Facebook’s response to ‘ripping apart society’ claims is less than convincing

WELCOME to Connected Rights, your tickle under the chin of digital rights news and analysis. SPECIAL NOTE: This will be the last Connected Rights newsletter this year, because I'm going on vacation. Normal service will resume on January 17th. In the meantime, why not buy my book, Control Shift? It's full of Christmas cheer (I'm lying). FACEBOOK'S … Continue reading Facebook’s response to ‘ripping apart society’ claims is less than convincing

State hijacking of social media is getting worse

WELCOME to Connected Rights, your fist in the air of digital rights news and analysis. SOCIAL MEDIA HAS BEEN HIJACKED TO INFLUENCE elections in at least 18 countries over the past year, according to Freedom House's latest Freedom on the Net report: http://bit.ly/2yZcOku "The Chinese and Russian regimes pioneered the use of surreptitious methods to distort online … Continue reading State hijacking of social media is getting worse

These are the EU countries flouting privacy rights with data retention laws

WELCOME to Connected Rights, your nudge in the ribs of digital rights news and analysis. DATA RETENTION LAWS ARE UNLAWFULLY IN FORCE across 21 European countries, according to a survey by Privacy International: http://bit.ly/2xOT6UC Data retention – where governments force internet service providers (ISPs) to log the activities of their customers so authorities can comb through … Continue reading These are the EU countries flouting privacy rights with data retention laws

Online anonymity is under threat, and not just in China

WELCOME to Connected Rights, your toe on the tripwire of digital rights news and analysis. CHINA IS TRYING (AGAIN) TO MAKE ONLINE ANONYMITY a thing of the past. According to new rules from the country's "cyberspace administration", website operators have to ensure that anyone commenting on their site is using their real name – which they … Continue reading Online anonymity is under threat, and not just in China

EU Court kicks mass surveillance yet again

WELCOME to Connected Rights, your flash in the pan of digital rights news and analysis. RUSSIANS HAVE BEEN MARCHING against the country's ever-expanding censorship of the internet. On Sunday, around a thousand people protested prominent cases of people being prosecuted for their online writings and videos. The day before, the Russian parliament passed a law prohibiting the … Continue reading EU Court kicks mass surveillance yet again