Tougher Internet filtering policies are being applied throughout Southeast Asia. The Gambia House of Representatives has enacted a new law banning criticism of government officials online. Russia has been pushing new legislation that allows copyright holders to ask courts to block access not only to allegedly pirated content, but also to hyperlinks to such content.
This week in #imweekly: examining content control in China, Nigerian officials announce plans to heighten internet monitoring in the country, and Russia's Kremlin resorts to using typewriters to skirt foreign internet surveillance. Meanwhile, a push to heighten information control in Turkey.
New cable connections bump up Cuba's connectivity; Google may use blimps to build wifi networks in the developing world; Vkontakte temporarily blacklisted in Russia.
Earlier this month, Russia’s new Internet censorship bill – designed to block content “containing [child] pornography or extremist ideas, or promoting suicide or use of drugs” – went into effect. Russian netizens are watching closely to see whether this new law will be applied narrowly or broadly, and how it will ultimately affect the freedom of Russia’s Internet.