Category «Free Speech»

Elections Guide for Investigative Reporters: Introduction

Global Investigative Journalism Network: Editor’s Note: This is the introductory chapter of a new, five-part GIJN guide to investigating elections that will be serialized over the coming month. Look for the second installment, “Chapter 1: New Election-Digging Tools,” next week. Elections around the world face increasingly common threats, including disinformation campaigns, foreign interference, voter suppression, rising …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

The internet is #MoreThanFour – our laws should reflect that

“The Open Internet Alliance aims to strengthen the advocacy voice of medium-sized companies and organisations that promote and defend Open Internet principles. We welcome participation from other like-minded companies. The Open Internet is at a crossroads in Europe. With the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, the EU has an opportunity to create …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

U.S. Senators Introduce SMART Copyright Act to Combat Piracy

TorrentFreak: “U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Patrick Leahy have introduced the SMART Copyright Act of 2022. The bill requires online hosting services to implement standard technical protection measures, designated by the Copyright Office. Rightsholders see the proposal as a great step forward to protect creators, while opponents classify it as a filtering tool that will …

Subjects: Censorship, Congress, Copyright, Free Speech, Internet, Legal Research, Legislation

Nationwide effort to ban books challenges freedom of speech

PBS NewsHour via YouTube: “Advocates are sounding the alarm about a set of measures that they say target teaching and writing related to LGBTQ issues, race and freedom of speech. Around the country, efforts to ban specific books or even whole categories of books are on the rise. Jeffrey Brown has a conversation for our …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Free Speech, Libraries

Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 12, 2022

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 12, 2022 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly …

Subjects: Censorship, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Free Speech, Internet, Privacy, Social Media

Russians Are Finding Ways Around Putin’s Internet Blockade

Bloomberg – “Providers of virtual private networks, or VPNs, are recording a surge in usage from Russia after the Kremlin cracked down on Facebook and other services as part of a broader effort to silence dissent and limit information about its invasion of Ukraine. “In the past week, we saw traffic to our website from …

Subjects: Censorship, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Internet, Social Media

In final hours, Indiana lawmakers revive and then kill book-banning bill

IndyStar – “In the final hours of the legislative session, lawmakers revived and then promptly killed a bill that would have criminalized teachers and librarians who exposed kids to books and other materials that some may find obscene. Critics of the bill say it’s unnecessary — schools already have processes in place to deal with book …

Subjects: Censorship, Education, Free Speech, Legislation, Libraries

The Supreme Court Just Came Perilously Close to Blowing Up Federal Elections

Slate: “The Supreme Court will not overturn a century of pro-democracy precedent and two centuries of historical practice to give state legislatures unlimited power over elections—yet. That’s the upshot of the court’s orders on Monday in two huge redistricting cases out of Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The court refused to block new congressional maps drawn …

Subjects: Courts, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Twitter quietly launches Tor service in the face of Russian censorship

Mashable: “Twitter just struck a blow against government censorship, even if the tech giant won’t come out and say so directly. On Tuesday morning, Alec Muffett, a cybersecurity professional with a long history of working with the Tor network, announced he’d brought skills to bear at Twitter. Specifically, Muffett wrote that he’d helped the company …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Internet, Social Media

How to Access the News on Tor

MakeUseOf: “When people face censorship, accessing up-to-date and accurate information becomes difficult. Censorship takes many forms, and cutting people off from sources of news, and other information is one of them. Thankfully, there are ways to access current and unfolding news stories online when the regular avenues are cut: Tor. A number of leading news …

Subjects: Censorship, Free Speech, Internet