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Twitter says it won't block activists, journalists and politicians in India
Twitter has said in a blog post that it won’t block the accounts of politicians, journalists and activists in India, despite being ordered to do so by the Modi government.
India's government threatens to jail Twitter employees unless they block critics
India’s government has warned Twitter that it must obey its orders to remove “inflammatory content” or employees will face potential jail time.
Chrome will clamp down on sites with annoying video ads
As part of its ongoing efforts to block annoying video ads, Chrome has announced a new set of video advertising standards. The guidelines are based on data from the Coalition of Better Ads, which says there are three types of video advertising that people hate most. Chrome is taking a strong stance against these ad types, and it says website owners have four months to stop running the intrusive ads, or they will risk losing advertising completely.
Canadian court issues first ever ISP order to block a piracy website
A Canadian Federal court has ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to block a pirate IPTV service called GoldTV in a case that could lead to further internet censorship in Canada, according to Reclaim the Net. Canada's major ISPs, including Rogers, Bell and Videotron, have been pushing for such a ruling for some years. Now, a nationwide blocking order has been granted, reportedly for the first time, and critics fear it could lead to further censorship of legitimate content.
YouTube warns its copyright changes could result in more takedowns
YouTube will no longer allow copyright holders to seize a creator's revenue over very brief or unintentional music clips that appears in videos, it said in a blog post. That means that if a five-second clip or the radio from a passing car appears in a video, labels won't be able to make a "manual claim" and seize all the revenue. However, they'll still be allowed to completely strike or demonetize videos with short clips, which "may result in more blocked content in the near-term," YouTube admitted.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sued by people she blocked on Twitter
Two critics of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who were blocked by the lawmaker on Twitter are now suing her. New York congressional candidate Joseph Saladino and former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hinkind on Tuesday filed separate lawsuits against Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, in reaction to this week's federal court ruling barring President Donald Trump from blocking his own critics on the platform. Both men announced their lawsuits (both filed in federal courts in New York) on Twitter, with Saladino including a video of him filling out the claim.
Tidal follows Spotify's lead by adding a block button
Tidal is following in Spotify's footsteps by allowing you to block music you don't want to hear from popping up in personalized My Mix playlists, as well as the radio stations the service creates for you based on an artist or track. From today, when you're listening to My Mix or artist or track radio, and a song you just can't abide starts, you can remove it permanently by tapping a block button on the playing page.
Spotify's mobile app lets you block artists you can't stand
Spotify has introduced a new feature that will let users block music from artists they no longer want to hear. A "Don't play this artist" feature appeared in the latest version of the Spotify app for iOS and Android, as first spotted by Thurrot. The company hasn't made any mention of it and no details are included in the most recent update notes. Engadget reached out to Spotify for more details and will update this post if we hear back.
Utah ISP's internet filtering ad knocks customers offline
Internet providers are no stranger to targeting and inserting ads, but CenturyLink is being a little more... direct. Utah-based customers have discovered that CenturyLink is blocking their internet connections until they acknowledge an ad for the ISP's parental control software. That's annoying by itself, but it's doubly so when users need to fire up a web browser to even know the ad is there. Customer Rich Snapp, for instance, had his Fire TV stream interrupted and didn't realize the ad was present until he started troubleshooting.
Spotify users still can't block followers, but that could change
Spotify isn't as much of a haven from harassment as many might like. Since the service shares your plays with followers by default, it's possible for harassers to keep up with your listening habits and exploit that to their advantage (say, by finding out when you're in a sad mood). The company has remained quiet on the prospect of a blocking feature in response to this, but it now appears to be more receptive to the idea. BuzzFeed News has discovered that Spotify recently labeled a years-old request for a user blocking feature as a "good idea." It's not on the company's "current" roadmap, according to the notice, but that's a distinct improvement from the approach so far.
Federal judge rules that Trump can't block Twitter users
Ever since Donald Trump took office, there's been controversy around his Twitter addiction. Chief among the issues with president's use of Twitter is how he frequently blocks his critics. As an elected official, many have argued that his account represents official communication that should be free for anyone to see, and there have already been several lawsuits around his habit of blocking users. As of today, it looks like there's some legal weight behind that argument: a Federal judge just ruled that Trump should not be allowed to block users because it is a first amendment violation.
Judge suggests Trump should mute followers instead of block them
Last year, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University sued Donald Trump, then White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and White House Director of Social Media Daniel Scavino claiming that the president's blocking of individuals on Twitter is a violation of their First Amendment rights. The group argues that Trump's account constitutes a public forum and therefore, blocking US citizens from accessing it is unconstitutional.
Amazon allows Echo call-blocking a month after it should have
Last month, Amazon introduced Alexa calling and messaging, features tailor-made for the Echo and its all-hearing microphone, letting you do busywork while chatting with friends. However, it neglected to add call-blocking for specific contacts, making it equally convenient for unwanted callers to invade your space. Luckily, the company has finally righted that wrong by introducing call-blocking with the latest version of its iOS app.
Porn sites blocked California users today to protest proposed law
Several porn websites have a new tactic to alert their electorate living in California: Blocking them. On the ballot next month is proposition 60, which would require adult performers to use condoms for all videos made in the state. If they don't, the law would allow any citizen in the state to sue producers and distributors of prophylactic-lacking porn. In protest, popular sites Vivid, Evil Angel and Kink, among others, have pop-ups urging visitors with California IP addresses to vote 'no' on the proposition come election day. If it passes, some are considering blocking those users entirely to protect themselves from litigation.
Vodafone now blocks unwanted calls before they reach you
Nuisance callers are having a tough time of it already this year, with Ofcom banning them from withholding numbers and helping to create a simple, text registration option for the UK's leave-me-alone database. But Vodafone's decided to go even further, today announcing that it has begun blocking unwanted calls at the network level, so they don't even reach your phone in the first place.
Reddit's blocking tool now hides unwanted comments and posts
In a big step towards making Reddit a more welcoming community for everyone, and not just its hardcore users, the site just debuted an upgraded blocking tool. Previously, you could block Reddit users from sending you unwanted private messages, but now the feature also hides hide posts and comments from those Redditors as well. It's similar to Twitter's mute function -- you never have to see activity from a harassing user on the site, and they're also unaware that you blocked them (which could encourage them to continue harassing you).
Chrome will block obnoxious Flash ads starting September 1st
Back in June, Google shared the good news that the Chrome browser would soon be smart enough to "intelligently pause content that aren't central to the webpage" that you're visiting. It's a welcome change that should help to continue marginalizing the annoyance of Flash. Fortunately, that blessed new feature is ready for prime time. On the Google+ page for the company's AdWords advertising program, Google said that a Chrome update coming on September 1st would make Flash-blocking the default state for users.
UK ISPs ordered to block e-book piracy sites
In a major victory for book publishers, the UK's High Court has ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to block several sites offering pirated e-books. The decision means that BT, Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk and EE now have 10 days to comply and ensure their customers can't access the following link depositories: AvaxHome, Ebookee, Freebookspot, Freshwap, Libgen, Bookfi and Bookre. The Publishers Association (PA), which sought the blocks under the UK's Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988, claims the sites collectively hold around 10 million e-books, and that at least 80 percent of them are infringing copyright. It's been described as the "first action of its kind brought by UK book publishers," following similar ISP blocks levied against sites hosting music, movies and TV shows.
Germany rules that using ad-blocking software is legal
The ability to silence the constant braying of advertising is great, unless you're a publisher who relies upon the cash that it generates to keep running. This tension between media outlets and ad-blocking agencies has finally spilled over into a courtroom punch-up after some German newspapers took AdBlock Plus to court. The outlets, which include Die Zeit and Handelsblatt, claim that the browser plugin was an anti-competitive product that threatened their businesses. Judges in Hamburg, however, ruled in favor of the company, saying that software that saves you from watching that awful Kate Upton advert for the thousandth damn time this week is perfectly legal.
'Minecraft' might get banned in Turkey for being too violent
In a move of absolute ridiculousness, Turkey wants to ban Minecraft because its Family and Social Policies Ministry's deemed it too violent for kids. Yes, a game where you build fortresses and punch trees is getting called out for its content, because in Survival Mode, you have to defend yourself from the zombie-like Mobs and that sometimes means killing them. As the region's Hurriyet Daily News reports, the Ministry also says that some kids could confuse Minecraft's blocky, pixelated landscapes for the real world which would make them think that torturing animals was totally fine. Sure; okay. The reason for the outfit casting its gaze at Microsoft's $2.5 billion purchase in the first place? To see if the game encouraged violence against women. At least its heart was in the right place at the outset.
