The Past, Present, and Future of Freedom of Speech and Expression in the People’s Republic of China

The international community has been criticizing China for its human rights violations for years. However, one human rights violation has received less attention than some other rights issues both inside and outside of China: censorship and restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. This scantiness of attention is largely attributed to the fact that acquiring reliable information about censorship and freedom of expression in China is challenging

Methods and resources to monitor internet censorship

PURPOSE : The purpose of this paper is to raise awareness of the importance for library and information services (LIS) to take the responsibility to find a manageable way to regularly monitor internet censorship in their countries, and to suggest a framework for such monitoring and to encourage manageable on-going small scale research projects. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : The paper follows on contract research for the IFLA Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression on country specific trends in internet censorship. Based on an extensive literature survey (not fully reflected here) and data mining, a framework is suggested for regular monitoring of country specific negative and positive trends in internet censorship. The framework addresses search strategies and information resources; setting up alerting services; noting resources for data mining; a detailed break-down and systematic monitoring of negative and positive trends; the need for reflection on implications, assessment of need(s) for concern (or not) and generation of suggestions for actions; sharing findings with the LIS community and wider society; and raising sensitivity for internet censorship as well as advocacy and lobbying against internet censorship. Apart from monitoring internet censorship, the framework is intended to encourage manageable on-going small scale research. FINDINGS : A framework of internet censorship monitoring can support the regular, systematic and comprehensive monitoring of known as well as emerging negative and positive trends in a country, and can promote timely expressions of concerns and appropriate actions by LIS. It can support sensitivity to the dangers of internet censorship and raise LIS’ levels of self-efficacy in dealing with internet censorship and doing manageable, small scale research in this regard. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : Although a number of publications have appeared on internet censorship these do not offer a framework for monitoring internet censorship and encouraging manageable on-going small scale research in this regard.http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htmhttp://www.emeraldinsight.com/loi/lhthj201

Trends in transition from classical censorship to Internet censorship : selected country overviews

Censorship is no longer limited to printed media and videos. Its impact is felt much more strongly with Internet related resources of information and communication such as access to websites, email and social networking tools which is further enhanced by ubiquitous access through mobile phones and tablets. Some countries are marked by severe restrictions and enforcement, a variety of initiatives in enforcing censorship (pervasive as well as implied), and initiatives to counter censorship. This article reflects on trends in Internet censorship in selected countries, namely Australia, Chile, China, Finland, Libya, Myanmar, Singapore, Turkey, and the United Kingdom (UK). Negative and positive trends are noted. Negative trends include those involving issues of Internet related privacy; ubiquitous society and control; trends in Internet related media being censored; trends in filtering and blocking Internet content and blocking software; trends in technologies to monitor and identify citizens using the Internet to express their opinion and applying 'freedom of speech'; criminalization of legitimate expression on the Internet; trends in acts, regulations and legislation regarding the use of the Internet and trends in government models regarding Internet censorship; trends in new forms of Internet censorship; trends in support of Internet censorship; trends in enforcing regulations and Internet censorship; trends in Internet related communication surveillance. Positive trends include trends in reactions to Internet censorship; attempts and means to side-step Internet censorship; trends in cyber actions against Internet censorship; trends in innovative ways of showing opposition to Internet censorship.http://www.innovation.ukzn.ac.za/innovationbase.htmam201

Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction towards E-shopping in Malaysia

Online shopping or e-shopping has changed the world of business and quite a few people have decided to work with these features. What their primary concerns precisely and the responses from the globalisation are the competency of incorporation while doing their businesses. E-shopping has also increased substantially in Malaysia in recent years. The rapid increase in the e-commerce industry in Malaysia has created the demand to emphasize on how to increase customer satisfaction while operating in the e-retailing environment. It is very important that customers are satisfied with the website, or else, they would not return. Therefore, a crucial fact to look into is that companies must ensure that their customers are satisfied with their purchases that are really essential from the ecommerce’s point of view. With is in mind, this study aimed at investigating customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among students randomly selected from various public and private universities located within Klang valley area. Total 369 questionnaires were returned, out of which 341 questionnaires were found usable for further analysis. Finally, SEM was employed to test the hypotheses. This study found that customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia is to a great extent influenced by ease of use, trust, design of the website, online security and e-service quality. Finally, recommendations and future study direction is provided. Keywords: E-shopping, Customer satisfaction, Trust, Online security, E-service quality, Malaysia