For instance, if you live in Iran, you are going to have access to only the slightest sliver of the web. Same goes for places like Bahrain, Vietnam and Tunisia. In many countries, there are battles being fought for the cause of internet freedom.

That’s the message of a short video infographic produced by Column Five Media for CBS’ What’s Trending.

They call it the “soft war,” based on what Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei said about the connection between protestors, internet users, and international media. The video draws on a report released in April by Freedom House called Freedom on the Net 2011. In that report, they ranked 37 countries across the world based on 3 different criteria – obstacles to access, limits and content and violation of rights. Iran was the worst, and Estonia, the U.S. and Germany scored the best.

Did you know that Cuba has a “dual internet structure” that basically provides one internet for government officials and tourists and another, filtered internet for its citizens? North Korea has the same deal, and only about 1000 people are said to have open internet access in the country.

Set to what almost sounds like a spy movie soundtrack, the video discusses Iran, Anonymous and Social Media use. Check it out below –

According to Frank Jordans, Bob Boorstin, Director of Corporate and Policy Communications at Google, said during a human rights meeting in Geneva, "This is a great accomplishment.  We are hopeful this will help people like yourselves in this room and activists all over the world take a small step down what is certainly a long road ahead."

What’s more, Boorstin indicated that Google isn’t going to just sit on the sidelines, wishing everyone well.  Boorstin reportedly "said the Web search company would now be able to offer some of its other products in those countries," including Google Earth, Google Talk, and Picasa.

This is an interesting turn of events, considering that China recently threatened to leave China over free speech issues.  If Google follows through on Boorstin’s remarks, the search giant’s sure to face fresh questions over whether it’s more interested in profits than human rights.

We’ll of course report on any further developments as they occur.

Moro is a Cuban American known for producing indie films like “Love and Suicide,” “Anne B. Real,” and the forthcoming “Lean Like a Cholo,” and is an avid supporter of recently introduced legislation allowing Americans to travel to Cuba again. It is because of Moro’s support of this cause and his Facebook group “End the US Trade Embargo on Cuba,” his wife says, that led to Facebook censoring Moro’s account.

Bobbi told WebProNews her husband’s account was deleted Monday evening after Luis sent out word about the proposed Cuban travel bill. She says the account was deleted without notice or explanation.

“All he was doing was posting about ‘The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act’ in Cuba-related groups, and to friends with the same interest,” she says. “ A very interesting fact,” she continued. “When I posted on my status ‘My husband’s account was deleted by Facebook’ it was erased 3 times from the main wall! I could not believe it.”

Bobbi says shortly after she also received a warning email stating Facebook’s systems indicated she’d been “misusing certain features.”

A press release the Moros issued online hints at Luis receiving repeated warnings. The sentence reads, “If he ever met his quota in adding friends in a day, Facebook would send a warning to stop, and he would.”

Barry Schnitt, speaking on behalf Facebook, noted that sentence in his response. “In the press release the user acknowledges receiving warnings from our automated system,” said Schnitt.

“That system is designed to keep spammers and and potential harassers from abusing Facebook.  It is triggered by a user sending too many messages or friending too many people who ignore their requests.  In this case, the user ignored at least one of the warnings when he was spamming people with messages and friend requests to promote his cause and was automatically disabled.  The suggestion that our automated system has been programmed with a certain political agenda is absurd.”

As for Bobbi’s warning? “If [Luis’s] wife was exhibiting the same behavior, I’m sure she was served a warning from our automated system.  Again, the assertion that any of this is politically motivated is ridiculous.”

Luis’s account has since been restored, and an email apology was sent saying the deletion was due to Facebook’s automated systems. Bobbi still isn’t so sure her husband wasn’t targeted though. She cited Facebook’s alleged history of censorship involving words and phrases like “anti-war,” “Gaza,” and “Palestine,” as well as the much publicized row with breastfeeding mothers.

“Innocent people have had their accounts deleted, they call it ‘Black Death’ or something like it to what it is like for them, that is what happened to us. No notice, or warning.” She also cited past problems with pro-embargo editors of Wikipedia.

When asked what stake Facebook would have in the Cuba embargo issue, Bobbi denied it was direct political action from Facebook itself, but was in response to bogus abuse/harassment complaints.

“I do believe all it takes is one pro-embargo person to say Luis was harassing and that’s it. So no, I don’t think Facebook is totally at fault here. But they have to have a better system than auto deletion of an account. Especially one that is being active in a social network. I do believe they take it upon themselves to decide what is okay and what is not okay by their own terms, which they are entitled to.”

But, she says, one her friends was scared to post anything in support for fear of losing her Facebook account. “That’s the problem. We should not live in fear of losing our voices.”

As to criticism this could be a kind of publicity stunt to promote the cause or their films, Bobbi said, “We are way past that,” she said, intimating that earlier in their career that might have been considered. “I wish I was smart enough to think of this one—i.e. get my account cancelled and then make a big deal about it. Funny.”

She didn’t hesitate drop their next film title, though, a joint production with Sir Ben Kingsley entitled “Whispers Like Thunder,” a true Native American story.

Spanish newspaper El Pais, which gives out the award annually, said Sanchez won it for her "shrewdness" in overcoming obstacles for freedom of expression in Cuba, her "vivacious" style and her enthusiasm to join the "global space of citizen journalism."

Yoani Sanchez
(Photo Credit: Generacion Y)

Her blog "Generacion Y" is the most popular in Cuba, it received 1.2 million visitors in February.

"This is great encouragement for Cuban bloggers who are still at an embryonic stage," she told Reuters by telephone from her home in Havana. "It recognizes that Cuban blogs can be a parallel source of information, reflection and opinions independent from Cuba’s official media," the 32-year-old philologist said.

Sanchez said she started her blog to "let out frustrations," and write about the Cuba that does not get covered by the government controlled media. Last month the Cuban government blocked access to blog inside Cuba. Sanchez remained defiant and found a way around the Communist censors.
 

The blog written by Yoani Sanchez is critical of the Cuban government but remains widely read receiving 1.2 million visitors in February. Readers in Cuba who try to access her blog receive an "error downloading" message.

"So the anonymous censors of our famished cyberspace have tried to shut me in a room, turn off the light and not let my friends in," Sanchez wrote in her blog on Monday.

Sanchez said she is unable to directly access her blog from Cuba to write new posts, but has found a way around Communist censors through another route.

The 32-year-old Sanchez, a philology graduate, has drawn a considerable readership by writing about her daily life in Cuba and talking about economic issues and the lack of political freedom.

Reporters Without Borders lists Cuba as 165 out of 169 countries on its Worldwide Press Freedom Index for 2007. The press is controlled by the Cuban government and there is no independent media, leading Sanchez and other bloggers in the country to go online to express themselves.

"This breath of fresh air has disheveled the hair of bureaucrats and censors," Sanchez told Reuters. "Anyone with a bit of computer skills knows how to get around them." The state telecom monopoly ETECSA is Cuba’s only Internet service provider.

"They are admitting that no alternative way of thinking can exist in Cuba, but people will continue reading us somehow," she said. "There is no censorship that can stop people who are determined to access the Internet."