April 2018 WILMap Updates

A court in Moscow has approved a request from the Russian media regulator to block the Telegram messaging app immediately. The media regulator sought to block the app because the

"Russia has started blocking some Google ( GOOGL ) services, accusing the search company of helping Telegram bypass a ban on its encrypted messaging service. Roskomnadzor, Russia's telecommunication regulator, said

On March 1, 2018, the European Commission issued the Recommendation on measures to effectively tackle illegal content online , which provides guidelines on how internet platforms should handle illegal content,

On March 21, 2018, the US Senate passed the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) , a revised version of the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers

On March 6, 2018, the South African National Assembly passed the Films and Publications Amendment Bill , which intends to protect children from exposure to disturbing and harmful content online,

On March 8, 2018, it was reported that the new German government was looking to revise NetzDG, the law passed in June 2017 and enforced since October 1, 2017, which

On March 12, 2018, the European Commission's independent High Level Expert Group on Fake News and Online Disinformation released its final report . Read more at I&J Retrospect .

On March 8, 2018, the government of Sri Lanka ordered ISPs to temporarily block access to Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram "because they were spreading hate speeches and amplifying them" as

On March 6, 2018, the Indonesian government blocked access to Tumblr, after it sent a letter on February 28 requiring that the blogging platform remove pornographic content within 48 hours.

On March 7, 2018, the Council of Europe adopted a Recommendation on the roles and responsibilities of internet intermediaries , calling on states to ensure respect of human rights and

On March 26, 2018, the government of Malaysia proposed a new law that would criminalize the spreading of misinformation ahead of the country’s elections in August 2018, understood as "any

On March 31, 2018, a ban on non-state sanctioned virtual private networks (VPNs) entered into force in China. Read more at I&J Retrospect .

On March 21, 2018, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said that “French law should be amended to strengthen the obligations of detection, reporting and deletion of illegal content on the

On March 6, 2018, Wikimedia released its eighth transparency report , which highlighted that it received 343 requests to "alter or remove project content", of which none were granted. Read

On March 28, 2018, an amendment to Turkey's radio and television legislation entered into force, enabling the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) to monitor radio, television and on-demand broadcast

On March 14, 2018, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced that the platform would begin featuring excerpts of Wikipedia articles under YouTube videos on "significantly debated" topics. Read more at I&J

President Trump signed a bill Wednesday that gives federal and state prosecutors greater power to pursue websites that host sex-trafficking ads and enables victims and state attorneys general to file

Federal authorities have taken down Backpage.com , a major classified advertising website that has been repeatedly accused of enabling prostitution and sex trafficking of minors. Read more at The New

China’s Sina Weibo will remove gay and violent content, including pictures, cartoons and text posts, during a three-month clean-up campaign, the microblogging platform said. Read more at Reuters .

A businessman has won his legal action to remove search results about a criminal conviction in a landmark “right to be forgotten” case that could have wide-ranging repercussions. Read more

A Russian court on Friday ordered that access to the Telegram messenger service be blocked in Russia, heralding possible communication disruption for millions of users in the latest clash between

See Eric Goldman’s Technology and Marketing Blog .

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), which oversees the administration and enforcement of data privacy law, is mulling over policy reforms to offer Canadians more regulatory tools