19 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
According to Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun the Chinese Central Propaganda Department has issued guidelines on reporting of the Qinghai earthquake disaster. All internal news items circulated within mainland China are to be approved by state officials before publishing, and can only focus on positive aspects of the relief effort.
Western media has already been more critical, focussing on aspects such as the unrecognised efforts of the 200 Tibetan monks who were banned from accessing certain areas of the city, instead concentrating on helping the rural population whose houses suffered the most damage. Other aspects that have hampered the rescue operation include delays in the arrival of aid packages and the altitude sickness experienced by many workers not native to the area. In a similar twist to the Sichuan earthquake of 2008, people have again been questioning why only government buildings have remained standing, whilst schools and homes have suffered the most destruction. Chinese news channels have been banned from reporting on these aspects of the disaster.
19 Apr 2010 | Events, United Kingdom
Index on Censorship and the Libel Reform Campaign are hosting the official “Free Speech Hustings” of the General Election 2010 and you’re invited. We have a number of free tickets reserved especially for our supporters so you can see Jack Straw from Labour, Dominic Grieve from the Conservatives, and Evan Harris from the Liberal Democratsgo head to head over libel law reform and protecting our freedom of speech.
The Free Speech Hustings will bring together scientists, writers, human rights activists, journalists, bloggers and most importantly… voters – we want you to put the difficult questions to the candidates about free speech and libel reform, counter-terrorism, privacy and religious hatred.
The event is hosted by the Libel Reform Campaign – Sense About Science, English PEN and Index on Censorship
21 April at 6.30pm at the Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA – to book email: [email protected] or call 020 7324 2570.
16 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Writer and campaigner Arundhati Roy is currently under investigation by Chhattisgarh police for her article “Walking with the Comrades”, published 29 March in Outlook magazine, describing her experiences with Maoist insurgents in the Dantewada region. The area was the location of the recent ambush launched on 6 April by the same rebels which killed 70 police troops. Police are alleging that Roy has intricate ties to the insurgents as a result of her sympathetic article. Roy stated in an interview to an Indian newspaper that the investigation was simply a way to “cordon off the theatre of war and choke the flow of critical information coming out of the forests”.
16 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost
The Irish government has been engaged in high level discussions on introducing technology to censor websites, according to documents obtained by campaign group Digital Rights Ireland through a Freedom of Information request, and seen by the Irish Times. The exact nature of the Government discussions cannot be determined as Digital Rights Ireland was refused access to many documents by the Department of Justice. However, the extent of government interest in censorship is indicated by the list of documents that were refused. For example, one refused item details a meeting between the department and Vodafone on the “introduction of internet filtering in Ireland”. The potential scope of such technologies is evidenced by a refused document in which documents relating to the blocking of child pornography websites were forwarded to the official in the Department of Justice in charge of casino gaming regulation.
