03 Jun 13 | Campaigns, Europe and Central Asia, Turkey Statements
As protests continue in many cities across Turkey, the reactions of government, police and media have shown up only too clearly to a wider audience – domestic and international – the increasingly problematic nature of Turkish democracy, and its growing authoritarian tendencies. Index on Censorship CEO Kirsty Hughes writes
Police brutality in response to the mainly peaceful protesters has been rightly criticised. The failure of mainstream Turkish media to cover the protests from the start – choosing instead cooking programmes and other non-contentious fare – has surprised some, and also being strongly criticised. If anyone inside or outside Turkey had not paid attention to growing censorship, including self-censorship, of Turkish media, it has now been widely exposed for all to see. Yet comments from some, including the European Union, have been surprisingly limited – focusing mainly on police brutality and not the wider human rights and democracy issues.
While some commentators rashly labelled the protests a ‘Turkish spring’, those who have followed Erdogan’s AKP government in its move from promoting a number of key democratic reforms ten years ago to showing a more authoritarian side in the last few years were clear that these authoritarian tendencies are underpinning this outburst of discontent. As Amberin Zaman writes: “My overall impression, and it’s commonly shared, is that the Taksim Park project has morphed into a vehicle for popular resentment against Erdogan’s increasingly dismissive and authoritarian ways”.
As she concisely puts it: “He is a democratically elected leader who has been acting in an increasingly undemocratic way.”
While Erdogan successfully stood up to ‘soft’ and anti-democratic attempts to undermine his government – the ‘e-coup’ in 2007, the attempted ‘ judicial coup’ in 2008 – subsequent years have seen increasing numbers of journalists jailed, considerable political pressure on media outlets, with journalists and editors widely self-censoring, and many being dismissed for expressing opinions freely in their writing.
Index highlighted this censorship in shortlisting Turkish journalists for its media freedom award this year. The Turkish media themselves have now highlighted it in their failure to fully cover these widespread protests.
Those who have been promoting Turkey as a role model for ‘Arab Spring’ countries like Egypt and Tunisia, or who have been holding back on criticising Turkey’s increasing attacks on free speech for reasons of diplomacy and real politik, now must surely face up to the more difficult reality that Turkey is a country that imprisons more journalists today than Iran or China. The European Union’s foreign policy supremo Cathy Ashton did, with a delay, come out to condemn disproportionate use of force by the police.
Related: “There is now a menace which is called Twitter”
Index Events
Join Index on Censorship and a panel of Turkish and British writers to discuss free speech in Turkey, 22 June, Arcola Theatre London
But the EU should have addressed sooner and more strongly the clear and growing attacks on media freedom in Turkey – and Ashton has, even now, yet to come out strongly on this in the context of the protests. The EU has rather little influence in Turkey compared to a decade ago when membership talks were about to start – these talks have now faltered and slowed. But the EU does insist all candidate countries meet its ‘Copenhagen Criteria’ that say candidates must be democracies who respect the rule of law and human rights. Back in 2004, when the Union’s leaders agreed to start talks Turkey was said to “sufficiently meet” those criteria.
It is no longer clear, given its deliberate creation of media censorship, and the brutality of police in the face of mass protests, that Turkey does meet those criteria. If the EU stands for human rights in its neighbourhood, surely it should make a much stronger, robust condemnation of Turkey’s growing anti-democratic tendencies and its attacks on freedom of expression.
03 Jun 13 | In the News
INDEX REPORT
Taking the offensive – defending artistic freedom of expression in the UK
Report Contents: Summary | Introduction | What is artistic freedom of expression? | What are the limits to freedom of expression? | Institutional self-censorship | Reinforcing support for artistic freedom of expression | Conclusion | Appendix I: Audience Feedback and Statistics | Appendix II: Conference Programme | Appendix III: Cases of Censored Artwork | Artist Videos | Full report in PDF
INDEX EVENTS
10 June: Caught in the web: how free are we online?
The internet: free open space, wild wild west, or totalitarian state? However you view the web, in today’s world it is bringing both opportunities and threats for free expression.
23 June: Turkey vs the UK: what’s the score on free expression?
The Turkish Writers Football Club is coming to London to play the England Writers Team and the pressure is on. But it’s not just about sport. Index on Censorship is grabbing the chance to bring both sides together to debate the state of free expression in both countries.
GLOBAL
UN report calls for freedom of expression in post-2015 development
Calling for a transformation in the approach to global development that includes a larger role for freedom of expression, the United Nations’ High Level Panel of Eminent Persons released its report Post-2015 Development Agenda report, Milana Knezevic writes. (Index on Censorship)
Cryptography as a means to counter Internet censorship
Traffic analysis is the first prerequisite for mass surveillance of the Web. George Orwell’s depiction of dystopia in his classic 1984, a society devoid of privacy, may have seemed like an exaggeration in 1949. But, with technology intruding deep into our lives today, we may actually be heading into a less obvious version of a similar state. (The Hindu)
Internet censorship around the world
Singapore’s government is set to tighten regulations for news websites – a move that has drawn accusations that the authorities are trying to control blogs that post anti-government comments. (BBC)
Facebook embroiled in multiple free speech battles
Facebook landed in the crosshairs of a fiery hate-speech protest last week that garnered so much media attention that the Menlo Park company had to issue a public mea culpa. Turns out it was just one of many First Amendment conflicts to put Facebook in the awkward and unenviable position of deciding what type of speech must be policed. (San Francisco Examiner)
AUSTRALIA
Racism, bigotry and debate, Australian-style
There is a very Australian way to have a racism controversy. Whenever bigotry, prejudice or discrimination is revealed on the national stage, all of us can agree: Yes, it’s horrible and we would never dream of endorsing it. We can all say, hand on heart, that racism is abhorrent and warrants our condemnation. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Our duty to look -Why censoring press photos is wrong
When Destination NSW censored an outdoor photography exhibition meant to appear as part of the Vivid Sydney festival, they offended more than just the photographers who risk life and limb to take these “distressing” pictures.
(World News Australia)
Free speech court victory over illegal move-on notices
Perth activist Kamala Emanuel won a resounding victory on May 28 in an important court case addressing the right to protest. (Green Left)
FIJI
Fiji media still self-censoring says academic
Professor Robert Hooper, a professor at UC San Diego who has taught journalism in Fiji, has just published an academic paper called “When the barking stopped: Censorship, self-censorship and spin in Fiji”.(Radio Australia)
CHINA
World press alliance urges China to free journalists
A global alliance of newspapers and news publishers called on China Sunday to release all journalists languishing in its jails and end attacks on freedom of expression. (The Economic Times)
Sina debuts sophisticated new censorship tactics for June 4 anniversary
Since Friday morning, Weibo users have been able to search for sensitive terms such as ‘June 4 incident’ and ‘Tiananmen Square Incident’ without receiving a censorship notice. Instead, such searches show partial, unhelpful results, according to Greatfire.org. (Shanghaist)
China experimenting with Web censorship methods
GreatFire.org, which monitors blocked sites, says keyword search results for 1989 Tiananmen Square protests have been amended or thoroughly filtered, instead of showing the usual message stating sites cannot be displayed. (ZDNet)
JORDAN
Jordan attempts mass internet censorship
Jordan has become the latest country attempting to censor internet-published dissent by blocking access to a large number of websites from within the country. (ITNews)
QATAR
Cybercrime draft law draws flak
A draft cybercrime law approved by the State Cabinet late last week has kicked up a row, with Qatar’s media freedom watchdog severely criticising it for dealing with issues that concern freedom of expression on the Internet. (The Peninsula)
RUSSIA
No Place for Guriev in Putin’s Russia
Sergei Guriev’s decision to resign as dean of the New Economic School and to stay abroad was widely discussed in Russia and in the West. Not only is Guriev an internationally respected economist, but his school was a top-notch, world-renowned educational institution. (The Moscow Times)
SINGAPORE
In Singapore, A Rare Call for Protest Against Blogging Censorship
Singapore’s blogging community is rebelling against a stringent new law that requires online news sites to put up a performance bond of US $40,000 and to submit to government censorship, calling for the general public and bloggers to rally next Saturday against the measure. (Irrawaddy)
THAILAND
Thai filmmakers challenge censorship
There was public outcry in Thailand when a politically sensitive documentary was banned by the government. The movie, “Boundary”, tackles the deep political division within the country and the territorial dispute with neighbouring Cambodia. (Al Jazeera)
TUNISIA
3 Femen women held in Tunis after baring breasts
Feminist activists could face up to 6 months in jail for topless protest in support of Amina Tyler. (AhramOnline)
TURKEY
Turkish Leader Says Protests Will Not Stop Plans for Park
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey dismissed the tens of thousands of protesters who battled for two days with police officers in the streets of Istanbul as “looters” and “bums” on Sunday. He vowed to push ahead with plans to demolish a public park — a trigger for the spasm of public anger that left Istanbul’s main commercial district strewn with graffiti and broken glass.(The New York Times)
Turkey’s Urban Revolt Signals a Critical Phase in Turkish Politics
Despite the astonishing, far-reaching changes that Turkey has undergone in recent years, clouds of anxiety are gathering over the country. (Huffington Post)
The voices of Turkish protesters have been heard
It started out small, but has taken on a life of its own. Last Monday, a handful of peaceful protesters occupied Gezi park on Taksim Square, one of the few green spaces in Istanbul, in protest against plans for its redevelopment into a mall (The Guardian)
UNITED KINGDOM
When is a tweet hate speech?
After the recent slaying of a British soldier in a suspected Islamist-extremist attack, angry social media users took to Twitter and Facebook, with some dispatching racially and religiously charged comments that got them quickly noticed on the busy boulevards of the Internet. (Winnepeg Free Press)
UNITED STATES
Contempt for free press
During his May 23 speech on national security, President Barack Obama promised to chat with Attorney General Eric Holder about reviewing his policies for investigating the news media. (Arizona Repubic)
US company accused of aiding Syria in censorship efforts
Despite trade sanctions against this type of technology, it would seem the US continues to supply the Syrian regime with material and software used to monitor the Internet and trace opponents. These findings are from a study of the Syrian web infrastructure carried out by cyber activists from Telecomix last week. The data suggests that 34 servers in Syria have been updated with software from the firm Blue Coat. (France 24)
Administration dams free flow of information
Freedom to report the news requires the freedom to gather it. In the months ahead, that basic concept — so central to the First Amendment’s protection of a free press — will also be at the heart of the ongoing debate over how far government officials may go in pursuit of those responsible for “leaking” classified information to journalists. (The Daily Progress)
Journalist Lemmings Dive Off Cliff While AG Holder Spies, Blusters & Prevaricates
Of all of the accidentally hilarious aspects of the implosion of Obama’s War Against the Bill of Rights, none is more informative than his broadside against journalism and Freedom of the Press. What does it say about those who take their very sustenance from the 1st Amendment Free Speech clause that many want to extinguish other people’s constitutional liberties at every possible opportunity? (Canada Free Press)
Why Cheerleaders Can Post Bible Verses
So a school district, that has already lost in a lower court, attempting to ban both religious belief and free expression thereof, now wants to spend tax-payer money to attempt to thwart those same rights of religious belief, and free expression.
(TownHall.com)
The real IRS scandal is over free speech
Should you need a license from the government to exercise free speech? The real scandal at the Internal Revenue Service should be seen not as a left-versus-right issue but instead as infringement on the First Amendment. The people targeted were political entrepreneurs with unorthodox political voices. More to the point, IRS discrimination was consistent with 40 years of institutionalized hostility by the federal government to such views. (Denver Post)
Google ordered to hand private customer data over to FBI investigators
A US judge has ordered Google to comply with FBI secret demands for customer data, despite earlier ruling the warrantless orders unconstitutional. (The Guardian)
Colorado Legislature Must Have Been Smoking Something
Colorado voters have legalized recreational pot smoking, but this week the governor signed an unconstitutional bill that prohibits marijuana-centric magazines from being sold except from under the counter, three magazines claim in court. (Courthouse News)
31 May 13 | In the News
INDEX REPORT
Taking the offensive – defending artistic freedom of expression in the UK
Report Contents: Summary | Introduction | What is artistic freedom of expression? | What are the limits to freedom of expression? | Institutional self-censorship | Reinforcing support for artistic freedom of expression | Conclusion | Appendix I: Audience Feedback and Statistics | Appendix II: Conference Programme | Appendix III: Cases of Censored Artwork | Artist Videos | Full report in PDF
Self-censorship stifling UK artistic expression
Widespread self-censorship and fear of causing offence is suppressing creativity and ideas in the United Kingdom, according to a report published by Index on Censorship. (Index on Censorship)
GLOBAL
Facebook and the outer limits of free speech
The great thing about the Web is that it has given the opportunity to billions of people, who would otherwise never have had a chance to publish, to express their most urgent thoughts with an Internet connection and a few finger-flicks. (Reuters)
ADL’s Foxman Analyzes Intersection of Online Hate and Free Speech in New Book
Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), on June 4 is releasing his new book VIRAL HATE: Containing Its Spread on the Internet, co-written with attorney Christopher Wolf, a pioneer in Internet law. (The Algemeiner)
AUSTRALIA
Cash for no comment tramples free speech
Bend over and take your cuts. The headmaster is dishing out the cane to a variety of backsides, most of whom don’t deserve any punishment at all. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
BRAZIL
Brazilian court gags protester in latest social media ruling
A judge from the Brazilian state of São Paulo has barred a protester from an allegedly illegal construction site or even posting about it on Facebook. It’s the latest in a string of rulings targeting social media in the country. Rafael Spuldar reports (Index on Censorship)
CANADA
Rob Ford, Toronto Star, And Libel Chill: How Gawker Got The Crack-Smoking Scoop
If a newspaper isn’t willing to deliver news of public interest to its readers, it’s only a matter of time before someone else will step in. The Toronto Star learned that lesson the hard way earlier this month when Gawker, a New York-based gossip blog, scooped the century-old newspaper by announcing Toronto Mayor “Rob Ford Smokes Crack Cocaine” in a blog post that has since been viewed by almost 1 million people. (International Business Times)
IRAN
US eases export restrictions in bid to aid free speech
The United States has lifted a ban on sales of communications equipment to Iranians and opened access to internet services and social media, aiming to help the Iranian people circumvent tough government controls. (The Telegraph)
SINGAPORE
Singapore: Regulation or censorship?
Singaporean journalists and bloggers are criticising a new media regulation that they believe will stifle independent news and information about the country. (Al Jazeera)
TUNISIA
Tunisia: Amend Counterterrorism Law – Reforms Necessary to Protect Fundamental Rights
Tunisian legislators should revise the 2003 counterterrorism law, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the National Constituent Assembly. The 2003 law uses an overly broad definition of terrorism and incitement to terrorism and undermines the right to an effective defense. Prosecutors should not charge anyone under the law until it is amended in line with Tunisia’s human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said. (All Africa)
Tunisia topless protester faces new charges
A Tunisian judge on Thursday announced fresh charges against a young Tunisian woman with the topless protest group Femen, as three Europeans began a second night in custody after baring their breasts. (AFP)
UNITED KINGDOM
Artists afraid of losing sponsors ‘are self-censoring,’ says Sir Nicholas Serota
The director of Tate Galleries warns of influence of special interests as study reveals limit to creative freedom. (The Independent)
Censorship and the arts: There’s a web of challenges to free expression
Many acknowledge that fear of causing offence feeds self-censorship; others stress that over-protectiveness denies the audience the opportunity to decide for itself. (The Independent)
Theresa May betrays our values by banning extremists from the airwaves
Theresa May’s proposals to ban radical preachers from the airwaves and block extremist websites are illiberal, impractical and may breach the UK’s commitment to human rights, Michael Harris writes. (Index on Censorship)
Snooper’s charter is threat to internet freedom, warn web five in letter to May
Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo! and Twitter dismiss email tracking as too costly and ‘highly contentious’. (The Guardian)
UNITED STATES
Did Public Television Commit Self-Censorship to Appease Billionaire Funder David Koch?
Filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal say plans for their new documentary to air on public television have been quashed after billionaire Republican David Koch complained about the PBS broadcast of another film critical of him, “Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream,” by acclaimed filmmaker Alex Gibney. Lessin and Deal were in talks to broadcast their film, “Citizen Koch,” on PBS until their agreement with the Independent Television Service fell through. (Democracy Now)
Dark money is not free speech
Let’s be clear. Gov. Rick Perry’s veto of a “dark money” bill is not about free speech, as he claims.
It’s about dirty politics and secret donors. The veto is support for old-school cronyism. (San Antonion Express-News)
ZIMBABWE
Baba Jukwa manifests freedom of speech
THE Baba Jukwa social media phenomenon — which has taken Zimbabwe by storm as the anonymous writer nears 100 000 likes on Facebook — needs to be evaluated in the context of free speech and free flow of information in a democratising society such as Zimbabwe, as it gives a critical dimension into resistance struggles that do not necessarily involve “big men” but “small men” agency which has sent shock waves across the entire authoritarian system while ruffling feathers of the powers that be. (Zimbabwe Independent)
28 May 13 | In the News
AUSTRALIA
Photographers withdraw from Vivid over censorship claims
Two international photographers have withdrawn their works from an exhibition in Sydney in protest over what one has described as censorship. (ABC News)
AZERBAIJAN
In Azerbaijan, authorities use ‘Harlem Shake’ to silence activist
The recent arrest of Ilkin Rustamzadeh highlights how Azerbaijan’s authorities use trumped up charges to silence messages they are not comfortable with, blogger Ali Novruzov writes from Baku. (Index on Censorship)
CHINA
´Ai Weiwei´s work embodies freedom of speech´
The popularity of Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei in the Netherlands is largely fueled by the Dutch love of art that hovers on the edge of acceptability. This commitment to pushing the boundaries of freedom of expression is evident in the exhibition FUCK OFF 2 which he’s curated and which opens at the Groninger Museum on Sunday. (Radio Netherlands Worldwide)
ISRAEL
Al-Jazeera draws fire over self-censorship
The Qatar-based al-Jazeera network has been criticized over its decision to remove a controversial article posted on its website amid claims the story was “anti-Jewish” in a seemingly self-censoring act. (YNet.com)
RUSSIA
Interpol Rebuffs Russia in Its Hunt for a Kremlin Critic
Interpol has rejected a Russian request for a worldwide police hunt for William F. Browder, a British investment banker and a Kremlin nemesis who has made no secret of his whereabouts or of his battle against the government of President Vladimir V. Putin over accusations of human rights abuses. (New York Times)
Russia: Gay Rights Activists Arrested At Rally
Dozens of activists at a gay pride march in Moscow have been arrested by Russian police. (Sky News)
TUNISIA
Tunisia’s ‘topless feminist’ faces jail for having pepper spray
The lawyer of a Tunisian woman who gained notoriety for posting online topless pictures of herself as a protest says she faces six months in prison for carrying a dangerous object. (AP via CBS47)
TURKEY
Turkey Kissing Protest Held In Subway As Couples Defy Ban On Public Displays Of Affection
Dozens of couples have locked lips at a subway stop in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, to protest subway authorities’ admonishment of a couple that kissed in public. (AP via Huffington Post)
Turkey takes important steps to end human rights violations
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said on Thursday that Turkey has made significant improvements in human rights, especially in freedom of expression. (Turkish Weekly)
UNITED KINGDOM
Speaker’s wife faces £150,000 bill for online libel
SPEAKER’S wife Sally Bercow faces a legal bill of £150,000 after losing a libel battle with Lord McAlpine yesterday over a tweet which falsely linked him to allegations of sex abuse. (The Daily Express)
Could “snooper’s charter” stop terror attacks?
Some UK politicians have said the murder of a soldier in Woolwich, London this week demonstrates the need for greater surveillance of communications data. But would a “snooper’s charter” really have made a difference? Index asked Emma Carr of Big Brother Watch and Jamie Bartlett of Demos for their views. (Index on Censorship)
UNITED STATES
Microsoft Disables Comments For Xbox One Videos Following Harsh Criticisms
Want to let Microsoft know how you feel about the Xbox One? You won’t be able to do it on the official YouTube videos. If you head to Microsoft’s official channel for the Xbox One, the comments for the videos have been aptly disabled. (Gaming Blend)
Attacks on the press should come as no surprise
Freedom of the press. It’s a bedrock of our Constitution, right there in the very first amendment. That means it’s one of the most important freedoms and rights guaranteed to this country, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press, all interlocked and interdependent. (Marietta Times)
As UN’s Censorship Alliance Lashes Out from Anonymity, UN Does Nothing
UN scribes from Reuters, Bloomberg News, Voice of America, Agence France Presse and others on the board of the UN Correspondents Association tried to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN in 2012. In 2013 they have started anonymous social media accounts to falsely accuse Inner City Press of being funded by terrorists.
(Inner City Press)
