Translation published on 23 February 2015
Student-led protest in Chabcha County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Photo by Students for a Free Tibet via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Ellery Roberts Biddle, Oighan Lam, Hae-in Lim, Bojan Perkov, Pauline Ratzé, and Sarah Myers West contributed to this report.
Global Voices Advocacy's Netizen Report Provides an International Snapshot of the Challenges, victories and new trends in internet rights around the world. This week's report begins in Tibet, where social media censorship appears to be increasing. At the end of 2014, Facebook removed a link to a video of the protest and immolation of Buddhist monk Kalsang Yeshe in front of a police station in Sichuan province.
The incident drew attention both inside and outside China., due in part to the fact that many Chinese Internet users use Facebook as a means to avoid the censorship they face on Weibo. An anonymous Facebook employee allegedly told Voice of America that the update was reported by an unknown number of users and removed due to its graphic content, and not for political reasons.
Tsering Woeser, the Tibetan blogger who published the video, recently questioned whether Facebook shares could have political motivations: The video was removed shortly after Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, visited China and was restored after the publication of a message from Zuckerberg in support of freedom of expression in the wake of the attacks against Charlie Hebdo.
Even though it's rarely news, Tibet facesexceptionally difficult circumstances regarding Internet censorship and connectivity interruptions. Since the end of the decade 2000, Bloggers like Woeser have documented blackouts of both Internet and mobile networks in the region, that routinely follow political protests and social unrest.
China deletes NYT account on Weibo
Chinese authorities suppressed the New York Times account on Sina Weibo,eliminating the last digital trace of the newspaper in the country. The Times' English and Chinese websites have been blocked in China since October 2012. The Weibo account was taken down along with the accounts of two journalists, one of whom no longer writes for the newspaper.
The Internet is now considered a “public space.”” in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Republika Srpska, one of the two entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina, hainserted a new Public Order Law that expands the definition of “public space” to apply it to the Internet, including social networks. The legislation provides for high fines for messages on social media that disturb public order or are considered offensive or insulting.. According to the authorities, The law will not apply to criticism against the government. After strong criticism, prison sentences were removed from the law.
Lebanese activist arrested for Facebook post after death of Saudi king
Hisham Zayat, Lebanese political activist and journalist forYasour in southern Lebanon, wasdetained and interrogated by the police 8 February for expressing his ideas on Facebook about the death of the king of Saudi Arabia. Apparently the police accessed his Facebook account and deleted an update considered offensive towards the king. Zayat was immediately released after questioning..
Mal romance o no, the UK does not want your revenge
The United Kingdompassed a law that criminalizes revenge pornography. Anyone who distributes sexual images without the prior consent of the subject, and with the intent to cause harm, can now be punished with a fine and up to two years in prison. While revenge porn legislation typically includesvague provisions that are in danger of criminalizing free expression, this law includes more specific provisions that limit the risk of being used to attack Internet service providers or other Internet companies for handling the images.
Sing the “semi-official anthem”” of Chinese New Year
At a Lunar New Year talent show organized by the Beijing Internet Association, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC, by its acronym in English) presented a“semi-official anthem”. The CAC is responsible for Internet policy in China, including its increasingly strict censorship regime. Verses of the hymn include “United by the strength of all living things/Dedicated to turning the global village into the most beautiful scene” and “An Internet powerhouse/Tell the world that the Chinese Dream lifts up China.” Videos of the performance were removed shortly after being posted online.
