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WHAT IS ONLINE CENSORSHIP?
Onlinecensorship.org seeks to encourage social media companies to operate with greater transparency and accountability toward their users as they make decisions that regulate speech. We seek to shine a light on why companies make certain decisions about content, and how content takedowns are affecting communities of users around the world.
Introducing Offline/Offline!
People in marginalized communities who are targets of persecution and violence are using social media to tell their stories, but finding that their voices are being silenced online. Our new series ...
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No Support for Breasts
Facebook banned a bra company from advertising its guide of breast sizes and shapes, even though the ad only showed a drawer full of bras.
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Big Brother YouTube
The ‘Innocence of Muslims’ video sparked anger in some countries, so YouTube independently blocked it in Egypt and Libya.
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AKA Happy
Facebook shut down the account of Happy Addis, a prominent LGBT activist. Same-sex relations are illegal in Ethiopia.
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Context is Everything
Popular rapper Talib Kweli used contextualized imagery to make a statement about racism, but Instagram took it down as “hate speech”.
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Abstain From Advertising
Twitter wants you to abstain...from advertising. It banned the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy’s sex positive health messages.
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Too Real for Instagram?
Artist Rupi Kaur wanted to demonstrate society’s uneasiness about menstruation. She didn't expect Instagram to prove her point by censoring the photos.
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Identity Management
Former Facebook employee and trans woman Zoë Cat had to show proof of her name under the platform’s Real Name Policy
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Censorship Tag Team
Facebook removed a video of the self-immolation of a Tibetan monk. 136 Tibetans have self-immolated since 2009 to protest Chinese restrictions on their culture & religion.
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The Revolution That Almost Didn’t Happen
The 2011 Egyptian uprising was first announced on a page that Facebook had deleted a year before because one of the administrators was using a pseudonym.
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Owned by the State
In 2011, Flickr banned prominent Egyptian activist Hossam Hamalawy for posting photos retrieved from a raid on state security offices.
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We Are… Hypocrites
After the Charlie Hebdo shootings, Mark Zuckerberg spoke out for free expression. Two weeks later, Facebook began censoring some images of the Prophet.
READ THE STORYLATEST NEWS AND ANALYSIS
The Weekly Takedown: 20 June 2018
The Onlinecensorship.org Team
Jun 20 2018
YouTube’s arbitrary enforcement of its moderation policies drew criticism from gambling vloggers, cannabis channels, and more in this week’s Weekly Takedown.
The Weekly Takedown: 5 June 2018
The Onlinecensorship.org Team
Jun 5 2018
Spotify reverses hate speech ruling, a new report from EFF, and more in the latest Weekly Takedown!
The Weekly Takedown: 26 May 2018
The Onlinecensorship.org Team
May 26 2018
A new ruling in the US, overblocking on Reddit, Facebook censorship in Lebanon and more, in the latest Weekly Takedown.
11 May 2018: The Weekly Takedown
The Onlinecensorship.org Team
May 11 2018
Users deserve transparency and accountability, which is why we’ve released the Santa Clara Principles and more news in this week’s Takedown.
The Weekly Takedown: 4 May 2018
The Onlinecensorship.org Team
May 4 2018
A popular pig is censored in China...and more in this week's Takedown.
The Weekly Takedown: 28 April 2018
The Onlinecensorship.org Team
Apr 28 2018
It’s content takedown transparency week, as Facebook and YouTube release reports on how they enforce community guidelines.
Introducing Offline/Online: A Series of Infographics Demonstrating How Offline Inequities Are Replicated Online
Jillian C. York
Mar 7 2018
People in marginalized communities who are targets of persecution and violence—from the Rohingya in Burma to Native Americans in North Dakota—are using social m...
Onlinecensorship.org Launches Resource Kit for Journalists
The Onlinecensorship.org Team
Sep 30 2017
This resource answers frequently asked questions and provides background information on various issue areas, including fake news, hate speech, and censorship of...