#internet-freedom

#internet-freedom

Osama Khalid was just twelve years old when he began contributing to Wikipedia Arabic. In the height of the blogging era, he became a prolific blogger, publishing writings on his home country of Saudi Arabia, meetups he attended, and his opinions and observations about open source technology and freedom of expression. He advocated for internet freedom, contributed time and translations to various projects-including EFF's HTTPS Everywhere -and was a thoughtful presence at the conferences he attended around the world...all while training to become a pediatrician.

Telegram's CEO says he will not be fazed by Russian attempts to limit access to the popular messaging app used by newsmakers of all kinds, including the Kremlin, courts and the exiled opposition. Russia tried and failed to block Telegram in 2018Image: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/picture alliance Telegram's Russian-born founder Pavel Durov said late Tuesday he was not going to bow to pressure from Russian authorities, writing the app "stands for freedom and privacy, no matter the pressure."

There is a lot of bad on the internet and it seems to only be getting worse. But one of the things the internet did well, and is worth preserving, is nontraditional paths for creativity, journalism, and criticism. As governments and major corporations throw up more barriers to expressionand more and more gatekeepers try to control the internetit's important to learn how to crash through those gates.

On July 25, Russia's upper house approved a new censorship law that introduces fines for anyone caught searching for or accessing content officially labeled as "extremist." This law also imposes penalties for promoting VPN services, tools many Russians rely on to bypass censorship.