15 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost
Two newspapers critical of the Cambodian ruling party were shut down permanently, while five men were convicted of “provocation” for distributing pamphlets critical of the state last week, according to the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR). The pamphlets discussed the Cambodian government’s ties to the Vietnamese government, accusing Prime Minister Hun Sen of selling land to foreign countries and referring to him as a “traitor” and a “puppet of Vietnam.” Newspapers The Water and Fire News and The World News were ordered to stop publishing as of 3 August and had their licenses revoked due to perceived insult to the Ministry of Information.
12 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost
Officials at the state-run Cultural Centre of the Philippines shut an art exhibit on Tuesday after it provoked heated debate, threats and hate mail for combining Christian symbols with phallic objects. The decision by the centre’s board of directors came a day after former first lady and art patron Imelda Marcos joined politicians and Roman Catholic church leaders in denouncing the exhibit. The board said it made the decision because of “an increasing number of threats to persons and property,” including the artists and staff. It said the threats increased after critics vandalised an installation by removing a wooden penis from a poster depicting Jesus Christ.
11 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Noting how social media, particularly the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service, were used to organise this week’s intense riots, David Cameron today told parliament that the government is looking into banning people from using social networking sites if they are thought to be organising criminal activity. He added that home secretary Theresa May will hold meetings with Facebook, Twitter and Research In Motion within weeks to discuss their responsibilities in this area. Cameron also said that broadcasters such as the BBC and Sky News have a responsibility to hand over unused footage of the riots to police, despite the fact that, due to concerns over damaging broadcasters’ editorial independence, attempts to enforce this in the past have been met with resistance.
Index on Censorship news editor Padraig Reidy said today:
“David Cameron must not allow legitimate anger over the recent riots and looting in the UK to be used in an attack on free expression and free information. Too often, channels of communication, whether Twitter, Facebook or BlackBerry Messenger are seen as the culprits in acts of violence and anti-social behaviour, rather than merely the conduit. While police in investigations should be able to investigate relevant communications, there should be no power to pre-emptively monitor or suspend communications for ordinary social media users.”
11 Aug 11 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, minipost
Argentina‘s National Criminal Court has issued an interim order to block a website and blog used to expose corruption and ordered the National Communications Commission to instruct all internet service providers to temporarily block access to them. Using the motto “Let’s stop lies and hypocrisy”, leakymails.com sought to obtain and publish emails either from official or personal accounts, pictures, videos or any other document exposing misbehaviours or unethical actions of public figures. Dr Esteban José Rosa Alves, General Director of the Argentinean Ministry of National Security, denounced the websites to the judicial authorities, arguing that their content jeopardised national security and risked the privacy of a number of public functionaries.
