30 Jan 13 | Uncategorized
A former CIA officer was sentenced on 25 January to more than two years in prison for leaking official information to the media. John Kiriakou had released the name of a covert officer to a reporter in 2007 in media interviews which were among the first to confirm the waterboarding of detainees, including al-Qaida terrorist Abu Zubaydah. Defenders say the former officer acted as a whistleblower to the CIA’s use of torture to interrogate detained terrorists, whilst prosecutors said his intention was purely to gain fame and status. He pleaded guilty to violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act in 2012, the first conviction under the law in 27 years. Kiriakou was initially charged under the World War I-era Espionage Act but swapped charges in a plea deal. The deal meant US district judge Leonie Brinkema was restricted to imposing a two and a half year sentence — which she said she would have extended if she could.
Poster for the play Behzti – Gurpreet Bhatti has faced censorship of another play by the BBC
Human rights defender Alaa Abdel Fattah was arrested in Egypt on 29 January for allegedly defaming a judge. The political activist and 2012 Index on Censorship awards nominee was released on bail by Judge Tharwat Hammad on Tuesday, as part of a wider investigation into allegations against private satellite channels. Charges have been filed by 1,164 judges, who complained that TV station workers had invited guests on air who had criticised the judiciary. Abdel Fattah was charged with incitement against the military in October 2011 during the Maspero demonstrations in which 27 protestors were killed.
Playwright Gurpreet Bhatti said that her play scheduled for broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 1 February has had lines removed from the script. During Index on Censorship’s arts conference Taking the Offensive at the Southbank Centre on 29 January, Bhatti told attendees that her play Heart of Darkness had been altered by broadcasters. The episode, due to be played on the Afternoon Drama slot, followed the investigation into the honour killing of a 16 year old Asian girl – a case investigators are told to handle sensitively because of her Muslim heritage. Bhatti’s play Behzti was axed from a Birmingham theatre in 2004 following protests from the Sikh community. The playwright denied the BBC’s compliance department accusations that lines were offensive in Heart of Darkness, saying “we live in a fear-ridden culture.”
Germany’s foreign minister said on 28 January that Russia’s draft bill banning “homosexual propaganda” could harm Russia’s ties with Europe. In a meeting on Monday evening, Guido Westerwelle told Russia’s ambassador in Berlin, Vladimir Grinin, that the law violated the European human rights convention and will harm Russia’s image and relationships within Europe. The draft legislation was passed by the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, on 25 January and prompted protests by the gay community, including a kiss-in protest by activists which was broken up by police on Friday. The law will ban the promotion of homosexuality amongst children and is alleged to intend consolidation of public support for President Vladimir Putin.
On 28 January, Twitter began censoring porn related searches on its video sharing app Vine yesterday, after a six-second porn clip was accidentally made editor’s pick. Searching for terms such as #sex and #porn came up with no results, but users could still access pornographic content if it had been posted under a different hashtag. The social networking site apologised for circulating the video of a graphic sex act on the app launched last week, blaming the slip-up on a “human error”. Vine was introduced to Twitter as a video programme similar to Instagram, where users can upload six second video loops, some of which proving to appeal to a more adult audience. Last week, Apple banned 500px, a photography app with a section dedicated to nudity, from its app store.
29 Jan 13 | Uncategorized
Indian intellectual Ashis Nandy is facing a police investigation after remarks about underprivileged people made at the Jaipur Literary Festival. Nandy was quoted as saying that “Most corrupt people come from Other Backward Classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.” Nandy later claimed that he had meant that most people prosecuted for corruption were from the lower castes, as they did not have the means to defend themselves. But complaints have reportedly been made to police.
Writers including novelist Hari Kunzru were threatened with prosecution at the Jaipur festival last year after they read extracts from the work of Salman Rushdie, who had been forced to withdraw from appearing at the event following threats.
Irina Khalip with husband Andrei Sannikov and son Danil
Belarusian journalist Irina Khalip is to apply to leave the country to visit the UK and Russia. Khalip, who is married to former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, is currently subject to a two-year suspended sentence, handed down after a crackdown on opposition journalists and activists in the wake of Belarus’s 2010 presidential election. Her husband has been granted asylum in the UK.
Egypt’s Prosecutor General has ordered the arrest of all members of alleged anarchist group “Black Bloc”.
The newly-emerged Black Bloc, adopting tactics from international anarchist protest movements, and wearing distinctive black hoodies and balaclavas, has been denounced as “barbaric” by Muslim Brotherhood-aligned media. But some commentators have likened the crackdown on the tiny grouping to a panic over heavy metal fans during the Mubarak era.
Philippines Solicitor-General Francis Jardeleza has said that “liking” a libelous post on Facebook could lead to criminal prosecution.
Jardazela’s addmission, during a discussion on the Philippines cybercrime law, prompted one Supreme Court judge to admit that he would now be “reluctant to express [his] view on the web.
28 Jan 13 | Uncategorized
On 24 January, thousands of priceless manuscripts were destroyed in a fire started by Islamist militants leaving Mali. The South African — funded library had been torched by the rebel fighters after French and Malian troops closed in on their escape from the Saharan city of Timbuktu, burning it to the ground. The newly constructed Ahmed Baba Institute housed more than 20,000 scholarly manuscripts and contained fragile documents dating back to the 13th century. The city’s Mayor Halle Ousmane told the press today (28 January) that he was unable to share the extent of the damage to the building and that French and Malian troops were sealing the area today. A Tuareg-led rebellion captured the city from the government on 1 April, torching the home of a member of parliament and the office of the Mayor.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: State security forces have arrested several journalists in Iran ahead of June’s presidential election
The offices of five media publications were raided by Iran’s State Security Forces, it was reported on 27 January. At least ten arrests were made for “cooperating with anti-revolutionary media” after the offices of daily reformist newspapers Bahar, Arman, and Shargh were raided, as well as Aseman magazine headquarters and ILNA news agency offices. Staff were also filmed and documents were confiscated. The prosecutor’s office is expected to release a statement on the raids, alleged to have been a campaign of intimidation ahead of the June presidential elections. Journalists reported to have been arrested include Sassan Aghaei, Emili Amraee, Motahareh Shafiee, Pejman Mousavi, Nasrin Takhayori, Suleiman Mohammadi, Saba Azarpeik, Narges Joudaki, Pourya Alami, Akbar Montajebi and Milad Fadayi-Asl. The specific reason for arrest has yet to be made, but journalists are accused of cooperating with anti-revolutionary Persian language media forces outside of the country, many of whom are living in exile and facing threats from the government.
Twenty-two Nepalese journalists have fled their home in the western district of Dailekh following death threats from the government. The warning from the ruling Unified Communist Party of Nepal (UCPN) came following prime minister Baburam Bhattarai’s visit to Dailakh, where journalists assembled in protest against his decision to call off an investigation into the death of journalist Dekendra Raj Thapa. A colleague of the protestors, Thapa had been kidnapped and murdered four years ago, allegedly by five members of the UCPN. Authorities responded by warning the journalists they could face the same fate as Thapa if they did not disperse, and proceeded to raid the offices of newspaper Hamro Tesro Aankha. The daily publication was forced to cease printing indefinitely, along with weekly Sajha Pratibimba. The radio stations Dhruba Tara and Panchakoshi FM was also forced to stop broadcasting.
An Arabic language newspaper in Sudan was seized by Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on 22 January. More than 14,000 copies of Al-Sudani were destroyed without a reason. The once independent newspaper was bought by a member of the ruling National Congress Party and now reports the political views of the owner. On 5 January, opposition leaders had met in Ugandan capital Kampala to discuss how to consolidate their power against the country’s government. Intelligence and security services then banned all media outlets from printing anything about the outcome of an agreement signed at the meeting. Last year saw the seizure of more than 20 newspapers, both pro-government and publications critical 0f authorities.
A tree-top anti-abortion protestor who describes himself as an “open-air preacher” has been banned from Washington DC after he attempted to shout down US President Barak Obama during his inauguration ceremony. Rives Grogan was arrested for disorderly conduct on 21 January by Washington police after he scaled a tree and shouted repeatedly over the president. Local judge Karen Howze ordered on 22 January that he be arrested should he step foot into the country’s capital before his court appearance on 25 February. Grogan, who said he has been arrested around 30 times in 19 years, said that he had never been banned from an entire city before, claiming the move violated his first amendment rights. Prosecutors said Grogan was arrested for breaking tree branches during his climb, endangering the lives of himself and others.
26 Jan 13 | Uncategorized
Some people collect stamps, others collect SIM cards. As stamps facilitate postal communication, so SIM cards allow people to reconnect with local friends at local rates the moment their planes hit the ground.
Starting today, nomadic Americans and those who balk at signing the market standard two-year contract will find choosing a new carrier or popping in a new SIM card more difficult and, in many cases, illegal.
The new federal policy makes unlocking most newly purchased phones illegal, even after initial contracts have expired. “Unlocking” phones — removing the security features that bind them to a single network — was formerly allowed as an exemption to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). The US Librarian of Congress removed this exemption in October, giving customers an additional 90 days to buy and unlock new phones before the policy went into effect.
Mobile phones in the US are typically bought at reduced rates, with high monthly fees spread over two-year contracts making up the price difference. Apple fans can get an iPhone 4 from the Apple store for free with a new two-year wireless service contract. The price for an unlocked contract-free iPhone is $450. This up-front price difference, prohibitive for most consumers, is designed to lock them into one service provider for two years. With new unlocking restrictions in place, this commitment could drag on indefinitely if consumers wish to continue using the same phone beyond the initial two-year contract.
With SIM-card swapping now illegal on new phones, shop and kiosks that once offered to unlock or jailbreak them at a small fee will likely face new legal scrutiny. In many cases, users will be forced to sacrifice their privacy, anonymity, and a range of other freedoms if they wish to stay within the bounds of the law. Locking consumers into such contracts by making it illegal to unlock new phones represents a direct curb on their free expression.
Government agencies in the US have repeatedly attempted to use mobile phone records to track user locations without warrant. The government also engages in warrantless wiretapping. Just last month the Senate overwhelmingly voted to extend the FISA Amendments Act by five years allowing the government to continue monitoring Americans’ communications abroad. Mobile service providers responded to 1.3 million government demands for subscriber information in the US in 2011. Today’s new federal policy will make switching carriers more difficult, and as a result make the government’s ability to track users that much easier.
Fear that the authorities are listening in produces a chilling effect on speech, one that could be further accentuated by service provider attempts to do away with net neutrality. Verizon, for example, has been vocal in its opposition to the US Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Rules, claiming these rules violate the company’s First Amendment rights.
If Verizon is successful in its challenge to the FCC and gains the right to block or slow access to websites of its choosing, many users will inevitably wish to change provider. If those users bought their phones after today’s new policy comes into effect, the legal opt-out will mean shelling out hundreds of dollars for a new unlocked smartphone or signing a new two-year contract with a different provider.
Also from today, if Americans buy certain mobile phones in the US and leave the country, they will face exorbitant roaming charges when using their locked phones abroad. If AT&T’s $2 per minute or $20 per megabyte rates aren’t a curb on free speech, I don’t know what is.
In an an email to TechNewsDaily, Christopher S. Reed from the US Copyright Office noted that “only a consumer, who is also the owner of the copy of software on the handset under the law, may unlock the handset”. TheNextWeb interprets this to mean that phones can be unlocked only if Apple, Google and Microsoft, the “owners” of the world’s most popular operating systems, agree to do so.
A petition, which has received 10,000 signatures since its creation yesterday, asks the White House to ask the Library of Congress to rescind its decision or champion a bill that would make unlocking mobile phones permanently legal. Criminalising communication by making it financially prohibitive and erecting barriers to privacy and anonymity violates our fundamental right to free expression. Given this decision’s implications for user’s basic First Amendment rights, this policy should be immediately rescinded.
