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Free expression in the news

10 Jul 2013 | In the News

INDEX EVENTS
18 July New World (Dis)Order: What do Turkey, Russia and Brazil tell us about freedom and rights?
Index, in partnership with the European Council on Foreign Relations, is holding a timely debate on the shifting world order and its impact on rights and freedoms. The event will also launch the latest issue of Index on Censorship magazine, including a special report on the multipolar world.
(More information)

BAHRAIN
Allowing freedom of expression and peaceful assembly is the only way to stop violence
Bahrain opposition parties are following with great concern the deteriorating security situation in Bahrain, by which the authorities are dragging the country into the unknown.
(ABNA.co)

BURMA
Burma’s lower house passes restrictive press law
Going against its own Press Council, parliamentarians in Burma have passed a restrictive new press law that will restrict freedom of the press, Mike Harris reports.
(Index on Censorship)

CHINA
Sina Weibo Credit System Has Docked 200k Users, Dealt with 15 Million Complaints
A little over a year ago, in response to mounting concerns about the spread of harmful rumors on its platform, Sina Weibo implemented a “credit” system.
(Tech in Asia)

FRANCE
French First lady forced to pay legal costs after dropping libel action against journalist who claimed two politicians ‘shared’ her as a mistress
French first lady Valerie Trierweiler was today forced to pay legal costs to a writer who accused her of being the ‘shared’ mistress of two married politicians.
(Daily Mail)

MOROCCO
Free speech sidelined in Morocco
Despite promising reform and introducing a new constitution in 2011, Morocco’s treatment of dissidents indicates the changes were just window dressing, Samia Errazzouki writes
(Index on Censorship)

RUSSIA
Journalist Akhmednabi Akhmednabiev killed in Russia
Akhmednabi Akhmednabiev, a well-known Russian journalist who reported on human rights violations in the Caucasus, was shot dead near his house around 7am local time today. Andrei Aliaksandrau reports
(Index on Censorship)

Russian Lawmaker to Create Defense From Gays Group
A Siberian regional lawmaker who has advocated the flogging of gay people in public said Tuesday that he intends to set up a group to protect Russians from homosexuals.
(RiaNovosti)

Russia drops curtain on Bolshoi director
The Bolshoi Theater, racked by feuds, scandals, criminal charges and tantrums as over-the-top as its recent extravagant renovation, lost its general director Tuesday when he was fired by Russia’s culture minister.
(Washington Post)

TUNISIA
Bare-chested street actors accused of indecency in Tunisia
Some Tunisian street performers, whose bare chests prompted an attack by audience members, have been released after being charged with public indecency.
(UPI)

TURKEY
European Commission ‘concerned’ by detentions targeting Gezi protests’ pioneers
The European Union’s commissioner for enlargement, Stefan Füle, has expressed concern over the detention of Taksim Solidarity Platform members who were involved from the start of the Gezi Park protests.
(HUrriyet Daily News)

UNITED KINGDOM
IPSO proposal an opportunity to break Leveson deadlock
The industry’s proposal for a new press regulator is not perfect. But it’s a starting point for proper discussion on the future of Britain’s free press, says Padraig Reidy
(Index on Censorship)

Rizzle Kicks ‘called libel lawyers’ over John Terry, Jeremy Kyle lyrics
Rizzle Kicks have mocked John Terry and Jeremy Kyle in their latest song.
The rap duo unveiled their new track ‘Lost Generation’ yesterday (July 8), which makes reference to Chelsea footballer Terry’s race trial.
(Digital Spy)

UNITED STATES
Ex-Bengals cheerleader to continue testimony in libel lawsuit over posts on gossip website
A former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader suing a gossip website for alleged defamation was expected to continue testimony for a second day in her lawsuit’s retrial.
(Washington Post)

FROM INDEX ON CENSORSHIP MAGAZINE
Global view: Who has freedom of expression?
Freedom of expression is a universal, fundamental human right. But who actually has access to free expression? Index CEO Kirsty Hughes looks at the evidence.
(Index on Censorship)

Global view: Who has freedom of expression?
Freedom of expression is a universal, fundamental human right. But who actually has access to free expression? Index CEO Kirsty Hughes looks at the evidence.
(Index on Censorship)

The multipolar challenge to free expression
As emerging markets command influence on the international stage, Saul Estrin and Kirsty Hughes look at the impact on economics, politics and human rights.
(Index on Censorship)

News in monochrome: Journalism in India
The media’s infatuation with a single narrative is drowning out the country’s diversity, giving way to sensationalist reporting and “paid for” news. But, says Bharat Bhushan, moves towards regulation could have a chilling effect too
(Index on Censorship)

Censorship: The problem child of Burma’s dictatorship
Writer and artist Htoo Lyin Myo gives his personal account of working under government censorship in Burma
(Index on Censorship)

Free expression in the news

9 Jul 2013 | In the News

INDEX EVENTS
18 July New World (Dis)Order: What do Turkey, Russia and Brazil tell us about freedom and rights?
Index, in partnership with the European Council on Foreign Relations, is holding a timely debate on the shifting world order and its impact on rights and freedoms. The event will also launch the latest issue of Index on Censorship magazine, including a special report on the multipolar world.
(More information)

FROM INDEX ON CENSORSHIP MAGAZINE
Global view: Who has freedom of expression?
Freedom of expression is a universal, fundamental human right. But who actually has access to free expression? Index CEO Kirsty Hughes looks at the evidence.
(Index on Censorship)

Global view: Who has freedom of expression?
Freedom of expression is a universal, fundamental human right. But who actually has access to free expression? Index CEO Kirsty Hughes looks at the evidence.
(Index on Censorship)

The multipolar challenge to free expression
As emerging markets command influence on the international stage, Saul Estrin and Kirsty Hughes look at the impact on economics, politics and human rights.
(Index on Censorship)

News in monochrome: Journalism in India
The media’s infatuation with a single narrative is drowning out the country’s diversity, giving way to sensationalist reporting and “paid for” news. But, says Bharat Bhushan, moves towards regulation could have a chilling effect too
(Index on Censorship)

Censorship: The problem child of Burma’s dictatorship
Writer and artist Htoo Lyin Myo gives his personal account of working under government censorship in Burma
(Index on Censorship)

BURMA
Burma’s Press Council Threatens Resignation Over Media Rules
Members of Burma’s interim Press Council say they will resign if the newly minted Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill is passed into law in its current guise.
(The Irrawaddy)

CHINA
State of the artist in China
“What can they do to me?” asks Ai Weiwei. “Who is afraid of Ai Weiwei?” sprays a young woman on city buildings in Hong Kong. You can hate him or love him but you can’t ignore Ai Weiwei.
(The Hindu)

GLOBAL
All the ways Google is asked to censor the web, in one handy chart
Google recently released statistics on all the legal requests it gets to censor the Web via its many services, from Search to YouTube. Now Sebastian Sadowski has created some handy visualizations of all the ways information is being censored — perhaps without you even realizing it.
(io9)

INDIA
To free the press or not to: the Indira govt debate?
The Indira Gandhi government feared Emergency and its various aspects, including the controversial family planning programme, would see the government “severely criticised” if press censorship was lifted in the run-up to the March 1977 Lok Sabha elections.
(Indian Express)

‘India has a strong culture for cinema’
Cinema is a movement that lets you enter the personal space of subjects without disturbing them and the art lies in then knitting a story around them, acclaimed French filmmaker Claire Denis said on Monday while addressing a news conference at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).
(Times of India)

IRAN
Iran’s Rouhani Set to Revamp Censorship?
Iranian President-elect Hassan Rouhani may be set to revamp the country’s censorship, according to a speech he delivered in Tehran.
(Israel National News)

MOROCCO
Free speech sidelined in Morocco
Despite promising reform and introducing a new constitution in 2011, Morocco’s treatment of dissidents indicates the changes were just window dressing, Samia Errazzouki writes
(Index on Censorship)

NEW ZEALAND
Critic claims censorship on Collins Wiki
Justice Minister Judith Collins’ office has become embroiled in a Wikipedia war with ministry critic Roger Brooking. Brooking is an outspoken critic of Collins and the Justice Ministry and was a prolific Wikipedia editor – now banned – under the username Offender9000.
(Southland Times)

RUSSIA
Guest Post: International solidarity with Russian civil society is crucial
Global action is needed to counter Putin’s crackdown on civil society, says Yuri Dzhibladze, president of the Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights
(Index on Censorship)

Russia to Develop ‘Code of Ethics’ for Film Industry
Veteran Russian directors Karen Shakhnazarov and Marlen Khutsiyev have been included in a working group charged with developing a code of ethics for the Russian film industry, an idea originally suggested by President Vladimir Putin.
(The Hollywood Reporter)

SINGAPORE
US ‘deeply concerned’ by Singapore Internet rules
The United States said Monday it was “deeply concerned” by what it called a “new restrictive” law in Singapore for licensing online news websites.
(Inquirer)

TUNISIA
Hollande’s Tunisia Visit Upsets
Some Civil Society Advocates
While many observers expected the visit of French President Francois Hollande to Tunisia to be postponed, others believed that its timing was counterproductive in the sense that it signaled indirect support for the ruling troika.
(Al Monitor)

UNITED STATES
Top Attorney Floyd Abrams Has Defended Free Speech For Over 40 Years
Floyd Abrams is an ardent defender of free speech and a passionate proponent of the First Amendment. Except for the time that his 12-year-old daughter, now a federal judge, told her dad that she and some friends were going to an R-rated movie.
(NY1)

Coalition calls for veto of NJ media violence ‘disinformation bill’
The National Coalition Against Censorship, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the Center for Democracy and Technology sent a letter to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie today asking him to veto Senate Bill 2715, which would require the state’s Department of Education “to prepare and distribute informational pamphlets on how parents can limit a child’s exposure to media violence,” which includes video games, according to the text of the bill.
(Polygon)

Free expression in the news

8 Jul 2013 | In the News

FROM INDEX ON CENSORSHIP MAGAZINE
Global view: Who has freedom of expression?
Freedom of expression is a universal, fundamental human right. But who actually has access to free expression? Index CEO Kirsty Hughes looks at the evidence.
(Index on Censorship)

The multipolar challenge to free expression
As emerging markets command influence on the international stage, Saul Estrin and Kirsty Hughes look at the impact on economics, politics and human rights.
(Index on Censorship)

News in monochrome: Journalism in India
The media’s infatuation with a single narrative is drowning out the country’s diversity, giving way to sensationalist reporting and “paid for” news. But, says Bharat Bhushan, moves towards regulation could have a chilling effect too
(Index on Censorship)

Censorship: The problem child of Burma’s dictatorship
Writer and artist Htoo Lyin Myo gives his personal account of working under government censorship in Burma
(Index on Censorship)

BAHRAIN
Media bias cost Bahrain millions
BAHRAIN has lost millions of dinars paying public relations companies as it tries to combat negative reporting in the international media, according to a leading human rights activist.
(Gulf Daily News)

Bahrain Salafist society wants concerts cancelled
A Salafist society in Bahrain has called for the cancellation of the annual summer festival in respect of the Arabs and Muslims suffering in several countries.
(Gulf News)

GHANA
Contempt of Court: It’s a ghost of Ghana’s common law system – Lawyer
A Senior Lecturer of the Ghana School of Law, Opoku Agyemang, has called for a critical analysis of contempt of court and freedom of speech.
(Ghana Web)

Supreme Court Did Nothing Wrong In Sentencing Ken Kuranchie
Head of Policy Monitoring and Evaluation at the Presidency under the erstwhile Prof Mills government, Dr Tony Aidoo, has waded into the public discussion of the jail sentence meted out to Stephen Atubiga and Ken Kuranchie by the Supreme Court over contemptuous comments saying it is about time media practitioners and commentators respect institutions of authority and obey the laws of the country.
(Asia Society)

INDIA
Who Has the Right to Offend in South Asia?
The past few months in India and around Asia have seen films, books, art and academics become targets of censorship, involving harassment, legal action and even threats of violence.
(Peace FM)

JAMAICA
Senate Begins Debate on Defamation Bill
The Senate, on July 5, commenced debate on a Bill entitled: ‘An Act to Repeal the Defamation Act and Libel and Slander Act’, also known as the Defamation Bill, during its sitting at Gordon House, downtown Kingston.
(Jamaica Information Service)

Punish Deejays For Gangsta Lyrics
Some of the worst examples of sloppy thinking, non-sequitur reasoning, and nonsense masquerading as commentary, as well as plain hysteria and myopia, have been manifested in this discussion on the anti-gang legislation as it concerns gangster lyrics.
(Jamaica Gleaner)

Time To Unleash Press Watchdog
The presentation in the Senate by de facto Information Minister Sandrea Falconer last week on a bill titled ‘An Act to Repeal the Defamation Act and Libel and Slander Act’, also known as the defamation bill, and her urging the media to establish their own self-regulatory body adds to the voices who are keen on these developments.
(Jamaica Gleaner)

PAKISTAN
Youtube and internet freedom
Should the judicial hammer protect personal freedoms or religious sensitivities?
(Pakistan Today)

TUNISIA
Tunisia actors may face ‘indecency’ charges
Tunisia’s public prosecutor is due to question 19 actors who were attacked by radical Salafist Muslims for alleged “indecent” behaviour, their lawyer told AFP on Sunday.
(AFP)

TURKEY
Turkey’s stance on Egypt coup ‘shows its democratic maturity’
The fact that all Turkey’s political parties have criticized the military coup in Egypt is a strong indicator of the country’s democratic maturity, according to an academic expert. ‘This tells us that if something similar happened here, it wouldn’t be tolerated,’ says Professor Mensur Akgün of Istanbul’s Kültür University
(Hürriyet Daily News)

Turkey rejects call to censor media coverage of gay pride as ‘pornographic’
Turkey’s media regulator has rejected a demand by influential Turkish charities to censor coverage of LGBT events in the country’s media.
(LGBTQ Nation)

UNITED KINGDOM
Banning the term ‘gay’ is an insult to free speech
Michael Gove, the impressive Secretary of State for Education, has just decreed that the term “gay” cannot be used as an insult. It’s “outrageous and medieval” to do so.
(The Telegraph)

Top cops probe councillors to try to find sources of Sunday Mail reports that embarrassed police chiefs
POLITICIANS, free speech campaigners and media experts condemn detectives’ investigation after we revealed allegations of bullying and misconduct by senior officers.
(Daily Record)

UNITED STATES
Social media free speech rights complicated for workers
An anonymous “Suzy Citizen” leaves fliers criticizing management in a public area of the St. Cloud Public Library, and the Great River Regional Library board of trustees hires an investigator to find out if an employee is the culprit.
(USA Today)

Understand free speech before crying wolf
Some folks have strange ideas about the First Amendment. Funny thing, that, since it’s mainly those of teabag persuasion that misunderstand, while claiming to channel the founding fathers every time they do ope their ruby lips; political versions of our own J.Z. Knight and her remunerative relic, Ramtha.
(The Herald)

VIETNAM
Vietnam Censors Give Songwriter Ngoc Dai “Free Advertising”
Arguably Vietnam’s most controversial songwriter, Ngoc Dai, has been featured regularly in the Vietnamese press over the last few weeks after releasing a new album without official permission.
(The Diplomat)

Free expression in the news

5 Jul 2013 | In the News

INDEX MAGAZINE
Index magazine: The Multipolar Challenge to Free Expression
Coming up in the next issue of Index on Censorship magazine, out Monday, is a special report on the shifting world power balance and the implications for freedom of expression.
(Index on Censorship)

AUSTRALIA
Bid to suppress free speech at WA parliament
Any doubts about the intolerance and political clout of the militant homosexual lobby were dispelled at a book launch held at Western Australia’s Parliament, in Perth, on June 20.
(News Weekly

BAHRAIN
Bahrain journalists body launches contingency fund
The Bahrain Journalists Association (BJA) has launched a fund to offer its Bahraini and non-Bahraini members financial assistance during contingency.
(The Peninsula)

CANADA
Protecting unpopular views is critical to a free society
The choice between upholding the free-speech rights of unpopular minorities or pandering to the popular mob has long daunted those in authority.
(The Province)

A gigantic victory for free speech and how Homer Simpson helped fight homophobia
Thankfully, the days of Canada’s human rights bureaucrats policing free speech are ofﬁcially over. The Senate passed a bill last week abolishing Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act—a highly contentious provision intended to crack down on hate speech, but which became a misguided means to stifle legitimate expression and even censor media outlets, including Maclean’s. The end of Section 13 is a gigantic victory for free speech in Canada, and the battle against hate speech will continue where it belongs: in court, under the Criminal Code.
(Maclean’s)

EGYPT
Egyptian army shuts down media outlets
Media outlets in Egypt sympathising with the now ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi have been shut down. Sara Yasin reports
(Index on Censorship)

Index calls on Egypt’s interim government to halt censorship of media
In the wake of the ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi in Egypt and commitments to initiate a road map to return to democracy, Index on Censorship calls on Egypt’s interim government to stop all censorship introduced as part of the military takeover, immediately reverse the closure of media outlets, release journalists arrested, and to allow a free and open media to operate representing all views in society.
(Index on Censorship)

GHANA
Analyzing Justice Atuguba’s Hardline Stance
The NPP petition challenging the legitimacy of John Mahama’s presidency was expected to be fact based, and seamlessly tried. Rather there have been unexpected diversions such as debates on courtroom outbursts, media misreporting, KPMG count of pink sheets, and now a debate on freedom of expression.
(Ghana Web)

Ghana: We Should All Learn From the Events On Black Tuesday
It was a Black Tuesday for journalism in Ghana, when the nine Law Lords sitting at the Supreme Court in Accra sentenced Mr. Ken Kuranchie, Publisher and Managing Editor of the Searchlight newspaper, to 10 days in prison for contempt of court, two days ago.
(All Africa)

GLOBAL
Climate change deniers using dirty tricks from ‘Tobacco Wars’
Fossil fuel companies have been funding smear campaigns that raise doubts about climate change, writes John Sauven in the latest issue of Index on Censorship magazine.
(e! Science News)

INDIA
Fingerprints may soon be needed to get SIM cards
Noting that even the mandatory physical verification system doesn’t prevent SIM cards to fall into wrong hands, the home ministry has asked the department of telecommunication (DoT) to explore an option of making it compulsory for cellphone service providers to take fingerprints or any other biometric feature of the subscriber, akin to Aadhaar, before activating the mobile numbers.
(The Times of India)

UNITED KINGDOM
Coalition in behind-the-scenes battle over royal charter on press regulation
A behind-the-scenes battle between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats has forced Maria Miller, the culture secretary, to keep open the possibility that the cross-party version of the royal charter on press regulation will be put to the privy council next week.
(The Guardian)

Our libel laws contributed to patient deaths, claims doctor
The UK’s archaic libel laws contributed to the deaths of patients as a company used legal threats to suppress information about problems with its heart product, a leading doctor has said.
(News Letter)

Mobile games attract the attention of the BBFC
Mobile games are becoming a more prominent part of British society and have even become the preferred medium of entertainment for some. As mobile games continue to grow in popularity, they are beginning to attract the attention of influential organizations, namely the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The BBFC is a non-governmental agency that is funded by the film industry and responsible for the classification and appropriate censorship of video content both online and off.
(Mobile Commerce Press)

Crime boss exposed by newspaper libel battle
An East End businessman has been exposed as being involved in fraud, prostitution, money laundering and “extreme violence” after he sued a newspaper for reporting on his criminal activities.
(The Times)

UNITED STATES
Prosecution case vs. Bradley Manning threatens First Amendment rights to free speech and press
The prosecution rested its case Tuesday in the court martial of Bradley Manning, the Army private who has admitted to leaking 700,000 documents exposing US military atrocities and other crimes to the WikiLeaks web site in April of 2010.
(World Socialist Web Site)

Loudness and liberty: When free speech is shouted down
So how “free” is free speech, really? By law, under the First Amendment, speech is very free. Government can only stop us from speaking, or punish us for what we’ve said, under very limited circumstances.
(Grand Rapids Herald-Review)