Mashable presents a summary of online censorship in 2007:
So, in the tradition of the year in review, I aim now to recount several poignant, backward-thinking moments of the past twelve months in which individuals the world over have had to juggle the existence of Internet blocks; be they government-enforced or leveraged by corporations.
First, the biggie: China. The biggie of biggies, if we’re to be brutally honest about it. However you look at it, the Great Firewall is a massive hindrance. Sure, the guys in charge of things within the PRC claim that they’ve got some seriously nefarious folk to contend with, and thus need strong and mighty. But it’s obviously an economically unfriendly hurdle. It’s an evolution of authoritarian controls from the tangible to the virtual far too generic to be of any benefit to anyone – even those in control of the locks. Business can’t grow as much as it ideally could as a result of the institution of the GF. Neither can consumption. It’s almost as if the all-powerful few chose to hand the un-powerful masses a luscious bucket of candy and decided that they’d smack away any hands that reached too deep – down to where the best of the Net indeed resides. Huge mistake.
...
Of course China wasn’t the only nation to put a stop to rampant video sharing. Others weren’t so privy to allow complete 24/7 access to YouTube, either. Turkey closed its door temporarily. As did Morocco. Brazil, too.
...
Then there was the multinational outrage over Facebook’s superpoking frenzy. Apparently Iran, Syria, and the UAE all decided to halt socialization via the booming network among their citizens. Which wasn’t very collegial of them, you’ll likely agree.
Read more here.
