"The information and media environment in North Korea continues to evolve quickly. This report demonstrates that the depth and diversity of information and media access channels have grown markedly since the release of A Quiet Opening in 2012. More North Koreans have greater access to a larger varie
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ty of media content and communication devices. However, it is equally clear the North Korean state is determined to regain control of how and what information its citizens access. Rather than attempting to recreate the information blockade and national sequestration of the Kim Il Sung era, the state’s recent technological innovations strongly suggest it is moving toward a new, but no less heavily controlled information environment. This is apparent when we examine current and emerging techniques for censorship, surveillance and integrity preservation across the network, device and human levels." (Conclusion)
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"Governments around the world have dramatically increased their efforts to manipulate information on social media over the past year. The Chinese and Russian regimes pioneered the use of surreptitious methods to distort online discussions and suppress dissent more than a decade ago, but the practice
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has since gone global. Such state-led interventions present a major threat to the notion of the internet as a liberating technology. Online content manipulation contributed to a seventh consecutive year of overall decline in internet freedom, along with a rise in disruptions to mobile internet service and increases in physical and technical attacks on human rights defenders and independent media. Nearly half of the 65 countries assessed in Freedom on the Net 2017 experienced declines during the coverage period, while just 13 made gains, most of them minor. Less than one-quarter of users reside in countries where the internet is designated Free, meaning there are no major obstacles to access, onerous restrictions on content, or serious violations of user rights in the form of unchecked surveillance or unjust repercussions for legitimate speech." (Page 1)
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"This book argues that Internet diffusion and use in the Middle East enables meaningful micro-changes in citizens’ lives, even in states where no Arab Spring revolution occurred. Using ethnographic evidence and taking a comparative perspective, it presents a grass roots look at how new media use f
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its into the practice of everyday life. It explores why citizens use social media to digitally route around state and other forms of power at work in their lives. This increase in citizen civic engagement, supported by new media use, offers the possibility of a new order of things, from redefining patriarchal power relations at home, to reconfigurations of citizens’ relationships with the state, broadly defined. The author argues that new media channels offer pathways to empowerment widely and cheaply in the Middle East." (Publisher description)
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"This study assesses the Cybercrime Act 2015 and its implications for online press freedom in the liberal authoritarian state of Nigeria. Specifically, the study examines how the character of political leadership in Nigeria leads to wrongful application of the act to undermine the independence of th
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e press. The study shows that Nigeria’s online press freedom index has consistently worsened since the introduction of the Cybercrime Act in 2015, and it recommends the promotion of a holistic democratic project that recognises economic and political freedom as being inextricably linked." (Abstract)
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"In this special edition of GISWatch, Unshackling Expression, APC brings together analysis on the criminalisation of online expression from six Asian states: Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Thailand. While the report mostly focuses on criminalisation, curbs placed on expression usin
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g laws, regulations and policies are also discussed in parts. These countries were chosen for closer study based on preliminary assessment. These six states have several socio-political characteristics that are similar and varied. They have largely similar legal systems, since India, Malaysia, Myanmar and Pakistan are former British colonies and follow the commonwealth system. These countries were also chosen keeping in mind sub-regional balance and to bring to the table a diverse experience with laws and violations. All these states, amongst many others, criminalise online expression for a variety of reasons, which they set out in their constitutions and legislations. In these country reports, the authors identify and analyse the reasons for which online expression is criminalised, from defamation to sedition, hate speech to blasphemy, national security to contempt of court." (Page 5)
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"The Vietnamese government has long arrested and prosecuted domestic human rights activists, using rights-violating laws and Communist Party-controlled courts and police. But the recent explosion of internet-driven activism in the country has coincided with the appearance of another frightening inst
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rument of political repression: physical assaults on rights activists carried out by violent plainclothes thugs who appear to be acting with the knowledge or permission of the authorities. Beatings take place in streets, cafés, and even inside police stations. Assailants sometimes attack victims in front of uniformed police who do nothing to intervene. In many cases, assailants wear surgical masks to hide their identities. Some activists have been abducted, taken away in cars or vans, beaten, and then abandoned in deserted areas. In almost no cases covered in this report have perpetrators been held accountable for their actions. No Country for Human Rights Activists documents the proliferation of this brutal instrument of state repression in recent years. Through a close examination of 36 cases, the report demonstrates the commonplace nature of these attacks and provides evidence linking some of the perpetrators to state security services." (Back cover)
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"Following the Arab Spring, the use of social media has become instrumental in organising activist movements and spreading political dissent in the Middle East. New online behaviours have transformed traditional communication channels, enabling young people of all backgrounds to feel politically emp
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owered. But now that spring has turned to winter, what are the long-term implications of internet activism in the region? Social Media in the Arab World provides a unique insight into the role of online communications as a force for change in the Gulf States. Featuring examples as diverse as neo-patrimonial politics in Saudi Arabia and the ways an online presence affects the status of women in Kuwait, the chapters examine shifts in the political, social and religious identities of citizens as a result of increased digital activism. With contributions from a variety of inter-disciplinary experts, this wide-ranging study examines the consequences of changing power dynamics brought about by popular social media." (Publisher description)
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"The percentage of Pakistanis using the Internet increased by 37.5% between 2009 and 2013, though overall internet penetration remains very low with only 11% of the population having access to the Internet". (Page 9) "Heavy internet users in Pakistan are very young (72% under 30 years of age), large
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ly male (59%), and highly educated (72% with at least some university schooling). Light users are much more likely to be over thirty years of age (42% for light compared to 18% for heavy users), women (47% for light vs. 36% for heavy users), but more highly educated (38% of light users have graduate degree vs. 31% for heavy users) [...] Television news is by far the most popular source of information among Pakistani Internet users, with 80% of survey respondents selecting this communication channel as one of their three top sources of information. After television news, social networking sites are the most commonly cited source of information used by Pakistani Internet users with 55% of respondents selecting it as one of their top three sources." (Executive summary)
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"I have found that Saudi Arabia and Jordan rely on counterterrorism and cybercrime regulations to prosecute online activism. Egypt uses a new anti-protest law passed in 2014 and Tunisia, in contrast, relies on old defamation and anti-drug laws that have been used for decades prior to the revolution.
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In all four countries, the prosecution and imprisonment of Internet users for expressing themselves effectively chills critical speech and cripples civil discourse–all the while neglecting to create any long-term and comprehensive solution to the threat of terrorist movements." (Executive summary)
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"Internet freedom has declined for the sixth consecutive year, with more governments than ever before targeting social media and communication apps as a means of halting the rapid dissemination of information, particularly during antigovernment protests. Public-facing social media platforms like Fac
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ebook and Twitter have been subject to growing censorship for several years, but in a new trend, governments increasingly target messaging and voice communication apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram. These services are able to spread information and connect users quickly and securely, making it more difficult for authorities to control the information landscape or conduct surveillance. The increased controls show the importance of social media and online communication for advancing political freedom and social justice. It is no coincidence that the tools at the center of the current crackdown have been widely used to hold governments accountable and facilitate uncensored conversations." (Page 1)
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"This policy brief is divided into four parts. First, we provide basic definitions and terminology concerning blocking/filtering. This is followed by an outline of relevant international standards on freedom of expression. We then address the fundamental issues underlying the use of filters and bloc
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king measures. Finally, we provide comprehensive recommendations for legislators, policy and decisions makers in this area. Summary of recommendations: 1. Blanket filtering must be prohibited by law; 2. Filtering should be user-controlled and transparent; 3. Any requirement to block content must be provided by law; 4. Blocking should only be ordered by an independent and impartial court or adjudicatory body; 5. Blocking orders must be strictly proportionate to the aim pursued." (Executive summary)
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"The guide is designed to help human rights defenders working on human rights online navigate the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, with resources and case studies of real life advocacy to help inform and structure engagement. It also provides examples of how the UPR has been used for human r
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ights online, including examples of recommendations that states have accepted relating to the internet, sample civil society reports, advocacy documents, and tips on how to use the UPR to complement ongoing advocacy work." (https://www.gp-digital.org)
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"African autocratic regimes have fallen through opposition waged by ordinary citizens through the new platforms of mobile phones, the Internet and social media. It is not surprising therefore that autocratic African leaders and governments will want to restrict these platforms. African governments h
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ave imported sophisticated equipment to censor the Internet, social media and message systems and intercept communications from journalists, critics and activists. Some of the cyberspace censorship equipment has been imported from China, as in the case of Ethiopia and Zimbabwe (Abubkr 2014; Kabweza 2016; HRW 2016; O’Neill 2016). But equipment from western nations such as Italy, as in the case of Sudan (Abubkr 2014; Kabweza 2016; HRW 2016), and Germany and the United Kingdom, as used by Ethiopia, is also utilized by anti-democratic African governments and leaders (Clayton 2014; CPJ 2015; HRW 2016). Civil society, the media and international human rights organizations must put pressure on Chinese and western governments and companies selling cyberspace censorship equipment to African countries. In June 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council condemned countries shutting down access to the Internet to clamp down on anti-government criticisms as a ‘violation of international human rights law’ (United Nations [UN] 2016: 1). The United Nations has rightly stressed the importance of ‘applying a comprehensive human rights-based approach when providing and expanding access to the Internet and for the Internet to be open, accessible and nurtured by multi-stakeholder participation’ (2016: 2). To boost democracy, inclusive development and peace, African regional bodies such as the African Union, and international ones such as the United Nations, must introduce stronger measures against African leaders and governments who censor social media, activists and the Internet, in order to muzzle opposition against poor democratic governance." (Conclusion, page 418)
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"Das Internet war in Russland lange ein Zufluchtsort der kritischen Öffentlichkeit. Hier gab es unabhängige Berichterstattung, als Zeitungen und Fernsehsender schon weitgehend auf Linie gebracht waren. Der Arabische Frühling und die Protestbewegung in Russland 2011/12 änderten dies. Das Putin-Re
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gime geht immer rigider gegen die Pressefreiheit im Internet vor. Es hat die Eingriffsmöglichkeiten der Aufsichtsbehörde Roskomnadzor erheblich ausgeweitet und Druck auf die großen Internetunternehmen ausgeübt, so dass sie der Installation von Überwachungs- und Sperrtechnik zustimmten. Mit dem System SORM wird seit 2015 nahezu der gesamte Datenverkehr überwacht. Um auch die freie Verbreitung von Informationen und Meinungen in den sozialen Netzwerken zu unterbinden, setzt der Kreml mittlerweile auf die direkte Einschüchterung." (Abstract)
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"Drawing from hegemonic notions of development statism, this article looks at the extent to which digital platforms have become viable alternatives to traditional electronic and print media in Ethiopia. I argue that, despite its potential to promote freedom of speech, the Ethiopian online sphere is
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systematically policed through state-sanctioned legal frameworks. Through analysis of an online survey, I also demonstrate how perceptions of users about online experiences show skepticism toward the role of the Ethiopian state in Internet monitoring." (Abstract)
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