Readings

The readings for Tuesday, April 12 are:

Online Censorship

1. Cracking the 'Great Firewall' of China's Web censorship

   • Scaling China's Great Firewall

   • A Week Behind The Great Firewall Of China

   • Behind the Great Firewall of China

   • GreatFire.org - Expanding Online Freedom of Speech in China

2. Yahoo! in China - Background

   • Bing Goes Full-on Censorship in English Search Results Within China

   • Google to Stop Censoring Search Results in China After Hack Attack

   • Why Google Quit China-and Why It's Heading Back

3. How Egyptian and Tunisian youth hacked the Arab Spring.

   • The truth about Twitter, Facebook and the uprisings in the Arab world

   • Twitter Steps Up Efforts to Thwart Terrorists' Tweets

   • MAP: Here Are the Countries That Block Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube

Trolling / Anonymity

1. 545: If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPS

   • What happened when I confronted my cruellest troll

   • The Imminent Death of the Internet Troll

2. "That life is over": Zoe Quinn looks beyond GamerGate

   • The death of the "gamers" and the women who "killed" them

   • Anita Sarkeesian goes on Colbert. You'll totally believe what happens next

   • Gamergate Goons Can Scream All They Want, But They Can't Stop Progress

   • GamerGate's Archvillain Is Really A Trolling Sketch Comedian

3. A New Harassment Policy for Twitter

   • The Existential Crisis of Public Life Online

   • Why I've Stopped Reading Twitter Mentions

   • New and improved "block user" feature in your inbox.

4. Google Plus Finally Gives Up on Its Ineffective, Dangerous Real-Name Policy

   • In-Depth: Why Was Blizzard's 'Real ID' Such An Issue? Exclusive

   • Facebook is changing the way it enforces its real name policy

   • Changes to Facebook's "Real Names" Policy Still Don't Fix the Problem

Questions

Please write a response to one of the following questions:

1. From the readings, what are the ethical, social, and moral issues regarding online censorship? Why would governments limit freedom of speech and how do they go about enforcing these restrictions?

   • Is it ethical or moral for technology companies to follow requests of the host country to suppress freedom of expression? That is, should technology companies comply with censorship requirements of the country they are operating in?

   • Is it ethical or moral for technology companies or developers to provide tools that illegally circumvent such restrictions?

   • Is online censorship a major concern? What role should technology companies play in defending against of enforcing limitations of freedom of speech?

2. From the readings and from your experience, what exactly is trolling? How does this behavior manifest itself and what are its causes and effects?

   • What ethical or moral obligations do technology companies have in regards to preventing or suppressing online harassment (such as trolling or stalking)?

   • Is anonymity on the Internet a blessing or a curse? Are "real name" policies useful or harmful in combating online abuse?

   • Is trolling a major problem on the Internet? What is your approach to handling trolls? Are you a troll?!?!?

Feedback

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the course, please provide your feedback at the end of your response.