22 Oct 2012 | Mexico
Last August, Manuel Berumen, a university professor, received the shock of his life after kissing his wife as they strolled with their four-year-old son in a public plaza in Leon, Guanajuato. A woman complained about the “indecency” and he ended up in jail. Berumen was victim of Guanajuato’s anti-obscenity laws, which ban kissing in public. The law was introduced in 2009 under mayor Eduardo Romero Hicks, of the conservative right win National Action Party, (PAN).
Berumen had demanded justice for wrong imprisonment and urged that the police officers who arrested him be punished. But now, a local inquiry body, called the Honor and Justice Committee has exonerated the police officers who arrested Berumen and said they were only protecting local law.
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22 Oct 2012 | Uncategorized
You know you’ve made it when you’re on the front page of the Sun. By that measure, the time of the troll has truly come, as Britain’s favourite paper has led with the story of the singer Adele being “targeted” by “sick trolls” “threatening” her and saying the star’s baby “should be killed”. Note the fact I had to put almost every word in scare quotes. The Mail ran the same story with the same tone, as did the Independent.
The story “reveals” that some people made jokes about a celebrity and her baby on Twitter. But what none of the quoted tweets appears to do is to “target” Adele. There is an OfficialAdele account, but it’s unclear whether she actually runs it, and it’s not exactly prolific. In any case, not one of the “sick jokes” made by the “vile trolls”, is actually directed at the account. There are just some rubbish jokes, chucked into the ether, and picked up by a journalist desperate for Monday morning copy. As so often happens with red-top stories, we have a celebrity, and a big current talking point — free speech on the web and cyberbullying — conflated into one big nothing.
Trolling can be defined as posting irrelevant, off topic or inflammatory material in order to get a heightened, perhaps irrational response. No wonder tabloid newspapers are so nervous about it — they’ve been sole practitioners for years, and have only just realised they’ve got rivals.
22 Oct 2012 | Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
One hundred protesters were arrested today by security forces in Baku, Azerbaijan‘s capital. The organisers of the protest decided to make their way to Baku’s Fountain Square to call for the dissolution of parliament, even though the country’s authorities refused to sanction the planned rally. Authorities took measures to curb the protests, with security forces gathered in the centre an hour before the planned protest. According to well-known Azerbaijani lawyer Asabali Mustafaev, some protesters outside of Baku were detained before even travelling to the rally.
22 Oct 2012 | Azerbaijan Statements, Campaigns
Index on Censorship joined more than 40 global media organisations demanding governments, the United Nations and industry take action against violence towards journalists.
The joint statement was delivered yesterday to the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and marks the second International Day to End Impunity on November 23. The issue will be discussed at the 2nd UN Inter Agency meeting on Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, to take place 22-23 November in Vienna. (more…)
