Archive for June, 2010
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Three Filipino journalists have been murdered in separate incidents over the last seven days. Sun FM broadcaster
Desidario Carmangyan was shot on Monday 15 June, when on stage hosting a talent contest in the southern island town of Manay,
Joselito Agustin, a broadcaster with DZJC Aksyon Radyo-Laoag, was gunned down on Tuesday by two unidentified motorcyclists near the northern town Baccara whilst walking home from work and on Saturday night, Kastigador reporter
Nestor Bedolido was killed after being shot six times outside a karaoke bar in Digos city. All three had been outspoken about political corruption, malpractice and other illegal activities. Local authorities say they have set up a special task group to investigate the attacks.
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Tesco has dropped its libel case against Thai columnist Kamol Kamoltrakul (pictured). But the libel laws in Thailand are still hostile to journalists, as Sinfah Tunsarawuth explained in Index on Censorship’s “Big Chill” issue
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Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Index on Censorship fringe event: ‘Is free speech being privatised?’
For the second year running, Index on Censorship will be hosting a fringe event at the Compass conference, at London’s Institute of Education this Saturday 25 June 2011.
After an individual Twitter user broke a series of “super-injunctions”, one MP remarked, “This is making a mockery of the existing law and we need to make sure that the law catches up with the technology.” Our libel laws are placing online intermediaries in the position of censoring material in order to avoid liability. In effect they are judge and jury. The Digital Economy Act is forcing ISPs to police users who may be in breach of copyright. Should ISPs and web services be censors and enforcers? Is our legal process so complex and expensive that online intermediaries must take responsibility and if so, are we in danger of privatising free speech?
Chairing: Mike Harris, Head of Advocacy at Index on Censorship
Dan Hind is author of The Return of the Public and The Threat to Reason: How the Enlightenment Was Hijacked.
Robert Dougans is a solicitor-advocate at Bryan Cave. His notable cases in this area include acting for Martyn Jones MP, defending the writer and broadcaster Dr Simon Singh in the case brought against him by the British Chiropractic Association, and striking out libel claims brought against bloggers David Osler, Alex Hilton and John Gray. He was named Lawyer of the Week by The Times, and Assistant Solicitor of the Year at The Lawyer Awards in 2010.
Emily Butselaar is Web Editor of Index on Censorship. She previously worked for the Guardian and Vanity Fair.
Our event begins at 1.30pm.
Click here to buy tickets
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
The Nepalese government has
banned a social studies textbook after complaints from Muslim groups. The book has been criticised for including factual inaccuracies and an “erroneous interpretation” of Islam: one particular illustration is alleged to portray a feminised image of the prophet Mohammed. This marks the first time religious outcry has caused the banning of a book in Nepal, where Hinduism was removed from its position at the state religion in 2006.
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Michael Jackson’s former bodyguard, Matthew Fiddes,
discontinued his libel case against Channel 4 yesterday (21 June). Fiddes, had been arguing that Cutting Edge documentary The Jackson’s Are Coming, which followed Tito and Katherine Jackson moving to Devon, had been dishonestly edited to portray him exploiting the Jacksons and betraying their trust. However, appearing before Justice Tugendhat, Fiddes’s solicitors withdrew his case, admitting publicly that the programme was “not faked”. The total expenses incurred in the action are estimated to be
in excess of £3m. Fiddes himself was not present in court, with his lawyer citing heavy traffic for his absence.
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Has the left lost its way on liberties? Or has it always had an authoritarian streak? Francesca Klug asks how we reconcile equality with liberty
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Friday, June 18th, 2010
On Thursday 17 June, The Icelandic Parliament
unanimously voted in favour of legislation providing extensive protection for investigative journalism. The proposal, initiated by the
Iceland Modern Media Initiative, safeguards whistle blower web sites such as
Wikileaks, protects journalist’s sources and shields reporters from foreign libel rulings. Those championing the law, claim that its effect will be to make Iceland the world’s foremost protector of free speech.
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Burmese pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi marks her 65th birthday today, under house arrest in Rangoon. Here, we republish an article she wrote in honour of her father Aung San, which first appeared in the January 1992 edition of Index on Censorship magazine.
Read “Freedom from fear” here
