Index on Censorship today condemned former motorsports boss Max Mosley’s attack on search engine Google
Testifying to the Leveson Inquiry into the press in London today, Mosley said: “The fundamental thing is that Google could stop this appearing but they don’t or won’t as a matter of principle…The really dangerous things are the search engines.”
Mosley revealed that he was planning to sue Google in Germany and France.
But a spokesman for free speech group Index on Censorship said Mosley’s attack on search engines was ill-advised and potentially dangerous:
“To request that Google remove information is to misunderstand the role of search engines,” said Padraig Reidy, news editor of Index on Censorship. “Search engines are not publishers and cannot be held responsible for everything on the web. If they are held responsible, it would fundamentally alter the web from the free space that has changed the way we live, ultimately rendering the web unsearchable as content is not indexed for fear of complaint.
Index on Censorhsip is covering the Leveson Inquiry live at @indexleveson
The controversial Protection of State Information Bill reveals a an authoritarian streak that has always been present in the ANC, says Salil Tripathi (more…)
Join us in demanding action for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre. On 23 November 2009, Esmael Mangudadatu planned to register his candidacy for governor of Maguindanao. His rivals from the Ampatuan clan – who have controlled Maguindanao since 2001 with the backing of the Philippine government – had vowed to block his efforts, so instead he sent along journalists and some female relatives, believing they would be safe. An hour into the drive, 200 armed men ambushed the convoy; 58 people, including 32 journalists and media workers, were slaughtered in the single deadliest incident for journalists in history.
Two years on, dozens of suspects remain at large, including members of the Ampatuan family. The trials have been painfully slow, and attempts to subvert the judicial process – with bribes, threats and intimidation of families and witnesses – continue. The Ampatuans have been linked to at least 56 other killings over the past 20 years. The government has failed to seriously investigate any of the atrocities.
International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.
To mark the inaugural International Day to End Impunity on 23 November, join Index in demanding justice for journalists’ murdered in the line of duty
Freedom of Expression Organisations Call for Justice on International Day to End Impunity
London, November 23, 2011
Today Index on Censorship, Article 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists and English PEN join dozens of freedom of expression organisations around the world to mark the inaugural International Day to End Impunity.
In the past 10 years, more than 500 journalists have been killed. In nine out of 10 cases, the murderers have gone free. Many others targeted for exercising their right to freedom of expression — artists, writers, musicians, activists — join their ranks.
On this day two years ago the single deadliest event for the media took place when 30 journalists and two support workers were brutally killed in Ampatuan, Maguindanao province, The Philippines. The journalists were part of a convoy accompanying supporters of a local politician filing candidacy papers for provincial governor. In total the “Maguindanao Massacre” as it has come to be known, claimed 58 victims. Not one of more than a hundred individuals suspected of involvement in the atrocity has been convicted yet.
We join those in the Philippines not only in honouring their slain colleagues, friends and family members, but demanding justice for them and hundreds more in Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Colombia, Iraq and Somalia and other countries where killings of journalists and free expression activists have repeatedly gone unpunished. Above all we demand an end to the cycle violence and impunity.
This year alone at least 17 journalists were murdered for their work. These include Pakistani journalist Saleem Shahzad, whose body was found May 31 showing signs of torture. They include Mexican journalist and social media activist Maria Elizabeth Macías Castro Macías, whose killers left a computer keyboard and a note with the journalist’s body saying she had been killed for writing on social media websites. These heinous acts not only silence the messenger, but are intended to intimidate all others from bringing news and sharing critical voices with the public.
We call on governments around the world to investigate and prosecute these crimes and bring an end to impunity.
Article 19 English PEN
Committee to Protect Journalists Index on Censorship
23 November marks the anniversary of the 2009 Ampatuan massacre, in which 34 journalists were murdered in an election-related killing in the Philippines, making it the single deadliest incident for journalists in recent history.
This weekend’s stabbing of Rafiq Tagi is a stark reminder of just how risky it can be to write about politics or religion in Azerbaijan. Emin Milli, who was jailed after criticising the government, describes the dangers of speaking out
Join us in demanding justice for Raad Jaafar Hamadi who was killed in the east Baghdad neighbourhood of Al-Washash on 22 November 2006. His car was fired on by four gunmen in another vehicle. He worked as a journalist for “Al Sabah”, a daily paper of the state-owned Iraqi Media Network (IMN). Iraq’s biggest media group with more than 3,000 employees, IMN was created by coalition forces in 2003. Many journalists working for the network have received threatening letters telling them to quit.
“Journalists and other employees of the Iraqi public media… are often the victims of violence by people hostile to the government,” Reporters Without Borders said at the time. “The main communication tool of the Iraqi authorities, these media are seen as government mouthpieces and have suffered a heavier toll in casualties than the other media since the start of the war.”
International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.
Despite the lethal crackdown, Egyptians are converging on Tahrir Square for the fourth day demanding change. Shahira Amin reports
