Filters becoming more pervasive

A study of Internet \'filtering\' by the OpenNet Initiative – a collaborative effort involving researchers at Cambridge, Harvard, Oxford and Toronto universities – found evidence of it happening in 25 of the 40 countries investigated. ITWire.com says that examples include \'pervasive filtering as a central platform for shaping public knowledge\' in China, Myanmar, Vietnam and Uzbekistan; broad filtering in Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen; more targeted filtering in Thailand and Pakistan; and selective filtering in Bahrain, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, India, South Korea and Singapore. The types of material being filtered varies, but includes pornography and other moral issues, hate speech, political opposition to the ruling party, material from countries on the other side of a conflict, or simply anything deemed \'inappropriate\'. Social filtering was also carried out by countries like France and Germany, where sites that deny the Holocaust or promote Nazism are blocked. According to a report on the iafrica.com site, the survey found that Myanmar, China, Iran, Pakistan and South Korea have the \'most encompassing national security filtering\', targeting the sites of insurgents, extremists, and terrorists. \'The survey shows us that online censorship is growing around the world,\' said John Palfrey, executive director of the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society. \'Some regulation is to be expected as the medium matures, but filtering and surveillance can seriously erode civil liberties and privacy and stifle global communications,\' he added. However, the survey found that a handful of countries where Internet filtering might be expected – such as Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Malaysia, Nepal, Russia, Venezuela and Zimbabwe – were found not to filter. Full ITWire.com report Full report on the iafrica.com site