EDRI - Freedom to publish

The Finnish Supreme court rules on blocking anti-censorship site

bogdan — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 21:50:44 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Finnland: Entscheidung über die Zensur einer Anti-Zensur-Website

On 26 August 2013, the Finnish Supreme Court ruled it was legal to censor a website listing domain names of sites that are currently blocked even if the site itself doesn’t host or link to illegal content.

The ruling comes in the case of Matti Nikki’s website lapsiporno.info which was added by the Finnish police on the list of websites to be filtered because it exposed the blocked links. Matti challenged the decision in court and in 2011 a Helsinki court ruled that his site should not be blocked.

Macedonia: Demand to retract proposed media legislation

bogdan — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 21:47:33 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Mazedonien: Ruf nach Rücknahme der geplanten Mediengesetze

The Front for Freedom of Expression, an informal coalition of nine civic associations, demands from Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia to retract the proposed media bills – the Law on Media and the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, which threaten to further undermine freedom of speech in Macedonia, especially due to the unjustified decision to cover both print and internet-media with new regulations.

The majority of issues allegedly resolved with the proposed bills are already covered in the Broadca

UK authorities press to get hold of Snowden affair’s documents

bogdan — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 21:46:16 +0000

The echoes of the PRISM affair keep growing.

Turkey: Social media and our rights

bogdan — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 19:40:26 +0000

The EDRi member from Turkey Alternative Informatics Association together with other 11 NGOs from Turkey issued the following public announcement with the title "Reclaiming our rights on social media following the Gezi Park protests":

UN and some international organizations have declared Internet as the main tool of freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Internet and social media are indispensable for the individual to progress, for the individual to take part in society and for a sustainable democracy. Around the whole world masses demand access to information, transparency and participative democracy.

Freedom of expression, freedom to protest and privacy are fundamental human rights. Freedom of expression also consists of dissent.

ENDitorial: #ResistSocialMedia in Turkey

bogdan — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:17:48 +0000

The wave of resistance that started at Gezi Park on the 29 May 2013 in Istanbul and has since spread all over Turkey once again revealed a deep connection between real time communication on social media and social movements. Throughout the protests, social media platforms have become the primary news source in this environment where the mainstream media have proven themselves to be the site of disinformation or inertia.

Macedonia: Freedom of expression endangered by new law

bogdan — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:07:51 +0000

The new Macedonian law on Law on Media and Audiovisual Media Services creates serious risks for freedom of expression in Macedonia.

The new law expands the scope of state control from broadcast media (which is justified because they use a limited public resource, namely wireless spectrum) to all kinds of media, including online and print. This is neither justified and unnecessary and far exceeds the requirements of the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive 2010/13/EU.

Furthermore, excessively broad definitions (for instance, the concept of journalists) and vague formulations create the risk and possibility of arbitrary interpretation by state regulators, which would increase the risk of the undermining of freedom of expression.

The drafting of the law suffered from

SIF Unconference: Enforcement through "self-"Regulation - who ever thought this was a good idea?

joe — Mon, 27 May 2013 14:36:38 +0000

Last week, European Digital Rights attended the second annual Stockholm Internet Forum which focused on two main themes: Internet Freedom and Security and Internet Freedom and Development. A novelty this year were the Unconference sessions.

ENDitorial: Silly censorship week: And the winner is...

bogdan — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 17:58:58 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: ENDitorial: Woche der dümmsten Zensurmaßnahme

Over the past few years it has become more and more frequent that private companies get to decide what is "appropriate" or "inappropriate" online and what sort of Internet content we are allowed to access.

Our rights to privacy and freedom of expression are increasingly put into the hands of arbitrary decisions of private intermediaries.

Azeri opposition blogger arrested

bogdan — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:23:49 +0000

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Deutsch: Aserbaidschan: Oppositioneller Blogger verhaftet

A new arrest made by the Azeri authorities raise concerns over the freedom of speech in Azerbaijan ahead of the next year's general elections.

The well-known blogger and opposition activist Zaur Gurbanli was arrested from his home on 29 September 2012 by several people who identified themselves as members of the Interior Ministry’s organized crime department.

Macedonian draft law may introduce online censorship

bogdan — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:21:13 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Mazedonien: Neues Gesetz könnte zu Internetzensur führen

A draft law on civil liability for insult and defamation related to communication over the Internet, which has passed the first reading in the Macedonian Parliament, may lead to strong censorship of the Internet.

According to the draft law, online service providers are liable for penalties, along with the author, for any damage resulting from offensive or defamatory information the provider has allowed access to, unless it can prove the author of the respective information “was not acting under direct or indirect con