CyberLaw Blog

Archive for the ‘freedom of speech’ Category

Arrested Malaysian Blogger Freed Following Public Outcry: “It’s hard to figure out what the government of Malaysia is thinking in its ongoing trouble in dealing with critical bloggers (some of whom were so powerful that they got elected). Last week, we noted that one of the more popular bloggers, whose blog had been ordered blocked by ISPs was arrested, just as the block on his blog was removed. Not surprisingly, the arrest led to a public outcry, and the government has now relented and freed the blogger, who quickly posted an anti-government rant on his blog, promising not to back down. The whole thing makes you wonder how tone deaf the leading party politicians in Malaysia are that they didn’t expect this to happen. Arresting an opposition blogger was bound to create further outcry, and this move only helped legitimize the points he’s been making. You would think that at least someone in the ruling party would have been savvy enough to recognize that this was inevitable.

(Via Techdirt.)

Turkish edition of The Ancestor’s Tale sells out within a day! (From Sabah.com)

Oxford University professor and advocate of evolution theory, the author of The God Delusion which drew great attention – even illegal copies had been distributed all over- and the publisher has been sued and acquitted in Turkey Prof. Richard Dawkins’ last book released and sold out in a day in Turkey, the news says.

The new book which has been written before The God Delusion, published 2 thousand copies in Turkish. The publisher of the book, Huseyin Sonmez, told that he was suprised because of all distribution orders were finished in a day and this has happened for the first time in 26 years of the publishing company history. According to the book, The Ancestor’s Tale tells a 4-billion-years-old journey. Professor Dawkins’ website has been closed down due to the comments that violate Adnan Oktar’s personal rights by the decision of the court in Istanbul.

Source Link: http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/09/19//haber,98BF8C9C35DE4B0CA0C042D767E13E5F.html

Flaws in YouTube gangster video vetting exposed - Times Online

From The Times, September 18, 2008: Flaws in YouTube gangster video vetting exposed

A Times investigation has exposed failures in the video-sharing website’s monitoring system and prompted action to tighten security

Marcus Leroux, Kaya Burgess and Fran Yeoman

YouTube, the world’s largest video-sharing website, this week removed over two dozen videos glorifying gangs and gang violence which had been on its website in some cases for over 18 months.

Following a Times investigation into harmful and inappropriate material on Youtube, the website took down 30 film clips, most shot in grainy video showing hooded youths brandishing illegal weapons such as machetes, hand guns and even sub-machine guns. Google admitted they were clearly in breach of its own user guidelines which had recently been revised to deal with gang videos.

Google’s Head of Communications in Britain, former Newsnight editor Peter Barron, said that as a result of concern about the use of the website by gangs, it had now introduced new guidelines prohibiting users from showing weapons in their videos in order to intimidate people, but that these had only “gone live” on Friday.

He blamed “teething problems” with the new policy for the fact that its own monitors had failed to removed the material after a Times reporter posing as an ordinary user had flagged them up as inappropriate three days after the new policy had been introduced.
(more…)

YouTube is introducing UK specific rules, and the Turkish media is furious that YouTube is not sensitive to Turkey’s sensitivities and concerns with regards to certain types of content available through YouTube. Other countries and governments will also start complaining following this new announcement. It is not easy to get the balance right with regards to what should be permissible or not but YouTube will be pressured to have more of these “customized community guidelines” for accessing its content.

[Note also The Guardian, YouTube bans violent videos, 12.09.2008]

YouTube bans videos which glamorise guns and knives | Technology | The Guardian

· UK-specific rules follow glorification claims
· Website refuses to change way content is checked

Owen Gibson, media correspondent, The Guardian, Thursday September 18 2008

The Google-owned video sharing website YouTube has moved to counter criticism that it helps fuel gang violence by introducing new rules to ban submissions that glamorise guns and knives.

The UK-specific rule will ban videos ’showing weapons with the aim of intimidation’ after criticism that fierce battles were being fuelled by rival members posting videos.

Last summer the Guardian revealed how videos on YouTube displayed the ‘barely concealed culture of violent gangs glorying in crime’ in the area of Liverpool where 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead.

In July the culture, media and sport select committee criticised the website, on to which 10 hours of video are uploaded every minute, for not protecting users enough from the ‘dark side’ of internet content.

A Google spokesman said: ‘There has been particular concern over videos in the UK that involve showing weapons with the aim of intimidation, and this is one of the areas we are addressing.’

The move comes days after YouTube also introduced new global guidelines to outlaw content that ‘directly incites violence’. In a blog post to users late last week it said: ‘We realise it’s not always obvious where we draw the line on content that’s acceptable to upload. We’ve updated the community guidelines … included in the update are a few new things to steer clear of, like not directly inciting violence.’

Other existing rules relate to the posting of videos that show violence and include ‘hate speech’. But the new rules will not change the internet giant’s stance on the way content is regulated.

It is committed to a policy of user-moderation, arguing it is impractical for it to vet every video before it is posted. Once a video is flagged up as potentially inappropriate YouTube’s staff examine it and remove it if it breaks the guidelines.

The media select committee, chaired by John Whittingdale, the Tory MP for Maldon and East Chelmsford, had called on video sharing sites to undertake a ‘proactive review of content’ to ‘quarantine’ material until it was deemed suitable to be posted.

But Google said such an approach was impractical. ‘YouTube is a community site used by millions of people in very positive ways. Sadly, as with any form of communication, a tiny minority of people will try to break the rules,’ said a spokesman.

‘When users see content they think is inappropriate they can flag it. If the content breaks our terms we aim to remove it quickly and if a user repeatedly breaks the rules we will disable their account.’

The site, bought by Google for $1.65bn (£92m) in 2006 just 18 months after it launched, has faced consistent criticism on both sides of the Atlantic over some of the videos posted by its huge user base.

As well as unsuitable or offensive videos, copyright holders have complained that their material is being posted without their permission. The media giant Viacom and the English Premier League are among those who have launched legal action against what they see as copyright infringement on a grand scale.

Here too, YouTube argues that it takes videos down as soon as they are flagged up by copyright holders.

(Via Techdirt.)

Will YouTube Ban Videos Of Putting Your Head In The Sand Next?: “It appears that Google’s YouTube subsidiary is caving to various government pressure concerning whatever videos the government doesn’t like. This started a while back when Google gave in to pressure from Thailand’s government to ban videos critical of that made fun of the country’s king. But, now the pace is ramping up. Last week, Google gave in to Senator Lieberman, agreeing to ban videos from terrorists, and the latest is giving in to pressure from the UK government to ban videos that show weapons used to intimidate people. Now, YouTube has always banned hate speech or threatening videos, so this new ban seems to go above and beyond that — including videos that show weapons being used to intimidate that aren’t threatening videos themselves. That seems pretty pointless again. The same videos will quickly appear on other sites, and rather than using YouTube as a way to track down anyone who might be breaking the law, Google is helping the UK government put their head in the sand and pretend no one ever is filmed doing anything bad with weapons.

Evolutionist Dawkins’ Internet Site Banned In Turkey: “Turkish court has banned the access to world famous evolutionist Prof. Richard Dawkins’ internet site upon complaint by creationist Adnan Oktar on the grounds that the site contained insulting remarks about Oktar’s book ‘Atlas of Creation’.”

(Via Latest Bianet/English News.)

Anonymous web comments protected like journalists’ sources, rules Montana court: “A court in Montana has ruled that a newspaper does not have to reveal the identity of those who posted comments on its website. A state law that protects journalists from revealing their sources also protects a news site’s user comments, the court ruled.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Supporters back arrested Malaysian blogger: “The arrest of a blogger who dared to criticise the Malaysian regime backfires as other bloggers express their solidarity”

Bidisha: New legislation will outlaw extreme porn – I’m all in favour: “Bidisha: New legislation will outlaw extreme pornography – even the kind some photographers like to call art. I’m all in favour”

(Via guardian.co.uk Comment is free.)

Tech giants near agreement on human rights code: “Some of the biggest technology and internet companies in the world have agreed a set of standards to protect human rights online that they hope the whole IT industry will adopt. The move could affect companies’ privacy policies worldwide.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)