#IMWeekly: November 07, 2014

International - Facebook releases data on the countries who requested removal of data

Facebook released their latest transparency report Tuesday, covering January-June 2014. What may be surprising to some is the country who saw the most censorship: India. Considering the amount of press any Facebook censorship receives, it’s interesting that India’s censorship of the platform is noticeably absent.

Turkey- Activists Pussycat Riot protest Internet censorship with cat piano

The activist-performers, Pussycat Riot, recently staged a unique piano recital to protest internet censorship. What differentiates this performance from any spring elementary talent show? Cats. More specifically, a piano that plays tones only cats can hear. “Cian McKenna-Charley, spokesperson for campaign, explains that the ‘cat is a symbol of freedom, and of a fair and neutral Internet.’”

Nigeria- New cybercrime bill finally passes after a decade of debate

Senators in Nigeria passed a law this week to punish online criminal activity. The Cybercrime Bill has been in negotiations for over a decade. The goal is to bring Nigerian law in line with international standards governing ATM card and identity theft, child pornography and others.

Mexico- Citizen journalists and news media become targets of attacks by government officials

In the wake of media reports unveiling the disappearance of 43 students and the government’s role in their fate, a group of independent and opposition media have been the target of retaliatory attacks by authorities. Global Voices reports that there have been 157 attacks on journalists in Mexico over the first six months of this year. Of those attacks, 43% can be attributed to a civil servant.

International- Top messaging apps fail the EFF’s tech security review

The EFF evaluated 39 messaging products for security and privacy. The products were each judged based on “principles and features it felt are necessary to protect communications from widespread Internet surveillance by governments.” Of those 39, only six met all of the EFF’s requirements. Those six are: CryptoCat ChatSecure TextSecure RedPhone SilentText Silent Phone

UK- GCHQ’s chief claims tech companies are in denial about extremism on their site.

Robert Hannigan, chief of the UK’s spy agency GCHQ, denounced American tech companies for embracing extremism and being in denial of the problem. He went on to criticize the encryption of communications by these companies for impeding the agency in its hunt for terrorism online. He called for greater support from the giants in providing access to their servers.

#imweekly is a weekly round-up of news about Internet content controls and activity around the world. To read more, click here.