NEWS

LOCOG strikes again! Newsagent's Olympic bunting targeted
We really don’t want to go on about this…no, actually, lets. After the Twitter censorship, the links policy fiasco, and the Box Hill newsletter ban, the organisers of the London Olympics have turned their attention to an east London newsagent who sought to celebrate the Olympics with bunting on his shop. According to the Hackney […]
25 Jul 12

We really don’t want to go on about this…no, actually, lets.

After the Twitter censorship, the links policy fiasco, and the Box Hill newsletter ban, the organisers of the London Olympics have turned their attention to an east London newsagent who sought to celebrate the Olympics with bunting on his shop.

According to the Hackney Citizen, Hamdy Shahein, who runs Hamdy’s News in Stoke Newington, London, was visited by council enforcement officers on Saturday and told he had to remove his Olympic-themed bunting. It was reported that the Trading Standards Officers were even backed up by a police van!

Hamdy, who is popular and renowned in the neighbourhood for his refusal to stock porn magazines, was said to be shocked by the incident, particularly as he had paid for official bunting, so could not see how he could be in breach of any law.

Where will the Olympic copyright curse strike next? Tweet us @indexcensorship if you wake up to find yourself on the wrong side of LOCOG.

By Padraig Reidy

Padraig Reidy is the editor of Little Atoms and a columnist for Index on Censorship. He has also written for The Observer, The Guardian, and The Irish Times.

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