Khagendra Basnet, distributor of a local daily called Nigarani, was threatened on 22 August in eastern Nepal. According to reports, the individual harassed Basnet and threatened to burn down the daily’s facilities on the account of a cartoon published in the newspaper’s satirical section, Gaijatre. The section is named after the Gaijatre festival, also known as the festival of cows, in which important and powerful members of society are mocked.
The UK press may show more restraint in reporting of high-profile cases if contempt laws are vigorously enforced, says Brian Cathcart
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From the responsibility of citizens, to the relationship between whistleblowers and secrecy, to surveillance in public toilets: all aspects of internet and democracy were debated at one of the world’s top discussion comferences, The European Forum in Alpbach, Austria.
The panel was as eclectic as the themes. On the one side was Daniel Domscheit-Berg, erstwhile comrade of Julian Assange and Wikileaks.
Sitting next to him was Dr August Hanning, until recently the head of the BND, Germany’s intelligence service. Pieter Cleppe from Open Europe gave the audience a useful update on the European Union’s latest surveillance directives.
The expected fireworks did not materialise. The panel found itself, curiously, or perhaps politely, agreeing on a number of issues. I outlined to the audience of around four hundred people the campaign, led by Index and partners, in reforming English libel.
Hanning agreed with my contention that, in the light of the Wikileaks saga, Western governments needed to embark on a tighter interpretation of document secrecy. He and Domscheit-Berg found themselves in sync when warning of the dangers of private companies’ use of individuals’ data.
Domscheit-Berg argued that the internet’s greatest contribution was in bringing disparate communities together, particularly between the developed and developing world. He said the potential for an increase in information and awareness, and in democratic accountability was enormous and that citizens had barely begun to see the benefits. His Openleaks project, which aims to provide a platform for up to 100 media and non-governmental organisations to receive information from whistleblowers, is expected to go live by the end of 2011.
On the vexed issue of snooping in public toilets, which Hanning advocated while running the BND, the former spy chief said that his intention was not to invade privacy but to ensure that, for terrorists, there were no no-go areas in Germany.
The European Forum has been taking place every August in the picturesque Tyrolean village of Alpbach since shortly after the end of the Second World War.
It’s not only China that’s working on a musical blacklist. Over 2,600 songs have been banned in the past two years in South Korea after being flagged for “hazardous media content” by the South Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
But it’s not 1990s boy bands whose declarations of love are being censored. Lyrics deemed “problematic” by the ministry have included references to the effects of alcohol made by contemporary Korean groups.
The ministry’s aim is to protect young people from “negative cultural influences”, but both musicians and fans have criticised the ban as an infringement on freedom of expression. One netizen wrote,
This is pitiful. We are living in the internet era and they forbid songs due to their references to liquor? One can easily access to more hard-core stuff online… Why dont you just block the internet, deeming it inappropriate for kids below age 19. […] They spent about 21 billion 940 million Korean Won (approximately 200 million USD) of government money this year in censoring these songs! [This refers to the Ministry’s yearly budget, not the total amount of money spent on the censorship alone] Will songs about liquor (exclusively) prompt kids to drink alcohol? The kids are not that simple. Why don’t you, the Ministry, focus on taking care of runaway kids rather than doing this?
Lee Yoo Eun at Global Voices Online has a great wrap-up of the story.