The Free Internet Project

July 2015

Google refuses to comply with France CNIL's order to extend removal for RTBF to all Google sites globally

Peter Fleischer, Google's Global Privacy Counselor, wrote on the Google Policy Blog its reason for refusing to comply with France's data protection authority's (CNIL order to extend the removal of links for successful right to be forgotten requests to all of Google, and not just the European sites.

Russia enacts right to be forgotten law

Russian Premier Vladimir Putin signed a new "right to be forgotten" law, which becomes effective Jan. 1, 2016 in Russia. People in Russia have a right to request search engines to remove links to stories generated by a search of their names if the information (1) violates Russian law, (2) is false, or (3) “become outdated due to later events or actions of the individual.”  Excluded from such requests are criminal activity for which the statute of limitations has not expired and convictions for which the punishment has been completed or removed. Unlike the EU right to be forgotten, the Russian law sets forth a time frame of 10 days for search engines to respond to a person's RTBF request.  If the search engines fails to respond within 10 days, the person can seek a court order.  [More from Global Voices and the Runet]

India's Department of Telecommunications issues report in favor of net neutrality

This week, India's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued its report in favor of net neutrality. [Download]  One of the more controversial aspects of the report involves over the top services (OTT), such as VoIP apps Skype and WhatsApp that enable people to make calls over the Internet.  The panel recommended taking a bifurcated approach to OTT services: regulating apps that enable local and national calls in India (in competition with and cheaper than local carriers), but not regulating apps with respect to international calls and messaging.   

India's government will decide the final policy after receiving comments from the telecom industry. 

China's Proposed Cybersecurity Law to Strengthen Censorship Online

China released a draft of "People's Republic of China Cybersecurity Law."  The law sets forth new rules regarding monitoring and censorship of content. Under Article 40, if network operators find "information that the law or administrative regulations prohibits the publication or transmission of, they shall immediately stop transmission of that information, employ treatment measures such as deleting it, prevent the information from spreading, save relevant records."  Article 43 requires government agencies to monitor online content and to "request the network operators stop transmission, employ disposition measures such as deletion" if they find prohibited content. If passed, the Cybersecurity Law will solidify China's already pervasive censorship apparatus.  

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