Censorship

1
Censorship

• By
• Arielle Etchells
• Tanay Gavankar
• Jennifer Horst
• Brian Langone
• Vanessa Venturella

2
What is Internet Censorship?

• Internet censorship is essentially a method used
  by corporations, governments and others in order
  to filter what a user can view on the internet.

3
Why Censorship?

• Businesses use censorship to ensure their
  employees are not distracted online.
• Families may use censorship in order to limit
  what sites their children can access.
• Governments use censorship to prevent citizens
  from
• Viewing political pages that are against the
  ruling party
• News pages that would inform citizens of
  demonstrations or conflicts.
• Pages they would deem obscene.

4
How Does Censorship Work

• There are a number of ways to employ censorship.
  They include
• Software such as Net Nanny and CYBERsitter. These
  programs use a blacklist that has a number of
  sites deemed offensive.
• These programs also look for keywords on a site
  and if they are found it will block access to the
  site.
• Firewalls can also be used, they block what goes
  in and out of a network.
• Many businesses rely on firewalls.
• Countries also use firewalls in order to limit
  what their citizens can view.
• Some countries even have physical surveillance
  systems such as cameras at computer locations.

5
Censorship by Government

• No nationwide filtering of content.
• Content that is hosted in US and violates US law
  can be removed.
• Childrens Protection Act passed in 2000
• Department of Defense filters certain IP
  addresses

6
Pros/Cons of Government Censorship

• PROS
• Can potentially protect citizens.
• Upholds already existing laws

• CONS
• Violates First Amendment rights
• (Communications Decency Act)

7
Which Countries are most Censored?
No censorship- Mexico       Some censorship
USA (most first-world)      Under
surveillance-Australia     Internet black holes
(most heavily censored nations) China,
8
Enemies of the Internet

• In 2006, Reporters without Borders published a
  list of the
• 13 Enemies of the Internet
• Burma
• China
• Cuba
• Egypt
• Iran
• North Korea
• Saudi Arabia
• Syria
• Tunisia
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan
• Vietnam

9
Different Methods of Internet Censorship

• Egypt has limited technological means to
  persecute certain internet users, but the
  government uses beating and harassment as
  punishment for political webpages.
• Algeria does not use internet filters, but it is
  illegal to post any criticism of the government
  online.
• China takes a more technological approach, using
  extensive content filters known as the Great
  Firewall of China to discourage content creation
  .
• Kazakhstani government uses a special program
  called Bolat, which slows down, but does not
  stop, access to terrorist or opposition party
  sites. This essentially prevents anyone from
  accessing them.
• In Burma, total censorship is practiced. Under
  the Electronic Act, all use of the internet is
  considered a dissident act and is punishable by
  a 15 year prison sentence.

These animated cops are seen on Chinese webpages
reminding bloggers that their content is being
monitored.
10
Overall International Censorship

• The most commonly censored topics in the
  international community is webpages with opposing
  political views or information.
• While there are many different methods of
  Internet Censorship in the world, one common
  factor is that none of them are very effective.
  Cut off one site and a thousand more pop up.
• Information from Global Censorship a
  Comparative Study http//commons.globalintegrity.o
  rg/2008/02/internet-censorship-comparative-study.h
  tml

11
Censorship Circumvention

• Proxy Sites
• Force external (unblocked) sites to fetch
  websites and display to you
• PeaceFire.org
• Provides links to new proxy sites

12
Fighting Censorship

• Groups such as NCAC, FAIC, CAC
• Take up legal action
• Provide educational resources
• Document/report issues
• Expand public awareness
• Submit amici briefs

13
Our Opinion

• Internet should not be censored by government
• China, etc.
• Censorship of sites is acceptable for certain
  privately run locales (i.e. businesses or
  schools)
• The internet is a free informational medium that
  should not be censored