Super Volatile

Krzysztof Szafranek's link blog

Hi, I'm Krzysztof and I make websites.
When I'm not making websites, I read these.
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censorship

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Dec 31 / 1:34pm

Cambridge university refuses to censor student's thesis on chip-and-PIN vulnerabilities

Second, you seem to think that we might censor a student's thesis, which is lawful and already in the public domain, simply because a powerful interest finds it inconvenient. This shows a deep misconception of what universities are and how we work. Cambridge is the University of Erasmus, of Newton, and of Darwin; censoring writings that offend the powerful is offensive to our deepest values.
more on boingboing.net

Despite the pressure from banks Cambridge refused to censor its student thesis. Well, it's heartening.

Filed under: censorship   education  
 
Nov 19 / 10:03pm

Brave New World Banned from Curriculum at Nathan Hale High School

As KUOW reports today, it seems a Native American student who was required to read the book took issue with the its depiction of native people. The girl's mom, Sarah Sense-Wilson, agreed and wrote the school to have it removed from the curriculum, writing:

"(The book has a) high volume of racially offensive derogatory language and misinformation on Native Americans. In addition to the inaccurate imagery, and stereotype views, the text lacks literary value which is relevant to today's contemporary multicultural society."
more on blogs.seattleweekly.com

The woman in question apparently has even read the book. Yet it's beyond me how is it possible to get it wrong so much.

Filed under: books   censorship  
 
Jul 11 / 7:03pm

Beijing Renews Google’s License in China

But Google’s approach failed to appease Beijing, and Google was forced to modify it again late last month, by offering users a link on Google.cn rather than the automatic referral to the Hong Kong site. The move, though seemingly insignificant, apparently satisfied China.
more on nytimes.com

Google reached agreement with Chinese government and will provide search services in China, though from its Hong-Kong site. A side effect is that censoring Google's search results is now China's burden.

Filed under: censorship   china   google  
 
Apr 30 / 8:18pm

Op-Ed Columnist - South Park - NYTimes.com

Our culture has few taboos that can’t be violated, and our establishment has largely given up on setting standards in the first place.

Except where Islam is concerned. There, the standards are established under threat of violence, and accepted out of a mix of self-preservation and self-loathing.

more on nytimes.com

Maybe we should be grateful to terrorists. After all, if not islam, there would be no taboos left.

Filed under: censorship   islam  
 
Mar 23 / 1:30am

Official Google Blog: A new approach to China: an update

Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on Google.cn has been hard. We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced—it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China. We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services.
more on googleblog.blogspot.com

Google is not as big in China as elsewhere, so it's mostly symbolic move, but a commendable one.

Filed under: censorship   google