Posts Tagged ‘pornography’

Web filtering: Keeping it clean?

October 11th, 2011

David Cameron has announced plans to block access to pornography online, with providers offering the choice to turn on a filter.

In a 2009 edition of Index on Censorship magazine Seth Finkelstein examines how indiscriminate blocking systems can be a source of censorship

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Australian internet providers employ censors

July 6th, 2011

Australian service providers, including Telstra and Optus, will voluntarily block websites deemed by the government as showing and disseminating child pornography. Those who attempt to access the blacklisted sites will be redirected to the site of the International Criminal Police Organisation. Wikileaks revealed that on the blacklist are some gay and straight porn sites, fringe religious groups, and Wikipedia sites.

Iranian web designer sentenced to death

December 9th, 2010

Iranian authorities have sentenced a web designer to death for allegedly creating a pornographic website. Canadian resident Saeed Malekpour, 35, was convicted of “designing and moderating adult content websites,” “agitation against the regime” in Tehran, and “insulting the sanctity of Islam”. Malekpour was detained in Iran in 2008 when he returned to visit his father.

China: 60,000 porn sites closed in crackdown

November 24th, 2010

Sixty thousand websites deemed to host pornographic content have been shut down by the government since December 2009. The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications also said some 1.6 million websites had been checked. The office revealed many of the offending websites were discovered through informants. Five hundred and sixteen informers have been rewarded with USD 79,000 since the crackdown started.

Indonesia: Playboy editor jailed for “indecency”

October 11th, 2010

The former editor-in-chief of Playboy Indonesia has begun a two-year prison sentence for publishing images of women in underwear. Erwin Arnada was found guilty of violating indecency laws during a closed trial at the Supreme Court in August, overturning the acquittal decided by South Jakarta District Council in 2007. Islamic hardliners launched legal action against Arnada in 2006, attacking Playboy Indonesia offices shortly after the magazine’s launch. Spokesman for the Islamic Defenders Front, Soleh Mahmud, said that the case shows “pornography has no place in Indonesia”.

Kuwait: Ban pornographic sites on BlackBerry

August 3rd, 2010

Kuwait has asked BlackBerry’s Canadian maker RIM to block pornographic sites though they will not suspend the messenger services like their Gulf neighbours. RIM have agreed to block 3,000 porn sites and have promised to do so by the end of this year.

China threatens 122 adult websites with closure

July 16th, 2010

The Chinese authorities have ordered 122 websites to remove all traces of pornography or lewd content from their sites or face censorship and prosecution. The content prohibited includes pornographic fiction available for online reading or download. Chinese censorship has been steadily growing and recently hit the headlines over clashes with internet giant Google.

Indonesia: Pop star charged for sex tape

June 25th, 2010

Police have charged pop star Azril “Ariel” Irham with pornography offences for allegedly participating in home made sex tapes with two other Indonesian celebrities. The videos came to light after they were leaked on social networking sites Twitter and Facebook and have subsequently been widely circulated via mobile phones. Controversial Indonesian pornography laws prohibit public displays of flesh and behaviour that could incite lust and if convicted, Ariel faces a maximum sentence of 12 years imprisonment.