OpenNet Initiative
The Epoch Times cited the OpenNet Initiative, a project of the Citizen Lab, the SecDev Group, and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, as one of the best resources in learning about Internet filtering.
The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) is pleased to announce the availability of our summarized global Internet filtering data as a downloadable CSV file under a Creative Commons license.
In December 2011, we will celebrate the launch of Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace, which is the third volume from the OpenNet Initiative.
This Financial Post article reports on a new research paper published by the OpenNet Initiative, which finds that in many majority Muslim countries, control of the Internet is based primarily on interpretations of the religious instructions of the Islamic faith. The author of the article, Helmi Noman, is a Senior Researcher at the Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto and a Research Affiliate at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University. Mr. Noman says that “a number of Internet-specific fatwas (religious decrees) have been layered on top of regulatory boundaries on acceptable use.” For example, fatwas against browsing forbidden websites have resulted in the development of “websites with more palatable content such as NaqaTube.com, which promises users a Sharia-compatible YouTube-like experience.”
The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) is pleased to release In the Name of God: Faith Based Internet Censorship in Majority Muslim Countries. This occasional paper analyzes the Internet censorship policies and practices of majority Muslim countries and finds that in many of these countries online information controls are primarily based on the Islamic faith and interpretations of its instructions
In light of the controversy around the use of Canadian-made software being used in the Middle East and North Africa, it is remarkable that the Ontario Centres of Excellence, the Information Technology Association of Canada, and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs would choose to honour an Internet Service Provider that pervasively filters access to information using Canadian made software.
See the OpenNet Initiative post here