Free expression in the news

04 Jul 13 | In the News

INDEX MAGAZINE
Index magazine: The Multipolar Challenge to Free Expression
Coming up in the next issue of Index on Censorship magazine, out Monday, is a special report on the shifting world power balance and the implications for freedom of expression.
(Index on Censorship)

BELARUS
Freedom of Expression in 2013: What Would Thomas Jefferson Do?
In 1787, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
(German Marshall Fund

BRAZIL
Demonstrators move Brazil’s lethargic politicians to action
Brazil’s mass protests represent a new force in the country’s politics. The wave of demonstrations —sparked by increasing transit fares — have shaken the country’s lethargic leaders, Rafael Spuldar reports
(Index on Censorship)

CHINA
Why China’s Internet Censors Can’t Get Enough of Edward Snowden
These are good days for China. Not so much for the United States — or Sino-American relations.
(World Crunch)

China censorship makes U.S. press freedom shine
Back in the late 1980s a purchaser of the English version of the China Daily, an approved Chinese newspaper, eventually would become baffled. It had a status among some foreigners as a glimpse of daily life among 1.5 billion Chinese citizens. What was amazing about it was the absence of any mention of bad news in its pages. There were no reports of divorces, frauds, robberies, rapes, crashes, murders, executions, the usual grist of some local newspapers in the States. It did, however, contain the recent scores of the Cubs.
(Illinois Times)

EUROPEAN UNION
Index on Censorship calls on the EU to protect whistleblowers’ right to freedom of expression
Following reports that some European countries have prevented a plane carrying the Bolivian President Evo Morales into their airspace, Index on Censorship calls on EU members to honour their commitments to freedom of expression.
(Index on Censorship)

IRELAND
Former Army ranger sues ‘Sunday World’
Seamus Griffin claims newspaper defamed him by suggesting he was involved in illegal purchase of arms and that he trained Seychelles police to become assassins
(Irish Times)

GLOBAL
Defending a free and open internet
In just the last decade, broadband Internet revolutionized every form of communication for 2.5 billion people across the globe. The transition from clunky 20th century technologies like landlines, fax machines and the printing press to mobile computing and e-commerce produced explosive economic growth, new frontiers in health and education and unlimited ways for people to connect, share and express themselves.
(Al Arabiya)

55 Charts That Prove Governments Are Increasingly Censoring Your Internet
Since 2009, Google has been lauded for publishing “transparency reports” on government requests to take information offline. Each time a government official asks for a search result to be blocked or a YouTube video to be removed, Google marks down the request and discloses the number of such takedowns each nation has asked for every six months or so.
(Huffington Post)

UNITED KINGDOM
Stormont must give us a libel law fit for modern age
MLAs will today be told that reform of Northern Ireland’s outdated law is needed or else the province will lose out on investment, writes Mike Harris
(Index on Censorship)

Shepreth village newsletter ‘freedom of speech’ row
A row has broken out over a village newsletter after a council said it wanted to check letters and emails from the public before they were published.
(BBC)

UNITED STATES
WE’RE PROTESTING TO RESTORE THE FOURTH AMENDMENT
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…” JOIN A PROTEST IN YOUR AREA JULY 4TH
(Restore the Fourth)

McCain Slams Efforts To Curb Rampant Campus Sexual Harassment As Violating Free Speech
Over the past month, conservatives and libertarians have criticized efforts to curb sexual harassment on college campuses as “de-eroticizing universities” and claimed they violate free speech. Now, Sen. John McCain has jumped on the bandwagon in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.
(Think Progress)

EU trade talks expected, despite spying allegations
The European Union confirmed Tuesday that free-trade negotiations with the United States would kick off as planned next week, despite widespread concerns about alleged US eavesdropping that targeted EU diplomats.
(Boston Globe)

Previous Free Expression in the News posts
July 3 | July 2 | July 1 | June 28 | June 27 | June 26 | June 25 | June 24 | June 21 | June 20