There is a good reason I have a link to the blog called “The Third World View“. The author of that blog (Rezwan) is one of the hardest working bloggers I know. When it comes to issues about Bangladesh the guy never seems to sleep. And, when it comes to his investigative journalism, he often puts the mainstream media to shame. In fact, his recent investigation has lifted a weight off my chest.
About a week ago, I broke the story that Bangladesh was blocking access to Google and its related web services (like GMail, Blogspot, Blogger, and so on). This ended up becoming the most linked to story I have ever written in my life. But many local Bangladeshis decided to take a “if it’s not true for me – it must be false” approach and contradicted my report both on this site and elsewhere. When access to Google was restored a day or so later – I apologized for being so alarmist and wrote the whole problem off as a technical glitch.
While I was busy apologizing, Rezwan was busy fact-checking my story. First, he was able to get independent confirmation of Google being blocked from other Bangladeshi internet users during the same time. Second, he was also able to verify that this problem existed on even more ISPs than I had originally reported. Finally, he was also able to get independent confirmation that access to some Google services were restored with tools like OpenDNS (which bypass Bangladesh DNS servers) and TOR (which bypasses censorship and filtering).
But what really shows off Rezwan’s investigative acumen is his analysis of why there were conflicting reports about Google being blocked in Bangladesh and why this might in fact have been intentional censorship instead of a technical glitch.
A summary of his analysis after the jump….. Continue reading ‘Google Blocked? An Update.’
[This post has been updated - see below after the jump] Bangladesh seems to be apparently blocking access to Google and its related web properties. I noticed this on my own connection about 48 to 72 hours ago. Since then I have been able to get independent confirmation from those using different internet connections. This problem seems to affect Bangladeshis trying to access Google’s services via EDGE, GPRS, and landline based internet connections in both Dhaka and other locations in the country.
More details after the jump along with a way to bypass this blocking. Continue reading ‘BREAKING: Bangladesh Censoring/Blocking Access to Google’
Fear, uncertainty, and doubt are key elements to any successful military curfew. The goal is to not to intimidate the population with what they know you are doing, but rather make worry about what they are not sure you are doing. With a military imposed media blackout, those tuning into BBC World news for foreign news find that when the story about Dhaka and the Bangladesh military curfew airs – the broadcast suddenly becomes filled with static. Coincidence or intentional? The BBC correspondent – filing his report via cellphone – cuts off in mid-report. Bad connection or was he cut off on purpose? If there is uncertainty and doubt – there is fear. And thus, there is control.
With my previous post, I had hoped that the military had yet to catch up to the internet age. Despite a media blackout and blocking of cellphone calls, I was still able to upload photos to flickr and use gmail and MSN messenger. Today, the internet has slowed to a crawl. The gateway connecting Bangladesh to the internet via transatlantic cables have been shut down. Even with V-Sat backup connections, websites like BBC World News and services such as Gmail, and MSN Messenger fail to load at all. Even Facebook, which has always been reliable, suddenly displays a message reading “Hey, your account is temporarily unavailable due to site maintenance”. Coincidence? Or intentional?
It’s times like this that the freedom enjoyed by Americans and other Western nations is put in perspective. Even with cameras on street corners, warrant-less wiretapping, or other Big Brother-esque infringements – Americans and much of the Western World have much to be grateful for.
