On Sept 7 2018 the C-SPAN Communicators series presented Harold Feld of Public Knowledge, and Berin Szóka of TechFreedom discussing social media governance. Host was Peter Slen. Video is below.
View on C-SPAN: https://www.c-span.org/video/?451116-1/communicators-social-media-regulation
Today, Friday October 9 2015 the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy aka CITP will present a Conference on Internet Censorship, Interference, and Control which will examine questions like: What is the current state of internet accessibility, and what technologies and policies can help protect international security and human rights in this area? This conference will explore research by both computer scientists and political scientists into internet censorship, interference, and control. We will consider interdisciplinary perspectives on relevant contemporary questions: What is the state of the art in network measurement, and how can information about social and political conditions better inform future measurements? How should computer scientists measure and study offensive technologies, such as China’s denial of service attacks on Github, and what role should policy play in responding to these security threats? How extensive are national firewalls, internet surveillance, and filter bubbles, and how should citizens and governments respond? Speakers include Wendy Seltzer and Roger Dingledine. The conference will be streamed live via Princeton Media Central
What: CITP Conference on Internet Censorship, Interference, and Control
Where: Princeton University, NJ
When: Friday October 9 2015 9am-3:30pm EDT | 13:00-19:30 UTC
Agenda: https://citp.princeton.edu/event/conference-on-internet-censorship-interference-and-control/
Webcast: http://mediacentrallive.princeton.edu/
Twitter: @PrincetonCITP
Internet Society President and CEO Kathy Brown issued the following statement on March 31 2014.:
We are deeply concerned with recent reports that the Turkish government is mandating curtailed access to key social media sites for millions of users across Turkey. Recent actions to implement the Turkish government’s requirement include the redirection of network routes so that Turkish citizens are not getting the correct information from the Domain Name System (DNS). They are instead being redirected to other web sites controlled by Turkish service providers. In addition to undermining core technical functions of the Internet’s architecture, such actions also threaten users’ fundamental human right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas across frontiers.
Interfering with a country’s routing of Internet traffic not only harms citizens’ ability to communicate and innovate as part of the global Internet platform; it can also lead to a fragmentation of the network at the regional and global levels. Ultimately, the Turkish people and nation are the ones that will suffer, as their voices will be lost across the net.
The Internet Society believes that the Internet is a global medium that fuels economic and social development, empowers users with limitless access to knowledge, and supports aspirations for freedom. Bob Hinden, Chair of the Internet Society Board of Trustees, added, “We strongly urge the Turkish Government to stop requiring the blocking of access to social media sites and to allow full Internet access to all Turkish citizens immediately. We believe that the opportunity to participate in the global information society should never be taken away from individuals.”The Internet Society hopes that nations around the world will come to understand that blocking citizens’ access to the tools of online communication only serves to fuel discord and is not the way to address the underlying concerns of their citizens. Such measures can only undermine citizens’ trust in their government’s ability to provide an enabling Internet environment for economic and social progress.
On behalf of Lynn St. Amour, President and CEO, and the Internet Society Board of Trustees:
Emerging reports from various organizations and individuals indicate that international Internet connectivity was shut off in Syria today. The Internet is an open, global medium for communication, idea exchange, empowerment, and innovation. Access to the global Internet is a crucial enabler of human rights.
As with previous actions to block Internet traffic in Egypt and Libya, the effect of cutting off Internet traffic – ceasing the flow of information in and out of the country – is a serious action. It harms not only the citizens of Syria, but also Syria’s economy and society at large. The Internet Society stands with other organizations around the world in calling for Internet access to be restored with all due speed and cooperation so that vital services can continue to function and citizens won’t be further impacted.
First and foremost, the Internet Society joins with the rest of the world in its utmost concern about the safety and security of the Syrian people. Previous cases where such actions were deliberately taken have proven not only to be harmful, but to be ineffective. The Internet Society hopes that the volatile situation in Syria will come to a peaceful solution and that the citizens of Syria will soon be able to join the rest of the world in having their voices heard online.
http://www.internetsociety.org/news/internet-society-syria%E2%80%99s-internet-shutdown
An article Moving Toward a Censorship-free Internet by Dr. Johan Pouwelse in the October 2012 IETF Journal follows up on a meeting at IETF84 in Vancouver that discussed various technical solutions to government Internet censorship of the kind seen in the Arab Spring.
Technologies include:
ISOC-NY President David Solomonoff interviewd several of the participants at last week’s Circumvention Tools Hackfest at Columbia Law School. The entire playlist is here. Individual videos are below:
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Jun 25 2012: The Internet Society’s DC Chapter event CENSORSHIP 2020: The Future of Free Speech Online – was webcast live on the Internet Society Chapters webcasting channel. The event, hosted by the Communication, Culture and Technology Program of Georgetown University, will take the form of an informal discussion with six people fighting for free speech on the Internet in their country–and around the world – who have been declared the Internet Freedom Fellows 2012. This event is a direct follow- up to “Global Networks, Individual Freedoms” held at the United Nations in Geneva on Jun 20 2012.
What: CENSORSHIP 2020: The Future of Free Speech Online
When: Monday June 25 2012 5.30pm-7pm EDT | 1330-1500 UTC
Where: Georgetown University, Washington DC
Twitter: @ISOCDC | #censorship | #netfreedom
Speakers:
*Dlshad Othman (Syria), an activist and IT engineer providing Syrians with digital security tools
*Pranesh Prakash (India), a blogger and cyberlaw expert who is promoting a free Internet and online freedom of speech.
*Koundjoro Gabriel Kambou (Burkina Faso), a journalist at Lefaso.net, is promoting human rights, democracy particularly among young people.
*Sopheap Chak (Cambodia), the Deputy Director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) and one of Cambodia ’s leading bloggers.
*Andres Azpurua (Venezuela) has trained 300 youth on using Web 2.0 tools to publicize human rights violations.
*Emin Milli (Azerbaijan), a writer who is using YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to spread information about human rights violations
Moderator:
*Ambassador (ret.) Richard Kauzlarich, Deputy Director, Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC), George Mason University
More info: http://bit.ly/censorship2020
The Information Society Project is hosting a conference on Global Censorship at Yale Law School on March 30, 31, and April 1, 2012. We welcome your attendance at this exciting event.
Censorship has long been a means to silence “harmful speech.” What governments consider to be “harmful” has varied across time and regime. Whether it’s the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts or the more overt uses of force such as in Tiananmen Square, governments have shown time and time again that they are capable of deploying whatever means necessary to eliminate so called “harmful speech.”
The ubiquity of the Internet has added an additional layer of complexity to issues of government censorship. It is both an unrivaled tool for speech and an incredible tool for monitoring and surveillance. This conference will consider how censorship has changed in a networked world, exploring how networks have altered the practices of both governments and their citizens. Panels will include discussions of how governments can and do censor and how speakers can command technical and legal tools to preserve their ability to speak. The conference will conclude with a discussion of new controversies in censorship, including laws designed to prevent online bullying and intellectual property infringement.
Panelists include Rebecca MacKinnon, Jack Balkin, Yochai Benkler, and many other wonderful people: http://www.law.yale.edu/intellectuallife/panelists.htm
CLE and MCLE credit is offered. Registration and conference info are available here: http://www.law.yale.edu/intellectuallife/14889.htm
Tomorrow, December 15, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary will meet to markup and potentially vote in committee on H.R. 3261, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” or SOPA. Today the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – of which ISOC-NY is a member – has written a letter to the House Committee expressing its profound concern with the proposed legislation, and the equivalent PROTECT-IP (PIPA) bill in the U.S. Senate, both of which would mandate the blocking and filtering of the Domain Name System (DNS).
In particular, the NCUC is very concerned with the provisions in both Bills relating to Domain Name System (DNS) filtering. As identified by numerous technical, legal and policy experts:
NCUC explains that the implications of legislation like PIPA and SOPA will be to have a negative impact upon the Internet’s design and can potentially create serious international political and legal problems. It will compromise Internet freedom held dearly by various organizations and institutions, like the OECD, the European Parliament, the Internet Society, and the Council of Europe – all of whom have committed to preserve this freedom and requested the United States to commit as well to preserving this freedom.
The letter ends with an appeal to the Committee to consider the viewpoints also expressed by a multitude of actors and organizations and not support legislation that undermines the global Internet.
Policies mandating DNS filtering undermine the open architecture of the Internet and raise human rights and freedom of expression concerns
Specifically, the Internet Society is concerned with provisions in both bills regarding Domain Name System (DNS) filtering. DNS filtering is often proposed as a way to block illegal content consumption by end users. Yet policies to mandate DNS filtering will be ineffective for that purpose and will interfere with cross-border data flows and services undermining innovation and social development across the globe.
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