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Karen Bradley is not the woman off The Apprentice but probably wishes that she was. Instead of swanning about on telly looking theatrically unimpressed with the antics of millennial selfies-on-legs as Karren Brady does, Ms Bradley is quiet and close-cloistered in the middle of an unpublic public consultation designed to delay the moment when one side or another in the great dispute over press regulation decides that she’s a total loser. January 10 will be the end of the public (99.99 per cent blissfully unaware of their historic mission) being consulted, at which point the secretary of state for culture, media and sport — for it is she — has to make a decision. Read the full article
Producing good journalism is not an easy task. Those who do it well are adept in communicating with clarity, precision, and understanding. But it seems as if nobody within the industry is able to apply these admirable attributes to a system of press regulation. As a result, a civil war is being waged within British journalism – and it risks becoming even more vicious. Read the full article
Protesters from Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Index on Censorship and English Pen called for Nabeel Rajab’s release outside 10 Downing Street.
Parliamentarians today joined in calling on the UK government to call for the release of jailed activist Nabeel Rajab.
Twenty-three Members of Parliament have penned a joint letter to the Foreign Secretary calling on the UK government to demand the “unconditional release” of Nabeel Rajab from prison, and for the charges against him to be dropped.
The letter signed by a cross-party group of MPs from the Conservatives, Labour, Scottish National Party, DUP, Liberal Democrats, Green and SDLP, urges the UK Government to follow the lead of the US State Department, the European Parliament, and the United Nations, in calling for Bahrain to release Mr Rajab.
The letter said: “We urge you, in advance of the trial tomorrow, to make it clear to Bahraini officials that the United Kingdom wishes to see his unconditional release from prison, and for the charges brought against him, which are related to his right to freedom of expression and freedom of speech, to be dropped.”
Margaret Ferrier, a Scottish MP who chairs Westminster’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy and Human Rights in the Gulf, commented:
“This is a matter of freedom of speech and expression. Nabeel Rajab is highly-regarded as a prominent human rights activist, and these charges are little more than an attempt by Bahraini authorities to silence a dissenting voice. I find it concerning that Mr Rajab is facing such a lengthy prison sentence, particularly given that his health has already begun to deteriorate as a result of the time he has spent behind bars already. The Foreign Office has given assurances that they have repeatedly raised Mr Rajab’s case with Bahraini officials, and whilst this is welcome, we are calling for it to go one step further and urge its key Gulf ally to release him unconditionally and to drop all charges.”
Their calls are echoed by Tom Brake, Foreign Affairs Spokesman for the Liberal Democrats. He said: “With Nabeel’s trial imminent, now is the right time for the UK government to call openly and loudly for his immediate release. Anything less will be spineless and destroy the UK Government’s credibility globally on human rights.”
Also today, rights groups including Index on Censorship and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy protested outside Downing Street and delivering a letter to the Prime Minister.
Theresa May was in Bahrain last week to set out her new “bold vision” for British-Gulf relations. Human rights was not mentioned in her speech to Gulf leaders, nor by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who was also in Bahrain for a separate security conference.
The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy and Index on Censorship, along with three NGOs also wrote a letter to the Prime Minister: “There is nothing bold in silence over clear human rights violations, and we urge you to now make a public call for Nabeel Rajab’s immediate and unconditional release.”
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy: “We have seen how Theresa May lashed Boris Johnsons over his comments on Saudi. Nabeel Rajab criticised Saudi Arabia and Bahrain over their bombardment in Yemen and is facing prison for it. If May or her government fail to publicly call for Nabeel’s Rajab release, Bahrain will take it as a green light for their repression.”
Nabeel Rajab is facing up to 15 years in prison on charges related to his Twitter activity. He faces an additional one year charge following a letter he wrote to the New York Times. He has been held in pre trial detention since June 2016. His next court date is tomorrow, 15 December.
Nabeel Rajab, BCHR – winner of Bindmans Award for Advocacy at the Index Freedom of Expression Awards 2012 with then-Chair of the Index on Censorship board of trustees Jonathan Dimbleby
Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, an Index award winner, has been imprisoned for tweeting about the Bahraini government, and could face up to 15 years in jail. Rajab was taken from his home the morning of 13 June 2016 and has been awaiting trial ever since.
His trial has been postponed four times. The first date, intended to be 2 August was postponed to 5 September, then 6 October to 31 October, and now the trial is currently set for 15 December. Rajab has faced cruel conditions while awaiting his trial and even had to be hospitalised after being held in solitary confinement.
Nabeel Rajab is the president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and has been targeted by the Bahraini government multiple times over the years for his activism.
Index on Censorship will be taking part in a vigil for Nabeel Rajab at 10 Downing Street. This is because the UK continually supports Bahrain despite the violation of human rights displayed by its government. Come gather in front of 10 Downing Street to remind the UK that opinions are not crimes.
Turkey Uncensored is an Index on Censorship project to publish a series of articles from censored Turkish writers, artists and translators.
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Women’s Voices by Meltem Arikan
The piece of land surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…big big men are leeching children’s blood, viciously…those who know know, those who know keep quiet, those who see look away…children with dying spirits imprisoned in their own bodies endlessly bleeding within…unhappy, fearful, insecure…No one is making a sound…
The place surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…While shouting out loud “We have never been this free”, and putting writers, translators and journalists behind bars yet life goes on as if everything was normal. While lies feed each other with more lies, liars and yes-men feed off each other murderously. Denying even the smell of death leaking from prison cells, still, more deaths are being called for.
The peninsula surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…the number of people queuing up to turn each other in never ends. The more hatred is carefully fed and made bigger, the more solutions are generated with violence…the violence of hatred and the hatred born out of violence are plunging the spirit of life into a pitch-dark void.
The slippery heaven surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where bloodsucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…while religious extremists obsessed with power are accusing one another, those applauding them are constantly switching sides. Fraud intellectuals, phoney writers, scam businessmen are crossing from one side to the other like a peg-top. Whoever gets to shout louder has their lie spread across the whole world. And sadly, it is always those who do not belong to either side that end up paying the price.
The piece of heaven here on earth surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…while the words of those who can shout out louder, who can buy more, who can be purchased more are suppressing the truth, everyone is turning a blind eye to this. Being closed down, those newspapers and news agencies which once caused innocent people to be sentenced to years in prison with the false evidence they provided are now being proclaimed as the representatives of free press around the world. Without carrying the slightest regret or shame for having destroyed other lives, without engaging in any self-criticism, not even once. As each side becomes more fanatical, truth is drowning further down in a well in which those who choose not to take sides become more and more invisible….Understanding what is happening inside the well is becoming impossible to those outside it. The stories of those who provide the money are marketed as the truth to the world.
The place I once used to live, surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies
The country surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…Those who, until not so long ago, would applaud the government in power today until their palms hurt and blame those who didn’t, for being the enemies of democracy, are today still preaching shamelessly from the same TV channels, from the same papers this time saying “we have been deceived.” Those who, until not so long ago, turned a blind eye to and even from time to time supported what today’s government did to some artists and writers are now expecting support from those whom they had, back then, turned their backs against. Those, who, until not so long ago, said “not enough but yes” (liberals used this slogan during the 2010 referendum) to pretty much all the actions taken by today’s government, and even called their critics fascists are now saying “fascism is coming, can’t you see, why are you keeping quiet?” The climate today is turning into a desert of memoryless miserables in which those, who, not so long ago, hailed the government’s policies on women as freedom are now, interestingly getting frustrated with the child rape law introduced by the same government and are clearing their consciences by saying they had previously been deceived. The hour and minute hand travel in time, but always around the same faces of people who are constantly in self-denial.
The place I once used to live, surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…with every passing day, we are becoming strangers to the places we used to belong, to our past, to our memories and even to ourselves…with every passing day, we are feeling more and more trapped in darkness…most particularly women…if you are a woman…if you have not yet given up on being a woman…
The cage surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies..the sound of seagulls have long since been replaced by religious preachers yelling through speakers. Trees have long since surrendered to concrete walls. The sun is no longer shining in the eyes of the crying children…and lies are growing fast by being fed with more lies…and fears are being ignited by hatred…and people are giving up on themselves more and more with each passing day…and the power of bloodsucking spirits puffs up.
The temple surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…your needs count for nothing and neither do your thoughts. From now on, you are nothing more than a subject that needs to obey…you need to fully understand that you are a subject and you must surrender entirely…you no longer exist as an individual, now there are only those things you have to do and those you have to believe, as determined by the authorities. You will have to bear the brunt of giving up …the more you surrender, the more you will give up on who you are. The more you give up, the more you will be expected to do it…and the more you will give in to hatred.
The stage surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…the more applauded ignorance becomes, the more crowned the lack of knowledge becomes…As opinions get judged , giving in is embraced further. Asking questions has become dangerous now, you must accept the discourse unquestionably. And so you’ll learn to see through the eyes of bloodsuckers, but not your own.
That Sodom surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…rape and abuse have become ordinary acts…a normality. Children are being sent as appetisers for men to lay them on their beds… any sort of perversion can be legitimised as long as one says “I am a believer”. Perverts protect other perverts, perverts determine the laws…As perversion becomes normalised, everywhere is turning to hell for women and children.
That hell surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…people are queuing up to be bloodsucked and the bloodsucked turns into a bloodsucker. And gradually, ruthless vampire stories are coming to life.
That hunting ground surrounded by water on three sides is turning into a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…none of these bloodsuckers cares about freedom or humanity, but they are yearning to figure out who will suck the most blood and who will rule more…
a country where blood-sucking spirits conquer people’s bodies…
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Meltem Arikan is a poet, playwright and author. Her latest play Enough is Enough, about violence against women, will start touring in Wales between Jan-Feb 2017. And her multi award-winning short film Exhibit will continue to be screened various places in Europe. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1485774621131-5d65e5b1-5cf0-4″ taxonomies=”8607″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Harry Potter actor Noma Dumezweni, Doughty Street Chambers lawyer Caiolfhionn Gallagher, former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, Superflux co-founder Anab Jain and Heaven 17’s former manager Stephen Budd.
Harry Potter actor Noma Dumezweni will join a panel of judges that also includes Hillsborough lawyer Caiolfhionn Gallagher and former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown to decide the 2017 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award winners.
The awards, now in their 17th year, honour those at the forefront of challenging censorship in the field of arts, campaigning, journalism and digital advocacy. Many of the winners face regular persecution for their work.
Dumezweni, who plays Hermione in the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, was shortlisted earlier this year for an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress. Speaking about the importance of the Index Awards she said: “Freedom of expression is essential to help challenge our perception of the world”.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher is a public law specialist at Doughty Street Chambers who represented the bereaved families in the 7/7 London bombings, and the Hillsborough football stadium tragedy. In October 2016 she was named Human Rights and Public Law Junior of the Year at the Chambers UK Bar Awards.
“Freedom of expression is needed now more than ever, as many governments worldwide are attempting to stifle critical voices. Some do this in ways which are blatant breaches of fundamental freedoms, others’ methods are more subtle but still pose a significant threat to free speech and democracy. Now, more than ever, we must fight to protect and champion freedom of expression,” said Gallagher.
Other judges on the panel include Tina Brown, an award-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief of Tatler, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker; Anab Jain, TED fellow and co-founder of Superflux, a company focused on emerging technologies; and Stephen Budd, chairman of the Music Managers Forum and co-founder of Damon Albarn’s ‘Africa Express’ musical collaborations project.
Announcing the judging panel, Index on Censorship chief executive Jodie Ginsberg said: “No one should be punished for speaking freely — yet across the world we see journalists muzzled for challenging politicians, musicians silenced for questioning the status quo, or cartoonists forced to drop their pens because they mocked the powerful and the corrupt.”
“Our awards celebrate those who fight back. And we’re delighted to have such an impressive panel selecting this year’s winners.”
Previous winners of the Freedom of Expression awards include Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim, and Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Hundreds of public nominations are made for the awards each year. Many of those nominated are regularly targeted by authorities or by criminal and extremist groups for their work. Some face regular death threats, others criminal prosecution.
Previous judges include digital campaigner and entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, novelist Elif Shafak, journalist and campaigner Mariane Pearl, and human rights lawyer Keir Starmer.
The Freedom of Expression Awards 2017 will be held on April 19 at the Unicorn Theatre.
Index on Censorship, founded in 1972 by poet Stephen Spender, campaigns for freedom of expression worldwide. Its award-winning quarterly magazine has featured writers such as Vaclav Havel, Nadine Gordimer, Arthur Miller, Philip Pullman, Salman Rushdie, Aung San Suu Kyi and Amartya Sen.
Each youth advisory board sits for six months, has the chance to participate in monthly Google Hangout On Air discussions about current freedom of expression issues from around the world and the opportunity to write blog posts on Index’s website.
The new board will hold the position for six months from January-June 2017.
We are looking for enthusiastic young people, aged between 16-25, who must be committed to attending monthly meetings, which are held online with fellow participants. Applicants can be based anywhere in the world. We are looking for people who are communicative and who will be in regular touch with Index.
The application period has now closed. We will begin recruiting for the next board in June 2017.
Successful applicants will be contacted via email by mid-January 2017.
What is the youth advisory board?
The youth board is a specially selected group of young people aged 16-25 who will advise and inform Index on Censorship’s work, support our ambition to fight for free expression around the world and ensure our engagement with issues with tomorrow’s leaders.
Why does Index have a youth board?
Index on Censorship is committed to fighting censorship not only now, but also in future generations, and we want to ensure that the realities and challenges experienced by young people in today’s world are properly reflected in our work.
Index is also aware that there are many who would like to commit some or all of their professional lives to fighting for human rights and the youth board is our way of supporting the broadest range of young people to develop their voice, find paths to freely expressing it and potential future employment in the human rights, media and arts sectors.
What does the youth board do?
Board members meet once a month via Google Hangout to discuss the most pressing freedom of expression issues. During the meeting members will be given a monthly task to complete. There are also opportunities to get involved with events such as debates and workshops for our work with young people as well as as our annual Freedom of Expression Awards and Index magazine launches.
How do people get on the youth board?
Each youth board will sit for a six-month term. Current board members are invited to reapply up to one time. The board will be selected by Index on Censorship in an open and transparent manner and in accordance with our commitment to promoting diversity. We usually recruit for board members during May and November each year. Follow @IndexCensorship on Twitter or subscribe to our Facebook feed to watch for the announcements.
Why join the Index on Censorship youth advisory board?
You will be associated with a media and human rights organisation and have the opportunity to discuss issues you feel strongly about with Index and peers from around the world. At each board meeting, we will also give you the chance to speak to someone senior within Index or the media/human rights/arts sectors, helping you to develop your knowledge and extend your personal networks. You’ll also be featured on our website.
Karen Bradley, our newish secretary for culture, media and sport, has an infernal December dilemma to solve. No, not the relatively simple business of seeing Rupert gobble all Sky TV. She’s over halfway through her 10-week consultation on the future of section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act: the currently dormant provisions that could land an outraged press with the full, crippling costs of libel actions even when they win. Does she stick or does she twist? Read the full article
25 November: The Finnish prime minister, Juha Sipilä, pressured the national broadcasting company Yle by claiming they had published false information about him and acted unprofessionally.
Three journalists as Yle, who have chosen to remain anonymous, told Suomen Kuvalehti that at least two Sipilä stories were censored after receiving the emails. The Office of Parliamentary Ombudsman is investigating complaints that the prime minister has limited press freedom.
29 November: A motion to stop the sale of the Daily Mail, the Sun and the Daily Express at a Plymouth University shop was passed by the Plymouth University Student Union Executive Council.
The University of Plymouth Students’ Union-run shop will no longer carry these news outlets. “Whilst we believe that freedom of expression and speech are inalienable human rights… a number of British tabloids are known to express hateful views,” the union stated.
According to the union, the publications “demonise certain groups in society, such as immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, disabled people, the LGBTIQA+ community, Muslims, Black and Asian communities.”
The union further explained: “UPSU is a safe space in which any abusive language or behaviour is not tolerated. UPSU opposes hatred, discrimination…Because of these very values that we hold and we are proud of, we believe that it is unethical for us to profit out of the sale of hateful, non-factual and anti-scientific media platforms.”
These newspapers will not be banned from Plymouth University, students will still be able to access them online or from alternative stores.
30 November: A former presenter for the now closed pro-Kurdish outlet Özgür Gün TV, Müjgan Ekin, was abducted on 24 October, and there is still no news of her whereabouts.
While on her way to a friend’s house, Ekin was dragged into a police car by individuals who posed as police officers. There were multiple eyewitness accounts of the incident. The police officers told Ekin’s family that she was detained for being a suspected suicide bomber.
According the the Human Rights Association there doesn’t seem to be any official report of Ekin’s suspected detention.
There is a history of disappearances in Turkey’s Kurdish provinces: these disappearances peaked in the 1990s when Turkey’s security forces allegedly carried out extrajudicial executions.
1 December: István Tiborcz, the son-in-law for the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has requested through his lawyer that news outlet 444.hu takes down a video of him and to issue him a written apology because they used the footage without his consent.
Hír TV originally aired the video on 28 November. It was filmed from a distance and shows a Hír TV reporter speaking to Tiborcz on the street, asking him questions about his role in a company involved in real estate. Tiborcz responds with: “Why do you care?” He then proceeds to tell the reporter she is beautiful, and asks if she is married.
2 December: Dozhd cameraperson, Sergey Petrov, was detained on 2 December while investigating property illegally built on a nature preserve in the northern Caucasus.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin’s personal chef, allegedly owns the property. While working on a report covering the property, Petrov and several environmental activists were detained in Kabardinka village by private security guards in a wooded area. According to Petrov’s wife, Irina Kovalenko, they were not trespassing on Prigozhin’s property.
The security guards deleted the information Petrov had gathered on his flash drive. Afterwards, Petrov and the activists were taken to the police station to give an explanation. They were later released.
Prominent human rights defenders Razan Zaitouneh, Samira Al-Khalil, Wa’el Hamada and Nazim Hammadi – the Douma four – should be released immediately, 32 human rights organisations said today, on the third anniversary of their abduction.
On 09 December 2013, a group of armed men stormed into the office of the Violations Documentation Centre in Syria, a local human rights monitoring group in Douma, in DamascusCountryside, and abducted Razan Zaitouneh, the head of centre, her husband, Wael Hamada, and colleagues- Samira Al-Khalil and Nazem Hamadi. There has been no news of their whereabouts since then.
The armed groups exercising de facto control over Douma include the Army of Islam, which is part of the Islamic Front, a coalition of armed groups. The groups should immediately release the four human rights defenders if they are in the groups’ custody, or work toward ensuring they are released unharmed and without delay. Countries that support these groups, as well as religious leaders and others who may have influence over them, should also press for the immediate release of the four activists and for an end to abductions of civilians.
Razan Zaitouneh defended political prisoners in Syria since 2001 and has played a key role in the promotion and protection of human rights through her brave work as a lawyer, activist and journalist. Since the beginning of the crisis in 2011, Razan Zaitouneh has played a key role in efforts to defend human rights for all and protect independent groups and activists in Syria. Along with a number of other activists, she established the VDC, which monitors human rights violations and records casualties in Syria, and co-founded the Local Coordination Committees, which coordinates the work of local committees in various cities and towns across Syria. She also established the Local Development and Small Projects Support Office, which assists non-governmental organisations in besieged Eastern Ghouta.As a result of her work,she received threats from the Syrian government and armed opposition groups in Douma several months before her abduction.
Samira Khalil has been a longtime political activist in Syria. The Syrian government had detained her between 1987 and 1991 for her activism. She later worked in a publishing house before shifting her efforts to working with the families of detainees and writing about detention in Syria. Before her abduction, she was working to help women in Douma support themselves by initiating small income generating projects.
Wael Hamada was also an activist before the 2011 uprising in Syria. When peaceful protests first broke out in the country in 2011, the government detained and later released Hamada. He is an active member and co-founder of the Local Coordination Committees and the VDC. Before his abduction, Wael Hamada was working to provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance to the residents of besieged Eastern Ghouta.
Nazim Hammadi, a lawyer and poet, was one of the most prominent volunteer defenders of political prisoners before and after the 2011 uprising in Syria. He contributed to founding the Local Coordination Committees and also worked to provide humanitarian assistance to residents of Eastern Ghouta.
Razan Zaitouneh and her colleagues appear to have been abducted and arbitrarily deprived of their liberty as punishment for their legitimate activities as human rights defenders. Such actions are prohibited by international humanitarian law and are contrary to international human rights standards. The armed groups in control of the area and the governments who support them should do everything in their power to facilitate the release of Razan Zaitouneh, Wa’el Hamada, Samira Al-Khalil and Nazem Hamadi.
List of signatories:
Amnesty International
Association for Women’s Rights in Development
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
Digital Lighthouse
English Pen
El Nadim Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence
FIDH, within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Front Line Defenders
Foundation to Restore Equality and Education in Syria
Gulf Centre for Human Rights
Hivos International
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
International Service for Human Rights
Iraqi Al-Amal Association
Iraqi Journalists Rights Defense Association
Iraqi Network for Social Media
Justice for Life observatory in DeirEzzor – Syria
Kvinna till Kvinna
Lawyers for Lawyers
Lawyer’s Rights Watch Canada
Metro Centre to Defend Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan
Pax
Raw in War
Reporters Without Borders
SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom
Syrian Centre for Democracy and Civil Rights
Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Researches
Syria Justice & Accountability Center
Syrian Network for Human Rights
Syrians for Truth and Justice
World Organisation Against Torture, within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Moddi and Katrine Schiott (Photo: Sean Gallagher / Index on Censorship)
Speaking during his Unsongs set at Hoxton Hall benefit in support of Index on Censorship on Wednesday 7 December, Norwegian musician Moddi warned that censorship can’t be thought of just happening somewhere else.
“Wherever there is power, there is censorship,” he told the audience.
Moddi’s path to his latest album began with a phone call from Norwegian singer Birgitte Grimstad, who told him of Eli Geva, a song about an Israeli officer who refused to lead his forces into battle in 1982. The song had not been performed for more than 30 years. That conversation led him to create Unsongs, a collection of 12 songs that had been silenced in 12 countries.
Jodie Ginsberg, Index CEO, introduced Moddi by reminding the audience of the importance of freedom of expression, something that most take for granted. She told of Zunar, who faces over 40 years in jail for drawing cartoons lampooning Malaysia’s prime minister and his wife, and Baharani Nabeel Rajab, who faces up to 15 years in jail for tweets and retweets.
The evening of censored music also included covers of works by Kate Bush, which had been banned during the first Gulf War by the BBC, and Pussy Riot, which Moddi was dropped from a Norwegian playlist after inquiries from the Russian consulate.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is deeply concerned about plans outlined by technology companies to share information about, and collectively remove, extremist content.
Index believes the data-sharing agreement presents a threat to free expression because of its potential to amplify problems already inherent in the removal of extremist content.
“These include the difficulty of defining precisely what constitutes extremist content, the often erratic, opaque and inequitable application of community standards, and the lack of easy recourse for those whose content is unfairly removed,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship.
Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft have said they will work together to identify and remove extremist content on their platforms through an information-sharing initiative.
The companies are to create a shared database of unique digital fingerprints – known as “hashes” – for images and videos that promote terrorism.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1481047556312-4c493cee-4e3e-9″ taxonomies=”59″ exclude=”72896″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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