The Great Firewall of China (GFC) represents one of the most sophisticated censoring infrastructures in the world. While several aspects of the GFC including HTTP keyword filtering and DNS tampering have been studied thoroughly in the past, recent work has shown that the GFC goes to great lengths to prevent its citizens from using the Tor anonymity network. By employing the so-called follow-up scanning technique, Tor bridge relays are blocked dynamically. In this thesis, we survey previous work in the area of the GFC ranging from HTTP keyword filtering and DNS tampering, to the Tor follow-up scanning. Furthermore, additional experiments are carried out to gain a better understanding of how the follow-up scanning is implemented as well as where the filtering occurs for different protocols.

Research into the citizen political participation via social media is dominated by two grand narratives. In the first, new media are seen as empowering society, while the second portrays the Internet as the State’s ultimate tool for manipulating citizens. This research employed content analysis, critical discourse analysis and interview to compare and contrast the nature of political participation and deliberation on Weibo in [Hong Kong and mainland] and by [VIPs and causal users] on 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive Election, and how the online censorship shaped their political participation and deliberation regarding this case. Mixed methods used with theoretical framework (e.g. democracy, digital democracy, deliberative democracy, e-participation and citizenship) in this research has demonstrated the role of Weibo both ‘tool’ ‘forum’ and ‘object’ to understand deliberative democracy while citizens used for political participation and deliberation. Dynamic forms of self-censorship demonstrated how the online censorship shaped the citizens’ political participation and deliberation through dynamic explicit or implicit ways on Weibo in this case.

{This Diploma thesis deals with Internet censorship. Various technical solutions for Internet censorship are presented together with censorship analysis options. Several possibilities for blocked content access and censorship circumvention in general are discussed. The topic is analyzed from the global point of view and is related to the People's Republic of China.

This thesis deals with the problem of internet censorship in China. It describes forms and methods of internet censorship in China. It also presents means to detect, verify and bypass censorship using various tools, applications and internet services. The thesis contains results of performed tests designed to check and verify censored web pages and keywords from various locations in China. Conclusions about censorship in China are drawn based on these tests.

Regular online outrage about changed content in regional editions of video games has brought our attention to the concepts of censorship and localization. Game Rating Systems have their fair share of critics among those debating the details of localized content and prove to be in a peculiar position between developers and the end-user. The current state of the industry shows that alterations are made to regional versions of a game, especially with regards to sensitive topics such as violence, nudity, and sexualization. A survey to gauge end-users’ perception on these topics has been spread amongst residents of Japan and Western regions. Japanese respondents show to be more accepting of legislation surrounding video games whereas Western respondents tend to display a severe dislike for any sort of legislation, and often see not only censorship, but also localization in a negative context. Censorship, self-censorship, and localization are complicated and nuanced topics that turn out to be complexly intertwined with the practice of game production.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the results of research of the United States Office of Censorship from the birth of that office in 1941 to its timely death in 1945. Jim Heath, in his article, “Domestic America during World War II: Research Opportunities for Historians,” provided the impetus for the research that has resulted in this paper. Professor Heath states that most histories of World War II have relegated the American domestic scene to a secondary place in the process of reporting on the more exciting diplomatic and military aspects of the period. He suggests that historians analyze the various published histories of the many short-lived bureaucratic offices necessitated by the contingencies of World War II. One of these offices was the U.S. Office of Censorship.

High levels of harassment and threats against journalists have been observed globally. This thesis examines the lived experience of harassment and threats against journalists in Sweden through the lens of New Censorship Theory and Mob Censorship. The topic is explored through a series of qualitative interviews to better understand the effects on the journalists themselves and how they perceive their own situation. While censorship traditionally has been understood as a top-down phenomenon somewhat exclusive to authoritarian or quasi- authoritarian states, New Censorship Theory and Mob Censorship offer an opportunity to reexamine the consequences of how digital communication brings hatred to journalists in real time and how this in turn affects the journalists in their daily work. The results in this thesis suggest that harassment and threats against journalists come from several different groups with slightly different agendas The fact that all groups resort to intimidation indicates that there has been a shift in how journalism is perceived. The groups that attack journalists are also unevenly divided between local and national news outlets, resulting in different experiences depending on where a journalist is employed. The emerging situation might also force journalists who are deeply affected by harassment and threats to leave their careers all together, leaving only journalists with thicker skin. Finally, this thesis contributes towards a more complex understanding of the mechanics behind New Censorship Theory and Mob Censorship in liberal democracies.

This Master thesis deals with the subject of state censorship of the Internet. The objective of the thesis is to map the techniques of state censorship of the Internet and the methods of circumvention. In the first part, the author introduces organisations and projects that investigate state Internet censorship in the world. Subsequently, the author depicts inspection methods of communication and the Internet filtering techniques. The following part focuses on the principles of circumventing Internet censorship. It also describes various techniques of the circumvention of the censorship. Another objective of the thesis is to test the practical methods of circumventing Internet censorship. As a destination for the measurement the author has chosen PRC where he scrutinised the state of Internet censorship and tested the success rate of circumvention methods. The presented outputs serve as an overview of the techniques of the state censorship of the Internet and the methods of its circumvention, and can be used as a foundation for further work.

The central role of media in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has led to restrictive precautions from the government. Restrictive legislation due to the genocide has for long limited media freedoms and been target for domestic and international critique. In light of the new media reform adopted in 2013 this essay seek to examine the experienced impact of the reform on the journalistic role as watchdog, setting the agenda, nation builder, agent of empowerment and government partner. The empirical material is based on qualitative interviews performed in Rwanda with journalists, bloggers, reform implementers and international collaborators. The analysis constitutes a discussion regarding to what extent the new reform seems to reinforce these roles. Here I will use my theoretical framework, namely Development Journalism, and the answers from the respondents in order to understand and examine this particular problem. The final part of the essay deals with my specific case, which is Rwanda’s media landscape after the newly adopted media reform. Here I will analyze the experienced change introduced by the new media reform. My essay finds that an official narrative, which is enforced by the Rwandan constitution, restricts the impact of the reform on the role of media

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