October 2nd, 2012
This letter appeared in the Financial Times
Sir, Your editorial (“Obama’s realist foreign policy”, September 27) claims that free speech purists were offended by Barack Obama’s comments on Innocence of Muslims. As an organisation that defends free expression around the world, Index on Censorship would certainly include itself in the free speech purist camp. Even the president of the US is entitled to say what he likes under the first amendment, as long as he upholds that vital part of the US constitution for all.
In his address this week to world leaders at the UN General Assembly, President Obama defended “the right of all people to express their views — even views that we disagree with”.
However, in reality, the White House is guilty of “reaching out” to Google to look into taking the video off YouTube on the grounds that it breached Google’s terms of service, justifying its removal. This intervention by the US government suggests censorship by stealth, whereby governments can claim to protect free speech while putting pressure on “middle men” such as internet service providers to censor for them. All of which raises the question: “Who should control the internet?”
Kirsty Hughes, Chief Executive, Index on Censorship, London EC1, UK
September 6th, 2012
Barack Obama’s administration cast free speech aside in its pursuit of file sharers and whistleblowers, says Mark Rumold
(more…)
May 17th, 2010
President Obama is to sign the
Daniel Pearl Freedom of Press Act today. The bill is designed to identify countries where press freedom is being violated, as well as promoting, protecting and
“strengthening the independence of journalists and media organizations”. It is also committing $2m into publishing an “Annual Report on the Status of Freedom of the Press Worldwide”.
November 19th, 2009
On 16 November, US President Barack Obama’s first serious engagement with the Chinese people ran afoul of China’s restrictions on broadcasting. He addressed the youth of Shanghai in a so-called “town hall” meeting, but it was not shown on national television and relayed only in poor quality on the internet. Obama’s call for China to adopt what he termed “universal rights” also went unreported in the Chinese media. China maintained its block on Facebook, but the meeting was available for viewing on the White House website. (BBC, Financial Times)
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October 9th, 2009
Bloomberg news is reporting that US President Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Read
here
October 8th, 2009
The UN Human Rights Council has passed a resolution condemning “stereotyping of religion”. It’s a move that flouts freedom of expression – and it was sponsored by the United States. Roy W Brown reports
(more…)
April 17th, 2009
President Barack Obama has released four
top-secret memos detailing US torture techniques.
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here
August 29th, 2008
ABC News producer Asa Eslocker was charged with trespass and interference at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado on Wednesday.
Eslocker, who had been working on a story about donors and lobby groups at the convention, was arrested outside the Brown Palace Hotel, where he had been attempting to take pictures of convention delegates.
Read more
here
