Amazon’s Kindle 3G e-reader is becoming popular on China’s grey market for an unexpected reason. It can automatically circumvent the so-called ‘Great Firewall’ of the state’s web censorship. Social networking sites, which Beijing blocks, can be accessed without interference by the Kindle. Amazon say they are not allowed to export the Kindle to mainland China, but many are believed to have entered the country illegally. The 3G Kindle uses global system mobile (GSM) communication technology, which is able to provide WiFi coverage in China.
When the Press Complaints Commission responded to the outcry about Jan Moir’s infamous column on Stephen Gately in February, it did not uphold the complaint (25,000 lodged complaints with the PCC, an all-time record). Why, then, has it upheld Clare Balding’s?
Balding complained to the PCC that AA Gill’s description of her as a “dyke on a bike” (paywall) discriminated against her in breach of the editors’ code of practice; according to clause 12 of the code, newspapers must avoid prejudicial, pejorative or irrelevant reference to an individual’s sexual orientation. In the case of Gately, the PCC said it could not identify “any direct uses of pejorative or prejudicial language”; in Balding’s case, however, the PCC ruled that “the use of the word dyke, whether or not it was intended to be humorous – was a pejorative synonym relating to the complainant’s sexuality”, and ruled that the newspaper had been in breach of the code.
The application of the code however appears to be a very blunt instrument. Gill is a known provocateur who appears to delight in causing offence. By upholding Balding’s complaint, the PCC has actually weakened the force of its code and undermined the right to freedom of expression.
South Korea has begun blocking access to a Twitter account opened by a North Korean website. The blocking appears to be aimed solely at @Uriminzok Twitter account’s main page address, which has provided North Korea with a platform for propaganda messages.
Index on Censorship’s Mike Harris took part in a discussion on the use of social media and protest at the Frontline Club on Tuesday night with Sina Motalebi of BBC Persian TV, Sunny Hundal of Liberal Conspiracy, Benjamin Chesterton of Duckrabbit, and Mexico Reporter founder Deborah Bonello. Watch it below
