censorship

How Facebook Lets Whining Trolls Censor Everyone

Adrian Chen · 04/28/11 05:16PM

Facebook has become embroiled in an increasingly embarrassing series of controversies over its heavy-handed censoring of user content. This will never end unless Facebook stops caving instantly to every random troll with an axe to grind.

Facebook Is Worried About 'Too Much Free Speech'

Ryan Tate · 04/20/11 03:16PM

Facebook is considering censoring content in some countries because it is "uncomfortable" offering excessive amounts of freedom to some people. The next time you start sympathize with a beaten or jailed protester, try imagining how that violence makes Facebook feel.

Facebook Apologizes For Censoring Gay Kiss Picture

Adrian Chen · 04/19/11 11:14AM

Good news: Facebook doesn't hate gay people! A blogstorm erupted this week after Facebook removed a picture of two fully-clothed men kissing because it "violated Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities." It was all a mix-up.

The Famous Vagina Painting That Facebook Doesn't Want You to See

Adrian Chen · 04/13/11 02:16PM

Gustave Courbet's 1886 oil painting of a naked woman's lower half, The Origin of the World, hangs in Paris' Musee d'Orsay. But it is not welcome on the hallowed walls of Facebook. Facebook has abruptly canceled at least three accounts after users posted the painting, and art connoisseurs are fuming.

China Tries to Ban Time Travel

Brian Moylan · 04/12/11 04:49PM

Chinese government censors have issued new guidelines that essentially ban television programs that feature time travel as a plot device. I really wish we could do this, because there is no deus ex machina more overused or annoying than time travel.

Anti-Porn Politician Busted Watching Porn in Parliament

Max Read · 04/11/11 06:05PM

An Indonesian politician whose party sponsors anti-porn legislation has resigned after being photographed watching porn in parliament on his tablet computer. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he used the old "I just opened a link in an email" excuse.

James Franco's Twitter Shut Down by The Man

Adrian Chen · 04/02/11 03:13PM

Don't you hate when you're an omnitalented actor/poet/artist/rebel sex god and The Man forces you to conform to his close-minded ideals? Squares who worship the dollar as their only God have forced James Franco to shut down his Twitter account.

Vandal Clothes Renaissance Painting of Venus

Maureen O'Connor · 02/25/11 01:42PM

For the first time in the history of red spray paint in the vicinity of a poster girl's breasts, a vandal made a billboard less sexual. To advertise an exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the billboard in Long Lake, MN featured a 16th-century Titian painting of Venus. The vandal painted a red tube top over Venus' breasts and commented, "Brrr!"

Syria Unbans Facebook, YouTube

Max Read · 02/08/11 11:28PM

The Syrian government apparently unbanned Facebook and YouTube on Tuesday, five years after those and other social networking sites were blocked nationwide. (Not that the ban had stopped anyone—both sites "are popular across the country" and accessed through anonymous proxy servers. You can't stop viral videos, guys!) So far, Syrian attempts at generating protests on the same scale as those in Egypt and Tunisia have failed, and it'll be interesting to see if a more easily-accessible internet will facilitate anti-government activity, or just get everyone hooked on Farmville. [Guardian]

Confederate Flag Art Removed After Complaints

Max Read · 02/04/11 02:04AM

Georgia's current state flag is based on the first national flag of the Confederacy. So you'd think "heritage"-pimping Georgians would be cool with a painting based on the Confederate Battle Flag. But apparently not. Was it the Klansman, maybe?

Tunisia's Interim Government Acts Like Old Government

Jeff Neumann · 01/23/11 05:08PM

Tunisia's interim government—basically the old regime without ex-President Ben Ali—today shut down a popular television station, Hannibal TV, for "grand treason" and arrested its owner. Hannibal was set to air an interview with a Communist party official. [NYT]