Freedom of speech
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Surveillance technology company Hacking Team hacked
On 5 July, Italian surveillance technology company Hacking Team was hacked. 400GB of data from its servers was shared on BitTorrent, and Hacking Team employees’ emails, invoices and other documents posted publicly via the company’s own Twitter feed (that was renamed “Hacked Team” for the occasion). The authenticity of the documents has not been independently […]
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ICANN considers banning privacy services
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is proposing a new Internet policy which comes at the expense of human rights, especially privacy and freedom of speech. The proposed rules are addressed to companies that provide WHOIS privacy/proxy services (which restrict access to domain registrant information) and limit their availability to individuals only, […]
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EU trade secrets Directive: threat to free speech, health, environment and worker mobility
STATEMENT (pdf) 23 March 2015 (updated from 17 December 2014) Multi-sectoral civil society coalition calls for greater protections for consumers, journalists, whistleblowers, researchers and workers We strongly oppose the hasty push by the European Commission and Council for a new European Union (EU) directive on trade secrets because it contains: – An unreasonably broad definition […]
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EU Council proposals on open internet – Episode 2, the clown wars
After one year of negotiations, a second element of the telecoms regulation was also agreed by the EU Council: arbitrary, ad hoc law enforcement by internet companies. The Council has decided that this is something that internet companies may do, may not do and may do (Council text, pdf). When the European Commission proposed its […]
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Macedonia: Massive surveillance revelation: 20 000 people wiretapped
On 10 February, EDRi-member Metamorphosis, expressed grave concern about the publicly announced allegations of mass and unauthorised surveillance of citizens. Invasions of privacy directly affect freedom of expression in Macedonia, and fuel the overall climate of fear and silence. On 9 February 2015, the Macedonian opposition leader Zoran Zaev held a press conference in Skopje, […]
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Digital Rights orgs call on world leaders to uphold human rights
Over 30 digital and civil liberties organisations from around the world have endorsed a joint statement calling on the world’s governments not to expand surveillance measures in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks. In addition to European Digital Rights (EDRi), signatories include Article19, digitalcourage, IT-pol, Vrijschrift, La Quadrature du Net, Panoptykon, Initiative für Netzfreiheit, […]
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Yet another internet blocking law in Turkey
This article is also available in: Deutsch: Neues Gesetz über Internetsperren in der Türkei In recent years, online censorship and the deteriorating situation regarding the freedom of speech has raised serious concerns in Turkey. The large majority of the traditional mainstream media is either directly or indirectly under the government control, and the Internet remains one […]
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Spanish Citizens’ Security Bill: Many restrictions, few freedoms
In summer 2014, the EDRi-gram reported on the Spanish bill on the Protection of Citizens’ Security, shedding light on some of its most controversial measures. In December 2014, the Spanish Congress passed the Citizens’ Security bill by 181 votes to 141. Now, the bill will be discussed in the Senate until the end of March […]
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ENDitorial: Paris attack: Imagine if political leaders were leaders
Imagine if our political leaders were leaders. Imagine if our “leaders” defended our freedoms by defending our freedoms. Imagine if, instead of dragging another set of restrictive measures from the shelf where they sat waiting to exploit the next atrocity, Europe’s leaders decided that the principles that Charlie Hebdo defends are actually worth defending. Imagine, […]
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Macedonian investigative magazine fined in defamation case
On 27 September, 2014, the Skopje Court of Appeals, Macedonia, confirmed the decision of a lower court, and ordered a critical independent magazine “Fokus” to pay a nearly ten thousand euro fine to a high government official for defamation. The ruling was another setback to country’s media freedom. Sasho Mijalkov, the Director of the Security […]
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The Turkish government tightens its grip over the Internet
On 8 September 2014, the Turkish parliament passed an amendment to the already draconian Internet law. The amendment allows the Turkish Telecommunication Authority (TIB) to block (without a court order) any website that appears to threaten “national security or public order”. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are required to execute the blocking order of the TIB […]
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Online freedoms in Serbia still under threat, analysis shows
SHARE Foundation, an organisation dedicated to protecting digital rights in Serbia, analysed the state of online media freedoms in the country. Examples of technical attacks on media websites, threats and insults to online journalists show a worrying trend of pressure in the digital environment. During the devastating floods that hit Serbia and the region in […]
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