Internet Censorship Incidents Review in November
Internet Censorship cases seem to be consistently increasing in all corners of the world. From throttling the voice of dissenters to dictating what content viewers are allowed to access, authorities are utilizing censorship tools to suppress the free will of citizens in various manners.
In this article, we will walk review some of the major incidents of Internet censorship from the month of November that we think everyone should be aware of.
1. Russia Introduces New Bill to Expand Internet Censorship
The Russian Parliament has issued a new draft law which would introduce a registry for website owners that censor “information of public importance,” if the authorities deem the censorship to be “discriminatory or based on economic and political sanctions against Russia”. In other words, Russia’s federal media watchdog ‘Roskomnadzor’ will now have the power to fully or partially block websites that they claim to have censored Russian state media content.
The bill’s explanatory note has singled out YouTube, Facebook and Twitter for supposedly having “censored” the accounts of Russian state-run news outlets, including RT, RIA Novosti and Crimea 24, since April. Facebook and Twitter had begun labelling state-affiliated media accounts this summer, after YouTube had introduced similar labels months ago. Russia had even attempted to block messaging app Telegram in 2018 for its refusal to share encryption keys with the security services.
Russian authorities already have a number of tools to restrict access to online content, including the 2019 so-called “Sovereign Internet” law, which allows the government to use technology to track, filter, and reroute Internet traffic. Last month, a draft law was introduced in the Parliament which proposes fines for ISPs which refuse to block content deemed inappropriate by the authorities.
In recent years, Russian authorities have increasingly ordered Internet services and platforms to be blocked for noncompliance with the country’s legislation. The new law would be another (and possibly more lethal) weapon available to authorities to spread the already existing blanket of Internet censorship in Russia further.
2. Myanmar Imposes Further Internet Restrictions Post-Election
The Myanmar government has ordered mobile operators to introduce filtering in order to censor specific keywords across the Internet. This directive was issued to telecom operators on 10th November, just 2 says after the national elections were completed on 8th November. Any sites which use these specific keywords are to be blocked by the operators.
The order apparently came from one of the military controlled ministries, and failure to comply with the directive would incur punishment based on the Telecommunications Law. Myanmar has a long history of high-handed military rule and civilian strife. Media censorship has always been a topic of contention here, and this new ordinance seems to be a continuation of the tradition of suppressing free speech and thought.
Critics say that this directive violates International Human Rights Law. Justice for Myanmar, a covert group of anti-government activists, claimed that this plan demonstrated the growing intolerance of authorities towards freedom of expression. There have been efforts to reform the draconian Telecommunications Law, which allows the ministry to impose restrictions or bans as it deems necessary “out of public interest”, but to no avail.
Earlier in March, amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, the government had launched a major censorship exercise and block over 220 websites which were critical of the authorities, accusing the sites of promoting pornography and spreading fake news. It is feared that from now on, the new law will make it much easier for the government to filter out social media channels and news outlets which are critical of the government’s policies and actions.
3. India to Censor OTT Platform Content
Incidents of Internet Censorship seem to be rising in India every month. In our last report, we had described how two of the largest Internet Service Providers (ISP) in India have been blocking websites through the use of specially configured routers known as ‘middleboxes’.
This month, the Information & Broadcasting Ministry issued a notification that all online news, social media and video streaming platforms (such as Netflix and Amazon Prime) are to be subject to state regulation. This has raised fears that there would be increased censorship of the booming digital media industry by authorities from now on. Artists and film makers are worried that the freedom of creative expression on the OTT platforms would be severely curtailed.
The order follows months of campaigns by right-wing political groups to bring streaming platforms under the same censorship rules as television and film. Over the last few months, a series of content has been released on these platforms which disregard the values that the ruling party is trying to propagate among the citizens. Critics believe that this order has been issued in order to force these platforms to adhere to the government’s policies on issues of morality and personal freedom.
Internet watchdog Freedom House, a US-based non-profit non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights, has claimed that Internet freedom in India has declined for the past three years. To make matters worse, this order possibly signals the end of the digital realm as one of the final bastions of creative and journalistic dissent in India.
4. Spain Plans Massive Internet Censorship
The Spanish government has recently put forth plans to censor the internet across Spain over a massive scale. The “Procedure for Intervention against Disinformation”, approved by Spain’s National Security Council (CSN) and published this month in the Official State Gazette (BOE), will allow the State to monitor and suppress Internet content under the pretext of fighting against “fake news” and “foreign intervention.”
Legal provision has been provided for constant surveillance of social media platforms to detect “disinformation”, and enforce retaliatory measures if there is supposed foreign involvement. Critics believe that the government will counter “disinformation” by pushing its own line of thought and suppress oppositional views. This new protocol is being considered a dangerous attack on freedom of speech, with grave implications for the democratic right of citizens to access the internet freely.
The new law is based on the government’s earlier claim that external forces are attempting to influence public opinion and incite acts of aggression. This has been typically the case during election cycles, when government officials have gone on to publicly claim that disinformation has been deliberately spread in order to cause large scale acts of violence.
With unrest growing in Spain over the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing unemployment and lack of access to public health care, this new law is being seen as a move to silence domestic political opposition. The law provides the Spanish state with complete power to choose what constitutes “fake news,” and people are fearing that this would be used as a political weapon to silence critics.
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