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Free expression in the news

INDEX EVENTS
NSA, surveillance, free speech and privacy
Edward Snowden’s leaks about the US’s international mass surveillance programmes has prompted perhaps the definitive debate of our age: How free are we online? Can we ever trust technology with our personal details?
25 July, Time 6.30pm, Free, but RSVP required. Space is limited.
Doughty Street Chambers, WC1N
(More information)

BELARUS
Belarus internet infested with spammers
Almost 30% of all net addresses in Belarus are blocked by anti-spam firms because of the amount of junk mail passing through them, says a report.
(BBC)

CANADA
Threats against lesbian couple aren’t a free speech issue. They’re a crime
A lesbian couple in Kingston, Ontario, has been on the receiving end of a couple of appalling, hateful letters, which are also certainly against the law.
(National Post)

CHINA
Chinese censorship will fail to hide Shenhua’s ruthless water grab
A Greenpeace East Asia investigation exposing how a Chinese state-run coal company is overexploiting water resources and illegally discharging toxic wastewater has made global headlines today.
(Greenpeace)

INDIA
India moves toward media regulation
As talk in India turns to media plurality and regulation, attention is turning to murky ownership structures and monopolistic practices. But some see the government’s moves as attempts to muzzle the press.
(Index on Censorship)

CJI criticises media excesses, but bats for ‘self-regulation’
Less than a week after taking over as head of the apex judiciary, Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam plunged straight into key debates on the changing nature of the Indian media and the policy framework that should govern it. In a speech here on Tuesday, the CJI, while praising the media, also pointed to its excesses but favoured ‘self-regulation.’
(The Hindu)

RUSSIA
What Russia blocked in May
The Russian authorities came out with two new categories of website to be banned in May: on manufacturing explosive devices and bribery. If the first is the reaction of the authorities to the Boston bombings, the latter reflects major social problems of the society in Russia.
(Index on Censorship)

TUNISIA
Tunisia PM: Tamarod is danger to democratic process
Tunisia’s Tamarod movement, which has called for the dissolution of the National Constituent Assembly, is endangering the country’s democratic process, Islamist Prime Minister Ali Larayedh said on Monday.
(Middle East Online)

TURKEY
Turkey’s main opposition leader lambastes PM over media freedom
Turkey’s main opposition leader accused Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday of cowing local media into self-censorship after a journalist group said dozens of reporters were fired for their coverage of anti-government protests.
(Reuters)

UNITED KINGDOM
David Cameron’s online porn ban unravels amid debate over internet censorship
David Cameron is facing serious questions over how his plan for automatic internet “porn filters” in every British home would work – after he suggested that topless images such as those used on the Sun’s page three would be still be accessible online.
(Belfast Telegraph)

Author Marcus Hearn reveals censorship issues in his book The Bamforth Collection: Saucy Postcards
They have delighted millions in Britain’s seaside resorts over the years. But the cheeky cartoon postcards produced in Holmfirth also fell foul of the censorship laws. So much so that no less a figure than author George Orwell was involved in a campaign against them.
(The Huddersfield Daily Examiner)

UNITED STATES
East Bay commission tries to quell ‘hate speech’ directed at gays
Prompted by a series of controversies and ugly episodes at City Council meetings swirling around the local gay community and its critics, the city’s Human Rights and Human Relations Commission explored the line between free speech and hate speech late Monday.
(Mercury News)

#RushforSubway: Citizens show support for Limbaugh, free speech, and sandwiches
Mmm, freedom. Tastes like … sandwiches! While bitter #StopRush bullies and their doofus pals freak out over Subway having the gall to advertise on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, hungry Dittoheads and free speech proponents are rushing out to show their support for the sandwich purveyor
(Twitchy)

Banned from campus over ‘Hot for Teacher’ essay, college student loses free speech suit
A federal judge in Michigan has dismissed a free-speech suit filed by an Oakland University student who was banned from campus for several semesters after writing an essay about his attraction to his creative writing instructor.
(ABA Journal)

Free expression in the news

23 Jul 13 | In the News

BRAZIL
Pope visits Brazil amid social upheaval
Bringing his message of a “poor Church for the poor,” Pope Francis headed for Brazil on Monday to find a country facing a shrinking Catholic flock and anger over government waste.
(News24)

EUROPEAN UNION
Europe divided over mass surveillance?
There have been some sharply contrasting political reactions to the US and UK’s mass surveillance programmes in European countries in recent days. Could the US perhaps play divide and rule in managing the fallout from Snowden’s revelations in Europe? Or is there enough common ground between German, UK or even Russian politicians to push for real changes in US (and UK and French) snooping?
(Index on Censorship)

GREECE
Greece confirms libel complaint against former U.N. Ambassador Wallace
The Office of the Athens District Attorney in Greece announced on Wednesday it has confirmed receipt of a criminal complaint for libel against former United Nations Ambassador Mark D. Wallace.
(BioPrepWatch)

INDIA
Muslim leaders slam Shakeel Ahmed’s ‘irresponsible’ remark
Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed’s tweet that the 2002 Gujarat riots led to the formation of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) seems to have backfired. Muslim leaders said such an “irresponsible” remark, made with an eye on the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, would harm rather than help the community.
(Times of India)

MACEDONIA
Jailed Macedonian journalist begins hunger strike
A Macedonian investigative journalist has gone on hunger strike today, in protest against his continued detention.
(Index on Censorship)

PHILIPPINES
What PNoy didn’t say on the state of free expression
President Benigno Aquino III has again betrayed himself as enamored of his own propaganda, of valuing the form over the substance, of a glaring inability to keep what he claims is most precious to him – his word.
(National Union of Journalists of the Philippines)

SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa’s censors ban film about predatory teacher as ‘child porn’
Film board criticised for apartheid-style curbs on freedom of expression after first mainstream movie banned since 1994
(The Guardian)

UNITED KINGDOM
David Cameron’s King Canute moment
The Prime Minister’s touching belief that he can clean up the web with technology is misguided and even dangerous, says Padraig Reidy
(Index on Censorship)

Index concerned by Cameron’s filter proposals
Index on Censorship is concerned that David Cameron’s internet filtering proposals may cause unwarranted censorship.
(Index on Censorship)

Our last, best, hope?
Technology writer and broadcaster Bill Thompson spoke at the recent ISPA Awards dinner. ISPA, the Internet Service Providers Association, represents the companies that connect us all to the Net, and Thompson called on them to stand up for freedom, however hard that may be. This is an edited version of his talk.
(Index on Censorship)

Full Text of Speech: David Cameron: Protecting our children online
Today I am going to tread into territory that can be hard for our society to confront, that is frankly difficult for politicians to talk about — but that I believe we need to address as a matter of urgency.
(Index on Censorship)

UNITED STATES
The Case for Censoring Hate Speech On the Internet
For the past few years speech has moved online, leading to fierce debates about its regulation. Most recently, feminists have led the charge to purge Facebook of misogyny that clearly violates its hate-speech code. Facebook took a small step two weeks ago, creating a feature that will remove ads from pages deemed “controversial.” But such a move is half-hearted. Facebook and other social networking websites should not tolerate hate speech and, in the absence of a government mandate, adopt a European model of expunging offensive material.
(Policy Mic)

State suspends vanity plates over free speech suit
Indiana will stop offering vanity plates until the outcome of a class-action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the agency’s restrictions on tags’ wording.
(Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly)

Free expression in the news

22 Jul 13 | In the News

EUROPEAN UNION
EU justice chief vows new data protection laws
A Pakistani human rights organisation has called for an investigation into an alleged “secret censorship deal” between the country’s government and Facebook. Sara Yasin reports
(Business Recorder)

CHINA
A good lesson in Hong Kong on the value of free speech
Mike Rowse sees a civics lesson in two recent debates of public issues
(South China Morning Post)

INDIA
Mysore MP questions credentials of people who misuse freedom of expression
Mysore MP A H Vishwanath on Sunday said freedom of expression is not intended to insult or undermine the historic personalities and litterateurs, media people and film producers should desist from using the names of great personalities to market their produces.
(Times of India)

LIBYA
Libya moves step closer to new constitution amid boycott by minorities
Abusahmain signs law on election of committee to draft new permanent constitution for Libya as ethnic minorities announce boycott.
(Middle East Online)

Hardliners’ pressure forces Libyan women’s football team to stop playing tournaments during Ramadan
Abusahmain signs law on election of committee to draft new permanent constitution for Libya as ethnic minorities announce boycott.
(truthdive)

RUSSIA
Russia’s Anti-Gay Crackdown
RUSSIA’S president, Vladimir V. Putin, has declared war on homosexuals. So far, the world has mostly been silent.
(The New York Times)

TUNISIA
Tunisia lifts travel ban on blogger
A Tunis judge lifted the travel ban against blogger and journalist Olfa Riahi, Tunisie Numerique reported on Saturday (July 20th).
(Magharebia)

TURKEY
In Turkey, Media Bosses Are Undermining Democracy
THE protests that convulsed Istanbul and other Turkish cities last month exposed, among many other things, the shameful role of Turkey’s media conglomerates in subverting press freedom.
(The New York Times)

Turkey bars protestors’ wedding party at park
Police on Saturday fired water cannon and tear gas in downtown Istanbul to disperse anti-government demonstrators after barring them from entering a park where they had hoped to celebrate the wedding of a couple who met during last month’s widespread protests.
(Missoulian)

Turkey loses guest of honor status to Vatican at Turin book fair
Turkey will not be the guest of honor at next year’s Turin International Book Fair, which will instead host the Vatican in an unexpected move by the fair’s organizers, Turkish news agencies reported over the weekend.
(Missoulian)

UNITED STATES
Diversionary Theatre’s Freedom of Speech: One Woman’s Cross Country Journey to Find Out What’s Going On
An artist in the complete sense, Eliza Jane Schneider, can do practically anything on stage-from singing, to playing an instrument, to doing a 180 from one character to the next. Showcasing her many talents, Schneider opened Freedom of Speech on July 11th at the Diversionary Theatre. It is a Moxie Theatre presentation, directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg.
(San Diego Free Press)

Free expression in the news

18 Jul 13 | In the News

INDEX EVENTS
18 July New World (Dis)Order: What do Turkey, Russia and Brazil tell us about freedom and rights?
Index, in partnership with the European Council on Foreign Relations, is holding a timely debate on the shifting world order and its impact on rights and freedoms. The event will also launch the latest issue of Index on Censorship magazine, including a special report on the multipolar world.
(More information)

19 July: What surveillance means to YOU
Join us 19 July for a live Google hangout with Index on Censorship as Trevor Timm of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Rebecca Mckinnon of Gloval Voices discuss what mass surveillance means to all of us as individuals. Hosted by Padraig Reidy of Index, the hour-long event will delve in the issues around government surveillance of innocent civilians.
(More information)

ASIA
Internet Censorship is Taking Root in Southeast Asia
Every time Le Anh Hung starts to write he thinks of his three young children. The 38-year-old has already been imprisoned twice for blogging about human rights and corruption from his home in Hanoi and lives half-expecting another fateful knock at the door. And yet “I’m not scared,” he says, “I know what I choose to do is risky but I accept the fight.”
(Time)

BRAZIL
Brazil protesters hope for Pope’s backing during visit
Young Brazilians who marched in June to demand more funding for health and education are hoping Pope Francis will back their cause when he visits Rio next week. But organizers ruled out a resumption of the street protests during the pontiff’s week-long stay to attend World Youth Day (WYD), a major Catholic gathering expected to draw 1.5 million people.
(AFP)

CHINA
China says it’ll relax film, TV censorship; directors unimpressed
Chinese authorities said Wednesday they would relax some restrictions on film, TV and radio productions, though the immediate impact of the changes was unclear and several prominent movie directors said they did not believe the reforms were game-changers.
(Los Angeles Times)

ISRAEL
Israel’s Plague of Self-Censorship
The affair surrounding Edward Snowden, former employee of the United States National Security Agency (NSA) who leaked information about NSA surveillance programs, reminded me of a personal story from more than 30 years ago.
(The Times)

LIBERIA
Newspaper Slapped With U.S $1.5 Million Libel Ruling
Liberia’s Supreme Court has ruled that a $1.5 million verdict against the FrontPage Africa newspaper should be enforced.
(All Africa)

UNITED KINGDOM
An unpleasant odour is rising from Northern Ireland’s libel law
The recently passed Defamation Act 2013 will introduce much-needed reform of an area of the law that has become an anachronistic, obscure and unjustifiable fetter on freedom of speech. It comes into force later this year. But not in Northern Ireland. The reluctance of Northern Ireland politicians to adopt the 2013 Act will, as a libel lawyer would say, lower them in the estimation of right-thinking people.
(The Times)

UNITED STATES
Federal Campus Sexual Harassment Policy Draws Free Speech Concerns
The federal government is facing pressure from civil-liberties advocates to back down from a policy meant to curb sexual harassment at colleges and universities — just as sexual-assault survivors demanded in a protest this week that the Education Department do more to punish colleges that fail to address campus assaults.
(Huffington Post)

Student Who Disagrees With Homosexuality Wins Free Speech Lawsuit Against Teacher
A federal district judge ruled in favor of a Michigan student who was removed from the classroom by his teacher for expressing his religious beliefs against homosexuality. The judge said punishing the student for his freedom of expression violated his First Amendment rights.
(Christian Post)

The Attack on Free Speech and the Press
Over the past three years, we have seen an assault on free speech and freedom of the press by those in power. Campaign finance laws have always been used less as a restriction on money in politics and more as a restriction of freedom of speech.
(Texas GOP Vote)

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