Censorship without Borders: 21st Century Threats to Media Freedom

Censorship without Borders: 21st Century Threats to Media Freedom

Findings of Freedom of the Press 2010, Freedom House’s annual assessment of press freedom, show a worrying decline in media freedom around the globe. This downturn includes the growing phenomenon of international censorship, through which authoritarian states, such as China, are exerting repressive influence beyond national borders. Meanwhile, democratic states with restrictive laws, such as Britain’s freedom of expression-unfriendly libel laws, are creating a pernicious chilling effect on journalists, editors and publishers around the world. Please join us for a panel discussion, immediately following the public release of Freedom of the Press 2010 findings, examining the growing threats to free expression beyond national borders.

Hosted by The Newseum

Featured Speakers Include:

Robert Boorstin, Director of Corporate and Policy Communications, Google

Karin Karlekar, Managing Editor, Freedom of the Press

Libby Liu, President, Radio Free Asia

Frank Smyth, Washington Representative, Committee to Protect Journalists

Christopher Walker, Director of Studies, Freedom House

Thursday, April 29, 2010

11:00 A.M. – 12:30 p.m.

The Newseum

555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20001

Guests should arrive at the 6th Street entrance of the Newseum

RSVP to Maggie Emery by email: emery@freedomhouse.org

Censorship Circumvention Videos

Использовать и Установить Набор для Браузеров Tor

http://bit.ly/cWj6To

Russian subtitled version of our Tor Browser Bundle Tutorial that will teach you how to protect yourself on the go by using a USB flash drive to run Tor at any computer.

Как Установить и Использовать Tor

http://bit.ly/am1hhU

Russian subtitled version of our Tor Tutorial that will teach you how to download, install, and use Tor.

Puff Tutorial

http://bit.ly/dCy13l

A quick and easy explanation on how to download, install, and use Puff.

Freegate Tutorial

http://bit.ly/bjnwrG

A quick, easy to follow tutorial on downloading and using Freegate for censorship circumvention and security.

UltraSurf Tutorial

http://bit.ly/bzRsfl

Quick and easy explanation on how to download and use UltraSurf for Internet security and censorship circumvention.

Using Bridge Relays to Access Tor

http://bit.ly/cuZuWQ

A guide to adding and utilizing bridge relays in order to access the Tor relay network in areas where it has been blocked.

Using Pidgin with Off the Record

http://bit.ly/1Wxotj

A guide to using the Pidgin Instant Messaging Client in conjunction with Off the Record in order to protect the privacy of your instant messages. The Pidgin software can be found at www.pidgin.im and Off the Record can be found at www.cypherpunks.ca/otr.

Tor Browser Bundle Tutorial

http://bit.ly/9X82tS

A quick and easy explanation on how to use the Tor Browser Bundle and a USB flash drive for secure web browsing on the go.

Tor Tutorial

http://bit.ly/biIVDZ

An easy to follow guide on downloading, installing, and running Tor for the first time.

Your Freedom Tutorial

http://bit.ly/1ix7Ib

An easy to follow guide on installing and activating the Your Freedom software.

Hotspot Shield Tutorial

http://bit.ly/a1qxPI

A short, easy to follow guide to installing and activating Hotspot Shield.

Internet censorship in Australia - Opportunity for collaboration

Internet Freedom Index - Scores review meeting

Interview with Karin Karlekar and Sarah Cook from Freedom House. They describe the details of the Internet Freedom Index held January 30th, 2009

Click To Play

Internet Freedom Alert - Episode #1

EU Lauded for Prize to Chinese Dissident, New Internet Initiative

Budapest – October 23, 2008 – Freedom House applauds the European Parliament for awarding its top human rights prize to Chinese dissident Hu Jia, who was jailed this year as China cracked down on human rights campaigners ahead of the Olympics. The international community should respond by increasing pressure on China's authoritarian leaders to ensure that Hu is freed—along with all other prisoners of conscience—and allowed to accept the Sakharov Award in France December 17.

"Hu winning the Sakharov Award communicates a powerful message of hope to millions of Chinese who dream of living in a country where they can speak, worship and associate freely," said Jennifer Windsor, Freedom House executive director. "The legitimacy accorded to the Chinese government by democratic heads of state who chose to attend the Olympic Games sent the wrong message to China’s beleaguered activists. We hope this award provides the encouragement that Chinese activists like Hu need to keep pressing for their basic human rights."

China's government sentenced Hu to three and a half years in jail this spring on subversion charges after he gave interviews to media and published an open letter to the Chinese government calling for an end to human rights abuses in the country.

Today, the European Parliament also approved funding for a new global initiative to help human rights bloggers like Hu circumvent China's formidable Internet blocking system. The €11 million ($14 million) budgetary proposal will fund a study to develop anti-censorship tools and services.

Freedom House praises the EU for supporting these useful tools and urges parliamentarians to expand this effort by earmarking funds to develop a service to archive web content. This would allow users, especially those in China, to access content deleted by government authorities. The European Parliament should also pass the Global Online Freedom Act which would be a historic step toward strengthening Internet freedom worldwide.

"Freedom House believes GOFA is an essential step toward combating Internet censorship in authoritarian states like China," said Vladimir Shkolnikov, Freedom House Europe director.

China is ranked Not Free in the 2008 edition of Freedom in the World, Freedom House's survey of political rights and civil liberties, and in the 2008 version ofFreedom of the Press.

For more information on China, visit:

Freedom in the World 2008: China
Freedom of the Press 2008: China

Mass Media Control in Contemporary China

China and the Olympics

Freedom House, an independent nongovernmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world, has been monitoring political rights and civil liberties in China since 1972.