You searched for Section 40 - Page 85 of 117

Free expression 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)

BAHRAIN
Bahrain warns against attending protest rallies
A spokesperson for the Bahrain government has warned against participation in the so-called “Rebellion of Bahrain” rallies and said participants will face legal action.
(Khaleej Times)

CHINA
Head of Google China leaves post, to be replaced by executive from Europe
Google’s leader for its China operations, John Liu, is leaving his position as the company continues to maintain a low-key presence in the nation following heated disputes over online censorship.
(PC World)

Incoming West Kowloon museum curator vows to be ‘politically incorrect’
Censorship has no place in at ideas places like venues such as museums, which should stimulate people to think for themselves, says a top New York curator who is due to join Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District’s visual culture museum.
(South China Morning Post)

INDIA
India Marks End of Era with Last Telegram
Thousands of people crowded telegraph offices around India to send the country’s last telegrams, as the government shut down the 163-year old service on Sunday.
(VOA)

MALTA
Malta FA presidential candidate sues for libel
Peter Fenech is to file two libel suits against Maltatoday and the newspaper’s website, maltatoday.com.mt, over two articles published yesterday entitled ‘Peter Fenech in impossible attempt at MFA presidency’ and ‘Dede’s supporters play down MFA rival’s transparency credentials’.
(Times of Malta)

RUSSIA
Russia’s Putin wants Snowden to go, but asylum not ruled out
President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he wanted Edward Snowden to leave after three weeks holed up at a Moscow airport, but also signaled that the former U.S. spy agency contractor was moving towards meeting Russia’s asylum conditions.
(Reuters)

TUNISIA
Tunisia’s dark turn
While Egypt’s revolution devolves into chaos, Tunisia’s democratic transition, which until now has been the most promising of any in the Arab world, is also in jeopardy. A bill being pushed by Islamists and their allies in National Constituent Assembly called the “law for the protection of the revolution” seems in reality designed to protect the ruling Islamist party, Nahda, from having to face real competition in the next elections.
(Los Angeles Times)

UNITED KINGDOM
The murky world of literary libel
Lawsuits, pulped books, family rifts: when novelists base their characters on real people, trouble tends to follow. John Preston investigates literary libel.
(The Telegraph)

Want to force ISPs to censor porn? Pass a law
As I write this, representatives from ISPs are meeting with the government for further talks on parental controls.
(PC Pro)

Online blogger set to appeal libel ruling
THE Towy Valley blogger, who lost her libel case against Carmarthenshire chief executive Mark James, is appealing against the ruling.
(South Wales Guardian)

UNITED STATES
ACLU says new Fairfield social media policy violates free speech rights
Maine’s American Civil Liberties Union says a new policy governing the online habits of Fairfield town employees is unconstitutional, but town leaders say they’re just trying to prevent their workers from attacking each other on social media sites.
(Kennebec Journal)

Zimmerman lawyer says he’ll move to sue NBC for libel
George Zimmerman is preparing to resume their effort to sue NBC News for libel following the network’s extraordinary breach of trust when they edited Zimmerman’s 911 call to make him look like a trigger happy racist.
(American Thinker)

Canned for Speaking Out?
It’s not unheard-of for a college to tell a faculty member partway through a probationary period before tenure that things just aren’t working out. And that may well be why Weber State University failed to rehire Jared Lisonbee, a professor of child and family studies. But the timing of his termination – after he and his wife spoke out against plans to name a new family program after a Mormon leader who has expressed controversial views on gays, women and intellectuals – has raised suspicion about what motivated the decision.
(Inside Higher Ed)

Would the Supreme Court silence pro-lifers?
A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court decided to hear a major free-speech case during its next term. The case, McCullen v. Coakley, concerns a 2007 Massachusetts law that prohibits some speakers from coming within 35 feet of free-standing abortion clinics. In effect, the law bans pro-life advocates from trying to peacefully persuade those entering the clinic to consider alternatives to abortion.
(The Washington Times)

Burma: Freedom of expression in transition | Politics and society

15 Jul 13 | Burma

Fifty years of authoritarian rule has left its mark on Burmese society affecting the speed and process of transition.

This chapter will explore the political landscape and its potential effect on freedom of expression, the current impact of the government, constitution and judiciary on freedom of expression. Following this the chapter will explore how the ongoing ethnic conflict has impacted upon free speech and how recent developments in the right to freedom of association have affected the ability to protest in Burma.

It is unclear whether the transition to a functioning democracy based on the rule of law and human rights will be completed, or whether the transition will remain incomplete: this will have the largest impact on freedom of expression in Burma in the near-future.

(more…)

Burma: Freedom of expression in transition | Media freedom

15 Jul 13 | Burma

It will be argued in this chapter that the media in Burma is freer now than at any point in the last decade, yet significant challenges remain and there are troubling signs on the horizon.

The abolition of the pre-censorship of the printed press, the return of daily newspapers and of formerly exiled independent newspapers and media outlets all point to demonstrable change since the beginning of the transition. It is also a better climate for journalists with the release of a number of journalists from jail during the transition.
(more…)

Burma: Freedom of expression in transition | Digital freedom

15 Jul 13 | Burma, Digital Freedom Reports

Real improvements have been made that strengthen digital freedom of expression in Burma from ending the blocking of Skype calls, to restrictions on internet cafe use being lifted and a reduction in SIM costs which will open up access to the internet and mobile telecoms. However, the legal framework remains largely unchanged during the transition to civilian government, in particular the draconian Electronic Transactions Act which contains many restrictive provisions on internet use. Built into the network infrastructure there are physical restraints on the internet in Burma with only one internet gateway for personal users allowing the possibility of deep packet inspection and web filtering. Upload speeds in Burma remain slow and the country’s mobile telephone and internet usage is one of the world’s lowest, which affects the dissemination of information. It is also alleged that activists’ email accounts have been hacked by the state. While in practice the internet and internet activists are considerably freer than a year ago, in theory they are still liable to lifetime prison sentences for the political use of email accounts. Without legal reform and technical reform, digital freedom of expression will remain chilled and mobile and internet use will continue to be highly limited.

(more…)

« Older Entries

Next Entries »