Hossein Derakhshan, the Canadian-Iranian blogger arrested in 2008, is now facing the death penalty in Iran. After innovating a method for using Unicode to blog in Persian, and speaking up for free speech, Hoder changed his tune, defending the Iranian regime and attacking former colleagues.
In October of 2008 he returned home to Tehran, possibly believing his oratory in the previous couple of years over-balanced his free speech advocacy and travel to Israel. He was mistaken On November 1, he was accused of spying for Israel, among other charges. Now the prosecutor on the case is requesting Derakhshan be put to death. Another blogger, also imprisoned since 2008, Vahid Asghari, is also facing the death penalty.
French bill would be censorship in the hands of the bureaucracy. Under the excuse of protecting frail and prude French eyes from the deleterious effects of pornography, French Senate bill LOPPSI 2 would create a new department. Called the “Central Office for Combating Crime Related to Information and Communication Technology,” this group of appointed bureaucrats could compel ISPs to filter their websites without the need of justifying it to a court. Congratulations, Iran. I mean France.
Shiva Nazar Ahari sentenced to prison, whipping. Only two days after being temporarily freed on an exorbitant bail arrangement, Ahari has been sentenced to 74 lashes and six years in prison. You stay classy, Tehran.
U.S. judge forbids woman to ever speak on the Web again about certain people. In a wildly broad pitch, a U.S. judge in the state of Wisconsin attempted to forbid a woman from talking smack about her husband’s lawyer again online. Such an injunction, with overbroad and prior restraint, is unconstitutional.
Venezuela goes after more social networks. Venezuelans celebrated the deaths of some high-ranking cronies of president Hugo Chavez on various social networks. Now, Manuel Villalba, President of the Media Commission of the National Assembly, is filling suit against those websites.
Facebook shuts down boycotting pages. In the latest move by the social network, Facebook has been shutting down Facebook pages that are devoted to boycotting companies. The motivation is probably financial.
Mozambique censors SMS service. Credited for financial protests in the African country, the previous week, the mobile message systems available in Mozambique have been censored. The services are experiencing
