Tag: FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Authorities in Bahrain have released a dissident blogger, just one day after arresting him at his home. Mahmoud al-Youssef was taken into custody early Wednesday morning, as part of a nationwide campaign against opposition activists and protesters. The 50-year-old al-Youssef, who blogs in English, has long criticized the Bahrain regime for restricting freedom of expression, and has been an ...

Three years ago, some of the world's leading tech companies agreed to participate in the Global Network Initiative (GNI) -- a code of conduct designed to protect online speech and privacy around the world. The initiative was originally launched in response to brewing tensions in China, where some Internet companies were accused of complying with government censorship policies in order to pursue ...

Following Pakistan's lead, authorities in Bangladesh recently decided to block access to Facebook, on the grounds that the social networking site contains "objectionable" content about both the Prophet Mohammad and the country's own political officials. According to CNET, chief telecommunications regulator Zia Ahmed has requested that all Internet providers block the site, until a page publicizing ...

Good politicians respond to criticism by engaging in a healthy dialogue with their disgruntled constituency. Pennsylvania Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett, on the other hand, responds by slapping a muzzle on Twitter accounts. According to Techdirt, Corbett has gone so far as to subpoena Twitter in response to two anonymous users who used the microblogging ...

Public libraries, in theory, are supposed to be bastions of information. But with the rise of the Internet, many libraries have begun putting up online filters, to make sure users are using public broadband connections to search for actual information and not, well, porn. To many, it's a practical measure. But is it constitutional? According to the Washington state Supreme Court, it is. As the ...

Libel suits are notoriously tough to argue, and even more so when the target of the suit is a critic. The dictionary defines 'libel' as: A written or oral statement about another which is malicious and false and will do harm to that person or his/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others. Professional reviewers don't normally get targeted ...