Censorship of Facebook
Encyclopedia
Censorship of Facebook has occurred because of the open nature of Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
; several countries have interfered with or banned access to it, including Syria, China, Iran, Vietnam and the United Kingdom.
China
In Mainland ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of China
Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows...
, Facebook was blocked following the July 2009 Ürümqi riots because Xinjiang independence activists
East Turkestan independence movement
The East Turkestan independence movement is a broad term that refers to advocates of an independent, self-governing East Turkestan in the region now known as Xinjiang, an autonomous region in the People's Republic of China.-Historical background:...
were using Facebook as part of their communications network. Some Chinese users also believed that Facebook would not succeed in China after Google China
Google China
Google China is a subsidiary of Google, Inc., the world's largest Internet search engine company. Google China ranks as the number 2 search engine in the People's Republic of China, after Baidu...
's problems
Operation Aurora
Operation Aurora was a cyber attack which began in mid-2009 and continued through December 2009. The attack was first publicly disclosed by Google on January 12, 2010, in a blog post. In the blog post, Google said the attack originated in China...
. The popular Renren social network (formerly Xiaonei) has many features similar to Facebook, and complies with PRC Government regulations regarding content filtering.
Australia
Facebook has 10 million Australian users - almost half the population - and requires people to state at sign-up that they are at least 13 years of age. But, because there is currently no way to formally enforce the age limit, in July 2011 Australia began considering giving parents access to their children's pages, requiring proof of age at sign-up, and increasing the age limit to 18.Egypt
Facebook was blocked for a few days in EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
during the 2011 Egyptian protests.
Mauritius
The Prime Minister of MauritiusMauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, Dr Navin Ramgoolam
Navin Ramgoolam
Navinchandra Ramgoolam, GCSK, FRCP, MP is the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Minister of Defence, Home Affairs & External Communications, as well as Leader of the National Assembly. Being the leader of the Mauritian Labour Party, he serves as Member of parliament for constituency No...
ordered Internet Service Providers(ISPs) of the country to ban Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
on immediate effect, on the 8th November 2007. The Prime Minister did not approve that someone impersonated him on Facebook. Access to Facebook was restored on the next day.
Morocco
On February 5, 2008, Fouad Mourtada, a citizen of Morocco, was arrested for the alleged creation of a faked Facebook profile of Prince Moulay Rachid of MoroccoPrince Moulay Rachid of Morocco
Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco, also known as Prince Moulay Rachid ben al-Hassan was born on 20 June 1970 in Rabat as the youngest male child of the late King Hassan II. He holds a doctorate in international politics and serves Morocco as a diplomat...
.
Iran
During the 2009 election in Iran, the website was banned because of fears that opposition movements were being organized on the website.Syria
The Syrian government explained their ban by claiming the website promoted attacks on authorities. The government also feared IsraeliMossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
infiltration of Syrian social networks on Facebook. Facebook was also used by Syrian citizens to criticize the government of Syria, and public criticism of the Syrian government is punishable by imprisonment. But most of the people reach to Facebook by internetebak.com which is a gate to banned websites. Syria claims that they do not want to have a prominent website created by a Jew to have presence in the country.
Vietnam
In Vietnam, an unauthenticated document supposedly issued by the Vietnamese Ministry of Public SecurityMinistry of Public Security of Vietnam
Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam is the ministry of the interior of Vietnam. It was established with the help of former Soviet Union and China, and in addition to the regular police officer corps, it also administer the Public Security forces, which is the paramilitary force with primary...
dating August 27, 2009 instructing ISPs to block Facebook sparked shutdown fears. Access to Facebook became intermittent in mid-November and major ISPs were swamped by complaints. Some technicians confirmed being ordered by the government to block access to Facebook while government officials denied it.
United Kingdom
In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on April 28, 2011, the day before the Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
The wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton took place on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London. Prince William, the eldest son of Charles, Prince of Wales, first met Catherine Middleton in 2001, when both were studying at the University of St Andrews. Their...
, a number of politically motivated Facebook groups and pages were removed or suspended from the website as part of a nationwide crackdown on political activity. The groups and pages were mostly concerned with opposition to government spending cuts, and many were used to organize demonstrations in a continuation of the 2010 UK student protests
2010 UK student protests
The 2010 UK student protests were a series of demonstrations that began in November 2010 in several areas of the United Kingdom, with the focal point of protests centred in London. The initial event was the largest student protest in the UK since the Labour government first proposed the Teaching...
. The censorship of the pages coincided with a series of pre-emptive arrests of known activists. Amongst the arrestees were a street theater group planning a performance in opposition to the monarchy, whose members included a 66-year-old professor of anthropology, and five people dressed as zombies who were drinking tea in Starbucks at the time of the arrest.