Facebook Agrees to Reconsider Artistic Nudity Policies
Facebook’s policy team has committed to convening a group of stakeholders to consider a new approach to nudity guidelines.
Nude #WeTheNipple Art Action at Facebook Headquarters Calls Out Censorship
NCAC and artist Spencer Tunick created a nude art action in front of Facebook and Instagram's New York City headquarters as part of their #WeTheNipple campaign against art censorship on social media.
SESTA Bill Will Not Prevent Sex Trafficking But Will Silence Online Speech
While the bill's sponsors contend that it aims to stop sex trafficking, the bill does not help sex trafficking victims confront their abusers but does significantly curtail online speech.
NCAC Joins Free Press and 30 Other Organizations in Calling for FCC to Cancel Net Neutrality Vote
On Thursday, NCAC joined with more than 30 press freedom, civil liberties and open government groups, led by Free Press, in submitting a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai. The letter urges Pai to cancel a vote scheduled for December 14, 2017 that will likely reverse net neutrality protections instated in 2015. Read the full letter below; [...]
NCAC Expresses Concern Over Federal Sex Trafficking Bill
The bill risks eviscerating online free speech protections for websites that host large amounts of user-generated content.
On July 12th, Join The ‘Battle For The Net’: An Internet-Wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality
On July 12th, NCAC is taking part in the Battle for the Net, which is shaping up to the largest mobilization of internet users ever.
NCAC Supports Letter Protesting Effort to Request US Visitors’ Social Media Info.
NCAC is one of 28 signatories on a letter sent by the Center for Democracy & Technology to the DHS urging the rejection of a proposal to ask foreign travelers about their social media presence.
NPR Moves to Eliminate Comments From Website
NPR has announced it will remove the comments section from its website. But what are the implications for freedom of speech?
Does Twitter Have A Selective Censorship Problem?
Buzzfeed today reported Twitter's ex-CEO oversaw moderation of President Obama's and Caitlyn Jenner's Q & As, prompting questions of selective political bias of the site.
On Violence and Nudity, Facebook’s Opaque Community Standards
After the death of Philando Castile, Facebook delineated it's policy on posts containing violence. It should do the same for all content deemed controversial.
Victory: Court Rules in Favor of Net Neutrality
A court has ruled against Internet providers looking to change the legal classification of internet service, which would have allowed bigger domain names to purchase faster connection speeds.
After Orlando, Are Social Media Sites Encroaching On Users’ Free Speech?
In the wake of the Orlando shooting, Reddit came under fire for censoring its user's content. How fair is this accusation?
US Copyright Office Leads Inquiry to Tighten Online Content Takedown Procedure; UPDATE: Comment from The Authors Guild
A proposed change to the "notice and takedown" internet copyright procedure potentially threatens freedom of expression online.
Is Facebook’s Echo Chamber Censorship?
Reports out this week claiming that the social media giant selectively removes conservative news items from #trending topics has drawn accusations of censorship, most distressingly from a member of Congress charged with oversight of issues relating to technology, communications and the Internet.
NCAC to Dept. of Ed: Proposals to Regulate Private Online Speech Would Run Afoul of the First Amendment
Calls to ban social media platforms to combat campus discrimination threaten students' free speech rights.
Is Reddit Moving Away from Free Speech Roots?
Was Reddit's decision to ban 5 discussion groups a business decision, or a move away from its free speech principles?
Inglewood Mayor Using Copyright for Censorship
A California mayor is responding to a vocal critic by attempting to use a questionable copyright claim as a censorship tool.
Warning to Students: Watch What You Tweet
Students at a Pennsylvania high school are told by local police that what they tweet could be a crime.
There Are Things Facebook Doesn’t Want You To See
Two more examples of the social media giant's rather peculiar standards about female nudity.
“Removed From the Internet”: Dianne Feinstein’s Bizarre Call for Censorship
No, senator, you cannot remove a book from the internet.
China’s Struggle with Online Censorship – New Lengths to Control the Internet
One of the most prevalent types of censorship today is solely web-based. The Chinese government's online blockade called the "Great Firewall" is one of the most famous examples. Usually acting out of what it considers defensive purposes, the "Great Firewall" operators have recently taken on a more offensive role that affects both China and the rest of the world: Cyber attacks [...]
Holding Publishers Liable: What’s Wrong with the SAVE Act
Congressional efforts to punish online sex trafficking are overbroad, counterproductive and will chill free speech.
It’s Starting to Get Chilly
And I’m not talking about the frosty weather hitting New York City this week. A new report by NCAC coalition member PEN American Center, “Global Chilling: The Impact of Mass Surveillance on International Writers” finds that government surveillance in democratic countries is chilling free speech, driving novelists, editors, poets, and journalists to self-censor their work. The numbers are particularly frightening: 75% [...]
NCAC Co-signs Letter to US Senate Expressing Concerns Over SAVE Act
(Update: NCAC signed on to another letter in January 2015 organized by the Center for Democracy & Technology.) NCAC and other organizations concerned with human rights sent the below letter to the Unites States Senate to convey strong opposition to S.2536, the "Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation" (SAVE) Act. While we believe that Congress should provide additional funding for victims [...]
EFF Probes Troubling Social Media Monitoring Policies in AL and TN
Late in September, in observance of the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s 13 Necessary and Proportionate Principles on Surveillance, NCAC noted thematic links between the NSA’s far-reaching surveillance tactics and those of public schools in the country. There, we observed that the underlying impulses behind surveillance on the national level and on the local level were uniform. This need to monitor and [...]
Spiked: Should Even Hate Speech Be Free Speech?
To outsiders, 21st century Britain must look like a pretty liberal country. We don’t imprison people for their political opinions. We no longer seek to ban so-called “obscene” novels, as the authorities tried to do with D.H. Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” when the unexpurgated version was first published in 1960. We got rid of our blasphemy laws in 2008. The British Board of Film Classification now okays the cinematic release [...]
A Machine of Paranoia: How Concerns for Student Safety May Chill Speech
NCAC has proudly signed onto the list of 13 Necessary and Proportionate principles, part of a global effort led by our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, on mass surveillance. This week marks the one-year anniversary of the drafting of the principles. The list of principles proposes a set of guidelines that governments around the world should adhere to if [...]
Pennsylvania Teen Criminally Charged for Naughty Facebook Pictures with Jesus Sculpture
Is symbolic behavior a crime when it may offend religious sensitivities? A 14-year-old boy could be facing up to two years in juvenile detention for posting lewd, crass, yet ultimately innocuous photos on Facebook this past July. The problem: the photos featured him suggestively posing with a sculpture of Jesus. While traipsing the lawn of a local religious organization known [...]
Acts of Fear: Compromising the Digital Rights of Youth
I joined NCAC on the first day of the ninth Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which took place in Istanbul last week. Central to IGF – an event mired in controversy, given Turkey’s startlingly abusive Internet controls – was the topic of youth digital rights. Turkish academic Kursat Cagiltay commented that 42% of Turkish youth condoned government censorship of the Internet. He [...]
NCAC co-signs letter to President Obama and Members of the PCLOB
The undersigned organizations, former government officials, and members of Congress write to express their concerns over the US government's surveillance activities conducted under the authority of Executive Order 12333. NCAC shares the concerns of many that these surveillance activities will "undermine the fundamental rights of internet users everywhere" by implementing an unnecessary assemblage of users' personal information. The letter calls [...]
Tell the FCC to Defend Net Neutrality!
You still have time to add your voice to the FCC's general comment period on Net Neutrality! Hundreds of thousands of concerned netizens have submitted comments so far, but there's still something missing: You! The Electronic Frontier Foundation has provided an easy, online form at DearFCC.org to add your comment in favor of a neutral Internet. You can also comment [...]
EFF Debunks NSA Mass Surveillance Apologists
Free Expression Network member EFF have posted "The Top 5 Claims That Defenders of the NSA Have to Stop Making to Remain Credible" and it's a scathing takedown of anyone relying on these old chestnuts to prop up an argument for continued mass surveillance.
Spread the Word: It’s 404 Day!
Blog and post to your tumblr, Twitter and Facebook and then join the live, digital teach-in with NCAC, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and MIT's Center For Civic Media at 3pm ET to learn more about what you can do to help stop internet censorship in libraries and schools.
Help Fight Internet Censorship and Filtering in Libraries on 404 Day
Mark your calendars! On April 4th NCAC will be celebrating 404 Day, a day dedicated to the issue of internet censorship in public schools and libraries. Along with 404 Day partners the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the MIT Center for Civic Media, we are spreading the word and calling on You to share your stories!
EFF Statement on Dismissal of 11 Charges Against Barrett Brown
The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas today filed a motion to dismiss 11 charges against Barrett Brown in a criminal prosecution that would have had massive implications for journalism and the right of ordinary people to share links. EF...
Vermont legislation would “refuse material support” for NSA mass data collection
Similar legislation has been introduced in 12 states. From Truthout.org: On Tuesday, January 28th, a transpartisan group of four Vermont state representatives introduced legislation that would block some of the practical effects of mass data collection by the National Security Agency (NSA). Rep. Teo Zagar (D-Windsor-4-1), along with co-sponsor Reps. Susan Davis (P/D-Orange-1), Patricia Komline (R-Bennington-Rutland) and William Stevens (I-Addison-Rutland) [...]
NSA’s collection of metadata “should end,” according to new report
Responses to recent disclosures about official surveillance of private communications and activities are rolling in. The most recent is from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which today released a Report on the Telephone Records Program Conducted under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and on the Operations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The PCLOB is an independent [...]
Court of Appeals Ruling Kills Net Neutrality
In a 2-1 ruling today, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals effectively ended net neutrality, striking down the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Order. The FCC's order was intended to keep broadband providers from interfering with traffic on the Web. The issue of who should regulate internet access has been the subject of much debate in the last decade. NCAC believes net neutrality allows [...]
NCAC joins 53 other organizations to oppose the FISA “Improvements” Act – Add your voice today!
Fifty-four civil liberties and public interest groups sent a letter to Congressional leadership today opposing S. 1631, the FISA Improvements Act. The bill, promoted by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), seeks to legalize and extend NSA mass surveillance programs, including the classified phone records surveillance program confirmed by documents released by Edward Snowden this summer. From EFF’s blog post on the [...]
NCAC and Coalition Members File Briefs Defending Student Speech
On Monday, NCAC joined with other organizations on an friend of the court brief (.pdf) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Barnes v. Zaccari, an important case involving the speech rights of college students. The case began in 2007, when Hayden Barnes was expelled from Valdosta State University in Georgia over his vocal criticism of [...]