The Need To Teach Cyber Security To Journalists

Jan 252012
 

There has always been pressure on journalists to reveal their sources, often the call is couched in terms of national security, but with the universal use of computers and the online communication the issue has become more important as various groups gain access to journalist notes, records and other materials stored on their computers by nefarious means.

The Columbia Journalism Review has looked at this issue and finds that there needs to be much more education about cyber security rather than the traditional lessons on not revealing sources, keeping notes and tapes physically secure and similar techniques. That is not to say these are not still relevant but the widespread use of online interception and surveillance technology means these lessons need to be augmented to incorporate modern technology.

The Review article reads:

Since 2007, Steve Doig, an investigative journalist, has been giving a talk called “Spycraft: Keeping your sources private.” He’s presented at conferences for Investigative Reporters and Editors and the National Institute for Computer Assisted Reporting, explaining a number of specific technological tips for reporters: using Tor for online anonymity, the benefits of no-contract cell phones, and how to trick keyloggers, among other tools.

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New Report Shows Mixed Fortunes For Online Freedoms In the Asia Pacific Region In 2011

Jan 202012
 

Censorship and online controls eased in Burma (Myanmar), Thailand and several other Asian countries last year but there were major clampdowns in China and several south asian countries according to a report just released by media and democracy watch dog Freedom House.

The report cites the success of the Arab Spring in overthrowing governments in the middle east as having prompted the hardening attitudes in China. Leaders there were keen the movement did not replicate itself on their doorstep.

The full report can be read here: Freedom in the World 2012.

Meanwhile the entry for China is available at: Freedom House China 2012

Top Chinese Official Wants “More Forceful” Online Controls

Dec 122011
 

With Chinese censors virtually powerless to stop the spread of information via microblogging there is now a call by a top official to be “more forceful” in managing the web and to tighten controls.

The call came from Wang Chen, head of the State Internet Information Office, a government body set up this year to supervise online content.

Micro blogging has been problematic for China’s censors because the speed with which the information is disseminated means by the time they have seen it and taken action it has already been widely circulated.

Till recently the censors have been more geared towards traditional blogs or posts on the internet which take longer to circulate because the reader must actually go through the act of finding the material and therefore it can be taken down before too many people have seen it. But with microblogging the message just turns up on the users mobile phone the moment it is sent.

The inability to control it, its widespread use, and the role it has played in popular uprisings around the world have all been sources of concern to Beijing. Wang’s comments articulate what many in charge wish to see happen. 

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“Who Guards The Guards”: Chinese Netizens Step Up To Hold Media To Account

Dec 082011
 

“Who guards the guards” is an old latin proverb about who or what is the overall watchdog in a society. Generally in a free democracy it is the people. A key part of their ability to fulfil that function is knowledge usually obtained through a free and independent media.

But in one party states like China which control a significant portion of the media directly and restrict the remainder via censorship and legal action the media is unable to hold up those institutions to the light.

The role is now falling to the country’s netizens and recently they demonstrated their power with a strong and comprehensive reaction to reporting in the state media about recent violent protests.

The China Digital Times reports that Hundreds of protesters gathered Oct. 26-27 in the streets of Zhili, a township in Huzhou, northern Zhejiang Province, to demand an end to tax hikes and various local “fees.” One such tax includes a “machinery head tax” on factories. Many turned violent, smashing windows and setting fire to cars. Rioters attacked an Audi while it drove by, forcing the driver off the road and leading him to hit ten bystanders. Riot police were called in to quell the protests.

What followed was an excellent example of people stepping up and creating an accurate record of what happened and how state policies were being skewed to the public.

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The Easing Of Restrictions On A Chinese Activist: The Social Media At Work

Dec 062011
 

Provincial authorities in China have heeded calls to ease the restrictions on blind legal activist  , they are allowing him to accept medication sent to him by his supportes and allowing his six year old daughter to go to school.

It is interesting to ponder why they have taken such a move with someone they have regarded as dangerous and a threat for his calls for greater democracy in China.

What is interesting to contemplate is to what extent has the internet and social media played in this change of heart by the authorities.

The answer must surely be an enormous amount. Chen’s supporters have been able to galvnize public opinion and even sway government officials with postings about the conditions of his house arrest. In the past such information would have been passed by word of mouth, underground newspapers with limited readership and possibly foreign reporting broadcast into China by the likes of RFA.

Such methods of communication in any country but particularly one as big as China would have had limited reach and the delay between the information being obtained and then reaching the target audience would have made his plight more remote and impersonal. Today there is an intimacy with events and people because so much of what is being posted is fresh and new. As people sit down for dinner they have a very good idea of what Chen is going through at that very moment.

Some people will say this is simply stating the obvious and has been going on for years. And of course that is true, but it never hurts to remind ourselves that the virtual world has enormous possibilities for creating non-violent change for the better.

I could have cited the Arab Spring or similar major events that social media played a key role in but I believe we should never overlook the smaller victories because they build on each other.  Maybe the internet revolution’s greatest gift to society will be revolution via the internet. Virtual revolutions are likely to have far fewer casualties than the old fashioned sort.

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Wierd Data Streams From China Raise Concerns New Online Censorship Tools Have Been Developed

Nov 292011
 

An odd series of data streams from China detected by a  Swedish online security analyst has raised fears China is looking to upgrade the great firewall.

Forbes Asia reports that the analyst had first thought it was possibly a cyber attack orsome other kind of malware but as he investigated it he found what he thought was a new online tool being used by the Chinese authorities to take down content they did not approve of.

Late last year Leif Nixon started to see strange, seemingly random streams of data hitting his servers from China. Was it a cyberattack? Or botnet programs stealing data from his network? As an IT security officer at the National Supercomputer Centre in Linkoping, Sweden, as he wrote in his blog at the time, “It is my job to be paranoid.”

As Nixon dug into his logs, he realized the data struck his servers only just before one of his researchers or students logged in to the network from China over an encrypted connection. A year later he believes he’s identified those strange probes: a new censorship feature in the Great Firewall. “My only guess is that the government is looking for certain services it doesn’t approve of,” he wrote in November. “I strongly dislike this probing of our systems that the Chinese government appears to be performing.”

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Excellent Resource For Digital Journalists And Those Concerned About Online Censorship, Reporting and Content

Nov 142011
 

The Center For International Media Assistance has an outstanding resource for journalists and others concerned about censorship, online media and press freedoms with their Weekly Media Mash Up.

The Mash Up has covers a wide range of topics and events and is a comprehensive list and link to news reports, training, technical tips and a host of other information. There is something in it  for all journalists

Digital journalists in all parts of the world will find the section on Digital Media News particularly useful and interesting.

If you work online then this is a service well worth getting on the list for as can be seen in the following extract from the current Mash Up. 

Digital Media News Affecting Journalists and Activists

The Data Journalism Handbook
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18YOaGj0LyRn6x1tcCH2wIWHYqwnMiDCGInbV…

BAMBUSER: How to Use Bambuser to Live-Stream your News Content
WECT reporter and anchor Michelle Li explains how her newsroom uses Bambuser to live-stream footage and engage with viewers. (Mobile Media Toolkit, 10/18)
http://www.mobilemediatoolkit.org/how-use-bambuser-live-stream-your-news…

Media, Youth Activism & Participatory Politics: Case Studies in a Digital Age
The growing use of digital media for social change is nourishing a dialogue about its impact on young people’s involvement in civic and political affairs. The Media Activism Participatory Politics (MAPP) project, an undertaking of the MacArthur Network on Youth and Participatory Politics (YPP), was created to further that conversation by examining youth-led organizations that encourage productive forms of participation in the public sphere. The undocumented youth movement serves as a key example of how young people are appropriating the affordances of digital media to empower themselves and their community. (DML Central, 11/4)
http://www.dmlcentral.net/blog/whitney-burke/media-youth-activism-partic…

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China Rolls Out New Journalism Restrictions

Nov 142011
 

China is imposing more restrictions on what sources journalists can use in the latest clamp down on press freedoms.

Recently new limits were placed on reporting rumours.

Quoting the New York Times, China Digital Media,  said that a statement posted on its Web site on Thursday, the General Administration of Press and Publication barred reporters from directly including unverified information from the Internet or mobile telephone messages in news articles.

The new rules also require journalists to produce at least two sources for any “critical” news reports and to personally conduct interviews when gathering information.

False reports must be followed by corrections and apologies, the statement said, and serious violations could lead to the suspension or even the revocation of a news outlet’s government-issued license.

[...] The immediate impact of the new rules was not clear, but their effect may be felt most at local or regional news outlets where journalists may be less experienced and government supervision can be less precise.

Chinese Protest Leader From The 1980s Brings His Experience To Occupy Wall Street

Nov 142011
 

The China Digital Times has found an interesting participant in the Occupy Wall Street movement – he is a former Chinese student leader and veteran of the 1989 protest movement in Beijing.

was a student leader of the 1989 protest movement who left to study in the U.S. shortly after the June 4, 1989​ military crackdown in Beijing. He now lives in New York where he runs a software firm. As the Occupy Wall Street protests began in Manhattan, he has found himself offering advise to protesters from his own experience more than 20 years ago in China. From the Wall Street Journal:

“I was curious about the movement,” he said. “Pretty soon, I realized it was not going away. But no good deed goes unpunished.”

Mr. Shen soon found himself working a full day for , seven days a week.

[...] But his business background makes him an unlikely leader for an anticorporate movement. And Occupy Wall Street is a far cry from Mr. Shen’s work in China, where the government sought to suppress the student movement, sometimes with violence. New York’s protesters camp in the open air and march freely through Manhattan.

“Last time we wanted a different China, we got shot at,” said Mr. Shen. “America can still afford to do this nicely.”

The Consequences Of Criticising The Chinese Government – Ai Weiwei Talks About Life In Jail

Nov 142011
 

High profile Chinese Dissident, Ai Weiwei has described his conditions in prison after he was jailed on vague charges following public criticism of the Chinese Government.

Ai describes in an intereview how he was kept in isolation with not even the guards speaking to him, he was denied any reading material and subjected to prolonged interogation.

Speaking to Newsweek, Ai, said he would have prefered beatings to isolation because at least that involved human contact.

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