Newser) - We're sure none of our esteemed readers would ever use Google's wholesome Image Search to find filthy pictures of naked people committing depraved acts. But on the off chance that you do, you might notice that it's a little harder to find what you're looking for....

China Blocks NY Times Site for 'Smearing' Leader

Report on Wen Jiabao's wealth angers Beijing

(Newser) - China has blocked the New York Times' website and all searches for "New York Times" on microblogs, accusing it of smearing Wen Jiabao with a story about the immense wealth his family has amassed during his reign as prime minister. A foreign ministry spokesman said the report "blackens...

Afghanistan Bans YouTube Over Mohammed Video

Filmmaker goes into hiding in wake of embassy attack

(Newser) - The Afghan government has reportedly censored YouTube to prevent anyone from watching the anti-Muslim film that inspired violent mobs in Libya and Egypt, leading to the death of the US ambassador to Libya. "We have been told to shut down YouTube to the Afghan public until the video is...

Facebook Blocks New Yorker's Cartoon Boobs

Site apologizes for mistake, says it's taken steps to correct

(Newser) - Even the New Yorker's getting too raunchy for puritanical Facebook administrators, Gawker has discovered. The Facebook page for the magazine's cartoons was temporarily blocked when the New Yorker posted a drawing of Adam and Eve sitting against an apple tree, with Eve remarking: "Well, it was original....

Russia Restricts South Park Over Kenny's Deaths

'Simpsons' takes hit over 'Itchy & Scratchy'

(Newser) - Excessive violence—read: Kenny's deaths and the Itchy & Scratchy Show—have South Park and the Simpsons facing censorship in Russia. Because of Kenny's recurring demise, South Park will have to air after 11pm on a national channel aimed at young adults, AFP reports via Raw Story . The...

Burma: We're Done Censoring the Press

Regulators will no longer see articles before they're published

(Newser) - Another move toward openness in Burma: The country's ostensibly civilian government is today halting Burma's decades-long censorship of local press, it says. Until now, publications had been required to send articles to censors before they could be published; this sometimes resulted in full pages being blacked out. The...

Iran Warns Against Filming ... Chickens

With prices soaring, images of plenty could provoke poor, it says

(Newser) - There's a new way to run afoul of the government in Iran: by filming chickens. With food lines lengthening and prices soaring due to international sanctions, Iran's leaders are warning filmmakers and broadcasters not to show people enticing things they might not be able to afford—because doing...

Chinese Siri Draws Blank on Tiananmen

Even if it's not censoring searches, it's not very good

(Newser) - Siri is learning Chinese, but it looks like there are some things she's specifically not learning. Ask Chinese Siri about the Tiananmen Square incident, and she'll respond with answers like "I couldn't find any appointments related to 'Do you know about Tiananmen,'" or...

Google: Censor Requests Surging—Even From West

It sees 'alarming rise' in governments trying to stifle political speech

(Newser) - Google says it is seeing an alarming rise in government censor requests—often from "Western democracies not typically associated with censorship." In its latest biannual report, the company says it received a total of 1,007 such requests from governments around the world and complied with just over...

'Obscene' Zuma Painting Case Heads to Court

It 'presents me as a womanizer, philanderer,' says South African president

(Newser) - The ruling South African party is heading to court today to support President Jacob Zuma's demand that an "obscene" painting of him be censored. The painting, which was vandalized earlier this week at a Johannesburg gallery, features Zuma with his genitals exposed. It's "rude, crude, and...

Pakistan Blocks Twitter
 Pakistan Blocks Twitter 
May 20, 2012 7:56 AM CDT

Pakistan Blocks Twitter

(Newser) - Pakistan has decided it's had about 139 characters too many of Twitter, yanking the microblogging site over material it says is offensive to Islam, reports al-Jazeera . The material in question was promoting a Facebook contest to post images of the prophet Mohammed—which are considered blasphemous, even those framed...

UK Considers Blocking All Porn Sites

David Cameron wants you to have to 'opt in' with your ISP

(Newser) - British Prime Minister David Cameron is considering a move forcing Internet service providers to block all porn unless users specifically request it, the Guardian reports, in a move likely to be vigorously opposed by the ISPs, free speech groups, and teenagers sneaking onto their parents' computers. Cameron will consult on...

AP Apologizes for Firing Reporter Over WWII Scoop

Ed Kennedy gets vindication, posthumously

(Newser) - As war scoops go, it was as big as they get: The AP's Ed Kennedy filed a story in May of 1945 saying, correctly, that Germany had surrendered. His reward? He got fired because he ignored what he thought was a misguided embargo. Nearly 70 years later, the news...

Ai Weiwei: China Will Never Beat Internet

Censorship only builds pressure in Internet age, warns famous artist

(Newser) - Authoritarian societies are all about propaganda and control, but the Internet has destroyed both of those pillars, writes the famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in the Guardian . Unlike Russia's glasnost, China never really opened ideologically to the West, only practically. Then came the Internet, and thanks to blogs and...

China Raises Ruckus by Banning Winslet's 3D Breasts

Official explanation is a fake, but decision still isn't going over well

(Newser) - Here's the naked truth: The Chinese will not get the full Titanic effect. Kate Winslet's bare breasts in the 3D version of the movie are being censored in China. "Considering the vivid 3D effects, we fear that viewers may reach out their hands for a touch, and...

Thailand Bans 'Subversive' Film Adaptation of Macbeth

Thai censors sensitive to depictions of monarchy

(Newser) - Thailand's film censors have banned an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, saying it could inflame political passions in the country where it is taboo to criticize the monarchy. The Thai-language film Shakespeare Must Die is about a theater group in a fictional country resembling Thailand that is staging a...

China, Thailand Applaud Twitter Censorship

Dissidents fear losing free-speech tool

(Newser) - Twitter's controversial decision to allow censorship of tweets on a country-by-country basis has won praise from two of the countries with the busiest censors. In Thailand—ranked 153rd in the world for press freedom because of its strict laws against offending the monarchy—the country's information minister called...

Chinese Bloggers Mock US' SOPA Outrage

Even as some say they support the protesters

(Newser) - Chinese Internet users were just a wee bit amused by American protests over the Stop Online Privacy Act . "Don't understand the hoopla over Wikipedia blackout in the US today," one microblogger wrote, according to the LA Times . "We blacked it out here years ago. Where are...

In Iran, Fight Brews Over Blocked Broadcasts

Tehran blocking foreign broadcasts while sending out its own

(Newser) - Should Iran be allowed to use Western satellites to broadcast its state-run TV channels to dozens of countries while it continues to jam Persian language-channels from abroad? Human rights activists, who complain that Iran has stepped up censorship of channels such as the BBC and the Voice of America in...

Online Piracy Bill Becomes Major Battle

Lobbyists dig in over controversial SOPA measure

(Newser) - A battle is heating up on Capitol Hill over a controversial new bill targeting online piracy. Yesterday Google, Facebook, Yahoo and other web companies took out full-page newspaper ads railing against the House’s recently introduced Stop Online Piracy Act, even as supporters sung its praises at a hearing. “...

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