The Citizen Lab

China’s Internet Censorship Backfires
Posted Aug 18, 2008 in beijingolympics by sarahb. 
Internet censorship in China has led to another bizarre outcome in Guangdong Province—a local network service provider has treated terms such as “communist party” and “socialism” as sensitive key words and filtered them out. Many articles containing these terms could not be accessed. From EpochTimes

Website blocking is for your own good, Games chiefs tell Chinese
Posted Aug 18, 2008 in beijingolympics by sarahb. 
Olympic Games organisers claimed on Saturday that the controversial decision to block Internet sites was taken to protect Chinese youngsters. From AFP

Olympics: Radio Free Asia protests at media bar
Posted Aug 18, 2008 in beijingolympics by sarahb. 
A radio station banned by the Chinese authorities has filed a formal complaint with the International Olympic Committee after the Beijing organising committee (Bocog) failed to issue one of its correspondents with media accreditation. From guardian.co.uk

Longtime Battle Lines Are Recast In Russia and Georgia's Cyberwar
Posted Aug 14, 2008 in Citizen Lab News by ProfD. 
"In terms of the scope and international dimension of this attack, it's a landmark," said Ronald J. Deibert, director of the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab.... "International laws are very poorly developed, so it really crosses a line into murky territory . . . Is an information blockade an act of war?"

From Washington Post

IWMP and ONI actively monitoring Russia-Georgia Cyberwar
Posted Aug 13, 2008 in Citizen Lab News by ProfD. 
Censorship of Russian media sites in Georgia continues to expand despite the winding down of hostilities. ONI and Information Warfare Monitor sources in Georgia now confirm that filtering of Russian media sites resident on the .ru domain has spread to a second Georgian ISP. Subscribers of Caucuses on-line the largest Georgia ISP have been without access to Russian media sites since 9 August. Yesterday a similar filtering regime was implemented on the Georgian Academic and Research Network (GRENA). A phone call to GRENA staff indicates that the filtering was ordered "by the director".

ONI along with its sister project the Information Warfare Monitor are investigating if the filtering is the initiative of individual ISPs, or part of the governments introduction of a state of emergency. A slashdot report posted today claims that the filtering is implemented at the on DNS level. Earlier this year, ONI reported on internet filtering in neighboring Armenia as a result of the introduction of emergency measures that followed bloody clashes that broke out during contested elections. Updates on the continuing cyberwar between Russia and Georgia are posted at the Information Warfare Monitor web site www.infowar-monitor.net . The IWMP is soliciting guest editorials on the subject.

Despite promises, some internet remains blocked to reporters
Posted Aug 11, 2008 in beijingolympics by sarahb. 
Some Web sites remained inaccessible to reporters as competition got under way Saturday at the Beijing Olympics. From SI.com

Egypt demanding data from cyber cafés users: NGO
Posted Aug 11, 2008 in Censorship by sarahb. 
An Egyptian NGO on Saturday accused the Egyptian authorities of forcing cyber cafés to gather personal information on Internet users, saying the measure was a violation of privacy. From AFP

IWMP monitoring Russian-Georgian Cyberwar
Posted Aug 10, 2008 in Citizen Lab News by ProfD. 
The Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks and defacements in the Russia - Georgia conflict raise concerns about free media and civil society, as states witness an increase in the use of electronic warfare strategies in concert with more conventional kinetic attacks. Here at IWMP - in association with our research partners on the ground in the region, and our tech experts in the Citizen Lab - will keep you updated on developments in this emerging conflict in cyberspace. Welcome to the front lines of the 21st century's information wars..

From Information Warfare Monitor Project

Anti-censorship software beefed up for Chinese Olympics
Posted Aug 08, 2008 in MediaCoverage by sarahb. 
The Chinese Olympics are providing a powerful stimulus in the development of high-end anti-censorship technology that major media companies and individuals can use to sneak content through its Great Firewall. From InterGovWorld

Chaos aims to crack China's wall
Posted Aug 08, 2008 in beijingolympics by sarahb. 
Access to the wider internet is a problem for journalists at the Beijing Olympics - and for the Chinese people. But there is an initiative to bypass the barriers. From guardian.co.uk