Latest News: Rights and Freedoms

President Donald Trump has signed the “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship” executive order on January 20, 2025. This directive aims to curtail federal government involvement in content moderation and promote transparency regarding past censorship practices. The order takes

TikTok, one of the most downloaded apps across the globe, was reinstated in the US following a 14-hour blackout. The app was taken down late on January 18 in compliance with a Supreme Court ruling requiring TikTok to separate from its Chinese parent, ByteDance or be banned in the country. As TikTok

A new law requiring children and teenagers to have parental consent to use social media platforms officially went into effect on January 1st in Tennessee. The legislation, HB1891, passed during the last legislative session, aims to empower parents and protect minors from harmful online

India’s government, on account of its stringent data regulations, has ordered the removal of more than half a dozen VPN apps from Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. Cloudflare’s widely used 1.1.1.1 app, along with Hide.me and PrivadoVPN, are among the affected services. The Indian Ministry

Vietnam has enacted a new internet law (Decree No. 147/2024/ND-CP) that tightens restrictions on online content. Effective 25th December 2024, the legislation mandates swift content removal by tech companies and expands government oversight of digital platforms. The new law, passed earlier in

Russia’s internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, has blocked the Viber messaging app, citing violations of national legislation while accusing the platform of facilitating terrorism, extremism, and drug trafficking. Viber, a platform owned by Japanese company Rakuten, has over 17 million daily users

The Chinese government is allegedly censoring news regarding a car ramming incident in Zhuhai, southern China, which claimed the lives of 35 people and injured 43 others on November 12, 2024. The deliberate attack occurred outside a sports center, where crowds had gathered for exercise. Local

Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net 2024 report exposed a continued global decline in internet freedom for the 14th consecutive year. It found that a significant number of governments across 72 analyzed countries employed censorship and violent retaliation for online speech, particularly during

Brazil's Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the ban on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. The ruling, which has sparked global attention, centers on X’s failure to comply with Brazil's legal requirements, including the appointment of a local representative to address

Turkey lifted a nine-day nationwide ban on Instagram after Meta, the platform’s parent company, agreed to address government concerns over content moderation and policy violations. Turkey's Information and Communication Technologies Authority initially blocked Instagram without an official