CyberLaw Blog

Archive for May, 2010

Twitter accused of censoring Israeli flotilla attack tweets – Hashtags down | TechEye: “Twitter accused of censoring Israeli flotilla attack tweets”

The recent Israeli attack on a flotilla of aid-worker ships in Gaza prompted a huge response on Twitter, but many users are now accusing the social media website of censoring material relating to the event.

Users began using the hashtag #flotilla with their reports and comments about the Gaza incident, which allows others to sort and search through results based on the topic, similar to other forms of web tagging. However, it was reported that at around 11am GMT the popular hashtag stopped working, resulting in numerous Twitter errors.

This could have simply been a case of Twitter not being able to handle the sheer volume of people using the hashtag, or it could have been an anti-spam system that kicked in automatically based on the number of uses within a short time frame. A large number of people do not accept either of these possibilities, however, and have accused Twitter of censorship.

Many of these users are now using a new hashtag, #freedomflotilla, which has remained in operation despite it trending in the same way the #flotilla one did earlier today. We tested the hashtags and found that #flotilla was periodically not working, but the others worked fine.

New reports have revealed that even the #gaza and #israel hashtags went down for a period of time, but both are now working again. It may be a case that they are only going down at peak periods of usage when the servers cannot handle the load. It may also be that the problem is not the hashtags themselves, but rather the search engine which is trying to handle the large volumes.

This may be a simple case of overload, but many Twitter users are asking the question if Twitter is as impartial as it should be in situations like the one that has arisen today.

Did Twitter censor the #flotilla hashtag following the Israel attack? | Technology | guardian.co.uk:

Users of the microblogging service complain at apparent censorship as discussion grows around deaths on convoy – but it isn’t justified”

BBC News – Pakistani court removes Facebook ban

Page last updated at 6:51 GMT, Monday, 31 May 2010 7:51 UK

Anti-Facebook protest in Quetta on 27 May 2010 Muslims consider it un-Islamic to draw pictures of the Prophet Muhammad

A court in Pakistan has ordered the authorities to restore the Facebook social networking site.

The court had ordered the blocking of the site after a petition was filed against a competition featuring caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

The petition, filed by a lawyers’ group called the Islamic Lawyers’ Movement, said the contest was ‘blasphemous’.

Pakistan’s deputy attorney told the court on Monday that Facebook had withdrawn the competition.

The Facebook page in question contained caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and characters from other religions, including Hinduism and Christianity, as well as comments both critical and supportive of Islam.

On Monday, Justice Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court reversed his 19 May order to the Pakistani authorities to block the site.

‘Restore Facebook. We don’t want to block access to information,’ Justice Chaudhry told the court.

He asked the government to develop a system to find out how countries like Saudi Arabia were blocking access to ‘blasphemous’ content on the internet.

‘It is the government’s job to take care of such things, which spark resentment among the people and bring them onto the streets.

‘They should take steps to block any blasphemous content on the internet,’ Justice Chaudhry said.

Last week, Pakistan restored access to popular video sharing website YouTube only after blocking some pages for ’sacrilegious content’.

Correspondents say that the internet is uncensored in Pakistan but the government monitors content by routing all traffic through a central exchange.

In the past, Pakistan has often blocked access to pornographic sites and sites with anti-Islamic content.

It has deemed such material as offensive to the political and security establishment of the country, says the BBC’s M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad.

In 2007, the government banned the YouTube site, allegedly to block material offensive to the government of Pervez Musharraf.

The action led to widespread disruption of access to the site for several hours. The ban was later lifted.

Draft code of practice to reduce online copyright infringement « Ofcom

28|05|2010

A proposed code of practice which implements legislative measures aimed at reducing online copyright infringement has today been published by Ofcom, as part of its new duties under the Digital Economy Act 2010.

The Act requires that the code of practice is implemented no later than eight months from Royal Assent, including approval from the European Commission.

Subject to consultation and approval, Ofcom expects the code to come into force in early 2011.
The code of practice

The draft code sets out how and when Internet Service Providers (ISPs) covered by the code will send notifications to their subscribers to inform them of allegations that their accounts have been used for copyright infringement.

In passing the Act, Parliament’s intention was that Ofcom should apply the obligations in a proportionate way, with the code initially covering only the larger fixed-line ISPs, but with the clear message that, should levels of copyright infringement on other networks, including mobile, increase then those ISPs will similarly be required to comply with the obligations.

Ofcom proposes, therefore, that fixed-line ISPs with over 400,000 subscribers will be covered initially.

This would mean that the seven largest ISPs – BT, Talk Talk, Virgin Media, Sky, Orange, O2 and Post Office – will be covered by the code from the outset.

Ofcom proposes to regularly review evidence of online copyright infringement across all service providers and to extend the scope of the code if appropriate.
Online copyright infringers

The code also sets out the threshold for including subscribers on a copyright infringers list which must be compiled by ISPs.

ISPs will have to record the number of notifications sent to their subscribers and maintain an anonymised list of alleged serial copyright infringers.

Copyright holders can then request information on this list and pursue a court order to identify serial infringers and take legal action against them.

Ofcom is proposing a three stage notification process for ISPs to inform subscribers of copyright infringements and proposes that subscribers which have received three notifications within a year may be included in a list requested by a copyright owner.
Appeals process

Ofcom’s approach is guided by the need to protect the interests of consumers and citizens. Ofcom will establish an independent, robust subscriber appeals mechanism for consumers who believe they have received incorrect notifications, arrangements for enforcement and dealing with industry disputes, as well as sharing the costs arising from the code.
Additional measures to reduce copyright infringement

The code of practice forms part of a wider set of industry activity to tackle online copyright infringement including consumer education, the promotion of lawful alternative services and targeted legal action against serious infringers.

Ofcom intends to monitor how these develop and will report regularly to Government on both the effectiveness of the code and on the additional measures.

Click here to read the consultation which closes on 30 July 2010.

Wider European Scrutiny of Google on Privacy: “Six countries have joined Germany in a move that may force the company to disclose what data its employees collected from unsecured wireless networks.

(Via NYT > Technology.)

Pak blockage of Facebook, YouTube might increase traffic to these sites-Internet-Infotech-The Economic Times:

21 May 2010, 1613 hrs IS, AGENCIES

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s blockage on wildly popular web-sites like YouTube and Facebook will likely have a reverse effect from the one desired by authorities as curious Netizens would log onto these sites to see what the brouhaha is about.

Pakistan’s telecom regulatory body, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has said it found ’sacrilegious’ content on YouTube, leading them to block it. Incidentally, YouTube has been co-founded by Jawed Karim, a Muslim.

‘We have asked the Internet service providers to block more than 450 web links, which contain derogatory material,’ The News quoted a PTA spokesman, as saying.

‘The action follows our repeated attempts to convince these websites to discard such material,’ he added.

He said the PTA had approached the administrators of the websites through emails, however he could not name the officials who had been contacted.

Industry officials, on the other hand, say the authorities have yet to get in touch with the people who run Facebook and YouTube, the report said.

These hasty suppressive tactics are probably not going to be too fruitful, according to industry officials.

‘There is no way of stopping this. The day government lifts restriction from these websites, the Internet traffic will double. People will visit them just out of curiosity,’ said an advertiser, who deals with Facebook and YouTube.

Saudi blocks controversial Facebook page: paper: “Saudi blocks controversial Facebook page: paper
English.news.cn 2010-05-21 20:52:46 FeedbackPrintRSS

RIYADH, May 21 (Xinhua) — Saudi Arabia has blocked a controversial page of the social networking website Facebook that ridicules an Islamic ban on depicting Islam’s prophet Muhammad, local Arab News reported Friday.

The kingdom’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) blocked the page that marked May 20 as ‘ Everybody Draw Muhammad Day,’ the paper said.

According to the report, Facebook as well as groups protesting the page and calling for a boycott of the website that remains accessible in the kingdom.

The ‘Everybody Draw Muhammad Day’ page was based on a cartoon by U.S. illustrator Molly Norris, which called for the designation of May 20 to ‘water down the pool of targets’ by having people draw their own images.

The page encouraged users to post images of the Islamic prophet to protest threats against producers of popular show ‘South Park’ for an offensive depiction of the prophet during an episode last year.

Norris, however, issued an apology and said in an interview that she is against her cartoon ‘becoming a reality.’ She even posted a link to the ‘Against Everybody Draw Muhammad Day’ Facebook page on her webpage.

The page drew outrage form millions of Muslims across the world, with Pakistan temporarily blocking the popular social network over the page. The government took the action after a group of lawyers won a court order on Wednesday requiring officials to block Facebook until May 31.”

(Via .)

AFP: Pakistanis shout ‘Death to Facebook’, burn US flags: “Pakistanis shout ‘Death to Facebook’, burn US flags

By Hasan Mansoor (AFP) – 6 hours ago

KARACHI — Pakistani protesters shouted ‘Death to Facebook’, ‘Death to America’ and burnt US flags on Friday, venting growing anger over ’sacrilegious’ caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed on the Internet.

A Facebook user organised an ‘Everyone Draw Mohammed Day’ competition to promote ‘freedom of expression’, inspired by an American woman cartoonist, but sparked a major backlash in the conservative Muslim country of 170 million.

Islam strictly prohibits the depiction of any prophet as blasphemous and the row has sparked comparison with protests across the Muslim world over the publication of satirical cartoons of Mohammed in European newspapers in 2006.

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) banned access to Facebook, YouTube and more than 450 links, including restricted access to Wikipedia in view of what it called ‘growing sacrilegious content’.

PTA released a toll-free telephone number and email address, and has acted on complaints received by the regulator.

In Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, religious parties mobilised hundreds of protesters onto the streets to demand a ban on Facebook and an apology from the social networking site for humiliating Muslims.

Activists shouted slogans such as ‘Death to Facebook’, ‘Death to America’ and branded the United States the ‘root cause of all mischief’ at the peaceful rallies, said an AFP reporter.

In Multan, a shrine city in Punjab province, hundreds of people rallied, burning US flags and tyres to block traffic before dispersing peacefully.

In the northwestern city of Peshawar, about 250 students and religious activists staged small protests, chanting ‘Death to Facebook, death to Youtube,’ and on one occasion torched a US flag, an AFP reporter said.

The offending Facebook page has attracted 105,000 fans — and five pages of crude manipulated pictures and caricatures. Pages denouncing the competition and calling for a boycott of the May 20 competition attracted far more fans.

Facebook expressed disappointment at being blocked and said it was considering whether to make the offending page inaccessible in Pakistan.

YouTube, the Google-owned video-sharing site, said it was ‘working to ensure that the service is restored as soon as possible’.

The controversy has yet to incite a mass outpouring onto the streets in Pakistan, where there are an estimated 2.5 million Facebook users, and it remains to be seen how far protests will spread to other Muslim countries.

Sweden said it has closed its embassy in Islamabad for more than two weeks due to the security situation, refusing to say whether any direct threats had been issued against the mission.

An Al-Qaeda front organisation has offered 100,000 dollars to anyone who kills Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has angered many Muslims by drawing highly blasphemous caricature of the prophet.

Pakistan condemned the caricatures on Facebook and said that ’such malicious and insulting attacks hurt the feelings of Muslims around the world’.

The PTA asked Facebook and YouTube, which are wildly popular in Pakistan and set up in the United States, to resolve the matter as soon as possible in a manner that ‘ensures religious harmony and respect’.

The purported creator of the Facebook page told a US television channel in a voice-only interview that he had meant to stand up for ‘freedom of expression’.

‘We know that the fight for freedom of expression, freedom of speech can’t be stopped by a country like Pakistan censoring the Internet,’ the man, who would be identified only as ‘Andy’, told MSNBC.

A rival Facebook page called ‘Against Everybody Draw Mohammed Day’ started to oppose the caricature page had drawn some 106,300 fans.

Molly Norris, the American cartoonist whose work inspired the controversial page, condemned the Facebook spin-off and apologised to Muslims.

She drew a cartoon in April to protest against the cancellation of an episode of popular show ‘South Park’. Norris satirically proposed May 20 as an ‘Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.’

‘The vitriol this ‘day’ has brought out, of people who only want to draw obscene images, is offensive to Muslims who did nothing to endanger our right to expression in the first place,’ she said.

Pakistan blocks YouTube in ‘sacrilege’ row: Pakistan blocked access to YouTube today because of ‘growing sacrilegious content’ on the video-sharing website. It is the latest twist in an escalating international row over Islam and freedom of speech online.

(Via Tech and Web from Times Online.)

PK – Pakistan blocks access to YouTube in internet crackdown: (BBC)
Pakistan has blocked the popular video sharing website YouTube because of its ‘growing sacrilegious content’. Access to the social network Facebook has also been barred as part of a crackdown on websites seen to be hosting un-Islamic content. A Pakistani court ordered Facebook to be blocked because of a page inviting people to draw caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Some Wikipedia pages are also now being restricted, latest reports say.”

(Via QuickLinks Update.)