13 May 2013 | Asia and Pacific
We are a consortium of NGOs and individuals— ARTICLE 19, Association For Progressive Communications, Access Now, Bolo Bhi, Centre For Democracy & Technology, Centre For Peace & Development Initiatives, Christopher Parsons,Chunri Chuopaal, Digital Rights Foundation, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press, Global Voices Advocacy, Index On Censorship, Intermedia Pakistan, Individual Land Pakistan, Jacob Appelbaum (The Tor Project), Leila Nachawati, Privacy International, Reporters Without Borders, Renata Avila (Human Rights & IP lawyer), Simon Davies (Privacy Surgeon), Institute for Research Advocacy and Development Pakistan, The Internet Democracy Project India, and Nawaat — committed to respecting user privacy and promoting freedom of expression and access to information.
We express our dismay and condemnation over the presence of a FinFisher Command and Control server on a network operated by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTLD’s). FinFisher, developed by a UK-based company Gamma International, has been used to target activists in Bahrain. Privacy International is currently engaged in a lawsuit over the export of FinFisher, and has also filed a complaint with the OECD.
In February 2012, alongside an international coalition of civil society groups, we actively campaigned to stop the impending nation-wide firewall and to inform the government and international surveillance companies of the repercussions of the firewall would have on academia, businesses, trade, and civil society. As a result, five major international companies known to sell surveillance, filtering, and blocking systems publicly committed not to apply for the government’s call for proposals last year.
In March 2013 the Ministry of Information Technology made a commitment to shelve their plans for acquiring the technology for URL filtering and blocking. With the Citizen Lab report we have now learnt that servers at PTLD, one of the largest ISPs in the country, are hosting a command and control server for FinSpy. Based on the report, there are two possibilities: (1) elements of the Government of Pakistan are deploying FinFisher trojans or (2) a foreign government is using a server inside Pakistan for a digital espionage campaign. Either one of these possibilities is highly troubling, and the findings warrant immediate investigation. Moreover, given that a Pakistan Telecommunications Authority’s representative has admitted in court that PTCL has acquired a traffic filtering system, we feel that this acquisition and surveillance capability represents a further threat to the free flow of information, user rights, freedom of expression and privacy in Pakistan.
As members of Pakistan’s civil society and organizations committed to ensuring the government upholds democratic principles in Pakistan, and with concerns about restrictions on privacy as well as access to information, we strongly urge PTCL to immediately investigate the existence of FinFisher Command and Control Servers and to publicly disclose their findings. PTCL to should follow the example of the Canadian ISP SoftCom that investigated and then disabled the FinFisher server on its networks that was similarly identified by Citizen Lab in March 2013. By keeping their users in the dark any further PTCL would harm open and secure access in Pakistan. PTCL should under no circumstances allow FinFisher or other remote intrusion or filtering tools within their network, as their presence directly violates user’s rights and privacy, as well as threatening Pakistan’s network security.
If PTCL wants to further support business, innovation, entrepreneurship, trade, international investment, academia and human rights, it should immediately investigate and disable this espionage equipment on its network.
Signed:
ARTICLE 19, Association For Progressive Communications, Access Now, Bolo Bhi, Centre For Democracy & Technology, Centre For Peace & Development Initiatives, Christopher Parsons,Chunri Chuopaal, Digital Rights Foundation, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press, Global Voices Advocacy, Index On Censorship, Intermedia Pakistan, Individual Land Pakistan, Jacob Appelbaum (The Tor Project), Leila Nachawati, Privacy International, Reporters Without Borders, Renata Avila (Human Rights & IP lawyer), Simon Davies (Privacy Surgeon), Institute for Research Advocacy and Development Pakistan, The Internet Democracy Project India, and Nawaat
9 May 2013 | In the News
CANADA
Letter: Censorship has no place in our society
What a shameful affront by York Regional Police to the democratic liberties enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, namely freedom of speech and belief, in stopping Pamela Geller, an invited American anti-Islamist, from expressing her thoughts at a Thornhill synagogue. (York Region
CHINA
How to Jump the Great Firewall of China
As the Chinese government’s censorship tools becomes increasingly refined, Internet users have learned to circumvent the Great Firewall. Their primary technique is to communicate via the same networks as government agencies and major businesses. (Tech President/Personal Democracy Media)
ISRAEL
Another bad Israeli law
The libel bill, which was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, would have a dangerous chilling effect on criticism of IDF operations. (Haaretz)
PAKISTAN
Blogging in Pakistan ain’t like blogging in America
At first, it was just Buzzfeed. I had moved back to Pakistan, where I intended to continue my full time work in online media, after almost 13 years in the United States. But the internet in Karachi did not appear to be the same internet I’d known and loved in America. (GlobalPost)
RUSSIA
Google Defeated in Russian YouTube Censorship Case
In February, Google filed an appeal in Russia to challenge the censorship of a YouTube video deemed unlawful. This week, Google was defeated. (Search Engine Watch)
UNITED KINGDOM
Editorial Viewpoint: Baffling silence on free speech threat
Every day, it seems, we get another example of the dysfunctional nature of government in Northern Ireland. In this case it concerns reforms to the libel laws which are being introduced in Britain. (Belfast Telegraph)
UNITED STATES
Judge Rules For Cheerleaders In Bible Banner Suit
A judge has ruled that cheerleaders at a Southeast Texas high school can display banners emblazoned with Bible verses at football games. (ABC News)
EA Claims Gun Designs Are Protected Under Free Speech
With guns becoming a hot topic of debate once more in the United States, EA has chosen to distance themselves from arms manufacturers; no longer will EA pay for the right to depict real firearms in their games. Just because they aren’t going to pay any longer, don’t expect EA to stop using depictions of real weapons and vehicles; EA believes their constitutional rights under the tenants of free speech allow their use of trademarks without permission. (Click)
North Dakota School Allows Pro-Life Poster After Initial Censorship
One day after receiving a letter from Alliance Defending Freedom, a North Dakota high school and its district agreed to allow a student’s pro-life poster that was part of a class assignment to be placed back on the walls of the school. (LifeNews.com
Free-speech protest at market not met with vendor applause
Though an Athens, Ohio, man says he got arrested at the Athens Farmers Market Saturday on behalf of free speech, his efforts don’t seem to have generated much enthusiastic support among vendors who sell their products there. (The Athens News)
Attorneys and activists say Illinois terrorism law is chilling free speech
Attorneys and activists say Illinois law is chilling free speech by defining legal activism as illegal terrorism.
The argument is being made on behalf of three men charged under Illinois’ terrorism law in connection with protests at last year’s NATO gathering in Chicago.(Medill Reports)
Farms And Free Speech
Senator Mike Brubaker (R-36) is hoping to introduce and pass a bill similar to a bill he proposed one year ago. This time, he said he’s made some adjustments. The bill would require anybody photographing or filming farms during undercover investigations to turn over footage to law enforcement before posting the footage anywhere else first. (CentralPA.com
8 May 2013 | In the News
GLOBAL
The Bobs announce winners of online activism award
Jury members at The Bobs gave out honors to bloggers and online activists for their work promoting freedom of expression, human rights and the right to information. Internet users also voted for their own set of winners. (DW)
AUSTRALIA
Dreyfus says Brandis stands for hate speech
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus has accused the opposition of defending hate speech, not free speech, after his Coalition counterpart George Brandis’s charge that the government was waging war against freedom of expression. (The Australian)
Students ridiculed for Christian beliefs speak out in video
Public school students who’ve endured ridicule for their Christian beliefs created a newly released video, titled “The Thaw”, in which they ask, “Why can’t I pray in school? Why am I called names because I believe in marriage the way God designed it? Why can’t Tim Tebow praise God after making a touchdown without causing a national uproar?” (Christian Today Australia)
CANADA
“Cult of secrecy” pervades Canada’s Access to Information system, report says
Secrecy is at the heart of the annual Review of Free Expression in Canada released on Friday, May 3, by the organization Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). Observing a “cult of secrecy” in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, CJFE lamented the state of the country’s “dysfunctional” Access to Information Act, a sunshine law, and warned about a bill that could undermine the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) journalistic independence. (Journalism in the Americas
RUSSIA
Is Russia’s social network chief really a free speech martyr?
The beautiful thing about a really good conspiracy theory is that it’s nearly impossible to disprove. And that’s especially true in Russia, where so much, so often, is so murky. (Washington Post)
Russia’s only independent pollster resists ‘foreign agent’ tag
Russia’s only independent pollster could be forced to register as a foreign agent under a law which President Vladimir Putin’s critics say is designed to tighten controls on groups that do not toe the official line. (Reuters
SUDAN
SJU Calls for Ending Censorship over Press
The Sudanese Journalists Union (SJU) affirmed its full support and firm adherence to the freedom of the press and strongly rejected imposition of any exceptional measures on the rights of newspapers and journalists. (Sudan Vision
THAILAND
Editorial: Free speech under attack
It is hardly unprecedented, but it has been a while since a forum on democracy unleashed such a great anti-democratic blowback. (Bangkok Post)
TUNISIA
Press Release: Tunisian government finally appoints Independent Broadcasting Authority
Reporters Without Borders hails President Moncef Marzouki’s long-overdue announcement on 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, of the composition of the nine-member Independent Broadcasting Authority (HAICA). Nouri Lejmi, a teacher at the Institute for Press and Information Sciences (IPSI), is to be its president. (Reporters Without Borders)
UNITED KINGDOM
Leveson: former Army officer advising the Queen on royal charter successfully sued a journalist for libel
The former Army officer advising the Queen on the royal charter on press regulation won a legal battle against an investigative journalist who raised questions about his activities in Cambodia in the Eighties. (The Telegraph)
UNITED STATES
Duluth City Council to Address Free Speech Lawsuit for Bentleyville in Special Session
The free speech lawsuit involving Duluth’s holiday light show Bentleyville is back in the spot light as City Councilors plan a special meeting to discuss the litigation. (Northlands News Center)
Anne Frank’s Diary in US schools censorship battle
Anti-censorship campaigners fight parent in Michigan over allegedly graphic passages in Diary of Young Girl (The Guardian)
2 May 2013 | In the News, Newswire
GLOBAL
Report: World Media Freedom At Low Point
Media freedom throughout the world declined last year to its lowest point in almost a decade, according to a new report from Freedom House, a U.S.-based democracy-monitoring organization. (Radio Free Europe)
CANADA
Harper Government muzzles scientists
The Harper government is facing an investigation by the Federal Information Commissioner’s Office concerning allegations of the censorship of Canadian scientists. (The Canadian)
CUBA
No freedom of speech in Cuba despite easier foreign travel
The Castro government’s easing of foreign travel restrictions on Cubans has not led to greater freedoms on the island, a leading dissident said yesterday. (Free Malaysia Today)
INDIA
No consensus on sex, violence and censorship in Bollywood
Getting directors, producers and activists into a room to figure out Indian cinema’s connection to violence toward women, rape and crudeness in society can be like a family gathering. People shout, get angry and fail to solve fundamental problems because they can’t agree on anything. (Reuters)
LIBYA
Voices in Danger: In Libya, Gaddafi’s media suppression lingers
Though Gaddafi is gone, the tools he used to stop Libyan journalists attacking him are still being used. (The Independent)
The New Libya Is Free, if You Don’t Count the Jailed Journalists
Being a journalist under the autocratic rule of Libyan dictator Moammar Qadhafi was an exercise in choice: between promoting state propaganda and spending time in jail. Now that NATO has toppled the regime, Libya is a little better at letting reporters practice their trade. But the press in Libya is by no means free. (Wired)
SOUTH KOREA
S. Korea ranks higher in terms of press freedom in 2013
How free is the press in South Korea? Well, according to the U.S.-based human rights organization Freedom House’s latest report, Korea’s level of press freedom increased this year ranking sixty-fourth out of 196 countries. (Arirang News)
SRI LANKA
World Press Freedom day, Uthayan and Freedom of Expression in Sri Lanka
This year, World Press Freedom Day focuses on themes that are particularly relevant to Sri Lanka. “Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media” and focuses on safety of journalists, combating impunity for crimes against freedom of expression, and securing a free and open Internet as the precondition for online safety. (Ground Views)
TRINIDAD
Libel laws to be amended
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will today take a note to Cabinet to amend the laws to ensure that no journalist can be jailed under section nine of the Libel and Defamation Act for the malicious publication of any defamatory libel. (Trinidad Express)
UGANDA
We should protect freedom of expression in all media
World Press Freedom Day is celebrated every May 3 to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom and to honour journalists who have lost their lives in pursuit of their profession. (Daily Monitor
UNITED KINGDOM
Don’t give politicians final say on changes to press regulation system, say public
Most members of the public do not want to see politicians interfering in a new system regulating the press, new research suggests. (The Telegraph)
UNITED STATES
Black pastor uninvited from speaking at college for criticizing Obama
Rev. Kevin Johnson, senior pastor of Bright Hope Baptist Church in North Philadelphia and alumni of the famed Morehouse College in Atlanta, was scheduled to speak at the school until he criticized Barack Obama in an op-ed at the Philadelphia Tribune. As a result of that op-ed, The Blaze reported Tuesday, Johnson was uninvited by the school. (Examiner.com)
In First Amendment Case Over Afghan War Memoir, Justice Department Asks Judge to End Lawsuit
The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to conclude that a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer “has no First Amendment right to publish the information at issue” in a memoir he penned at on his service in the war in Afghanistan. (The Dissenter)
Texas House OKs measure mitigating defamation lawsuits
The Texas House has passed a bill allowing publishers to mitigate the effects of libel lawsuits if the party affected by a mistake doesn’t request a correction or retraction. (SFGate)
