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Offline/Online Sources
Offline/Online is a series of Onlinecensorship.org data visuals exploring how content moderation practices by social media companies impact marginalized communi...
Of course we should be able to use social networks to protest against puritanical views about women’s bodies. And we need to defy the idea that the only acceptable images of women are those selected to suit the male gaze, or that men (or tech firms!) can be the ones to decide whether our nipples are sexual or not.
Leigh Alexander
Onlinecensorship.org Launches Resource Kit for Journalists
This resource answers frequently asked questions and provides background information on various issue areas, including fake news, hate speech, and censorship of...
27 April 2017: The Weekly Takedown
Thailand and Vietnam go after Facebook, Instagram goes after museums, and Twitter refuses to go after Trump...and more in this week's Takedown.
15 March 2017: The Weekly Takedown
In this week's update, we look at the censorship of sexuality across social media platforms.
“Having not received a report we aren't sure which Facebook community standard we violated, though I presume the fact we are swearing, wearing latex gloves and suggestively fondling fruit may have something to do with it. I'm not here to say we didn't break any rules; indeed, I don't know if we did because I didn't get an explanation. The thing is, the rules are unreasonable, and inconsistently policed.”
Maeve Marsden
The Weekly Takedown: 18 January 2017
Censorship in Thailand, a lawsuit against Microsoft, and more in this week's Takedown.
30 November 2016: The Weekly Takedown
In this week's roundup, nudity and body image on Instagram, the "fake news" controversy, and why Facebook might be building a tool to censor in China.
Onlinecensorship.org launches second report, "Censorship in Context" (PDF)
Censorship in Context: Insights from Crowdsourced Data on Social Media Censorship
News, Interest and Intrigue: Parsing Facebook’s Latest Content Moderation Policy Announcement
Facebook's latest announcement promises greater consideration of context in content moderation. Onlinecensorship.org's Matthew Stender takes a look at the news.
14 September 2016: The Weekly Takedown
Nudity on Facebook and Instagram feature heavily in this week's takedown.
4 August 2016: The Weekly Takedown
In this week's update, we look at how Instagram is dealing with harassment on its platform, two political crises for Facebook and Twitter's future use of corpor...
The morality of social networks: how Facebook censors Trump and female sexuality equally (Spanish only)
Facebook luce así de “limpio” por la siguiente razón: cualquier contenido que no se ajuste a sus términos y condiciones de uso es removido.
15 June 2016: The Weekly Takedown
In this week's edition: Companies grapple with hate speech, and AI gets its day in the limelight.
Facebook Removed a Stanford Rapist Meme and Users Are Pissed
Several Facebook users have taken to the platform to complain that their posts about convicted rapist Brock Turner—whose treatment and sentencing has drawn wide...
8 June 2016: The Weekly Takedown
In this week's edition: Bias against bodies, Israel seeks social media control, a Philippine journalist censored, and more.
17 May 2016: The Weekly Takedown
Formerly known as "Last Week in Online Censorship," The Weekly Takedown shares stories of social media censorship from around the world.
Does social media have a censorship problem?
Index on Censorship spoke with team members Jillian C. York and Matthew Stender.
The Secret Rules of the Internet
The murky history of moderation, and how it’s shaping the future of free speech
Facebook Is Struggling To Control Groups Of Men Sharing Revenge Porn
Two private groups for residents of Melbourne, Australia, are involved in a bitter online war involving racist comments, drugs, and “revenge” porn that Facebook...
Onlinecensorship.org launches first report (PDF)
Unfriending Censorship: Insights from four months of crowdsourced data on social media censorship
March 30, 2016: LGBT groups rejected from Facebook
In this week's roundup: LGBTQ groups take issue with Facebook policies and
Facebook’s censorship of Aboriginal bodies raises troubling ideas of ‘decency’
Facebook happily hosts Kim Kardashian’s cleavage, but suspended users posting images of topless Aboriginal women for ‘violating community standards’.
March 23, 2016: Politics and patriarchy
In this week's roundup: A Turkish news site, topless women, childbirth imagery, an Indian political cartoon and more censored by Facebook.
March 15, 2016: Elective censorship
In this week's roundup: Instagram and Facebook censor mockery of Donald Trump and a German breast cancer campaign encourages breaking Facebook's nudity ban.
Why did Facebook censor this sexual health video we made?
I didn't want to write an article about censorship. I wanted to write an article about how a group of feminist cabaret singers of diverse sizes and sexualities ...
March 9, 2016: More transparency needed
In this week's roundup: The ACLU calls for more transparency, and Facebook censors a sexual health video.
February 23, 2016: A diverse mix of entities all experience Facebook censorship
In this week's roundup: A satirical magazine, marijuana dispensaries, and a Tunisian photographer all face Facebook censorship.
February 16, 2016: Facebook must face up to French censorship
Each week, we will share a roundup of notable news articles related to censorship on social networks.
February 9, 2016: Facebook thinks ice cream cones are too sexy
Each week, we will share a roundup of notable news articles related to censorship on social networks.
The big myth Facebook needs everyone to believe
Facebook says its community standards are inert, universal, agnostic to place and time.
Why artist Shelby Sells can’t stop getting censored
Shelby Sells is an artist whose "glitterotica" images—vintage porn digitally superimposed with sparkles—are regularly censored from social media.
Facebook Censors a Bushwick Gallery Over Artist’s Toilet-Squatting Stunt
Gallery owner Christopher Stout found his Facebook account frozen after posting an image of performance artist Lisa Levy sitting nude on a toilet.
Censorship in the social media age
Social media platforms dominate today’s information ecosystem.
Facebook's guide to being a lady
A growing number of people are pushing back on double standards in the community guidelines and terms of service for many online platforms.
Instagram bans photos for showing menstruation
In taking down Kaur’s photos, Instagram promotes a long tradition of shaming people who menstruate, as though their bodies are naturally dirty.