China Urges Cooperation for ‘Controllable’ #Internet

China’s Internet regulator said countries must resist making false allegations and manage the web together, after U.S. business groups raised concerns that new security policies may block foreign technology in the country. “Cyberspace is shared by the entire international community,” Lu Wei, minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said at the agency’s Chinese New Year reception.

·         Read the article: Bloomberg

Lawmakers Call for Counterattacks After Hackings

Several large-scale cyberattacks in recent months have prompted a number of lawmakers and policy makers to call for a more forceful response, including suggestions that the U.S. engage in counterattacks that would disable or limit the culprits’ own networks. But White House officials and some technology security experts remain skeptical that such “offensive” cyberattacks would work, saying they are concerned about the difficulty in targeting specific hackers without causing widespread spillover, among other things.

·         Read the article: The Wall Street Journal

New York Plans Cybersecurity Reviews of Insurers

New York’s Financial Services Department said it planned to do regular cybersecurity reviews of insurers in the wake of the massive breach at health insurer Anthem Inc. The state agency said in a statement that it will “integrate regular, targeted assessments of cyber security preparedness at insurance companies as part of the department’s examination process.”

·         Read the article: Reuters

Twitter Says Government Requests Rise 40%

Twitter released its twice-yearly transparency report, showing a surge in government requests for users’ Twitter information. The report, which discloses the frequency with which government agencies from around the world ask Twitter to hand over data on specific users, said total requests rose by 40 percent, to about 2,871, compared with the company’s last report, in July.

·         Read the article: The New York Times

Dems Push to Muzzle Internet

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Friday, October 24, 2014 The FEC deadlocked in a crucial Internet campaign speech vote announced Friday, leaving online political blogging and videos free of many of the reporting requirements attached to broadcast ads — for now. While all three GOP-backed members voted against restrictions, they were opposed by the three Democratic-backed members, including FEC Vice Chair Ann M. Ravel, who said she will lead a push next year to try to come up with new rules government political speech on the Internet. The FEC deadlocked in a crucial Internet campaign speech vote announced Friday, leaving online political blogging and videos free of many of the reporting requirements attached to broadcast ads — for now.

Censorship Appeals Petition - how you can help, from the Jewish Internet Defense Force

Facebook is Censoring and Blocking Israel Supporters: How You Can Help

If you know of any Facebook employees, or if you can help find them online via Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc, please consider connecting with them and sending them the following, or something like it:  

Dear *******

An organization I support is currently being censored and blocked on Facebook sharing photos of the Israeli Air Force.

To read more about it, please see:  http://is.gd/fcensor

For 30 days, they cannot reach their network of over 300,000 that they built on the platform. I feel a terrible mistake has been made, as I count on their updates for news and information, especially regarding the current crisis in Israel.

Could you please help? If so, please see what you can do, and/or contact David Appletree (the founder of the JIDF) to discuss the issue directly, here:david@thejidf.org

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Your Name

Thanks to all who help and agree that this is an outrage. While we  have some Facebook contacts, we have yet to hear back from them, sadly. It's a shame Facebook has no quick appeals process, as this happens quite often to us and others. The standard reason they give is that it was some sort of automated mistake. We have spoken to several attorneys and experts in computer science who agree what we posted was not remotely against Facebook's TOS. We hate to assume the worse (that Facebook is simply censoring views they don't like, especially since they proudly support people's "right" to post hateful content, such as Holocaust Denial on the platform), but we find the timing of this to be very suspect. We're hoping to reach a human being at Facebook that can help, and that our content is restored and that this block ends soon. Thank you for your help!

http://goo.gl/sT2mT4

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British Gov’t Says It Can Intercept Social Media Traffic

By MARK SCOTTJUNE 16, 2014

LONDON — In a broad legal rationale for collecting information from Internet use by its citizens, the British government has asserted the right to intercept communications that go through services like Facebook, Google and Twitter that are based in the United States or other foreign nations, even if they are between people in Britain.

The British position is described in a report released Tuesday by Privacy International and other advocacy groups. The report, confirming a summary seen Monday by The New York Times, says the findings are based on a government document that the groups obtained through a lawsuit.

The government document, released with the report, says contact between people in Britain through social networks based elsewhere, or use of search engines located outside Britain, constitutes “external communication,” and as such, is subject to interception, even when no wrongdoing is suspected

http://goo.gl/yt6JPW

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Image oecd.org

Michigan imam calls for Sharia restrictions on free speech

Robert Spencer Jun 17, 2014 at 9:26pm free speech, Islamic supremacism, Sharia 19 Comments

This is not the first time that al-Husainy has called for restrictions on the freedom of speech. In 2012 he declared: “They should put a law not to insult a spiritual leader.” Al-Husainy is also a virulently antisemitic supporter of Hizballah. With the President of the United States having declared the “the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam,” and many in the mainstream media eagerly practicing self-censorship to appease Islamic supremacists, he probably sees this as his best chance to impose Sharia speech restrictions upon the U.S.

I’m not in favor of book burnings, but to use the burning of any book to impose free speech restrictions is to destroy a foundation of free society and bring tyranny to the U.S.

http://goo.gl/g2yf8h

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Egyptian Police Want to Monitor Social Media for Dissent

• Patrick Kingsley in Cairo
• theguardian.com, Monday 2 June 2014 12.36 EDT

Egyptian journalists protest in Cairo on Sunday in support of their imprisoned colleagues. The interior ministry wants the power to monitor social media for incitement of demonstrations, sit-ins and illegal strikes. Photograph: Xinhua /Landov/Barcroft Media

Egypt's police force is seeking to build a surveillance system to monitor social media for expressions of dissent – including profanity, immorality, insults and calls for strikes and protests.

According to a leaked document in which technology companies are invited to offer their services, Egypt's interior ministry says it wants the ability to scan Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Viber in real-time for usage that might "harm public security or incite terrorism".

http://goo.gl/zgpDQJ

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Google to launch tools to combat attacks, surveillance

  

Google unveiled three new tools to combat surveillance and attacks against websites as part of its fight against global censorship.

Read it all:

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/329645-google-to-launch-tools-to-combat-attacks-surveillance