Posts Tagged ‘UK’
January 21st, 2012
Ofcom has
revoked the UK licence of Iranian broadcaster Press TV. In December Press TV was
fined £100,000 for broadcasting a 2009 interview with journalist and filmmaker Maziar Bahari, who was then being held in Evin Prison. Press TV has failed to pay the fine. Ofcom also concluded that the station, which featured shows presented by figures such as George Galloway, Yvonne Ridley and Ken Livingstone, was controlled from Tehran, a breach of UK broadcasting regulations.
December 12th, 2011
Seven people arrested at a
London demonstration over the
election result in the
Democratic Republic of Congo have been charged. One hundred and thirty-nine people
were arrested during Saturday’s demonstration which began at Whitehall and spread to Trafalgar Square. 116 people remain in custody, whilst seven have been charged with various offences, including obstructing the highway, breaching the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act and one assault on police. So far, 10 others who were arrested have been bailed to return pending further inquiries, and three were released with no further action.
November 2nd, 2011
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has lost his
UK High Court appeal against extradition to
Sweden. Assange faces
accusations of rape and sexual assault after a visit to Stockholm in August 2010.
The judgement was handed down to the 40-year-old Australian by two High Court judges, following a European arrest warrant. Assange’s lawyers will take 14 days to decide whether to appeal further, and if he is denied the right to appeal, British law enforcement officers will arrange for his removal to Sweden within 10 days.
October 19th, 2011
As Parliament takes a significant step in its slow removal of the UK’s pariah status on defamation, John Kampfner describes the progress on libel reform
(more…)
October 19th, 2011
The Libel Reform Campaign is calling for the government to honour manifesto promises for a defamation bill with a strong public interest defence to protect authors, bloggers, scientists, academics and NGOs
(more…)
October 11th, 2011
David Cameron has announced plans to block access to pornography online, with providers offering the choice to turn on a filter.
In a 2009 edition of Index on Censorship magazine Seth Finkelstein examines how indiscriminate blocking systems can be a source of censorship
(more…)
October 7th, 2011
An initially
banned horror film has been given an “18″ rating, after a number of cuts.
Human Centipede 2 was originally
banned in the UK for posing a “real risk of harm,” in June, but after 32 cuts, the British Board of Film Classification
(BBFC) granted it certification ahead of its DVD release. BBFC president Sir Quentin Thomas said that the sequel, in which a disturbed loner conducts bizarre human experiments, would still be difficult for viewers to watch, but said that the cuts “address all of the concerns raised when the board
refused a classification.”
September 21st, 2011
The Metropolitan police has
backed down from its threat to use the Official Secrets Act to force Guardian journalists to reveal sources in the phone-hacking scandal investigation. The Met’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Mark Simmons,
admitted that the attempt was “not appropriate.” Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of the Guardian welcomed the withdrawal of the “ill-judged order”, and said that “threatening reporters with the Official Secrets Act was a sinister new device to get round the protection of journalists’ confidential sources.” Index
condemned the efforts on Friday, and Chief Executive John Kampfner said that the move was “shocking” and “a direct attack on a free press.”
