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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 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)

Groups call for EU action against mass surveillance
Recent revelations of American and British mass surveillance of digital communications have triggered an intense mobilization of European free speech and civil liberties organizations, which have launched an online petition calling on leaders of the European Union to halt the practice.
(CPJ)

FRANCE
As France Legalizes Insulting the President, Remember the Censorship Laws That Spurred Online Free Speech Culture
As noted at Reason 24/7, France just legalized insulting the head of state, rescinding a stricture on free speech that dates to 1881 and continued to be enforced within recent years (though it was finally overruled in March by the European Court of Human Rights).
(Reason)

EGYPT
You’ve been warned! Egypt censorship body out to get “Adult Only” Ramadan dramas
To avoid issues with Egypt’s censorship board, producers of Ramadan’s televised drama series dubbed their work “Adult Only,” intended for those over the age of 18. However, Egypt’s censorship board maintains that the drama industry does not have special regulations regarding age, and as such the airing of series under an “Adult Only” label is itself a violation, censorship board head Abdel-Sattar Fathy told Al-Ahram’s Arabic website.
(Al Bawaba)

INDIA
Freedom of speech curbed amidst ‘strange’ BJP atmosphere
Congress leader Rajeev Shukla has asked people of the country to be wary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by suggesting that the opposition party’s recent behavior is a threat to the fundamental right to freedom of speech.
(Business Standard)

Limiting access to social media can limit an individual’s freedom of speech: Facebook
In its counter-affidavit to the PIL in the Delhi high court, Facebook has argued that limiting access to social media can limit an individual’s freedom of speech and expression. The PIL, among other things, deals with the issue of minors accessing Facebook services, arguing that under the Indian Contract Act 1872, minors can’t enter into a contract. The PIL will be heard next on Friday.
(Times of India)

RUSSIA
If Snowden really wants to learn Russian…
Edward Snowden’s Russian lawyer says his clientwants to start learning Russian. Now that the American whistleblower has finally left Sheremetyevo airport for “temporary asylum” in Russia, he might find himselfiz ognya da v polymya –out of the frying pan and into the fire.
(Human Rights Watch)

RWANDA
Rwanda adopts anti-genocide law
Rwanda’s upper house on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill amending a law against “genocide ideology” that had been criticised as muzzling free speech and suppressing opposition.
(ENCA)

TUNISIA
Tunisia political quake: Protest-hit rulers struggle to save what they can
Presidency and Islamist-led government start talks with opposition and civil society representatives to try to defuse country’s political crisis.
(Middle East Online)

UNITED KINGDOM
UK govt sidles towards censorship
The UK government, under the leadership of David Cameron, is on the brink of mandating nationwide censorship, requiring Internet service providers to filter, block and report on all citizens’ browsing habits, starting with pornography. The UK will join a growing number of countries which actively censor the Internet, including most Arab states, China, and Australia.
(IT Web)

Model Rhian Sugden blasts plan to cover up sexy lads’ mags covers
MODEL Rhian Sugden has spoken out about proposals to ban “lads’ mags” from supermarket shelves. Rhian, from Radcliffe, says the country is going “censorship crazy” adding: “If you don’t like it, don’t look at it.”
(The Bolton News)

UK and China Not Such Strange Bedfellows in War on Porn
Not long after David Cameron announced the UK’s remarkable proposals to block and ban online pornography, commentators were quick to point out similarities with what has been common practice in China. One Twitter user even came up with the term “Hadrian’s Firewall,” echoing the metaphor of the “Great Firewall” so often employed in media reports about China.
(Huffington Post)

Twitter trolls drive internet free speech debate in Britain
If Twitter is the chirping chatterbox of the Internet, trolls are its dark underground denizens.
(AP via Newsday)

UNITED STATES
New Proposal Could Singlehandedly Cripple Free Speech Online
The Internet has evolved into a true marketplace for every idea – if you can think of it, you can find it on the web. That the online world has blossomed into this virtual town square teeming with diverse content is no accident. It is largely a creation of federal law – specifically, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1998. Section 230 is directly responsible for the free, messy, uncensored, and often brilliant culture of online speech.
(ACLU)

Ninth Circuit Rules That Celebrity “Rights” Trump Free Speech
Should a minor celebrity’s right to wring every drop he can from his fame trump the right to create a realistic work? The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals put its thumb on the scales today, issuing a terrible decision holding that a celebrity’s right of publicity is more important than any First Amendment right to depict real people in a video game. This ruling follows closely on the heels of a similar decision from the Third Circuit and threatens a wide range of speech—such as biographies and documentaries—which seeks to realistically depict famous people.
(EFF)

Free Speech is Not Only About Common Good
The Supreme Court was widely criticized for ruling in Citizens United that political spending by corporations is indeed a form of protected speech under the First Amendment.
(Northwestern University)

Thanks to NSA Surveillance, Americans Are More Worried About Civil Liberties Than Terrorism
Last week’s narrow House vote against the Amash Amendment, which was aimed at stopping the National Security Agency’s mass collection of Americans’ phone records, reflects a narrow split among the general public.
(Reason)

Google Pressure Cookers and Backpacks, Get a Visit from the Feds
Michele Catalano was looking for information online about pressure cookers. Her husband, in the same time frame, was Googling backpacks. Wednesday morning, six men from a joint terrorism task force showed up at their house to see if they were terrorists. Which prompts the question: How’d the government know what they were Googling?
(The Atlantic)

UMass Chancellor: Campus Leaders Must Encourage Debate, Not Censorship
Far too often, college administrators fail to recognize the value of free speech in education and instead take action to censor students’ protected expression. However, Kumble Subbaswamy, Chancellor at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, commendably advocated for free speech in a recent article for The Huffington Post.
(FIRE)

Training Camp Day 8: Free speech is not free
Just dropped my alto saxophone player off at band camp and was listening to guys on Sirius XM NFL radio.
They were talking about Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper getting fined for making a racial slur at the Kenny Chesney concert.
(Atlanta Journal Constitution)

VIETNAM
GOVERNMENT WANTS TO BAN INTERNET USERS FROM DISCUSSING THE NEWS
Reporters Without Borders regards a new law on blogs and social networks – announced on July 31st and due to take effect in september – as a gross violation of the right to inform and be informed. Known as Decree 72, the law restricts the use of blogs and social networks to “providing or exchanging personal information” and bans using them to share information from news sources.
(RSF)

Free expression in the news

31 Jul 13 | In the News

AFRICA
MISA express concern over rise in media freedom and freedom of expression violations across SADC
Having gathered in Lusaka, Zambia on Saturday, 27 July 2013, for its annual general meeting, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) made a statement.
(Lusaka Times)

CHINA
Tech Terms Censored Online in China
China’s surveillance of its citizens’ digital activities is common knowledge. However, questions remain concerning what content is targeted by government censors and how these blacklists change in response to current events.
(Mashable)

EGYPT
AFTE highlights the fine line between freedom of expression and incitement
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) released a report Tuesday distinguishing between what it called legitimate freedom of expression and hate speech tied to incitement of violence and racial discrimination.
(Daily News Egypt)

FRANCE
Censorship, Mediapart and the butler’s tapes
Following a court decision that became effective last Monday, independent French news website Mediapart has had to withdraw the infamous Bettencourt “butler tapes” from its website, as well as 72 articles including quotes from the recordings, prompting a campaign of solidarity in the French and international media.
(Index on Censorship)

GLOBAL
Extreme Internet censorship proposals challenged
As you may have heard, the latest round of secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks have been taking place in Malaysia over the last two weeks. As with previous rounds, the Malaysia TPP talks took place in an atmosphere of near-total secrecy. Citizens, public interest groups, and internet users have been completely excluded from the negotiations, which are taking place between a small cabal of old industry lobbyists and unelected bureaucrats.
(Rabble)

MALAYSIA
Let people judge controversial movies
The decision by the Film Censorship Board to review the film ‘The New Village’ after having already given it the green light makes a mockery of our nation’s laws, policies and commitment to the right to freedom of expression.
(Free Malaysia Today)

RUSSIA
Russia to Ban Swearing Online: UK to Follow?
Yesterday I wrote about the slide into censorship and self-censorship that the UK government’s misbegotten plans to impose a default set of Net blocks could bring about. Of course, the UK is not alone in seeking to introduce disproportionate schemes.
(Computer World UK)

Russia should learn from Britain’s record on gay rights
Russia’s new ‘propaganda law’ is a more extreme version of the UK’s infamous section 28. It must be internationally condemned
(The Guardian)

SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi liberal blogger sentenced to 600 lashes and seven years in jail
A Saudi activist is being punished after calling for a “day of liberalism”
(Index on Censorship)

SLOVAKIA
Slovak lawyers demand apology for being depicted as pigs
The Slovak Bar Association has demanded an apology for a political cartoon depicting them as pigs, saying it is defamatory and dangerous.
(Index on Censorship)

TUNISIA
Release Femen Activist Held On Politically Motivated Charges
Today’s decision by a Tunisian court to dismiss a defamation case against the 18-year-old FEMEN activist Amina Sboui is only a partial victory, Amnesty International said as it called for her release.
(AllAfrica.com)

TURKEY
Intimidation and self-censorship rising in Turkey
Turkey currently holds 64 journalists in its prisons, according to the opposition. Since the begin of the Gezi Park protests, working as journalist critical of Premier Erdogan has become increasingly difficult.
(DW)

Turkey stands at the crossroads. Will it opt for democracy?
If the government changes its attitude to the protests, Turkey could become an exemplar state in the Muslim world
(The Guardian)

In Turkey, Critics of Erdogan’s Government Claim Familiar Pattern of Reprisal
The fallout from the June protests in Turkey is settling into a growing pattern of reprisal against those dissenting against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, critics of his government say. But that pattern may be backfiring, as it is fueling further discontent among Erdoğan’s opponents, and bolstering their ranks with some of his former supporters.
(Time)

UNITED KINGDOM
We can make Twitter better, but never perfect
Online misogny is a complex problem with no single solution
(Index on Censorship)

When it comes to free speech, Twitter is caught between a rock and a very hard place
An incident in which a British journalist was subjected to hundreds of abusive tweets has highlighted Twitter’s ongoing struggle to balance its defence of free speech and the rights of its users with the need to curb abuse.
(GigaOM

When it comes to free speech, Twitter is caught between a rock and a very hard place
It’s a question of where to start: TalkTalk’s filter provided by Huawei; more than porn will be blocked; UK’s ‘pornification’ MP Claire Perry hacked and now sued; at least one ISP in open rebellion; and Anonymous launches op PornStorm.
(Info Security)

Don’t lose your head over Hirst
Academics in Leicester object to a photo of Damien Hirst posing with a severed head being put on show – but why? It’s a work of genuine artistic integrity
(The Guardian)

UNITED STATES
Index on Censorship condemns verdicts in Bradley Manning case
Free speech organisation Index on Censorship condemns the guilty verdicts in the trial of Bradley Manning. However, we welcome the verdict of not guilty to the charge of aiding the enemy.
(Index on Censorship)

Bradley Manning: A verdict that shows a sense of perspective
In finding the the WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning guilty of espionage but not of aiding the enemy, a US military court delivered a verdict which showed a welcome sense of perspective after one of the most convulsive episodes in recent American judicial history.
(The Independent)

NYPD attempts to censor anticipated Park Avenue art project
An artist’s protests over his New York art installation raises the question of how to play nice in public spaces
(The Guardian)

Free expression in the news

30 Jul 13 | In the News

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)

Free expression in the news

29 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)

MIDDLE EAST
Arab Spring will take time to flower: analysts
Disappointment over the lack of democratic progress in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya is understandable, but the so-called Arab Spring of 2011 will take time to mature, analysts say, warning that the process will be chaotic.
(Gulf News)

SOUTH AFRICA
Internet usage in South Africa hits 14 million mark
The internet usage has significantly grown in South Africa this year, already involving 14 million people, said a latest survey.
(Tech 2)

TUNISIA
In Turkey’s heartland, support for protest is thin
As Mohamed Brahmi becomes the second secular politician to be shot in Tunisia in the past six months questions are raised as to whether the Arab Spring has really made a difference
(Nouse)

BBC film reporter investigates rising power of Salafism in Tunisia
BBC Arabic documentary, The Battle for Bizerte, tells the inside story of a group of extremist Islamists known as Salafists in Bizerte, a Tunisian town on the Mediterranean sea, 60 kilometres from Tunis.
(Middle East Online)

TURKEY
In Turkey’s heartland, support for protest is thin
Weeks of anti-government protests in Istanbul’s Gezi Park and the squares in the capital of Ankara have not affected life here or in much of rural Turkey, where Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan enjoys solid support.
(USA Today)

Homophobic prejudices broken by Gezi incidents in Turkey
The Gezi protests have shown that society is much more aware about the rights of the LGBT community than Parliament, according to an activist. ‘Gezi did in three weeks what would have taken us three years,’ says Sedef Çakmak, adding that they have gained a lot of self confidence
(Hurriyet Daily News)

UNITED KINGDOM
Man held after banknote campaigner receives rape threats on Twitter
Police say man arrested on suspicion of harassment offences, after shadow minister criticises Twitter’s response to abuse
(The Guardian)

UNITED STATES
Gay Talk: Protecting Free Speech for Public School Teachers
In Garcetti v. Ceballos, the Supreme Court held that public employees are not entitled to free speech when speaking “pursuant to their official duties.” In most situations, this strips teachers of First Amendment protection when they discuss controversial subjects, such as homosexuality, with their students.
(Social Science Research Network)

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