8 May 2013 | In the News
GLOBAL
The Bobs announce winners of online activism award
Jury members at The Bobs gave out honors to bloggers and online activists for their work promoting freedom of expression, human rights and the right to information. Internet users also voted for their own set of winners. (DW)
AUSTRALIA
Dreyfus says Brandis stands for hate speech
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus has accused the opposition of defending hate speech, not free speech, after his Coalition counterpart George Brandis’s charge that the government was waging war against freedom of expression. (The Australian)
Students ridiculed for Christian beliefs speak out in video
Public school students who’ve endured ridicule for their Christian beliefs created a newly released video, titled “The Thaw”, in which they ask, “Why can’t I pray in school? Why am I called names because I believe in marriage the way God designed it? Why can’t Tim Tebow praise God after making a touchdown without causing a national uproar?” (Christian Today Australia)
CANADA
“Cult of secrecy” pervades Canada’s Access to Information system, report says
Secrecy is at the heart of the annual Review of Free Expression in Canada released on Friday, May 3, by the organization Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). Observing a “cult of secrecy” in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, CJFE lamented the state of the country’s “dysfunctional” Access to Information Act, a sunshine law, and warned about a bill that could undermine the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) journalistic independence. (Journalism in the Americas
RUSSIA
Is Russia’s social network chief really a free speech martyr?
The beautiful thing about a really good conspiracy theory is that it’s nearly impossible to disprove. And that’s especially true in Russia, where so much, so often, is so murky. (Washington Post)
Russia’s only independent pollster resists ‘foreign agent’ tag
Russia’s only independent pollster could be forced to register as a foreign agent under a law which President Vladimir Putin’s critics say is designed to tighten controls on groups that do not toe the official line. (Reuters
SUDAN
SJU Calls for Ending Censorship over Press
The Sudanese Journalists Union (SJU) affirmed its full support and firm adherence to the freedom of the press and strongly rejected imposition of any exceptional measures on the rights of newspapers and journalists. (Sudan Vision
THAILAND
Editorial: Free speech under attack
It is hardly unprecedented, but it has been a while since a forum on democracy unleashed such a great anti-democratic blowback. (Bangkok Post)
TUNISIA
Press Release: Tunisian government finally appoints Independent Broadcasting Authority
Reporters Without Borders hails President Moncef Marzouki’s long-overdue announcement on 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, of the composition of the nine-member Independent Broadcasting Authority (HAICA). Nouri Lejmi, a teacher at the Institute for Press and Information Sciences (IPSI), is to be its president. (Reporters Without Borders)
UNITED KINGDOM
Leveson: former Army officer advising the Queen on royal charter successfully sued a journalist for libel
The former Army officer advising the Queen on the royal charter on press regulation won a legal battle against an investigative journalist who raised questions about his activities in Cambodia in the Eighties. (The Telegraph)
UNITED STATES
Duluth City Council to Address Free Speech Lawsuit for Bentleyville in Special Session
The free speech lawsuit involving Duluth’s holiday light show Bentleyville is back in the spot light as City Councilors plan a special meeting to discuss the litigation. (Northlands News Center)
Anne Frank’s Diary in US schools censorship battle
Anti-censorship campaigners fight parent in Michigan over allegedly graphic passages in Diary of Young Girl (The Guardian)
7 May 2013 | Uncategorized
GLOBAL
The PS4’s Share Button Needs To Be All Or Nothing, Publisher Censorship Won’t Work
The PlayStation 4 is doing many things right. It’s ticking the boxes the developers want to see – it’s certainly powerful enough and that RAM is well received; it’s making gamers happy with great first party titles and solid third party support; and it’s making publishers happy – it’ll even offer publishers the ability to block which sections of the game players can share.
(The Sixth Axis)
EGYPT
How free are Egypt’s new voices?
Two years after the 2011 revolution in Egypt, a growing number of satellite TV channels are expressing a range of views – from liberal to ultra conservative. (BBC)
INDIA
Debate on free speech limits at Mario Miranda Cartoon Festival
After joining The Current in 1952, Mario Miranda drew his first political cartoon poking fun at Bombay’s home minister at the time, Morarji Desai. The cartoon delighted Miranda’s editor, DF Karaka, but annoyed Desai and elicited angry responses from the public. “That experience taught Mario the lesson that in India for an ambitious cartoonist to lampoon some political personage was to invite trouble,” wrote author Manohar Malgonkar in the book “Mario de Miranda”.
(The Times of India)
Resisting the impunity
The agency of journalists to push the envelope and the wider public’s demand for credible, trustworthy news sources are the positive development. On the flip side, there is a real fear of casting away the hard-won freedoms, and, as its extension, a vibrant, common forum for dialogue and debate is under severe strain. The challenges come from multiple sources.
(The Hindu)
Bollywood censorship to be relaxed
India’s all-powerful censor board is planning a lighter approach to Bollywood after decades chopping tens of thousands of film scenes, from onscreen kisses to violent endings.The Himalayan Times)
IRELAND
A crock of gold for libel tourists who bring cases to Emerald Isle
Ah, the good old law of unintended consequences pops up again. Who would have thought that Irish jobs could be affected by the passage at Westminster last week of the Defamation Act?
(Ruth Dudley-Edwards, Irish Independent)
MALAWI
President Joyce Banda waiting for advice on press pact
President Joyce Banda has said she is waiting for expert advice from the Attorney General (AG) and the Minister of Justice on whether to sign the Table Mountain Declaration. The President has come under fire from the press as well as human rights activists over her refusal to sign the accord which proposes abolition of insult laws in Africa.
(The Daily Times)
RUSSIA
A year into Russia crackdown, protesters try again
A year ago, Russia’s political opposition was on the rise and aiming for new heights at a demonstration on the eve of President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration. Instead, authorities cracked down, ending their tolerance toward the thousands of Putin opponents who presented him with the greatest challenge to his rule since he took over the country in 2000.
(Washington Post)
UNITED KINGDOM
Why Britain Refuses To Publish Amanda Knox’s Memoir
We flatter ourselves when we boast of mastery of the ironic style. Unlike literal-minded Germans and Americans, we are not ashamed to live behind masks and speak in riddles. (Nick Cohen, the Observer)
2 May 2013 | Uncategorized
GLOBAL
Report: World Media Freedom At Low Point
Media freedom throughout the world declined last year to its lowest point in almost a decade, according to a new report from Freedom House, a U.S.-based democracy-monitoring organization. (Radio Free Europe)
CANADA
Harper Government muzzles scientists
The Harper government is facing an investigation by the Federal Information Commissioner’s Office concerning allegations of the censorship of Canadian scientists. (The Canadian)
CUBA
No freedom of speech in Cuba despite easier foreign travel
The Castro government’s easing of foreign travel restrictions on Cubans has not led to greater freedoms on the island, a leading dissident said yesterday. (Free Malaysia Today)
INDIA
No consensus on sex, violence and censorship in Bollywood
Getting directors, producers and activists into a room to figure out Indian cinema’s connection to violence toward women, rape and crudeness in society can be like a family gathering. People shout, get angry and fail to solve fundamental problems because they can’t agree on anything. (Reuters)
LIBYA
Voices in Danger: In Libya, Gaddafi’s media suppression lingers
Though Gaddafi is gone, the tools he used to stop Libyan journalists attacking him are still being used. (The Independent)
The New Libya Is Free, if You Don’t Count the Jailed Journalists
Being a journalist under the autocratic rule of Libyan dictator Moammar Qadhafi was an exercise in choice: between promoting state propaganda and spending time in jail. Now that NATO has toppled the regime, Libya is a little better at letting reporters practice their trade. But the press in Libya is by no means free. (Wired)
SOUTH KOREA
S. Korea ranks higher in terms of press freedom in 2013
How free is the press in South Korea? Well, according to the U.S.-based human rights organization Freedom House’s latest report, Korea’s level of press freedom increased this year ranking sixty-fourth out of 196 countries. (Arirang News)
SRI LANKA
World Press Freedom day, Uthayan and Freedom of Expression in Sri Lanka
This year, World Press Freedom Day focuses on themes that are particularly relevant to Sri Lanka. “Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media” and focuses on safety of journalists, combating impunity for crimes against freedom of expression, and securing a free and open Internet as the precondition for online safety. (Ground Views)
TRINIDAD
Libel laws to be amended
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will today take a note to Cabinet to amend the laws to ensure that no journalist can be jailed under section nine of the Libel and Defamation Act for the malicious publication of any defamatory libel. (Trinidad Express)
UGANDA
We should protect freedom of expression in all media
World Press Freedom Day is celebrated every May 3 to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom and to honour journalists who have lost their lives in pursuit of their profession. (Daily Monitor
UNITED KINGDOM
Don’t give politicians final say on changes to press regulation system, say public
Most members of the public do not want to see politicians interfering in a new system regulating the press, new research suggests. (The Telegraph)
UNITED STATES
Black pastor uninvited from speaking at college for criticizing Obama
Rev. Kevin Johnson, senior pastor of Bright Hope Baptist Church in North Philadelphia and alumni of the famed Morehouse College in Atlanta, was scheduled to speak at the school until he criticized Barack Obama in an op-ed at the Philadelphia Tribune. As a result of that op-ed, The Blaze reported Tuesday, Johnson was uninvited by the school. (Examiner.com)
In First Amendment Case Over Afghan War Memoir, Justice Department Asks Judge to End Lawsuit
The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to conclude that a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer “has no First Amendment right to publish the information at issue” in a memoir he penned at on his service in the war in Afghanistan. (The Dissenter)
Texas House OKs measure mitigating defamation lawsuits
The Texas House has passed a bill allowing publishers to mitigate the effects of libel lawsuits if the party affected by a mistake doesn’t request a correction or retraction. (SFGate)
1 May 2013 | Uncategorized
AUSTRALIA
Crotch rule takes many by surprise
News that certain “crotch” movements will be banned from performances at future Sunshine Coast Dance Eisteddfods left a Gympie instructor flabbergasted yesterday. (Sunshine Coast Daily)
SRI LANKA
US calls on Sri Lanka to ensure freedom of press
Expressing deep concern over the recent surge in attacks on Sri Lankan media organisations, the US today called on the country to ensure freedom of press. (Business Standard)
UNITED STATES
Lawsuit targets union fees collected from nonmember teachers
A conservative organization has joined with a group of California teachers in an effort to overturn laws that allow teacher unions to collect fees from those who don’t want to be members. (Los Angeles Times)
Christian group says Muslim organization’s $30M libel suit will expose terror ties
Muslims of the Americas is suing the Christian Action Network for defamation and libel following CAN’s recent publication of the book “Twilight in America: The Untold Story of Islamist Terrorist Training Camps Inside America.” Co-authored by CAN founder Martin Mawyer and Patti Pierucci, the book accuses MOA of “acting as a front for the radical Islamist group Jamaat al-Fuqra.” (Fox News)
ESPN supports Broussard after controversial Jason Collins comments
ESPN is standing by NBA reporter Chris Broussard after his controversial comments about Jason Collins, the NBA player who on Monday became the first active participant in a major men’s pro sport in the U.S. to publicly say that he is gay. (Washington Post)
A changing truth: Do online news stories about arrests constitute libel after expungement?
A class-action lawsuit scheduled for argument next month in Connecticut claims that the news media defamed arrestees in online news stories about criminal records that were later expunged.
(ABA Law Journal)
