In March the Russian authorities turned their attentions to online social networks — and the Kremlin proved adept at getting major international companies to comply with its directives: on 15 March Twitter blocked an account that promoted drugs and on 29 March Facebook took down a page called “Suicide School” rather than see its entire network blacklisted.

On 25 March, reports surfaced that the ministry of Communications and Mass Media planned to transfer maintenance of the Registry of Banned Sites from communications regulator Roskomnadzor to a third party selected by Roskomnadzor. The ministry proposed changes to the registry; to maintain website owners’ information on the register but deny sites owners — as well as hosting and Internet providers — access to the entire registry. Internet service providers will also be obliged to restore access to sites that have been removed from the register within 24 hours.

Education and schools

ISPs win small victory on child protection

Reports from 1 March stated that Vladimir Putin agreed a change to the Russian administrative code exempting internet service providers from responsibility for preventing availability to children of harmful materials from publicly accessible internet services. Responsibility now rests with all “persons who provide access to information distributed via telecommunication networks in places accessible to children” rather than ISPs.

Saratov demands better filtering

On 13 March the Saratov regional prosecutor reported that the Bazarno-Karabulaksky district prosecutor had discovered that pornographic websites were accessible from computers in the village school of Alekseevka. Similar violations were discovered in schools of Maksimovka, Vyazovka and Sukhoi Karabulak. The schools were told to upgrade their content filtering.

Tyva schools ordered to improve content filtering

On 27 March it was reported that the Tandinsky district court in the Tyva Republic had accepted a district prosecutor’s demand that Kochetovo village school enhance its content filtering. An inspection had found that students could access websites providing instructions on manufacturing smoking blends and explosives, as well as publications included on the Federal List of Extremist Materials.

Neryungri prosecutor demands filtering

It was reported on 27 March that the Neryungri prosecutor had discovered that computers in several schools and a college allowed access to undesirable websites. Educational managers were fined for their negligence and content filters are currently being installed.

Pskov clamps down on porn

On 29 March it was reported that the Dnovsky district prosecutor in Pskov had discovered that students in a secondary school in the town of Dno were able to freely access pornographic websites and sites promoting the use of illegal drugs. The school was told to stop allowing such access.

Bashkortostan targets cannabis site

The Meleuzovsky prosecutor in Bashkortostan discovered that banned websites were accessible in several Meleuz educational institutions. Students in one school could access a website containing information on manufacturing hashish. The prosecutor demanded that the schools restrict access.

Extremism

Extremism “discovered in burger bar”

On 28 February an inspection by the counter-propaganda department of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic ministry of the interior’s anti-extremism unit found an extremist website on the Federal List of Extremist Materials, made publicly accessible from a computer in the Momento Burger internet cafe in Cherkessk. The case is now being considered by the local prosecutor.

Syktyvkar assault on ‘extremist materials’

It was reported on 15 March that the Syktyvkar city court had accepted its prosecutor’s writ demanding that access to 20 sites be restricted by the ISP ParmaTel for featuring extremist materials.

Vologda blocks Islamist website

On 18 March it was reported that the Sokolsky prosecutor had issued a request to an ISP to block access to radical Islamist websites including an article included on the Federal List of Extremist Materials.

Samara clamps down

On 19 March the Kirovsky district court of Samara granted the prosecutor’s office claim against an Internet provider for providing access to a website that contained the book The Gardens of the Righteous by Imam Abu Zakaria Mohiuddin Yahya. The book is included on the Federal List of Extremist Materials.

Moscow prosecutor restricts access

On 19 March it was reported that Gagarinsky prosecutor in in Moscow had filed a writ with Gagarinsky district court against the ISP Niko-2001, demanding restrictions on access to five websites containing publications on the Federal List of Extremist Materials. The ISP complied and the case was dropped.

Nazis suppressed in Lipetsk

Reports from 19 March stated that the Sovetsky district prosecutor in Lipetsk had successfully demanded that the White Resistance (Beloie Soprotivleniie) website be recognised as extremist because it contained Aryan supremacy propaganda, including Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Ulyanovsk goes for Islamists

On 21 March the Ulyanovsk regional prosecutor stated that the Inzensky district prosecutor had found a number of publicly accessible websites containing extremist materials, including the Letter of the Autonomous Mujahideen Group of Vilayata KBK IK, which is on the Federal List of Extremist Materials. The district prosecutor has served a writ against the local branch of the ISP Rostelekom demanding that access be blocked.

Saratov upholds ban

On 22 March it was reported that the civil law panel of the Saratov regionial court had upheld a lower court’s decision to order the ISPs COMSTAR-Regions and Altura to restrict access to websites containing extremist materials.

Saratov prosecutor sues against hatred

On 27 March the Saratov regional prosecutor was reported to have filed eight writs against the ISP COMSTAR-Regiony and the regional branch of the ISP Rostelekom, demanding restrictions on access to websites containing references to extremist activity and materials aimed at inciting hatred or enmity.

Poem targeted in Tambov

On 27 March it was reported that the Michurinsk city prosecutor in Tambov had demanded that the ISP Telesputnik restrict access to a web page containing a poem included on the Federal List of Extremist Materials. The poem was declared extremist by a city court in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in 2007.

Chelyabinsk restricts nationalist site

On 28 March the Chelyabinsk regional prosecutor announced that the Leninsky district prosecutor in Magnitogorsk had filed seven writs demanding that ISPs restrict access to a right-wing website publishing extremist materials — among them the the article Open Questions of Russian Nationalism.

Sverdlovsk targets Islamists

On 28 March the Sverdlovsk regional prosecutor announced that the Kamensk-Uralsky prosecutor had filed several writs against the ISPs Kamensk-Telekom and Konveks-Kamensk and the regional branch of Rostelekom demanding restrictions on access to websites containing materials on the Federal List of Extremist Materials including the tract Adhering to the Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him).

Bryansk ISP gets court order

On 28 March it was announced that the Bryansk regional court had granted the request of the Volodarsky district prosecutor to restrict access to websites containing extremist materials. The Sovetsky district court last year rejected the request but was overturned on appeal.

Ivanovo prosecutor wants explosives ban

On 28 March the Ivanovo regional prosecutor reported that the Teikovsky prosecutor had identified publicly accessible websites that contain information about manufacturing explosives. Writs demanding restriction of access to the websites were subsequently issued.

Kirov kills fascist website

On 28 March the Kirov regional prosecutor reported that a publicly accessible website offering items with fascist symbols for sale was identified during an audit. The Kirov city prosecutor demanded that the ISP MTC block access and the court complied.

Gambling and online casinos

‘No more gambling’ in Chapayevsk

On 6 March the Samara regional prosecutor declared that the Lenin district court of Samara had accepted 19 complaints by the Chapayevsk town prosecutor about inadequate restrictions on access to gambling websites.

Ulyanovsk restricts pyramid schemes

On 14 March it was reported that the Novomalyklinsky district prosecutor’s office of the Ulyanovsk region had issued writs against the local branch of the ISP Rostelekom demanding restrictions on access to websites run by the pyramid-scheme impresario Sergey Mavrodi.

Kurgan stops the betting

On 15 March it was reported that the Dalmatovsky district prosecutor had identified 25 gambling websites. The prosecutor demanded that the ISP Rus block the sites, and it agreed.

Online gambling halted in Penza

On 15 March the Penza regional prosecutor reported that the Lenin district prosecutor had identified 13 online casino websites. The prosecutor filed a writ against the ISP Rostelekom demanding that access be restricted, which was granted.

Orenburg rules out casinos

On 15 March it was reported that the Novotroitsk town court in the Orenburg region had agreed to a  prosecutor’s demands for restrictions on access to online casino sites. The ISP Ass-Com blocked more than 20 websites voluntarily.

Omsk bars access to gambling

On 20 March the Leninsky district prosecutor’s office in Omsk sued the ISP Sakhalin in the Leninsky district court, demanding restrictions on access to pyramid-scheme websites.

Pskov stops the gamblers

On 21 March it was reported that the Pskov regional prosecutor had found 85 websites with gambling-related information and demanded access restrictions for the sites. After a long legal wrangle, the local branch of the ISP Rostelecom was ordered to restrict access.

Khanty-Mansiysk closes online bookies

On 22 March the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous district prosecutor’s office reported that the Nyagan Town prosecutor had identified several gambling websites. Based on the results of the inspection, the prosecutor filed a lawsuit against the local Rostelekom branch demanding that access to the websites be restricted. The Khanty-Mansiysk district court has granted the petition in full.

Perm blocks gambling access

On 26 March the Perm regional prosecutor reported that pyramid-scheme websites had been found in the public domain in Chernushinsky district. The district prosecutor issued a writ demanding that the local ISP restrict access to these sites, which was accepted by the district court.

Khanty-Mansiysk clamps down

On 26 March it was reported that the appeal court in the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous district had accepted demands from local prosecutors that pyramid-scheme websites be blocked.

Social networks

Twitter closes account and deleted Tweets

On 15 March it became known that in the two preceding weeks Twitter had blocked access to five tweets and closed one user account upon request from Roskomnadzor because its owner advertised the sales of illegal drugs. Three Tweets were blocked for promoting suicide and two more for assisting in drug distribution. The deleted user’s account had advertised a drug distribution network, and was reported to Roskomnadzor by Twitter after its removal.

ISP blocks social networks in Ryazan and Orel

On 28 March it was reported that the ISP Rostelekom had blocked the Odnoklassniki and VKontakte social networks in the Ryazan and Orel regions and had blocked access to YouTube in Orel and Livejournal in Ryazan. The websites were included on the Registry of Banned Sites, but the block was later lifted.

Roskomnadzor warns Facebook

On 28 March it was reported that the federal communications agency Roskomnadzor notified Facebook that it would be blocked unless it removed a page called “Suicide school”, containing (mostly humurous) information about suicide. The page was added to Russia’s internet blacklist and was taken down by the social networking site.

Drugs and pornography

Samara blocks drug-dealing sites

On 12 March it was reported that the Novokuibyshevsk city court in Samara region had demanded that local ISPs MIRS, Next Tell-Samara, Progress IT and TesComVolga restrict access to 25 websites that offered narcotics and psychedelic substances for sale. The websites were identified during an audit conducted by the FSB Department of Samara Region.

Sverdlovsk prosecutor demands drugs action

Reports from 12 March stated that the Sverdlovsk regional prosecutor had filed eight writs against the local branch of the ISP Rostelekom,  demanding restrictions on access to the websites containing material encouraging the use of illegal drugs.

Vladimir restricts access to porn and drugs

On 18 March the Vladimir regional prosecutor declared that the Kolchuginsky interdistrict prosecutor had  found websites containing pornographic materials, information about drug manufacturing and articles about suicide methods, made publicly accessible from a computer installed in the Kolchugino town post office. The prosecutor issued a writ against against a local branch of the ISP Rostelekom demanding that access be restricted, to which the ISP agreed.

Samara prosecutor demands porn block

On 19 March it was reported that the Novokuibyshevsk city prosecutor had filed six writs to block websites featuring child pornography. The lawsuits are pending.

Khabarovsk court upholds ISP porn decision

On 21 March it was reported that the Khabarovsk regional court had upheld the decision of the Centralny district court in October 2012 against the local branch of the ISP Rostelekom, restricting access to two websites with pornographic content.

And the rest…

Website blocked for suicide book

On 27 March it was reported that a book by Perm psychotherapist Yuri Vagin, Aesthetics of Suicide (Estetika samoubiystva) had been categorised as extremist. The federal communications agency Roskomnadzor included the website of the Perm psychoanalytic society, which published the book, on the Registry of Banned Sites.

Orthodox parish registered as dangerous

On 27 March it was reported that Roskomnadzor had included the website of Svyato-Vvedensky parish of Rostov on the Register of Banned Sites. As of 30 March, a message “The requested page could not be found” could be seen when attempting to access the site.

Websites warned over Pussy Riot

On 5 March Roskomnadzor reported that it had issued warnings in late February 2013 to the editorial boards of Argumenty i Fakty newspaper and the Polit.ru online news service for republishing a video clip by the Pussy Riot punk collective. The video had been previously been defined by a court as extremist.

Popular writers blog added to banned list

On 19 March Roskomnadzor added to the Register of Banned Sites a page from the online blog of popular writer Leonid Kaganov that featured the lyrics to a satirical song from a 1990s TV show — supposedly for encouraging suicide. A blog post in which Kaganov commented on this ban was then added to the register — and then so was his entire blog, even though, on the request of Roskomnadzor, Kaganov removed the contentious lyrics from his blog.

Sakhalin ISP told to stop giving bribery tips

On 26 March the Sakhalin regional court reversed a previous Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk city court decision not to ban the ISP Rostelekom from allowing access to a website containing information about giving bribes. The ISP must now restrict access to the site.

Andrei Soldatov is a Russian journalist, and together with Irina Borogan, co-founder of the Agentura.Ru website. Last year, Soldatov and Borogan co-authored The New Nobility: The Restoration of Russia’s Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB (PublicAffairs)

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January saw a dramatic escalation of internet filtering in Russia. The League for Internet Safety, an organisation backed by the Kremlin, launched an experiment in the Kostroma region in central Russia in which 29 local internet service providers signed new contracts with users, giving them access only to a sanitised internet – in other words, websites included on a “white list”. Those wishing to surf beyond the confines of the white list are required to notify their provider explicitly.

At the start of the experiment the white list included about 500,000 sites; by the end of the experiment,  scheduled for April, it is expected to include up to 1 million.

The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media has stated that it does not support the experiment and considers it unnecessary in the light of existing legislation, in which Roskomnadzor, the Federal Agency for Supervision of Telecomms, Information Technologies and Mass Communications, plays a central role.

Communications minister Nikolai Nikiforov declared: “There is only one legitimate procedure for filtering of harmful content — the one operated by our subordinate agency Roskomnadzor. If operators impose restrictions, which are not covered by the law, they violate the rights of subscribers. Moreover, our country constitutes a single indivisible information space, and a specific region can not construct its citizens’ access to information under a different set of rules.”

But the League seems to have been unaffected by this comment. Its initiative was proudly presented at the Safe Internet Forum in Moscow on 8 February, attended by Russian MPs and high-placed officials, and mentioned by a Russian representative at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe conference Internet 2013 — Shaping policies to advance media freedom held in Vienna on 14 and 15 February.

Extremism

On 22 January the central district court of Volgograd accepted a demand from the Volgograd regional prosecutor’s office to recognise as extremist two websites that published books by the Turkish theologian Said Nursi listed on the Federal List of Extremist Materials. Once the court’s decision comes into force, the websites will also be added to the list.

It was reported on 23 January that the Ordzhonikidze district prosecutor’s office of Yekaterinburg had found a publicly accessible website featuring the lyrics of the song “Every Day, Under the Sign of Death” by the Norwegian black metal band Zyklon B and the anti-Semitic tract Poisonous Fish: Zionists and Freemasons in Japan by A Klimov, recognised by courts as extremist. The site also included several other extremist items. The prosecutor’s office filed 15 writs against the ISP AKADO-Yekaterinburg, demanding that access to this website be limited. The proceedings came to an end because of the ISP’s voluntary compliance with the prosecutor’s demands.

The Arkhangelsk regional prosecutor’s office reported on 24 January that its audit of ISPs to check compliance with anti-extremist legislation had found a publicly accessible electronic translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ tract What Does the Bible Really Teach?, declared extremist by the Rostov regional court. The prosecutor filed a writ against the regional branch of the ISP VimpelCom, demanding that access to this material be blocked. The ISP voluntarily complied with the request, and the case was dropped.

On 29 January it was reported that the Dolzhansky district prosecutor’s office in the Orel region had found that the regional branch of the ISP Rostelecom was providing access to a website listed on the Federal List of Extremist Materials, and to another that contained instructions on making explosives and drugs. The prosecutor’s office filed a writ demanding that access to the identified sites be restricted. Despite the ISP’s argument that the website’s owner should be responsible for monitoring content, the district court granted the prosecutor’s request.

Gambling and online casinos

It was reported on 18 January that the Voronezh city prosecutor’s office had identified a website that could be used for online gambling. It filed writs against several ISPs, including MegaFon, Tele2, MTS and Kodotel, demanding that they limit access. The court ordered the ISPs to comply.

The Omsk regional prosecutor’s office announced on 22 January that after an audit of ISPs’ compliance with the gambling ban, the central district prosecutor’s office in Omsk had sent several demands to ISPs that access to gambling sites be restricted.

On 22 January it was announced that the Chernovsky district prosecutor’s office in Chita had identified more than a dozen publicly accessible websites that provided online casino services. The prosecutor filed a writ with the district court demanding that the local ISP limit access to the identified websites. The ISP voluntarily blocked the sites.

The prosecutor’s office in Ivanovo reported on 24 January that the Teykovo interdistrict prosecutor’s office had filed five writs against the ISP Gorizont for providing access to gambling websites. The prosecutor’s office demanded that access to these sites be blocked.

On 1 February the Tula regional prosecutor’s office announced that the prosecutor’s office of the Sovetsky district had reviewed implementation of legislation on gambling. Four writs were filed against the ISP Altair Tula demanding restrictions of access to online casinos, which were accepted by the Sovetsky district court.

On 1 February the Pskov regional prosecutor’s office announced that it had decided that the regional branch of the ISP Rostelecom was responsible for blocking access to gambling sites.

Schools, students, and a beauty salon

The Tambov regional prosecutor’s office announced on 9 January that the Oktiabrsky district prosecutor’s office had found a computer located in a beauty salon that allowed access to websites containing extremist material. The salon’s ISP, Lanta, has been instructed to cease the violations and bring disciplinary charges against those responsible.

On 14 January it was announced that the Komi Republic had launched a content filtering system for computers that provide students with access to the internet. The system covers 285 educational institutions of the republic and 150 computers used for home-schooling of children with disabilities. The goal is to prevent schoolchildren from accessing online information that “is incompatible with the objectives of education and training”. Lists of acceptable and unacceptable sites will be maintained jointly by the republic’s government and staff of educational institutions. The content filtering system is to be extended to cover all the Komi Republic schools.

It was reported on 15 January that bailiffs had ordered the management of four schools in the Kurumkansky district of Buryatia (in Kurumkan, Baragkhan and Sakhuli) to comply with court decisions on limiting students’ access to banned sites. Content filters have been installed.

On 18 January it was reported that the ministry of education and science of the Volgograd region had signed an agreement with the local branch of Rostelecom for the ISP provider to assume responsibility for filtering students’ access to websites containing dangerous material. Rostelecom provides internet access for 85 per cent of the region’s schools.

The Moscow regional prosecutor’s office announced on 18 January that the Yegoryevsk town prosecutor’s office had conducted an audit of compliance with legislation by local schools. The audit had established that in three schools in the district installed filters did not provide sufficient protection from extremist material. The prosecutor’s office has demanded that the head of the local administration ends the violations and brings disciplinary charges against those responsible.

On 21 January it was announced that the department of information technology of the Moscow city government will provide all city schools with wireless internet access by the end of February. The company that won the contract for implementation of this programme, MGTS, must also provide content filtering in order to protect students from extremist, pornographic and other harmful material.

Drugs

It was announced on 8 January that the Pervomaisky district court of Kirov had accepted the demand of the Leninsky district prosecutor’s office that the regional branch of the ISP Rostelecom block access to a website that contained information about cultivation of hemp and producing a psychoactive substance from it.

On 10 January it was announced that the Simonovsky interdistrict prosecutor’s office in Moscow had identified several websites that contained information on illegal drug distribution. The prosecutor’s office filed three writs against the ISP AMT Group Telecom, demanding that access to these websites be restricted by adding an IP-address filter on its router. The Khamovniki district court dismissed them on the grounds that restricting access to the sites would also deprive users of access to other sites. The prosecutor’s office appealed the decision. The Moscow city court subsequently reversed the district court’s judgment and ordered the provider to restrict access to the sites.

On 14 January the Kirov regional prosecutor’s office reported that a court had granted a request by the Oktyabrsky district prosecutor’s office to order the ISP Rostelecom to limit access to a website containing information about drugs and psychotropic substances. The court’s decision has not yet come into force.

On 16 January it was reported that the Berezovsky district prosecutor’s office in the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous area (also known as Yugra) had found several publicly accessible sites that promoted illegal drugs or contained extremist or pornographic material. The prosecutor’s office filed a writ against the ISP Rostelecom demanding that access to these websites be blocked.

It was reported on 22 January that the Nizhny Novgorod regional prosecutor’s office had identified several websites that promote distribution of illegal substances. The prosecutors of Nizhegorodsky and Sovetsky districts of Nizhny Novgorod and the city prosecutor’s offices of Arzamas and Vyksun filed writs against multiple service providers, demanding that the identified websites be blocked.

On 3 January Roskomnadzor added the blog kazantripreport, hosted on the portal lj.rossia.org, to its register of banned sites. The creator of lj.rossia.org had agreed to remove the page on 2 January, having discussed doing so since 28 December. The notification from Roskomnadzor arrived a week after the page had been removed. The management of lj.rossia.org accused the user kazantripreport of spamming and using the resource for commercial purposes. In addition, the blog had published reviews of an illegal substance, as well as Russian translations of Philip Greave’s book The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover’s Code of Conduct.

On 6 January Roskomnadzor notified the online encyclopedia lurkmore.to that the address for one of its articles had been included on the register of banned sites. The article discussed various ways to commit suicide in a satirical manner. The management of lurkmore.to has since removed the article and intends to appeal the ban in court. Roskomnadzor had taken similar measures against the online encyclopedia on previous occasions.

On 10 January Roskomnadzor notified Ilya Dronov, the manager of SUP Media’s LiveJournal Russia project, that the blog of Rustem Agadamov had been added to the register of banned sites. Propaganda for suicide was cited as the reason for the ban. The post in question was a photo report, dated March 2012. It depicted an attempted self-immolation of a Tibetan independence activist in protest against the visit of the president of China. Access to the page has been restricted. The administration of LiveJournal Russia intends to appeal Roskomnadzor’s decision.

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In addition to accessing user-data, the report points to a rise in censorship. Google announced it had received six requests from the British government and police to remove 135 videos for “national security” reasons, compared with zero requests during the previous six months. The Home Office has sought to justify the intrusion by stating that “the government takes the threat of online extremist or hate content very seriously”, but the requests point to an ongoing tension between citizens’ right to privacy and national security. It also puts into sharp focus current limits on free speech, based on the claim that online materials play a significant role in radicalization and are therefore legitimate targets for censorship. Following revelations Roshonara Choudhry took inspiration from YouTube talks by the late radical preacher Anwar al Awlaki in the attempted murder of Labour MP Stephen Timms, the total number of items that British authorities sought to censor more than doubled from 156 to 333.

But tensions over censorship have become equally salient in other countries. In India, the government placed a request for censorship of protests against social leaders and the use of offensive language in reference to religious leaders. Although Google declined the majority of these requests, it locally restricted videos that appeared to violate local laws prohibiting speech that could incite enmity between communities, inline with its official modus operandi. The report provides insight into how Google complies with local laws, even if they appear designed to stifle free speech, such as in Turkey, where Google restricted users from seeing material about the private lives of political officials. It also restricted Thai users from accessing 90 per cent of YouTube videos deemed insulting to Thailand’s monarchy, an illegal act under local laws.

Google has itself played a significant part in raising questions over the legitimacy of government intrusion into private data and the curtailing of freedom of informationand it is part of the company’s strategy to spotlight the issue of government access to citizens’ online information. Google is part of the “Due Process Coalition,” along with AOL, AT&T, Microsoft, and Facebook, a group which pushes for reform to the US Electronic Communications Privacy Act, a 1986 law that allows government investigators to review users’ online information (including email and other stored data) without a warrant.The internet giant has also said it hopes its report will contribute to the ongoing public discussion on the ways the internet needs to be regulated. Dorothy Chou, senior policy analyst at Google stated, referring to the report: “We believe that providing this level of detail highlights the need to modernise laws like the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which regulates government access to user information and was written 25 years ago — long before the average person had ever heard of email.” Others have also added that the expansion of online activity is out of sync with out-dated legislation.  This has left companies with access to sensitive private data open to government intrusion, such as concerning web-user data in the US, where in many instances laws donot require a search warrant.

Derrick Harris of Gigaom claims that companies like Google are in the sensitive position of having to interpret laws that are too old to properly address these requests: “Content-removal requests come in before there has been any real legal proceeding, and platform providers such as Google are forced to play judge and jury. They must balance legal risks against free speech in deciding whether content should stay up or be removed.”

This raises concerns over the possible erosion of freedom of speech and personal privacy, through a failure to outline updated legislation which can adequately protect internet users.

The US, long regarded as a bastion of free speech through its constitutional grounding, currently leads the world in government requests for information on citizens’ online activity, sending 5,950 requests for data about Google users and services between 1 January and 30 June 2011, a 29 per cent increase over the previous six months. Given that Google says it complied wholly or partially with 93 percent of those requests, an almost 40 percent compared to a year earlier, both Google’s responses and the legislation underlying them, raise fundamental questions over digital safety and privacy.

Google’s report also indicates that compared to the previous six months, the number of content removal requests it received from the United States increased by 70 percent. Worryingly, this included requests for it to remove videos of police brutality and the defamation of police officers, to which the group declined to comply. In the US, Google says, it received 92 requests for data removal, covering 757 pieces of content, including YouTube videos and content posted in Google Groups. The company says it complied (at least partially) with 63 percent of these requests, but left information alone in cases where it didn’t appear to violate Google’s Terms of Service or local laws. Company spokesman Stephen Rosenthal stated “we don’t simply censor on request, we ensure there is a case for removal.” But Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, has argued that given that YouTube is a public platform, any steps to censor it should be backed with a court order and some form of judicial process: “Police seem to be advising Google on what material might be breaking the law, and then Google decides to censor this material without a court order.”

Killock raised concerns over freedom of the media and its potential misuse as a police tool to gather evidence, referring to British prime minister David Cameron’s urging of news outlets to hand over to police all material collected during the UK riots.

The report’s findings suggest the need to rethink the idea of cyber-space as a place of unadulterated freedom, through its lack of regulation. Rather, the rise in government requests for accessing personal data and attempts to censor materials without any recourse to legal due process, suggests internet uses may be better protected through increased regulation which can adequately define the boundaries of state intrusion and ensure companies, like Google, are not left unchecked to make critical decisions about freedom of expression.

Myriam Francois-Cerrah is a writer, journalist, budding academic

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Yesterday’s overturning of the convictions of five young men under the Terrorism Act signifies a change in how the courts deal with extremism, writes Jo Glanville

The quashing of the conviction of five students under the Terrorism Act at the Court of Appeal this week marks a sea change. The main evidence against the five young men (one of whom was a schoolboy at the time of his arrest) was the extremist material they had downloaded and shared on the Internet. They were prosecuted under Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for possessing articles for the purposes of terrorism.

In its judgment, the Court of Appeal revealed that Section 57 was designed to allow action to be taken against people found in possession of bomb-making material – in circumstances where there was a reasonable suspicion of a connection with terrorism. The material the young men had downloaded was described variously as propagandist, extremist and ideological. It was not material that contained instructions on how to make weapons or explosives. However the prosecution argued that the students were planning to travel to Pakistan, where they were going to train and then fight against the government in Afghanistan: this was the terrorist purpose for which they had downloaded material from the Internet. The Court of Appeal ruled that there was no direct connection between the material and a terrorist plan: the evidence did not support the case.

It is a judgment that breaks the link (which until now has gone virtually unquestioned) between extremism and terrorism. The Internet is seen as the hub of extremist activity – an underworld of activity that must be controlled. Jihadi material is viewed as such a toxic force that viewing it – “possessing” it – has become a criminal act. The Court of Appeal has poured cold water on these assumptions and demanded a much more rigorous, restricted interpretation of the law. The public response to the Samina Malik case last year marked the first shift in attitude towards extremist literature and any connection with terrorism. The Court of Appeal has now fundamentally called into question the application of the law.

Further reading from Index on Censorship Dec 2007 (pdfs)

Road to Jihad – Shiraz Maher
Taking on the radicals – David Livingstone

The post Extreme but not illegal appeared first on Index on Censorship.

The recent denial of a visa to Yusuf al Qaradawi, the influential Qatar-based scholar accused of preaching hatred against homosexuals and encouraging terrorism amongst Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, is unsettling. The reasons for the rebuff are based on ad hoc, inconsistent policy and more importantly on a fear that a certain segment of our population is so particularly gullible and immature that they cannot be trusted to filter good ideas from bad ones.

The truth is that the UK welcomes all kinds of nefarious characters to its shores, whether they are retired despots (like Augusto Pinochet) or leaders of autocratic regimes (the list is rather long).

In 2002, Narendra Modi’s government provided both leadership and material support to the braying mobs who butchered over 2,000 Gujarati Muslims in a week of hate-driven political violence. In the aftermath of the carnage, some 200,000 people were left homeless and forced to move from their neighbourhoods in case the machete-wielding hordes returned. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, among many others, highlighted the role of the police and other state actors in not only failing to prevent the killings, but actively encouraging, and even participating in them. In 2005, a previously granted visa to travel to the United States was revoked by the US government citing his role in the “severe violation” of religious freedom. Yet, Modi, the Chief Minister of the Gujarat and a member of the Hindu-nationalist BJP visited the UK in 2003, and was subsequently granted a visa to travel here again in 2005. He called off his trip due to political pressure.

Modi is accused of ethnic cleansing. His anti-Muslim, Hindu nationalist rhetoric surely encourages hate. His presence in the UK sparked ugly public rows between British Hindu and Muslim communities – no good for the so-called “community cohesion” the government obsesses about. Modi, it seems, is not just a preacher, but a purveyor of hate. Yet no move has ever been made to deny him a visa.

In the lexicon of polemical politics, “preacher of hate” is the kind of terminological shorthand that is employed as a weapon to stifle reasoned debate. The fact that it has migrated from tabloid headlines to policy language so quickly is indicative of the asphyxiated public discourse on Islam and Muslims. Once affixed, the moniker is tough to shake- the image of the hook-handed Abu Hamza looms large behind such claims.

The epithet would be better applied to Franklin Graham, son of American super-televangelist Billy Graham, and head of the Samaritan’s Purse missionary organisation. He has declared that Islam is a “very evil and wicked religion”, Muslims are set on “world domination” and that he does not owe any tolerance to a faith he considers intolerant. It’s all in the Qur’an he says: “It is there. You can read it for yourself.” Christian commentator Giles Fraser has called the Samaritan’s Purse missionary outreach project Operation Christmas Child as peddling a “toxic” version of Christianity – gift-wrapped Islamophobia. He is coming to the UK in April to lead a mission of love. It’s these double standards that ought to get us all riled.

Qaradawi has never made similar claims about any other religion. His scholarly credentials are well established: he has condemned 9/11, 7/7 and other terrorist attacks, he is considered a voice of religious moderation within the international Muslim scholarly community, and he has made a particular effort in seeking to understand the position of Muslim minorities in Europe and North America. Yet vociferous debate between Islamic religious authorities is the norm not the exception. Qaradawi views on suicide bombing in Palestine have been challenged. His guidance to European Muslims has been questioned – fellow scholars have asked him to let Muslims in Europe figure things out for themselves. In some circles, Qaradawi is branded a conservative jurist, in others he is seen as too liberal in his fatwa. His book The Lawful and Prohibited in Islam has been mockingly called “The Lawful and Lawful in Islam” for its lack of harsh prohibitions. In the end, there are plenty who would disagree with Qaradawi’s positions. There are those who will accept and support them. That’s the nature of public debate. The arguments need to be loud and unafraid. We shouldn’t fear taking on positions that we vociferously disagree with.

Some of the individuals who would seem most likely to reject Qaradawi’s presence in the UK have spoken out against the visa denial. Gay activist Peter Tatchell has called it “illiberal, unwarranted and unmerciful”. After all Sheikh Qaradawi was only coming for medical treatment. Ubaid-ur Rehman, Secretary of the Gay and Lesbian Muslim support group IMAAN wrote in a letter to the Guardian, “…Qaradawi has condemned the London bombings, the 9/11 attacks and other acts of terrorism, stating these are against Islamic beliefs. In banning Qaradawi, the Home Office is contributing to a climate of Islamophobia, which will impact on all Muslims, including our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members. We make clear our disagreements with all faiths that are regressive on homosexuality, and demand that Muslim leaders are treated equally with other faith representatives, who are not generally banned.”

Qaradawi (or even Louis Farrakhan, whose ludicrous ban from Britain persists) is an individual who puts forward ideas and opinions that ought to be debated and discussed. If we stopped listening to the tabloid polemics, we would realise that real debate at the Muslim grassroots is being drowned out. The vibrant civic discourse in Muslim communities and the expanding civil society networks are making a case for religious identity that is itself a product of modern Britain.

If anything is threatening “social cohesion”, it is inconsistent government policy on who should be let in to Britain and who shouldn’t. What separates the Modis from the Grahams from the Farrakhans? Aiding and abetting murder would be a good first criterion.

What we are witnessing is censorship by visa denial. By caving into pressure and baiting from the Conservatives, the Brown government has demonstrated how little its policies on granting visas is being guided by the “British values” it claims to hold dear and how much by political expediency.

Moreover, the widespread support among politicians and some pundits for the decision reveals the extent to which Britain’s political class is uneasy and unsure about its own “values”, the strength of its democracy and the importance of public debate. If fear of an 81-year old sheikh can render our “values” so malleable and fear opposing views so profoundly, we have more problems than we bargained for.

Abdul-Rehman Malik is Contributing Editor with Q-News, the Muslim magazine and a senior project manager with The Radical Middle Way initiative

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