Throughout this course, we have discussed the internet as an amazing tool for connecting people across the world, which “has made possible entirely new forms of social interaction, activities and organizing, thanks to its basic features such as widespread usability and access” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet). As the most frequently visited websites, sites such as Google, Yahoo, MySpace, YouTube and Facebook have become increasingly useful tools for the spreading of information and ideas. What we have failed to discuss in class, however, is the effect of censorship on such sites, or censorship on the internet as a whole.

Recently, shareholders of the internet search giant Google have proposed a new policy which would allow access to the website to all users regardless of local laws; hosting data in a country where free speech is protected so as not to directly violate domestic laws, but not to participate in proactive censorship. In Turkey earlier this week, Google owned YouTube was banned because of video clips that were deemed disrespectful to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the country’s founder. YouTube has also been banned in the past by the governments of countries such as Pakistan and China for hosting anti-government content.

In the case of a single idea or a single video, for example, these restrictions effectively remove all edges to individuals in those countries. The question is raised: do these websites have a responsibility to make this content available to everybody, or should they respect the bans of these governments? The following articles document these stories, as well as Google’s point of view.

Google and the threat to free speech

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3634123.ece

Google investors seek censorship ban

http://www.mercurynews.com/google/ci_8700662

YouTube Removes Videos Banned in Turkey

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iKUx9hP8rzGIKGJC5_Ml7OViYraQD8VLS25O6

Wikipedia Entry for Internet censorship

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship