CyberLaw Blog

Archive for the ‘Bloggers’ Category

Blog libel suit thrown out because potential damage was so small: “A libel suit against a website has been thrown out of court because the potential damage to the reputation of the person making the claim was so small.“

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

CN – China's Censorship 2.0: How companies censor bloggers: (First Monday)
by Rebecca MacKinnon. This study explores an under-studied layer of Chinese Internet censorship: how Chinese Internet companies censor user-generated content, usually by deleting it or preventing its publication. Systematic testing of Chinese blog service providers reveals that domestic censorship is very decentralized with wide variation from company to company. Test results also showed that a great deal of politically sensitive material survives in the Chinese blogosphere, and that chances for its survival can likely be improved with knowledge and strategy.

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

Azerbaijani donkey bloggers jailed: “

US rattles small sabre over ‘further erosion’ of free speech

The US has said it ‘regrets’ the jailing of Azerbaijani bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, on what human rights organisations consider a trumped-up charge of ‘hooliganism’.…

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(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Reporting bans may lose their power in Twitter age says expert after Guardian ban is lifted: “The editor of a newspaper which was banned from reporting on the tabling of a question in Parliament has thanked the users of micro-blogging service Twitter for their role in what he called a ‘victory for free speech’.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Syria: Blogger Kareem Arbaji Sentenced to Three Years in prison: “

On September 13, 2009, the Syrian State Security Supreme Court sentenced the young blogger Kareem Arbaji to three-years prison for ‘publishing mendacious information liable to weaken the nation’s morale,’ under article #286 of the Syrian penal code.

The thirty- one years old economics graduate, Kareem Arbaji, has been detained for over two years, since June 7th, 2007, by military intelligence officers.

Human Rights Reports reveal that Arbaji has been tortured during the detention:

Kareem Arbaji was detained before being tried, he received a cruel and disproportionate sentence even if he was convicted. He was tortured during investigations and ill treated for more than two years in prison.

It is likely that Arbaji has been arrested, detained and then sentenced for opinions he expressed on the blocked Syrian forum, Akhawiya, which he used to administrate along with other members. The forum members have created a page to honor and support their friend behind bars. A Facebook group too has been recently created in support of the jailed blogger. Several Syrian bloggers have expressed their anger at the courts order. The Arab bloggers league has also issued a statement denouncing Kareems sentence.

Below is an excerpt of The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) report regarding the Syrian courts decision to sentence Kareem Arbaji:

ANHRI requests the Syrian government to immediately release Kareem Arbaji and all prisoners of conscience in Syrian dungeons, to abolish arbitrary detention policy and stop the security interference in judiciary affairs.

ANHRI asserts that the charge against Arbaji is a false one , only used as a pretext to inhibit freedom of expression and repress activists.

ANHRI also urges the Syrian government to eliminate the state security court as it is a stain to the Syrian justice.

Several Syrian and other human rights organizations and websites have joined ANHRIs call to release the jailed blogger.

It is worth to note that along with Kareem Arbaji, Syrian authorities sentenced several Syria bloggers in prison. On 11-5-2008 the State Security Court in Damascus stated its verdict on the Syrian blogger Tariq Biasi who was held in detention since 7-7-2007.

Also Tariq al-Ghorani (1985, assistant engineer) – Maher Ibrahim Esber (1980, a shop owner) – Husam Melhem (1985, a law student) – Omar al-Abdullah (1985, philosophy student) – Diab Siriyyeh (1985, student) – Ayham Saqer (1975, works at a beauty salon) – Allam Fakhour (1979, a student at the Faculty of Fine Arts – Sculpture Department) all were arrested, detained and sentenced for expressing their views on blogs and online forums, particularly on syriandomari blog and Akhawiya.

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(Via Global Voices Advocacy.)

Unmasked blogger Rosemary Port to sue Google for $15m$: “Google is to be sued for $15 million ($£9 million) by an anonymous blogger who was unmasked by the internet search company.

(Via Tech and Web from Times Online.)

Vogue model Liskula Cohen wins right to unmask offensive bloggerA Vogue cover girl has won a precedent-setting court battle to unmask an anonymous blogger who called her a ‘skank’ on the internet.

(Via Tech and Web from Times Online.)

Malaysia mulls Chinese Green Dam twin: “

Net sedition porn filter

Malaysia – the Southeast Asian country that has imprisoned at least two bloggers under sedition laws – is mulling a net filter along the lines of China’s Green Dam. But Information Minister Rais Yatim says it would not be used to censor blogs and websites.…

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(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Iran Threatens Bloggers, ‘Deviant News Sites’: “Iran’s bloggers and in-country journalists are told to tone down their rhetoric by the fearsome Revolutionary Guard, or face some unpleasant consequences.

(Via Wired News.)

Iran’s Twitter Revolution: Ahmadinejad’s Fear of the Internet: “With the Iranian authorities cracking down on the international press, the West is reliant on the Internet to find out what is happening on the ground. Hard as it might try, it will be difficult for the regime to easily stop the flow of information online. Web users around the world are rallying behind the protesters.”

(Via SPIEGEL ONLINE – International.)