230
Asia Overview
Internet Filtering
A spectrum of Internet fi ltering is found in Asia, ranging from some of the most pervasive censors of the Internet to relatively unfettered access. China and Burma rank
among the most severe censors anywhere in the world. In these states, content related
to opposition political movements, human rights, and pornography is widely blocked.
While the scope and breadth of this blocking may not be found throughout the region,
many other countries block similar content. For example, opposition political movements in Thailand and Vietnam are blocked, while Web sites deemed a threat to
national security in South Korea and India are targeted. For some states, social content
is the focus, with Indonesia and Pakistan concentrating their blocking on Web sites
deemed offensive to religious values. Bangladesh, Malaysia, and the Philippines do
not have systematic regimes of technical Internet fi ltering. However, Bangladesh in
two separate incidents in 2010 blocked YouTube for hosting politically sensitive
content
50 and Facebook for content deemed blasphemous.
51 In 2008, TMNet, a major
ISP in Malaysia, performed a DNS block on the controversial Web site Malaysia Today
following pressures from the government.
52
There have been increasing challenges to the accessibility of online content from
a variety of sources. Google had a highly public confl ict with the government of China
that culminated with the company refusing to continue censoring search results in
the country.
53 Research in Motion (RIM) pushed back against India ’ s efforts to gain
access to the encrypted communications of BlackBerry users,
54 although it complied
with requests from the Indonesian government to block pornography on the devices.
55
Popular sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and Wikipedia have all experienced
some degree of control in South Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and China. A December
2010 ruling by the Korean Communications Commission found that Facebook was in
violation of the country ’ s laws protecting personal information.
56 Responding to an
online campaign to post drawings of the Prophet Mohammad in May 2010, the Pakistani government ordered ISPs to block access to Facebook for a month.
57 The campaign drew a similar response in Bangladesh, where the Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission temporarily blocked Facebook until the site removed the offending
images.
58 YouTube was targeted in Indonesia and Pakistan following the posting of a
controversial fi lm by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders.
59 The Web site was also blocked
in Bangladesh “ in the national interest ” after video was posted of a contentious
meeting between the prime minister and army offi cers.
60
The blocking of such sites can be selective. OpenNet Initiative testing shows that
South Korea has blocked the Twitter feed of the North Korean government, although
North Korea ’ s YouTube and Facebook pages were still accessible. In China, ONI testing
in 2009 and 2010 found that the ISP CNLink had completely blocked Facebook and
Twitter. Filtering practices have also extended to the mobile realm, with several
Asia Overview
Internet Filtering
A spectrum of Internet fi ltering is found in Asia, ranging from some of the most pervasive censors of the Internet to relatively unfettered access. China and Burma rank
among the most severe censors anywhere in the world. In these states, content related
to opposition political movements, human rights, and pornography is widely blocked.
While the scope and breadth of this blocking may not be found throughout the region,
many other countries block similar content. For example, opposition political movements in Thailand and Vietnam are blocked, while Web sites deemed a threat to
national security in South Korea and India are targeted. For some states, social content
is the focus, with Indonesia and Pakistan concentrating their blocking on Web sites
deemed offensive to religious values. Bangladesh, Malaysia, and the Philippines do
not have systematic regimes of technical Internet fi ltering. However, Bangladesh in
two separate incidents in 2010 blocked YouTube for hosting politically sensitive
content
50 and Facebook for content deemed blasphemous.
51 In 2008, TMNet, a major
ISP in Malaysia, performed a DNS block on the controversial Web site Malaysia Today
following pressures from the government.
52
There have been increasing challenges to the accessibility of online content from
a variety of sources. Google had a highly public confl ict with the government of China
that culminated with the company refusing to continue censoring search results in
the country.
53 Research in Motion (RIM) pushed back against India ’ s efforts to gain
access to the encrypted communications of BlackBerry users,
54 although it complied
with requests from the Indonesian government to block pornography on the devices.
55
Popular sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and Wikipedia have all experienced
some degree of control in South Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and China. A December
2010 ruling by the Korean Communications Commission found that Facebook was in
violation of the country ’ s laws protecting personal information.
56 Responding to an
online campaign to post drawings of the Prophet Mohammad in May 2010, the Pakistani government ordered ISPs to block access to Facebook for a month.
57 The campaign drew a similar response in Bangladesh, where the Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission temporarily blocked Facebook until the site removed the offending
images.
58 YouTube was targeted in Indonesia and Pakistan following the posting of a
controversial fi lm by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders.
59 The Web site was also blocked
in Bangladesh “ in the national interest ” after video was posted of a contentious
meeting between the prime minister and army offi cers.
60
The blocking of such sites can be selective. OpenNet Initiative testing shows that
South Korea has blocked the Twitter feed of the North Korean government, although
North Korea ’ s YouTube and Facebook pages were still accessible. In China, ONI testing
in 2009 and 2010 found that the ISP CNLink had completely blocked Facebook and
Twitter. Filtering practices have also extended to the mobile realm, with several