Myanmar's Ministry of Information announced Monday that it has ended pre-publication censorship, but it laid out a welter of strictures on free expression that remain in place.
CNN's Atika Shubert describes the scene as the world waits to see if Julian Assange leaves the Ecuador embassy
Julian Assange was back in the news on Thursday because, after nearly two months of holding out in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning, he has been granted "political asylum" by the Ecuadorean government. The decision has set off a diplomatic stand-off, with the UK government threatening to revoke the embassy's diplomatic status and Ecuador responding with anger.
Ayman Kandeel grabs the producer of a television network and smacks the lanky young man, cursing angrily.
An Egyptian TV show tells celebrities they're on Israeli TV and provokes them to see their reactions. Some were intense.
Wikipedia once again is diving into Internet politics.
25 years after democracy came to South Korea, critics say the president is cutting back on free speech.
Everyone's made a joke they thought was funny only to see it fall flat, but Park Jung-geun's attempt at humor could see him jailed for up to seven years in South Korea.
Western governments, including the United States, appear to be stepping up efforts to censor Internet search results and YouTube videos, according to a "transparency report" released by Google.
Money in presidential and congressional campaigns has already reached record heights so far this election year, thanks in part to recent rulings by the Supreme Court and other federal judges that loosened long-standing restrictions on outside corporate spending.
Some Syrian writers used to like Bashar al-Assad. Choosing their words carefully, they might say they tolerated him.
CNN's Ivan Watson reports on evidence Syrian forces mined border areas to stop fleeing civilians.
Online social networking site Twitter said Thursday it will begin deleting users' tweets in countries that require it -- but it will still keep those deleted tweets visible to the rest of the world.
It's a Tuesday night at Nell and Matt Dillard's suburban Washington home, and the family of four is watching "Glee," a scripted Fox television program.
Challenging the private sector to protect Internet freedom, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged companies to ensure their Internet technologies are not used as tools of repression.
Indians expressed outrage Tuesday at a top telecommunication official's push to get social media sites to screen content considered defamatory to religious and political leaders.
Emma Sullivan talks to CNN's Brooke Baldwin about her tweet for which Kansas Gov. Brownback's office demanded an apology.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback apologized Monday for what he called his staff's "overreaction" to a disparaging tweet directed at him by a high school senior during a state Capitol visit.
In an emergency session of Parliament on Thursday, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the violence, looting and arson sweeping his country "were organized via social media." He said his government is now considering how and whether to "stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality."
Night court has been implemented in the wake of the riots. CNN's Isha Sesay reports.
Media activist Rebecca MacKinnon talks about the struggle for freedom and control in cyberspace.
Wael Ghonim, Google executive by day, secret Facebook activist by night, famously declared right after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in February: "If you want to liberate a society just give them the Internet."
The Supreme Court rules California cannot ban the sale of violent video games to kids. CNN's Jeffrey Toobin reports.
The Supreme Court has struck down a California law that would have banned selling "violent" video games to children, a case balancing free speech rights with consumer protection.
The Supreme Court said Monday it will take another look at government efforts to regulate profanity and sexual content on broadcast television.
Chinese bloggers battled through targeted internet censorship Thursday in the wake of dissident artist Ai Weiwei's release after nearly three months in police custody.
Political revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia not only inspired other regional uprisings -- they sparked a flurry of ideas about how to help revolutionaries better communicate when their governments pull the plug on the World Wide Web.
Voters in Ecuador were at the polls Saturday for a referendum of government and social reforms that critics say is a thinly disguised attempt to consolidate more power for President Rafael Correa.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa claimed victory in a referendum on government and social reforms that critics have charged is a thinly disguised attempt to consolidate more power.
The battle of Chinese censors to block political commentary on the internet is akin to "a snake swallowing its own tail," said Isaac Mao, an influential Chinese blogger.
There are over 60 million bloggers in China, and he was among the first ones. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout talks to Isaac Mao.
CNN's Jill Dougherty talks to activists fighting threats against internet freedom.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday called internet freedom as fundamental as free speech itself, saying cyberspace is the 21st century town square where governments need to find a balanced way to preserve universal principles such as liberty, transparency and free expression.
CNN's Brian Todd reports on those launching attacks on protesters and media in Cairo.
The Mubarak regime has been undemocratic and corrupt. It has abused its citizens. But, until last week, one thing it didn't do was crack down on online communication.
New laws governing radio, television and the internet in Venezuela "could be very dangerous," anti-censorship campaigners warned Wednesday, two days after the controversial laws passed.
Journalism advocates and the U.S. government voiced opposition Wednesday to legislative moves in Venezuela that they said could lead to draconian restrictions on the news media and further strengthen the position of President Hugo Chavez.
Zeng Jinyan knows all too well what it was like to be a prisoner in her own home.
A video that features ants crawling over a crucifix has gone on display at a New York gallery -- after it was banned from a Smithsonian museum -- raising questions over the boundaries of freedom of expression in a city known for its art.
CNN's Ivan Watson looks at reports that criticize Turkey for not doing enough to protect journalists.
Investigative newspaper reporter Ismail Saymaz thought he faced 10 criminal cases against him for articles he had written.
In April, strategists John Feehery and Kiki McLean discussed whether there should be a ban on violent video games.
"Postal 2" features the adventures of the "Postal Dude," an interactive video game character who, under the control of the player, must confront everyday tasks. But it is how he handles these errands -- with the power to behead girls, shoot police, and urinate on victims -- that along with other explicit games, has become a constitutional controversy.
For the first time since 2007, internet users in Turkey have access to YouTube.
The Supreme Court has turned aside a free speech dispute over a bumper sticker and a presidential event that had raised questions over the authority of the White House to keep dissenting voices at bay.
Chance: Mr. Luzhkov, you were the mayor of Moscow for 18 years until last month when you were unceremoniously fired by the Russian president. Why do you think that you were dismissed?
Think internet censorship only happens in China and Iran?
Throughout my short life, as I've witnessed the inhumane treatment of others, a sense of outrage and injustice has grown in my heart.
A judge has lifted an order banning Venezuelan media from printing violent photographs, an official said on state-owned VTV.
Comedy is being taken too seriously in Brazil, humorists there are saying, in response to a Brazilian law that forbids television and radio broadcasters from making fun of presidential, gubernatorial or congressional candidates in the three months before the election.
In his recent CNN.com opinion piece, "Net neutrality is foremost free speech issue of our time," Sen. Al Franken claims that "our free speech rights are under assault -- not from the government but from corporations seeking to control the flow of information in America."
Google said Friday that it has renewed its license with the Chinese government to continue operating in that country, ending a standoff over censorship.
The mobile web in China has loopholes where content could go under the radar of government censors, analysts say.
They are coming from cities across China, including Beijing and Shanghai:
Free speech issues and portrayals of Islam needlessly stirred a hornet's nest recently when "South Park" depicted the Prophet Mohammed disguised in a bear suit in the 200th episode of the popular Comedy Central TV show.
Both Google and Capitol Hill agree, government support is needed in the fight against global Internet censorship.
How do Chinese Internet users feel about Google's decision to move most of its search functions from the mainland? That all depends on who you ask.
If you thought corporate "astroturfing" (fake grassroots activity) was a problem at sites like Yelp and Amazon that feature user reviews of products, imagine how much worse it would be if the U.S. government employed a couple hundred thousand people to "shape the debate" among online political forums. Crazy, right? What government would ever attempt it?
Microsoft's Bing search engine will not follow Google out of China. Executives have made that clear. But will they take the high road or the low road in their quest to win a bigger piece of a China's fast-growing Internet market?
Two days after Google stopped censoring search results in China, a congressional panel praised the company's actions while excoriating the Beijing government for its record on Internet censorship and human rights.
American officials have condemned plans by the Ethiopian prime minister to block U.S.-funded Voice of America broadcasts in Amharic, the main local language.
CNNMoney: Banned ... by Googleupdated: Sat Mar 20 2010 18:08:00
In Turkey, it's a crime to defame the country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk or to ridicule "Turkishness." So Google restricts access to videos that the government of Turkey deems illegal on google.com.tr.
The Venezuelan National Assembly took up debate on Internet regulation just days after President Hugo Chavez called for online restrictions in televised remarks.
Esra'a al Shafei is a 23-year-old Bahraini dedicated to providing young people in the region with the opportunity of free expression.
The closing of an influential magazine in Colombia is seen by many as censorship. The former managing editor talked to CNN.
A Sri Lankan journalist who was fatally shot last year has been recognized by the International Press Institute as a hero for freedom of the press, the group announced Thursday.
Despite the rise of the Web and its freewheeling second-by-second ferment, government efforts at control and censorship remain rife across the Middle East and North Africa, a new report said Thursday.
"Media must cease reporting on the discovery of a body at a psychiatric hospital in Dongguan."
CNN's Errol Barnett reports on Secretary Clinton's remarks relating to China's censorship of Google and its implications.
China's information technology ministry called accusations of government involvement in cyber attacks alleged by Google "groundless" in an interview with state-run media on Sunday.
China responds to Google's threat to pull out of the country in a dispute over censorship. CNN's John Vause reports.
China fired back Friday, saying the United States is damaging ties between the countries by highlighting cyberattacks alleged by Google.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Thursday that a "new information curtain is descending across much of the world."
Google's threat to shut down its operations in China might seem like just a dispute between a private company and a government, but the implications are huge for the world's fastest-growing economy, for the United States and for global relations, says analyst Fareed Zakaria.
China has signaled a change of approach to the Google crisis, with state media describing the company's threat to pull out of the country as a political conspiracy by the U.S. government.
Google considers pulling out of China after a series of "sophisticated" cyber attacks. CNN's John Vause reports.
The future of Goolge's Web site in China is unclear, as is its mobile phone business there, as CNN's John Vause reports.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Thursday speech on Internet freedom will address the Google censorship fight in China but won't stop there, a top adviser said Wednesday.
We've seen some major world events unfold on the social media stage in the past week, the biggest being Google's threat to pull out of China and the Haiti earthquake.
Google's announcement that China should either stop censoring Internet searches or risk a pullout by the search-engine giant rocked the online world Wednesday, leaving observers to break down the meaning of the provocative move.
Within hours of Google's announcement that it was no longer willing to self-censor in China, Google.cn was retrieving results for sensitive topics including the 1989 crackdown at Tiananmen Square, the Dalai Lama and the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.
Wow. It takes a lot of cojones to stand up to the Chinese government. But Google seems willing to give up on a huge market to protest strict censorship rules.
A U.S. software maker sues China, alleging piracy of its Internet filtering software. CNN's John Vause reports.
The Supreme Court heard new arguments Wednesday in a dramatic case that started with a movie attacking Hillary Clinton -- but that could have far-reaching implications for U.S. elections.
Money and politics are often equated as the fuel and engine of American democracy, but thanks to the Supreme Court, century-old government speed bumps on the campaign speech superhighway may soon be a thing of the past.
Credit rating agencies have long relied on the right of free speech as protection against litigation, especially in the U.S. A hole has just been poked in this shield.
The recent closure of 32 privately owned radio stations and a proposed law to punish "media crimes" are signs that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is moving to quash criticism of his government, according to a recent U.S. intelligence report.
A Sri Lankan court sentenced a journalist Monday to serve 20 years in prison for articles that criticized the military, according to the Asian Human Rights Commission.
A stolen Statue of Liberty replica has resurfaced in a disturbing video posted on YouTube that shows someone decapitating the blindfolded lady and smashing her head into pieces.
Had the government not delayed its controversial order that all computers be equipped with Green Dam by July 1, the result would have been the same -- Chinese computer retailers were far from ready.
Google was going to help democratize data in China. Instead, about three years after entering the Middle Kingdom, the search company still finds itself in an uncomfortable working relationship with government censors.
Media rights group Reporters Without Borders is urging nations to not recognize the results of Iran's presidential election, citing censorship and a crackdown on journalists.
CNN's Ram Ramgopal looks at reaction from around the world to the election result in Iran.
Bloggers in Myanmar, Iran and Syria work under some of the most repressive conditions in the world, facing tactics such as regulation, intimidation and even imprisonment, according to a report from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
"Global declines in press freedom" persisted last year, with setbacks highlighted in Israel, Italy, Taiwan, Hong Kong and elsewhere across the world, an annual survey said Friday.
A European security organization expressed hope Tuesday that the recent release of three journalists in Azerbaijan signals positive change in the former Soviet republic.
It appeared an unlikely meeting: Earlier this month, representatives from Hollywood, home of the anything-goes lifestyle and anything-can-happen film, traveled to Iran, where censorship and constant government supervision are a fact of life for the film industry.
Jewish students and faculty at California universities fear for their safety on campus because of threats aimed at them over the Middle East conflict, the father of a slain Wall Street Journal reporter said Friday.
A Dutch lawmaker who made a controversial film about Islam is attempting to beat a ban on entry to Britain where he has been invited to speak in the House of Lords.
The Supreme Court has blocked further consideration of a federal law designed to keep sexual material from underage users of the Web.
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