Twitter responds to controversy over new country-based censorship

cause On Thursday, while evoking a post the company wrote during the Arab Spring, Twitter discussed a new policy for allowing countries to censor tweets, arguing it would allow the company to go more places.
reaction While many reacted to the news negatively, Twitter was not without its defenders, most notably UNC professor Zeynep Tufekci, an expert on the intersection of social media and global politics.
response A day later, Twitter updated the post with a FAQ, saying the overall goal is transparency: “We have users all over the world and wanted to find a way to deal with requests in the least restrictive way.” source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

One of the deacons returned to his home last Friday afternoon and the police came to ask him if he planned to attend the Easter Sunday service. He said yes, so the police said from this moment, you cannot leave this house. I spoke to him an hour ago, and he was still not able to leave the house.
Shouwang Church member Kathy Lu • Describing what happened to one of the deacons before an attempted Easter service — authorities put him under house arrest. He and hundreds of others, in fact. But what’s absolutely bizarre is that while authorities arrested much of Shouwang Church’s congregation, the nearby Haidian Christian Church — which is state-sanctioned — was able to hold a service without any problems. The split emphasizes some big differences between the two churches — since Shouwang doesn’t tow to China’s regulations, it is “undergound” — a type of church that as many as 50 million Chinese people may take part in. We realize China has an atheist government and everything, but limiting this sort of free expression arbitrarily seems silly. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

» The church expected this to happen: With China’s officially atheist government completely at odds with any sort of religious celebration, Shouwang Church’s senior pastor, Jin Tianming, appeared ready for retribution for his church’s decision to hold an outdoor mass on Easter. “This is our uncompromising position and a matter of faith,” he said. “If they arrest our followers, this is the price we are willing to pay.” While you guys think of cute bunnies and Easter Eggs, keep in mind that people are still fighting for their right to celebrate this holiday. (UPDATE: We just threw up another post with more context.)

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

Here’s an AP clip which notes with a statement from opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, currently under house arrest speaking out about the crisis. He’s asking other countries not to get involved at the moment, beyond demanding their freedom of expression. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

Tokyo is “cracking down” on anime porn sales. We put “cracking down” in quotes because the restrictions, proposed by conservative Governor Shintaro Ishihara, really aren’t all that strict, at least by US standards. The bill would make it illegal to sell anime depicting things like rape, pedophilia and incest to people under the age of 18. Offenders would be subject to a $3,500 fine. Quite frankly, we’re surprised this isn’t already illegal. Nevertheless, comic book publishers are now threatening to boycott the Tokyo International Anime Fair in protest. source

Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2012 18:10