The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has registered that in several countries in Asia and the Middle East, information is submitted to censorship by their governments. In some cases, the dictatorships or totalitarian regimes restrict the access to this media and impose prison penalties for uploading any “misleading” information to personal webpages. Here is a list of the 10 top countries where blogging activity is considered risky and in which you can get in serious trouble for doing so.
To most Turkmen the internet is a luxury due to its high cost, a strategy used by the government to dissuade people from using it. The only internet service provider is the government, and it blocks access to a lot of sites, while monitoring all the email accounts in Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail. Also, websites run by human rights organizations and news agencies are blocked, and any attempt to get around the censorship could lead to grave consequences.
The government of Vietnam asked Yahoo, Google and Microsoft to give out the information of all the bloggers that use their platforms. The Government has created an agency exclusively to monitor the content exposed on the internet, blocking websites critical to the Vietnamese government, expatriate political parties, and international human rights organizations, among others.
Tunisian internet service providers must report to the government the IP addresses and personal information of all bloggers on a regular basis, in order to keep them identified and under constant watch. All the traffic goes through a central net with which the government filters all content uploaded and monitors emails. Tunisia has also blocked thousands of websites (such as pornography, mail, search engine cached pages, online documents, conversion and translation services) and peer-to-peer and FTP transfer.
Any blogger who expresses any kind of anti-government feelings, or any kind of opinion that may “jeopardize national unity”, is arrested. Also sites that criticize the government are instantly blocked. The owners of Cyber Cafes are obligated to ask all of their customers for identification, leave a name registration and time of use, and report them to the authorities. In addition to filtering a wide range of Web content, the Syrian government monitors Internet use very closely and has detained citizens “for expressing their opinions or reporting information online.”
China has the most rigid censorship program in the world. It counts with providers of services that filter searches, block sites, erase any “inconvenient” content and monitor email traffic. China blocks or filters Internet content relating to Tibetan independence, Taiwan independence, police brutality, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, freedom of speech, pornography, some international news sources and propaganda outlets, certain religious movements, and many blogging websites. Fortunately, Listverse is not on their banned list (though it may be after this list).
Bloggers that dare to criticize the government or any religious or political figure are detained and harassed. The government demands that anyone who has a blog or personal page must go register in the Ministry of Art and Culture. Government has filtered webpages with contents critical of the government, pornographic websites, political blogs and, especially recently, women’s rights websites, weblogs and online magazines.
Around 400,000 sites have been blocked, including any that board political, social or religious topics. According to a study carried out in 2004 by the OpenNet Initiative, Saudi Arabia has “the most aggressive censorship focused on pornography, drug use, gambling, religious conversion of Muslims, and filtering circumvention tools.”
Cuba has the lowest ratio of computers per inhabitant in Latin America, and the lowest internet access ratio of all the Western hemisphere. Citizens have to use government controlled “access points”, where their activity is monitored through IP blocking, keyword filtering and browsing history checking. Only pro-government bloggers and government employees are allowed to upload content to the internet.
Censorship of printed and audiovisual media. There is minimal internet penetration in civil life and any that exists is heavily monitored by the government, which filters emails and blocks access to human rights groups and opposition groups sites.
Only a few hundred thousand citizens in North Korea, representing about 4% of the total population, have access to the Internet, which is heavily censored by the national government. The North Korean network is monitored heavily with only two websites being hosted under a domain name. All websites are under government control, as is all other media in North Korea. Naturally, blogging is not allowed and all content is uploaded or approved by the North Korean government.
Since I'm a native, I'm happy to see only one African country on the list.
That's good to hear. =)
this is a list you DONT want to be on .
I'm south african and I know the reason there arent any more african countries on this list is simply because most of them are too busy abusing people to worry about censorship. Its not a good thing that we're not on this list – it simply means we're too poor and obsessed with the act of slaughter
I agree 100% with your post. That is so sad that these so-called people think they have to get their kicks by killing human beings!!!!
Listverse was on the unaccessibles for a while, I think it was when you started using Worlpress as your server?
anyway, I am currently in China and I don't have any problems going into a site I want or need, or downloading anything I want or need.
course ud say that XD
you must not need anything adult related
oh I need them for sure, and I got them easily too. Like I said, I have never had a problem downloading anything I want or need.
I have seen a comparison of your Google searches in China compared to ones in UK (which has free access/no censorship) and the search results are usually very different. They don’t censor anything regarding to knowledge or copyright per se, but they censor ANYTHING that goes against the Chinese government, it’s politicians, or anything regarding their brutal History such as the running over of civilians by military tanks in Tiananmen Square, China.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/26/google-search-results-for_n_371526.html
So yes, you may be able to research and do everything normally but you are restricted from being able to see what REALLY is available to the rest of the world.
i believe censorship in China is heavy only on the political views of the public.
"I am currently in China and I don't have any problems going into a site I want or need, or downloading anything I want or need."
Righton, did you write that sentence? Or has the Chinese government filtered your submission, blocked any section complaining about your access, then replaced it with a comment stating you don't have any problems accessing a site?
I guess even if you reply to this I'll still be wondering if it is actually you replying or the state substituting your reply with one they would like he rest of the world to see… I'm going to be wondering about this for a long time now lol
Neil, i understand what you are saying, but with that many Internet users it`s just impossible to filter the I-net content by rewriting whole posts with complete sentences due to the sheer amount of resources you must commit to such filtering. they probably look for trigger words(mostly of political nature) and just block the content.
Economics 101 suggests that it`s ridiculously unlikely the gummint will sit around and repost every one of 100s of millions of posts everyday.
Economics 101. you need it.
Yes, but we're talking about China here. Is it really so ridiculous?
um i stayed for 3 years in china and i am proud to state that the country is aloud to use almost all of the websites plus facebook if you login from the hongkong server
If we cannot trust what he says, then there is no way of knowing whether he's being censored. Unless of course he was critical of the system, which would be the only way to know. And if he did that, then he had simultaneously proven that there is no censorship in China. So there really is no direct way of "not criticising the censorship in china". Though luck, China!
lol you guys just can't get over it don't you.
I know, why not come to China and feel all the 'dictatorship' and experience the censorships you so prejudiced upon yourself?
Right on! (get it?)
but I completely agree.
Righton: Glad to hear China's not what it's made out to be
I live in Mexico, and the US media makes it look like we live in a country filled with druglords and shootouts. It gets annoying when you have to constantly defend a place you love against blatant lies and exagerations!
My grandmother lives in Del Rio Texas. I visit quite a bit due to the fact that I am also in Texas. I have gone on several trips to Old Mexico, just visiting or doing some type of community work (building schools and such). I am sorry lady but Mexico is a run down hell whole. When my girl friend goes with me, all of the men their whistle and say cruel things to her. It is a ***** whole where people get kiddnapped on a daily basis. I would live in the middle of Russia before that waste of land.
I've never been to the border myself, but I know people who live there and it's generally considered by the rest of Mexico as the most dangerous area.
If you travel to other parts of Mexico (the vast majority), you'll see that it's a beautiful place with amazing culture, history and nature, inhabited by kind, hospitable people.
Please don't judge an entire country based on one area. Every country has its bad spots (even the USA).
And for the record, I've been living here for 5 years and I don't know anyone who has been kidnapped.
Hellhole not hell whole! Jesus if you feel the need to troll at least get your spelling right. Or should I say write?!
yes I agree, my current roommate is from New York and been telling me that China is far from what the US media had pictured it to be.
Now, it is by no means a perfect country. But there is no such thing as a perfect country.
I live in Ciudad Juarez. and let me tell you something, there is no such thing as a "war" going on here. Nothing has ever happened to me, I've never been mugged, carjacked or even gotten those scam calls. I know exactly what you mean, it was annoying having to answer this summer to all those europeans the same questions "are you afraid?" "why do you live there?" :S
I live in the US, and the European media makes it look like we live in a country filled with idiots and shootouts. It gets annoying when you have to constantly defend a place you love against blatant lies and exagerations!
It's funny when you think how stereotypes work.
True beans on the China scenes yo
In the last 18 months I have spent 8 months in China. I agree with you. it is not as bad as it is has been made out to be. i really suggest that you don't base your opinions of the country until you go there. the only problem i had with the internet was facebook. half way through my 2nd trip there it was blocked. however, i wasn't too upset as i figured i was probably too obsessed anyway. and also for any "blocked" sites there is usually the chinese equivalent. so now instead of spending countless hours on facebook, i spend them on renren.com instead. they also have WICKED programs for streaming all sorts of movies and tv shows. completely blows any program i've seen in canada, right out of the water.
Amazing list, man! Thank God India aint there in this.. But it sucks.. The Fact that people are not allowed to express their opinions.
Sujal Pandey, Maybe you live in Bihar. Come out of the 19th century. Thats the most Jurassic comment that I heard from a person being able to write English (unless you got it typed from someone else). On that point, have you also kept a servant to read and translate Listverse?
That's the most idiotic comment I'v read on someone castigating another for posting a view. What's wrong with his comment? And what's 'Jurassic' about his post? You seem like a racist fool who likes to rub people the wrong way up without giving any kind of explanation.
*Maybe you live in Bihar* It's clear you are an Indian yourself. With your kind of mentality, no wonder we remain a backward nation amidst all talk of modernism. BAH!
I dont even want to comment on your comments. But telling that world's largest democracy "Sucks" is SOMETHING. I've been to several countries and seen what cencorship means. Not realizing (forget appreciating) the value of the freedom that you get in this country is whats "Jurassic".
If he says 'India' sucks then HE is an idiot, because people here can freely express their opinions without any restrictions. But I think he is referring to the general fact that people all over the world aren't able to express their views due to censorship…that sucks. Maybe i didn't understand his statement properly…anyways… you got what I'm trying to say.
It looks to me like he was saying "The Fact that people are not allowed to express their opinions" is what sucks. I didn't even think he could be talking about India.
Hey VMP, read the comment again you galactic idiot. Looks like you are going to have to create another user name since you have embarrassed yourself with your present one. Jackasses meet your King…I present VMP. Now take a bow…jerk off.
I don't know about my comment and the listverse thing but I sure need a translator to translate to me what your stupid comment meant. On a side note, my servant ran away. VACANCY! Are you free, VMP? I'll pay bro!
In India there is absolutely NO censorship on viewing, uploading and downloading internet content. India Govt. does not even ban anti-India and anti-Govt. propaganda. India has a complete freedom of press. Indian Govt. usually falters dealing with religious fundamentalism, Both Satanic Verses and Da Vinci Code are banned in India.
So The Satanic Verses and The Da Vinci Code (?) are banned in India? Just tells you about the country as a whole doesn`t it! Put us back in charge, that`s what I say. Do you think you`d have had this under British rule? Course not.
"Do you think you`d have had this under British rule? Course not. "
Indian Govt. was reluctant to ban "The Da Vinci Code" but ultimately gave in to pressure of Catholic lobbyist groups, many of which are funded by the UK.
And by the way, India has seen the worst of attacks on free press under the British rule.
First u come here uninvited, tell us its great to make us slaves and rule us for our own benefit, then of course u rule us for years, then leave just like that, after sowing the seeds of inequality between Hindus and Muslims??????
See, when u all left, didn't we follow u and settle in places like Brighton and Leeds??? Now be a good girl and say thanks fr that Chicken Tikka Masala…
If u come back, then all billion gizzilion Indians will follow u next time…
Chicken tikka masala was invented in glasgow. Just sayin
By Indians (of Pakistanis or Bangladeshis)… Just sayin…
At least India bans sensitive religious books (which of course is not a novel idea…check out Kincora Scandal by Chris Moore and Age of Reason by Thomas Paine) while Britain was unable to digest political books such as Angaray and Soje Watan. Thank you but we are better off now than under British "rule"
Well i dont want to argue with you. But there is not such thing as "complete freedom of press". Every country has means of influencing the press (and i have a hard time imagining india would be different). Sure these means are rarely used but the term "complete" is a wee bit misleading.
Any government that bans books is telling you you're too stupid to figure out what's best for yourself. A government should be separated from religion, too. All religion, even the ones you like. I'm interested in your use of the word "propaganda". If it's against India (even if it's correct), that's propaganda? I just think the Indians are smart enough to figure out what's best for themselves; they don't need a government to tell them. They especially don't need a foreign government to tell them.
By the way, I would like to explain what I meant. I am happy that India is not present in this list. I guess everyone will be feeling the same about their respective countries..? The countries which prohibit people from expressing their views over the net or the countries which basically don't give full freedom to the people to access the internet, the condition of such people sucks. I hope I am clear. Anyone please "translate" this to VMP?
Pandeyji, the fact that you had to post another comment to clarify your earlier one tells the story. Second, you said your servant ran away, that tells that you've kept a servant to post these comments. Maybe you can check out with bsballbuster to see if he's free. He's anyway having a "soft corner" for you.
beef is banned here, so is alcohol, talk bout party poopers
Interesting to note that the Federal government here in Australia wanted to introduce a filter to protect us from "unsuitable content". The debate raged back and forth as the government was also happy to block access to content that the government DEEMED UNSUITABLE FOR ADULTS. WTF? We're a democracy here. To me it was the thin edge of the wedge and would lead to total censorship of anything the govt didn't like. It might be a far flung concept but look at the examples by Lilkty – stranger things have happened.
I feel like a lot is getting censored or banned in Aust. I can handle the gaming ban sometimes, but the internet made me unhappy.
That's not a far-flung concept; if you give the government the right to decide what is suitable for you to view, you think they'll stop with ***** sites on the internet? Nope.
They should ban Parliament question time, that is unsuitable for adults beacuse its more like break time at day care!
<DIV>The worst part is that we pay those monkeys big bucks to act like the dills they do.</DIV> <DIV style=”FONT: 10pt arial”>
It would suck to live in a censored country. I'ma try to send e-mails about anarchy to all the banned countries, hopefully one of them gets through!
great idea!! gotta join that!
Whats wrong with *****?? Were all born naked!
No, my mother says I was born with a vest on. I still don't know what she means by that. But I agree, nothing wrong with p0rn, or nudity in general. Unless you're an extremely ugly person with blisters all over your body. Like me.
Nothing wrong with that, fenda. Uhhh… you do parties?
***** is wrong because religions say so.
yes right between where you can kill gay people and beat your wife .
Religions don't say anything about *****.
Like christainity for instance.It says you shouldn't cheat on your wife,
or have lust.Nothin about *****.If ***** makes you fantasize thats your problem.
Sometimes *****ography even helps marage *****ual issues.People just think
***** is unsanitary and take it so far and involve religion.
I have a question for you
wanna see your mother naked on the street???
Seems a bit wincest,but that has nothin to do with *****ography in general
You're right. We were born naked and we were conceived by what the consenting adults are doing, for the most part, in the video! Look at it as a training video.
And it is organized religion's fault people view ***** as something that should be shamed and hidden.
Theres nothin wrong with *****,just how someone sees it is wrong.
Another reason why America isn't corrupt like those countries.l[]lx
America didn't allow ***** 50 years ago, and it was a helll of alot less corrupt back then than now.
From the info circulating around the world about american way of providing internet service,USA will probably be on this list pretty soon…
And you're dragging the EU with you, with the ACTA-treaty. Not blaming the US though, only our own governement for bowing to the excessive demands of the US.
unlikely. worst we're going to get is pay-per-gig bandwidth bills.
then you`re better off implementing your own super meganetwork and help others to do the same and have parallel internets that might evolve into a giant Internet that`s free of ISPs.
Really interesting list. I'm glad I live in a country that doesn't do this (to my knowledge). Although most schools I've attended censor the internet pretty strictly.
So, the question I think the comments will focus on is this:
Should the internet be a place of absolute freedom of speech (keeping in mind it will give you both Listverse and….rotten, for example), or is it reasonable for governments to block what they deem unsavory?
I, as I hinted at above, think it should be. I do not condone everything that is on the internet, but exposure to the things that are considered obscene can be a fantastic way to strengthen your own sense of values. Human curiosity, if left to fester, is a terrible thing, and people may find themselves in an odd spot if they are not allowed to explore all aspects of life, so to speak.
As for things of a political nature, though some may still dub them obscene, I think it's just silly to try and censor them.
australia's government-controlled blacklist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_…
here in philippines, everything can be access in the internet, sometimes or most of the time, people abuse it by downloading and uploading *****ograhic content.. Waaaaahhh
im not hehehhehe
Still there's no cencorship. Be thankful kaibigan.
better than to be gagged with information.
I was thinking Pakistan would be here, maybe 7Raul7 can provide more info on that
Pakistan, being one of the most corrupt countries in the world, cannot force people to obey its laws due to the indifferent attitude of the government. Internet censoring on the usual suspects (pr0n, 'blasphemic' sites), though, is carried it out to some extent, which isn't good enough. I for one, am pro-censoring, for websites related in any way to pr0n.
The funny part is that the only thing the government tries to stop is making jokes about the ruling party (PPP), its leaders (Zardari / Raza Gilani) and its supporters (Jiyaley) but this being Pakistan, people still do it. The maximum penalty for making jokes on the aformentioned is 14 years in jail & 100,000 PKR (nearly 1100 $) fine. "In July 2009, the government responded to a spate of jokes about Zardari that circulated via e-mail by warning that it would trace the messages and confront those responsible with prison sentences of up to 14 years." (UNHCR)
14 YEARS for making a joke about that corrupt, evil, son of a *****. This must be a new kind of censoring because as far as I know, no country censors jokes. But then Burma or North Korea might be doing it already
You're pro-censoring? GTFO the internet scumbag.
Wow. You don't seem very jolly Mr. "Jolly Tree".
Also whats wrong in some one having an opinion that's different from yours.
Its not that he has a different opinion, its that he supports one form of censoring and condems the other, you cant have it both ways. Either you think censorship is good thing and the goverment should censor sites or you think its bad and every site should be accessable. Once you censor one thing you open the door to the censorship of everything and anything people find offensive or different from thier own views
That's bull***** eh? You can censor kiddy *****, animal cruelty etc. without infringing on your right to whack-off to all the grown-up boobies and assorted parts you want. Part of living in a society and not total anarchy is setting limits to behavior. These limits are often in place to protect those who cannot protect themselves. It's where you choose to draw the line that's at issue, not the fact that there is one.
I see your point mom, but we are talking about censorship not what is legal and illegal. To my knowledge kiddy ***** is illegal in every country and as such has no place on the web. There is no need to censor such things as they are usually promptly shut down by authorties in most nations. That is not a form of censorship but as you pointed out a limit societey has set and a line no one wnats to see crossed on the internet . What we are talking about is censoring the things which are allready legal (be it religious views, political views and even adult *****) but may offend or differ from others points of views.
it sucks to live in those countries i believe people in north korea think they won 2010 world cup lmao
Hey you were a minus 185 yesterday, how come it became -118 today?
well my asked my chinesse workers to thumb me up
'Chinese workers'…you have people working for you? And that too Chinese?? Gaawdd… how did they agree..how many are they? You must be a very charismatic fellow lol.
brOck I just need to know how old are you? If you're old enough to work what do you do as a living?
why the ***** i should give my personal information on this site fool
well said br0ck.
Wow chill out jerk face. I just didn't want to feel bad for making fun of a retarded person.
Hey, please mind your language, don't use the R-word so casually. Thanks.
People with mental or physical handicaps ask not to be called retarded because it is politically incorrect. So why can't one use the word "retarded" as it is clearly not associating it with handicapped people? It shouldn't be offensive to handicapped people since you aren't allowed to use the word to describe them.
i decided a while ago all this politically correct bull***** is too much for me . In SA there is like 3 words that are totally forbidden for me to say ( they are racial slurs ) but i noticed in america you guys have got a whole list from those oprah hippies . As l, long as you aren't attacking anyone directly with malice i think its OK to say whatever you want .
) in nO WAY is the word negative here … what was i saying …oh yeah , i use retard all the time , since i was probably 10 I'm not gonna stop now . i never insulted a mentally challenged person with it before but there are a couple people i know that the word fits them pretty well so ill use it on them .
eg in my country nigger is not a swear word , i can call my black friends that all day if i want , to us its just slang from TV and music , ***** they call me nigger too ( i like it it makes me feel cooler than you
basement dweller. momma`s house.
@br0ck: "why the ***** i should give my personal information on this site fool"
——brock — youve said some of the stupidest ***** some of us have ever read, but you can't come off of your age?
(credit, though — the world cup comment was funny)
@fairtwiggy1: "what do you do as a living?"
@br0ck: "well my asked my chinesse workers to thumb me up"
——-you manage a panda palace, don't you?
well stop using cheap Chinese sweatshops and outsource it to India. With their computer skills, u will have +100000000 points in seconds…
So your workers are all sitting around with their thumbs up? Yeah, I can see that…
The NK v Port match (0-7) was broadcast live on NK TV. A SK newspaper reports that they team and management have been subjected to "intensive debriefing" about their results.
I'm writing a term paper on English as spoken by Koreans. it necessarily focuses on South Koreans, but my research took me to the official website of the DPRK. In amongst the blatant propaganda there are English grammatical errors typical of Korean speakers of English. Unfortunately the word count for the paper means that I can't use any of it.
(You can easily find the DPRK website by searching for eg "official website north korea".)
hmm wonder if listverse will see a drop in visitors after this.. china should at least block p2p and bittorrent sites what with their counterfit way of life
Is it just me or the last couple of lists were really boring. I am dying for a interesting list.
Is it just me or were the last couple of lists really boring. I am dying for a interesting list.
PS VMP dont be so rude just because their english isnt as good as yours doesnt mean they have no right to comment on this list.
FREEEDAAAAMN!!
FREEEDAAAAMN!! certenly it has to be.
I'm sick of hearing that religious countrys force their citizen to do this to their will; maybe some people will hate me for this comment since is related to religion but I feel u should have the right to do or see what you feal in you own risk and deccision as long it doesnt hurt othrs or have mature age without having retaliation for it.
From what ive been told by my muslim friends choosing to not be that religionif born in a muslim family) could cost you your life.
-blazerelf
Muslims are stereotyped statiscally as terrorist because of their religion.
You're adding it up,but not the right way.
not sure if with your comment you meant that I steriotype muslims; but well I consider steriotyping is when you take sertain people for granted because of the action of few; but what I said in my comment was by facts from people who are affected not by rumours and it ends up in muslim religion is the one with most trouble of these btu still not becasue that I'll say all like to supress others right to choose but it is pritty much common this problem with them; so as example Im black and i get stopped by cops much more than whites and i know itsbecause most gangsters are black, im black but im conciouse my race does most illigal sht and saying so doesnt mean Im steriotyping black, I m just being real.
I was really rooting for Iran to be number one but of course it's North Korea! It's all a popularity contest I tell you!
I read an article yesterday which stated that child *****ography-filters in the EU are being misused for blocking other unsuitable material. A German site investigated, and found only 3 out of 167 sites blocked, actually contained child *****ography, and all of those sites deleted the content from their site after an email from the Germans, just to notify them.
source: http://ak-zensur.de/2010/09/looking-away.html
I understand child *****ography being banned.
I think websites that contain child *****ography should have their IP adresss' tracked
and the person that owns the website should be sent to jail for years.Adult ***** is fine though.
I don't think theres kids out there that want to be child pronstars they're probally forced into it.
Sad thing…
It's quite surreal to think that despite our current 21st century norms, nations still wish to control people in such an extreme manner…
like fair enough if democracy doesnt float your boat, but how can you deny someone the right to look at midget *****?
WIN
Welcome to the real world, where your rights are mostly on paper.
Ask me, i live in a middle eastern (not by choice) country where there is internet censorship. They block any and all websites deemed “offensive” and/or against their religious, ethics or values. They even block social networking websites i mean c’mon, i wouldn’t be surprised even if listverse is blocked (i hope not) or even if my comment is deleted (happens all the time).
That is so crazy
Wow great list.
hey. I wrote about this at Uni last week as part of a mass culture debate. I think everybody has an idea that all countries have some sort of filtering and monitoring going on – overtly or covertly – and some are more obvious than others. I heard Italy was trying to do a similar thing. At the moment, most western folks only have to worry about key word tracking – which goes on a database (and includes all communications not just the internet), but this is pretty harmless as long as you don't start blogging using these key terms. I remember I mentioned this very thing last year and mysteriously lost my broadband for a while. At the end of the day it really doesn't matter what we, the general public of the world, think about all this. We cannot change it – and they know it – but a little heads up is never a bad thing.
'The root of possessiveness lies at the heart of the selfish and insecure man'
How is the studying progressing on your new venture
I havent been here for a couple of days (too busy with my studies) so i dont know when this happened but let me just say this: JFrater. Thank you man for making LV again the best userfriendly site there is. Its so cool to have intensedebate on the mobile version. Thanks JF.
On another note: russia should have been a bonus i imagine.
I read a couple of posts that sounded a bit like this: "like fair enough if democracy doesnt float your boat, but how can you deny someone the right to…"
Or "I'm sick of hearing that religious countrys force their citizen to do this to their will"
Maybe you people should understand that thats how oppresive regimes roll cuz if not they wouldnt be called *oppresive regimes*, they'd be called the republic of kittylovers or smth along those lines and we'd all want to live under such rulers. Why dont you people just do like every other reader does in such a situation: say "dayum" and move on. Or make a program or an internet platform that could help these people have more acces to the net (like tweeter in the case of iran or programs to help circumvent the censors in china). The fact that you express your indignation does do much: yes your words posted on the net wont save a puppy from drowning. Sorry, you hippies but the worlds doesnt work like that.
Wow, instead of your comment being deleted, it duplicated..ye can celebrate buddy
lol XD…
There are Youtube videos that are blocked from USA viewers due to copyright infringement. They can still be accessed by using a proxy, but it's a PIA.
It's not like that information is forbidden. You can still access it, but you only have to pay for it. Doesn't sound much like censorship to me.
It is still kinda annoying though…
I knew of a few of these, but didn't know all. Just shaking my head at the thought of the lengths people will go to keep their people stupid and obedient. May the sheep one day wise up and overthrow their governments.
Neat list.
"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose".
I doubt that "those" sheep would be so willing to overthrow their govts if they have kids, someone that depends on their ability to put food on the table. Its easy to invite people to fight for their freedom, but mourning kinda sucks. Look at it this way: how does it feel when american soldiers return home in coffins? And these are people trained to fight, they know they might day, for people killed at revolutions its worse since they are civilians.
Maybe a sheep is better off not surfing freely, than getting a bullet to the head.
Oh… how romantic and bold! Who was your teacher, Jimmy Carter?
*just kidding*
i think you're right; the items mentioned in the list are almost totally asian countries and historically asians are more inclined to worship a god-king then overthrowing tyranny for the sake of freedom. Don't want to sound racist but i've seen that in tons of books. Individual freedom sometimes sounds like empty word but since the war with Darius I (the king of kings) western world has been fighting against oriental men willing to become gods.
Sometimes it's worth it to fight and give it your all then to remain in the state in which you find yourself. I would fight instead of cower….since that in itself, would be protecting my child.
"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose"
I don’t necessarily disagree with you Arsnl, but if we are quoting from pop culture, another way to look at it is: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Sometimes sacrifices have to be made in order to benefit future generations. Does that mean I want ours or any other nation’s sons and daughters coming home in body bags? No…
Some sad news I heard today, is that Kim Jong Il, "The Dear Leader," is about to resign and his son Kim Jong Nam, "The Young General," is about to take over. Which is sad. Who are we going to laugh at now?
Wow, you actually laugh at Kim Jong Il? For me it's hard to find someone scarier – someone who has his entire country under that much control is just plain scary; especially when you see the conditions that most of the people there live in.
But Jasmine, he looks like Yoda.
I think he resembles the "Anti-Yoda" moreso, you know Yoda's darkside.
Wow, communists and muslims, huge surprise there.
ah ah ah! That's a win!
Since your modest comment expresses love and consideration to both Muslims AND Communists,into addition to that the sense of sarcasm that defies your common sense and forth..
To whom it may concern, "i" as a Muslim would like to know if ***** is good for your kids or not.
we are talking about freedom and the effort to keep it not *****.
But, since you got me started on the Islam i will tell you a thing or two about it.
strangely enough communists and muslims share a common fact.
As communism is the image of the sake of justice performed by a perverted mind, so islam is a true revelation that for some reason was given to a perverted mind.
The Quran with all its roughness has ruined for centuries the spirit and the capability of peoples that have been capable of glorious things.
From one side the wonderful imul-huruf in Seydi Mohyiddin or the Sefer Ietsirah or Ibn Kaldhun. These are real peaks in elegance and reasoning and from the other side the orrible orrible things you can read in the Quran.
The problem with Islam is not its culture nor its people, if you ask me, the problem is just the sick mind who wrote that book. To say that in few words: I love everything about Islam except Muhammad himself (peace be upon Him).
And yes, you ARE barking at the wrong tree.
I think that *CENSORED* is a big load of *CENSORED* and I should be able to *CENSORED* anytime I want.
Hello, is this thing on?
Hm, while Thailand doesn't hit.. That high on the list, censorship is still somewhat high. Usually, it's things that are against "The good Morale", like *****.
They also block or remove pages that speaks bad against the king and royal family and the government
Im sorry but talking about thailand…there's no need for internet censorship. I think, everything is already legal there…even *****.
Censorship is disgusting. Communist and fundamentalists all. Listverse will probably be blocked now in at least one of these countries.
But i think the worst of it is when so-called "free" nations censor, Australia being the worst of them all. And at the rae things are going, the US and EU aren't much different.
**rate
Where is TRANSNISTRIA !!!
i'm sure i mentioned that somewhere before.
Lovely place! War weapons trade, human organ's trade, every telepfone is being taped, not to mention the strict internet censorship.
All that and it's here right across europe's backyard! Just east of Romania.
I take all my vacations there since 2001. o.0
BTW why don't they censor brOck's internet? just kidding, i love the style of the guy.
Oh! And about North Korea's soon to be leader. Kim Jong il's dumbest soon… apparently his name is Kim Jong "W." il … ah ah aha! Heard that from Letterman, must admit.
Just east of romania? Wtf man. Its east of moldavia.
Since its a breakaway province you cant put it here cuz its not technically a country. For all those problems, russia is to blame. Whenever romania or moldavia speak ill of transnistria, russia steps in and all those tanks and arms are russian. I wonder how life is in abkhazia too.
Ps:where's the treatment given to roma comunities in italy or maybe the censorship sometimes italian media suffers cuz of berlusconi. *tongue in cheek*
I wrote Romania so anyone might understand the place i was talking about. Moldavia is not so spoken in Usa or, at least, i guess. Moldova is also a "spin off" from Romania. They're russian speaking rumanian. Guess who wanted this country to be created? Russia again.
As to the Abkhazia i'm certain that Sun always shines on the empire of Pretty Boy Putin, or as Silvio Berlusconi calls him "the Great Vladimir". Worst Friendship Ever.
Italy is now getting a grip on the slums that sprouted around its major cities. We had a 2 years period during which Romania admittedly emptied its jailhouses and sent badboys on a trip to Italy. In the meanwhile every other country in europe kept a high guard as to immigration.
Romanians all came here to be employed by the exploitation business and then they were dumped in the "banlieu" to chill out. Sending them home before they become total brutes is for everybody's good.
The problem with information here is that Journalists are a bunch of cowardly, undereducated, buffed-up dorks. A caste whose only style is conformism. The actual role of Berlusconi in the media is much different than it may look. I might write a list on wrong absuptions over italian politics.
There is plenty of italian left-winged press and most of it is payed by companies owned by S. Berlusconi. No journalist ever spared criticism on him and no one has ever been fired by one of those private companies.
I must admit i'm not Mr. Berlusconi's biggest fan but most of the things are known about him, especially in Europe, are pure propaganda eyewash. Putting it straight "they got nothing on the guy but he is to be put down because he's a pain in the ass for the establishment." And i mean The Real Establishment… the banking community, not the media. The media says what the bankers want them to say.
Actually during the war Ukraine, Russia and Romania were involved in supporting break away factions in Moldovia with ethnic Russians and Ukrainians becoming part of Transnistria.
Also Transnistria is heavily targeted by the CIA, EU with outfits like NED, USAID, Soros, etc.
Abkhazia I would imagine supports Russia as a protectorate since the ultra-nationalist Georgian leaders invasion to demolish the autonomous status and croos border attacks since then.
I wonder what life is like in Kosovo and Bosnia the drug/terror capitals of Europe.
man,we're really lucky here in the philippines. i think i can't live without internet 'coz we are all now living in a cyber world B-)
No real surprises here – did expect to see more comments about Australia's ill-advised attempt at censorship. From what I've read, it's a waste of effort and resources. Anybody with a peer-blocking utility can get around it – true?
Censorship by itself isn't evil; in western societies it is used to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Kiddy *****, snuff films, animal cruelty – we censor those things all the time. It's when it's used to protect those that should require none that there is a problem eh?
That's not censorship; that's illegal. There's a difference between blocking child ***** and adult *****.
It's still censorship. My point is that every society uses censorship – the quibble is where we draw the line.
That's not censorship; that's illegal.
But those are illegal activities for the very reason mom pointed out. Which is different than an oppressive government making something illegal just to control its citizenry, such as banning criticisms of the government, or women’s rights websites. By your logic, all of the countries on this list are just simply blocking content that they have deemed “illegal”, so it’s ok?
This affects me directly – the day before the Australian Internet Holocaust was announced I registered the domain name "flatchestedgirls*****ingoneachother.co.au."
Also, "political-lolitas.co.saudiarabia"
Missed you buddy where have you been – long time comments
I was imprisoned for a series of unprecedented offences with are tentatively being labelled "Crimes Against the Innocence of Mankind", but after I'd *****ed everyone in the prison (including all the guards and the warden) I decided to break down the walls and return to Listverse.
MISSED YOU TOO LOVER.
You won't get any hits – we use ".com.au", not ".co.au". Nice idea, though. I've been searching for that for years, and haven't been able to find any.
And to think I recorded all those videos of myself *****ing on myself for nothing.
It was fun at the time, wasn't it? And since when have you been a flatchestedgirl?
Since I severed my own PENIS and ate it, only for it to grow back even bigger than before.
Was *that* fun at the time, too?
send them to r.kelly to use in his next video.
R.Kelly is a phenomenal artist, with many number one hits.
Get it? Number one?
Ah, ***** the lot of you!
RIght. Nobody tells R. Kelly to "***** off." 'Cause he WILL!
To quote one of my greatest heroes: "It's better to be *****ed off than *****ed on…"
wait? what ?you can sell those ? it seems my money problems are over . . .. .
Hi Woyzeck!
these ones are actually fur reel
gotahoenorth.com (so go north)
firstbaptistcumming.org (then catholics later)
therapistfinder.com (they will find the bad guy)
You forgot kid*****change.com
Huhhhy. That'd probably get a lot more hits than my site: woyzeckisapervert.co.patagonia
I raped ***** out of patagonia decades ago with my MAN-PENIS.
I think it's wise to block any and all *****ography. (if you are a nation wanting to censor the internet)
If there was no *****, nobody would care about the internet for long. The governments wouldn't have to worry very much about subversive blogging as people in those countries would get bored quickly if they were unable to access any of the good stuff.
Using the internet for only government bashing? Would get dull pretty quick and die out.
Glad I don't live there!
Comment censored by the North Korean Government.
LMFAO I thought all North Koreans didn't know the term "internet", but turns out there are already 4% of North Korean total population knew the term, now that's a BIG progress!
Sooner or later, all governments will block or moderate internet access. Freedom and knowledge are dangerous to any Government and even for any religion.
The idea, that I, Kim Jong Il, The Dear Leader of The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, and socialist paradise, would ban things is simply crazy.
right. i mean – you had a supernatural birth, are a fasion trendsetter, and the whole world loves you because you invented hamburgers and are the best golf player in hisory. not to mention, you kidnap directors to make godzilla rip offs, you deport all short and disabled people from your capital, and inject your staff with drugs so you wont be the only one addicted.
youre clearly the sanest person in the history of the world. why would you ban anything?
preposterous.
I don’t know about you guys, but I would prefer to keep my freedom of information. This bill was JUST brought up and not many people know it even exists, sign the petition and get the word out for all of us.
Just the other day, President Obama urged other countries to stop censoring the Internet. But now the United States Congress is trying to censor the Internet here at home. A new bill being debated this week would have the Attorney General create an Internet blacklist of sites that US Internet providers would be required to block.
This is the kind of heavy-handed censorship you’d expect from a dictatorship, where one man can decide what web sites you’re not allowed to visit. But the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to pass the bill this week — and Senators say they haven’t heard much in the way of objections! That’s why we need you to sign our urgent petition to Congress demanding they oppose the Internet blacklist.
PETITION TO THE SENATE: Censoring the Internet is something we’d expect from China or Iran, not the U.S. Senate. You need to stop this Internet blacklist in its tracks and oppose S. 3804.
http://demandprogress.org/blacklist/
I find the lack of australia on this list disturbing. Most of those countries live in dictatorships. Australia is supposedly one of the "free western countries". It's even more shocking to find that kind of censorship in a country like australia than it is in north korea.
but the list is not about which countries are more shockingly censored, it says in the title "top countries that censor the internet" not "top 10 'free western' countries that censor the internet"
anyone who is saying that they're from one of the countries listed above is lying, You're just trying to defend dictatorships for whatever reason. It's probably because you hate america or you're just a dirty hippie liberal. All the countries listed above would be great places to visit but would definitely suck to live in. These countries know that they're governments are failures and the people absolutely hate it..But you don't hear that coming from anyone's mouth…I wonder why..That's why America is the greatest place in the the world and we need to get rid of Osama..oh i mean Hussein…O wait no Hussein Obama..ya our president..***** that guy.
Thanks for making me stupider by reading that.
ok new rule only people over the age of 10 are allowed to post comments on listverse
It would be interesting to see if he would do that.
Holy shame! if only the people saw this list, but then again, they're not accessed to the net!
Thank you for posting this – we are lucky to be able to express ourselves with such ease – long may criticism of our government continue!
The only thing I personally agree with is banning ***** for it contributes nothing positive to human society or advancement. But then again the same is true for Youtube comments…
It would be very sad to live in saudi arabia.
No *****. No pork.
I can't even understand the internet's words.
my work is worst than north korea. it blocks all blogs, forums and anything fun!
america should be on that list too for bullying P2P websites and networks.
p2p and other protocols are a danger for big corporation`s online security. the less protocols you use the less possibility of exploits. banning redundant protocols is easier than filtering all the outbound traffic producing awful congestion and eating up all the resources.
just google camolist, click any link and enter your chosen website here – it redirects your request across a number of servers and masks the ip address you're trying to access (or something), should allow you to visit any website if you're behind a restricted proxy server, just 1. don't go shopping or banking, and 2. you'll get adverts on the website for using their service.
I'm told that during the Bush administration a lot of medical websites wee forced to remove birth control information. Has anyone else heard that?
One of the most powerful forms of censorship is to ban advertising. Back in the late 60s or so, Acclaim cigarettes were designed to go out on their own in a short while. The idea was that cigarettes would be less likely to start fires, especially by drunks and those who smoke in bed. The FDA apparently figured that this would make it appear that some cigarettes could be safer than others and they wanted to promote the idea that there's no safe cigarette. So Acclaim was severely limited in its advertising and went out of business.
In some cases, legislation prevents you from using certain words to describe your product unless it meets certain conditions. And who decides what conditions will be used? Usually people already in the business have a lot of input and they are anxious to gain an advantage by slanting the conditions to help themselves. If your own bourbon is aged seven years and your rival's bourbon is aged eight years and a bill goes before the legislature to make it illegal to call your product bourbon unless it's been aged a full eight years, you know there's some skulduggery going on.
There's legislation to prevent people from buying cheap cigarettes over the Internet. This is good for local merchants but severely limits people's choices. Some people who were buying extremely-low tar and nicotine cigarettes are now stuck with whatever death-crap the local merchants have to offer.
The Internet is the most amazing tool the world has ever seen, allowing people to shop from the entire world's supply of goods. I've bought medicines from Portugal and other countries, cigarettes from Russia, clothing from half a dozen different countries, jewelry and watches from France and Italy, etc.
There are people in the U.S. government who have already started the process of stopping all that and they would love to stop the rest of it.
Having lived in Vietnam, I learned that you don't just send plain email. Much better to encrypt your messages via TrulyMail, PGP, GPG, etc. You need to do what you can if you want to say anything that the government does not agree with.
Nice list. Learned a lot from it. The only country I am aware of on this list is Vietnam, because I went there, and experienced it. Thanks!
Venezuela is installing a Brand-new optic fiber from Maracaibo to Santiago de Cuba. Maybe it will help that cubans have a faster internet. (or not?)
lol, now why would I write that? just to prove something to you?
I don't feel that way and thus I will not do it.
i agree dont write that , however could you at least translate it into Chinese for us ?
My Chinese ability is still at the beginner level, sorry I can't help you on that.
Cuba? Harry Belafonte would counter that in a Havana minute! Cuba is Paradise! Mikey Moore says so!
BTW, Demonoid (dot com) is now based in the Ukraine. If you didn't know.