Free expression in the news - Index on Censorship

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Free expression in the news

#DONTSPYONME Tell Europe’s leaders to stop mass surveillance #dontspyonme Index on Censorship launches a petition calling on European Union Heads of Government to stop the US, UK and other governments from carrying out mass surveillance. We want to use public pressure to ensure Europe’s leaders put on the record their opposition to mass surveillance. They […]

By Index on Censorship

30 Jul 13

In the News

#DONTSPYONME
Tell Europe’s leaders to stop mass surveillance #dontspyonme
Index on Censorship launches a petition calling on European Union Heads of Government to stop the US, UK and other governments from carrying out mass surveillance. We want to use public pressure to ensure Europe’s leaders put on the record their opposition to mass surveillance. They must place this issue firmly on the agenda for the next European Council Summit in October so action can be taken to stop this attack on the basic human right of free speech and privacy.
(Index on Censorship)

CENSORED
David Cameron: Stop Sleepwalking into Censorship
Index on Censorship launches a petition calling on European Union Heads of Government to stop the US, UK and other governments from carrying out mass surveillance. We want to use public pressure to ensure Europe’s leaders put on the record their opposition to mass surveillance. They must place this issue firmly on the agenda for the next European Council Summit in October so action can be taken to stop this attack on the basic human right of free speech and privacy.
(Open Rights Group)

BAHRAIN
Bahrain: The Arab Spring Protests You Don’t Know About
I am astonished by how little the media has covered the ongoing protests in Bahrain, Kuwait, and eastern Saudi Arabia. You would think that the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council states would be under a microscope, because what happens there immediately affects oil prices. But large media corporations have opted not to cover events in these countries, so as not to cause market panic. And there is a lot to panic about.
(Strat Risks)

CAMBODIA
Freedom of speech in Cambodia, but only in English
He’s back. After four years in self-imposed exile, Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy landed in Phnom Penh last Friday to throngs of flag-waving fans wearing white caps branded with a rising sun—the Cambodia National Rescue Party’s telltale logo. Rainsy came for the showdown: this Sunday, the CNRP will face ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party in parliamentary elections.
(Media Politics in Perspective)

GAZA
Hamas shut down media bureaus over Egypt coverage
Gaza’s de-facto Hamas government closed the office of Al Arabiya, Palestinian network Ma’an news and the local production company Lens on Thursday.
(Index on Censorship)

GLOBAL
Microsoft Wants Google to Censor…. Microsoft.com
In an attempt to make pirated content harder to find copyright holders ask Google to remove millions of search results every week. While these automated requests are usually legitimate, mistakes happen more often than one might expect. For example, in an embarrassing act of self-censorship Microsoft recently asked Google to censor links to its very own Microsoft.com.
(Torrent Freak)

INDIA
There’s a natural censorship inside my system: Shah Rukh Khan
A ‘self aware’ actor will never do a film that is not an extension of his personality, believes superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who refrains from saying or doing certain things.
(Firstpost)

RUSSIA
RUSSIAN LGBT ACTIVISTS: BOYCOTT OF ALL THINGS RUSSIAN, OLYMPICS
Queer Nation today issued a press release which claims gay and lesbian activists in Russia support the recent dumping of Russian vodka. According to a statement included in the group’s release, those activists also support taking things a step further: boycott all Russian products – including the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
(Towleroad)

Russian Pirate Party threatens copyright owners with ‘Black August’
Chairman of the unregistered Pirates’ Party of Russia has called upon the public to completely boycott all copyrighted content in August this year in protest against the recently introduced anti-piracy law.
(RT)

SOUTH AFRICA
Archbishop Tutu: South Africa must reject homophobic discrimination
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, famous for his role in ending apartheid, has called on South Africa to reject homophobic discrimination as part of a new LGBT global public education campaign by the United Nations Human Rights Office.
(Pink News)

TUNISIA
Tunisia Femen activist ‘cleared of defamation’
A court on Monday dismissed one case against Tunisian Femen activist Amina Sboui in which she was tried for contempt and defamation, her lawyer said, calling the verdict “a victory”.
(AFP)

UNITED KINGDOM
Mass surveillance or just Big Data?
States, and companies, collecting huge amounts of data on people and populations around the world. Is this a mass surveillance nightmare – the digital Stasi roaming free – or just big data and we should get over it?
(Index on Censorship)

Will women benefit from fewer lads mags?
The Co-operative chain has told magazines such as Nuts and Zoo to clean up their act. Will women really benefit?
(Index on Censorship)

Labour MP Stella Creasy receives Twitter rape threats
States, and companies, collecting huge amounts of data on people and populations around the world. Is this a
mass surveillance nightmare – the digital Stasi roaming free – or just big data and we should get over it?
(Index on Censorship)

UK Porn Filter Will Censor Other Content Too, ISPs Reveal
Walthamstow MP uses Twitter to inform police of abuse in wake of arrest of man for threats made to banknote campaigner
(The Guardian)

Letter to my MP about web censorship
This morning I wrote to my MP, John Hemming, via writetothem.com to express my concern about web censorship
(Bruce Lawson)

Censorship or safety?
In essence, Cameron’s plan is to block pornography from every home in the UK unless the individual householder deliberately chooses to receive it. We are left to question whether this represents charitable, moral action on the part of our Prime Minister or the early stages of internet censorship
(Nouse)

Cyber Censorship: Freedom is the best filter
The definitive lesson we have learned from the digital age is that the internet is the most dynamic and adaptable tool for individual freedom that we have known in generations. Yet, the old adages still ring truer than ever: there is nothing more cumbersome and static than government regulation. That is why David Cameron’s attempts at censorship are doomed to fail; he needs freedom to decontaminate the internet for him.
(The Freedom Association)

UK Sleepwalking Into Censorship? More Like Running Into It At Full Pelt
We do not live in a free country. We all know that. Our libel laws are ridiculous. Our freedom of speech is curtailed should we be “offensive”. We live under the gaze of corporate and Government officials. Even some websites are blocked. But we can at least try to hold on to some of the freedom we do have; we aren’t Saudi Arabia or China after all.
(Freedom Is Not The Problem)

Sleepwalking into censorship
After brief conversations with some of the Internet Service Providers that will be implementing the UK’s “pornwall” we’ve established a little bit about what it will be doing.
(Open Rights Group)

Libel, Damages and the “Remedial Gap”: a declaration of falsity?
A number of lbel cases involve substantial awards of damages against defendants who are never going to pay. Sometimes the defendant is in a jurisdiction where a damages award cannot be enforced, sometimes the defendant has no money.
(The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog)

UNITED STATES
Momentum Builds Against N.S.A. Surveillance
The movement to crack down on government surveillance started with an odd couple from Michigan, Representatives Justin Amash, a young libertarian Republican known even to his friends as “chief wing nut,” and John Conyers Jr., an elder of the liberal left in his 25th House term.
(The New Work Times)

Jenny McCarthy, Censorship and Free Speech
Most of you have probably heard by now that anti-vaccine activist Jenny McCarthy has been picked to be a host on ABC’s The View. Following the announcement, there was a media uproar lambasting the decision. Newspapers, magazines and blogs erupted with posts questioning the wisdom of giving her a platform with millions of viewers from which she could spew her vaccine-related misinformation and fear-mongering.
(Harpocrates Speaks)