The Dominion - China

China: Google ceases internet censorship

Kriya — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:13:10 +0000

On January 12, 2010, internet company Google announced it would no longer censor search results on the Chinese Google.cn. The decision was made as a result of its Gmail accounts being hacked from accounts based in China, specifically targeting Chinese human rights activists. The official Google blog stated, “We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.”

China however has defended its right to censor the internet, with Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, Jiang Yu stating at a weekly media briefing, “China's Internet is open and the Chinese government encourages development of the Internet." With so much government censorship, however, one must wonder how much development can actually occur.

Freedom of speech and expression is something most of us living in democratic societies value. It is viewed as a basic human right. But of course, not everyone would agree. A worker at a software company in China, referred to by his last name, Cui, told the Age newspaper, “Every nation restricts the Internet. China has its laws. If you want to leave China, it's your own business but you have to respect the laws here."

However another internet company employee told The Age, the government was concerned about pornography on the internet, but he also believed they were mostly concerned with political content, “They talk about pornography, but with 1.3 billion people, who has not seen pornography?” he said. Clearly the people are not happy.

The Anti-Terrorist Battle Inside Canada's Borders

david parker — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:55:20 +0000

The anti-terrorist battle inside Canada's borders
by David Parker
July 17th, 2008.

HALIFAX - In Canada since 9/11, the domestic climate of rising national security fears, fanned by a sensationalist media trumpeting the “War on Terror”, has led the government to justify practices which undermine long-standing principles of human rights.

In December 2001, Canada passed the Anti-Terrorist Act (ATA) to deal with threats to national security. The ATA makes changes to the criminal code that “aim to disable and dismantle the activities of terrorist groups and those who support them”. It destroys civil liberties and gives police vast new powers, eroding due process and privacy. [1]

According to Gary Kinsman, professor at Laurentian University, the concept of ‘national security’ is doubly problematic. Nation refers here to groups who fit the image of the Canadian state - white heterosexual males, construed as ‘safe’, while racialized communities are excluded as ‘outsiders’ and enemies of the state. [2] Despite purported concern with security, state initiatives have only endangered non-citizens and criminalized legitimate social protest.

The arrest of 21 South Asian Muslim men for allegedly plotting to blow up a nuclear reactor in 2003 (known as Project Thread) garnered wide media attention. All were eventually deported on minor immigration charges, not one was charged with a terrorist offence [3]. They were detained up to 5 months, interrogated about their faith and threatened with deportation to Guantanamo Bay, infamous torture camp of the United States, where Omar Khadr, youngest detainee and Canadian citizen, remains after 6 years, subjected to torture methods detailed in leaked FBI files [4].

Klein in Shenzen

dru — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:57:00 +0000

Naomi Klein's investigation (published in Rolling Stone) of China's massive surveillance project, the "Golden Shield," is well worth the read.

The crackdown in Tibet has set off a wave of righteous rallies and boycott calls. But it sidesteps the uncomfortable fact that much of China's powerful surveillance state is already being built with U.S. and European technology. In February 2006, a congressional subcommittee held a hearing on "The Internet in China: A Tool for Freedom or Suppression?" Called on the carpet were Google (for building a special Chinese search engine that blocked sensitive material), Cisco (for supplying hardware for China's Great Firewall), Microsoft (for taking down political blogs at the behest of Beijing) and Yahoo (for complying with requests to hand over e-mail-account information that led to the arrest and imprisonment of a high-profile Chinese journalist, as well as a dissident who had criticized corrupt officials in online discussion groups). The issue came up again during the recent Tibet uproar when it was discovered that both MSN and Yahoo had briefly put up the mug shots of the "most wanted" Tibetan protesters on their Chinese news portals.

International News: January

Tue, 13 Jan 2004 05:30:00 +0000

Climate Change Could Wipe Out One Million Species: Study

Monarch butterflies are among thousands of species that scientists say could be endangered by climate change.

Between 15 and 37 per cent of the earth's life forms - over one million species - could be wiped out by climate change by 2050. This, according to the most comprehensive study to date on the effects of climate change on animal and plant life.

The results of the study, headed up by researchers at the University of Leeds in England, were published in the most recent issue of Nature. Scientists examined the habitats of more than 1,100 species, in light of changes in global temperature as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The range of results leaves room for the possibility that some species could migrate to follow temperature changes or adapt to new conditions. But scientists also warn that climate change can interact with human-caused habitat destruction in unpredictable ways.

Independent:

Nature Magazine:

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British Whistleblower Faces Trial

In early 2003 the UN Security Council was debating a resolution sought by the US and UK to authorize the use of force on Iraq. On March 2nd the British Observer reported on a US-UK "dirty tricks" surveillance campaign aimed at six non-committed UN Security Council members.

British intelligence employee Katherine Gun admits that she was the person responsible for leaking the memo on the surveillance plot. She claims to have acted according to her conscience and now faces imprisonment on charges of contravening the Official Secrets Act.

Said Gun, "I intend to plead not guilty to the charge that I face under the Official Secrets Act. I will defend the charge against me on the basis that my actions were necessary to prevent an illegal war in which thousands of Iraqi civilians and British soldiers would be killed or maimed."

The UN Security Council resolution approving the use of force on Iraq was abandoned.

Kim Petersen

Google search for "Katherine Gun"

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China Restricts TV Advertising

The Chinese government instated new rules released yesterday which prohibit more than nine minutes of commercials per hour during prime time, according to the Los Angeles Times. Many television viewers and producers are positive about the change. Advertising industry representatives, however, are concerned that the rules may hamper market development.

"Too many restrictions could hurt society," Ye Lingyun of the Beijing Qianhuo Advertising Agency told the Times. "People do more than sit around watching television. They need to consume things. And without ads, they won't know what to buy."

The New Standard:

Germany Refuses to Apologize for Namibian "Genocide"; UK Compensates Families of Dead Iraqis

The Society of Threatened Peoples, a Berlin-based human rights group, has called on the German government to officially apologize for the "genocide" dating to the German colonization of Namibia. Between 1904 and 1907, an estimated 75,000 members of the 120,000-strong Herero tribe were killed during an uprising against the German colonial forces.

Berlin has repeated refused to officially apologize for its occupation of Namibia, which began in 1884 and ended in 1915. The Herero tribe has filed a lawsuit in the United States, in an attempt to gain reparations from the German government and from companies that allegedly benefited from the occupation.

The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) has paid thousands of pounds in compensation to the families of Iraqis allegedly killed by British troops, and is considering 13 other cases. The MoD has said that the payments are "ex gratia," meaning a favour not compelled by the legal right of the victims. "We do not accept admission of guilt. That is the policy," said a MoD spokesperson.

Adam Price, a Member of Parliament, was quoted as saying that "it is simply not acceptable for the military to be investigating themselves and deciding on an ad hoc basis whether or not to award ex gratia payments to the families of the deceased."

"We need an independent and fully impartial investigation into all of these allegations," said Price.

Guardian:

Mail and Guardian: