Free expression in the news

4 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)

BELARUS
Freedom of Expression in 2013: What Would Thomas Jefferson Do?
In 1787, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
(German Marshall Fund

BRAZIL
Demonstrators move Brazil’s lethargic politicians to action
Brazil’s mass protests represent a new force in the country’s politics. The wave of demonstrations —sparked by increasing transit fares — have shaken the country’s lethargic leaders, Rafael Spuldar reports
(Index on Censorship)

CHINA
Why China’s Internet Censors Can’t Get Enough of Edward Snowden
These are good days for China. Not so much for the United States — or Sino-American relations.
(World Crunch)

China censorship makes U.S. press freedom shine
Back in the late 1980s a purchaser of the English version of the China Daily, an approved Chinese newspaper, eventually would become baffled. It had a status among some foreigners as a glimpse of daily life among 1.5 billion Chinese citizens. What was amazing about it was the absence of any mention of bad news in its pages. There were no reports of divorces, frauds, robberies, rapes, crashes, murders, executions, the usual grist of some local newspapers in the States. It did, however, contain the recent scores of the Cubs.
(Illinois Times)

EUROPEAN UNION
Index on Censorship calls on the EU to protect whistleblowers’ right to freedom of expression
Following reports that some European countries have prevented a plane carrying the Bolivian President Evo Morales into their airspace, Index on Censorship calls on EU members to honour their commitments to freedom of expression.
(Index on Censorship)

IRELAND
Former Army ranger sues ‘Sunday World’
Seamus Griffin claims newspaper defamed him by suggesting he was involved in illegal purchase of arms and that he trained Seychelles police to become assassins
(Irish Times)

GLOBAL
Defending a free and open internet
In just the last decade, broadband Internet revolutionized every form of communication for 2.5 billion people across the globe. The transition from clunky 20th century technologies like landlines, fax machines and the printing press to mobile computing and e-commerce produced explosive economic growth, new frontiers in health and education and unlimited ways for people to connect, share and express themselves.
(Al Arabiya)

55 Charts That Prove Governments Are Increasingly Censoring Your Internet
Since 2009, Google has been lauded for publishing “transparency reports” on government requests to take information offline. Each time a government official asks for a search result to be blocked or a YouTube video to be removed, Google marks down the request and discloses the number of such takedowns each nation has asked for every six months or so.
(Huffington Post)

UNITED KINGDOM
Stormont must give us a libel law fit for modern age
MLAs will today be told that reform of Northern Ireland’s outdated law is needed or else the province will lose out on investment, writes Mike Harris
(Index on Censorship)

Shepreth village newsletter ‘freedom of speech’ row
A row has broken out over a village newsletter after a council said it wanted to check letters and emails from the public before they were published.
(BBC)

UNITED STATES
WE’RE PROTESTING TO RESTORE THE FOURTH AMENDMENT
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…” JOIN A PROTEST IN YOUR AREA JULY 4TH
(Restore the Fourth)

McCain Slams Efforts To Curb Rampant Campus Sexual Harassment As Violating Free Speech
Over the past month, conservatives and libertarians have criticized efforts to curb sexual harassment on college campuses as “de-eroticizing universities” and claimed they violate free speech. Now, Sen. John McCain has jumped on the bandwagon in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.
(Think Progress)

EU trade talks expected, despite spying allegations
The European Union confirmed Tuesday that free-trade negotiations with the United States would kick off as planned next week, despite widespread concerns about alleged US eavesdropping that targeted EU diplomats.
(Boston Globe)

Previous Free Expression in the News posts
July 3 | July 2 | July 1 | June 28 | June 27 | June 26 | June 25 | June 24 | June 21 | June 20

Free expression in the news

3 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
Police Monitor Vagina Art Exhibition, Make Censorship Suggestions
Police in Sydney, Australia, repeatedly turned up at an art exhibition titled “101 Vagina” to make censorship suggestions to photographer Philip Werner.
(Opposing Views)

BAHRAIN
The cost of tweeting in Bahrain
A Bahraini teenager has been given jail time for a tweet. Sara Yasin looks at how the country has pursued users of the popular social networking site
(Index on Censorship)

BRAZIL
Protesters give president a tenuous truce, as she says their voices are being heard
Cristiano Gulias took a deep drag from his mini-cigar and did the unthinkable — he started a political discussion in a coffee shop the morning after Brazil’s national soccer team won a major championship, rather than a debate on the team’s performance.
(Washington Post)

GHANA
Three Persons Has Been Cited For Contempt Over Scandalizing Supreme Court
Well, taking on the Supreme Court of Ghana has landed some disgruntled political pugilists in the dock. In something of a legal novelty, these persons have been cited for contempt by “scandalizing the Court after publicly criticizing and bringing into disrepute the Supreme Court Judges and their decisions”.
(Vibe Ghana)

Free Speech, Cheap Or Can Be Expensive?
Freedom of speech is said to be political freedom or right to express one’s thought or opinion. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right and International Human Right Law recognise this right.
(Spy Ghana)

GREECE
Far-right publishing in Greece: Stories that ‘teach’ people a lesson
Taking their cue from the neo-nazi Golden Dawn, Greece’s far-right newspapers have recently been targeting alternative opinions. While hardly breaking news, the language and symbolism of the campaign is of vital importance because it represents just the tip of the iceberg, Christos Syllas writes
(Index on Censorship)

IRAN
Iran’s president signals softer line on web censorship and Islamic dress code
Newly elected Hassan Rouhani, an opponent of segregation by gender, says Iranians’ freedoms and rights have been ignored
(The Guardian)

PHILIPPINES
Solons to de-criminalize libel in cybercrime law
Two senators are moving to delete certain provisions of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which was signed into law by President Aquino in September last year but its implementation was deferred by the Supreme Court on the strength of a temporary restraining order.
(Manila Standard Today)

TUNISIA
Rapper Weld El 15 walks free
Tunisian rapper Weld El 15 (real name Alaa Yaacoubi) walked free from Tunis’s Court of Appeal today after his jail sentence for “insulting” police was reduced from two years to a six month suspended sentence, Padraig Reidy writes
(Index on Censorship)

UNITED KINGDOM
Stormont must give us a libel law fit for modern age
MLAs will today be told that reform of Northern Ireland’s outdated law is needed or else the province will lose out on investment, writes Mike Harris
(Belfast Telegraph)

Defamation Reform – New Law For A New Era?
The Defamation Act 2013 (“the Act”) received Royal Assent last month – it has not yet come into force, but is expected to do so soon. The Act has been long in the making and provoked much debate among practitioners, but in essence it is designed to modernise the law of defamation and also make it fit for purpose in the digital age. We shall examine how this is to happen by describing some of the major changes the Act will introduce.
(Mondaq)

Are Islam and Islamists taking over Britain?
Lee Rigby was a British soldier who was attacked, murdered, butchered and beheaded in broad daylight on a busy street near his barracks in London last month. He was attacked, murdered, butchered and beheaded by Islamists acting in the name of Islam.
(American Thinker)

UNITED STATES
Tennessee to appeal Occupy Nashville free speech ruling
Since when is free speech controversial? In the article “Director of Jihad Watch blog stirs controversy” (June 30) the largely one-sided article distorts a reality that is pretty clear to everyone not infected by an increasingly corrupt press.
(Times Free Press)

Free speech at stake as scandals break
Over the course of the past few months there has been cause for growing concern as we have learned about the Administration apparently violating law abiding citizens’ right to free speech and assembly.
(Chillicothe Gazette)

Daily Mail’s Martosko Cleared of Libel Claim
In mid-March, Mother Jones jabbed then-Daily Caller‘s Executive Editor and current Daily Mail U.S. Political Editor David Martosko with news of a libel lawsuit. Well, today the good folks over at MJ can read the following ruling and weep as the case has been dismissed by a unanimous 5-0 ruling in New York.
(Fishbowl DC)

North Carolina’s Anti-Sharia Bill is Now Also Anti-Abortion
The North Carolina Senate is not only considering an anti-Sharia (or Islamic law) bill passed in the state’s House earlier this year, they’ve tricked it out with a whole new issue. House Bill 695, which began as a cookie-cutter ban on the use of foreign law in family law and custody cases, now would implement several restrictions on abortion services in the state.
(The Atlantic)

Previous Free Expression in the News posts
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Free expression in the news

2 Jul 2013 | In the News

CANADA
Canada: Land of the Free
Canada is far from American stereotypes of socialism, centralization and obeisance, at least in relative terms. By almost any measure, Canada is a freer country than the U.S.A.
(Daily Caller)

RUSSIA
Russian Police Arrest 60 Pride Protesters As Putin Signs Anti-Gay Censorship Bill Into Law
On Saturday, police in St. Petersburg, Russia arrested all 60 participants in a gay pride parade. Many of them were badly beaten by anti-gay counter-protesters, who threw eggs, smoke flares, and stones. Among those arrest were five same-sex couples who applied for marriage licenses on Friday in a historic legal move.
(Think Progress)

Russian NGOs Used as ‘Front for Illicit Activity’ – Official
A Russian justice ministry official on Monday claimed that controversial spot checks on NGOs are needed as many operate as a “front” for illicit activity.
(Ria Novosti)

Snowden drops Russia asylum request, in transit area: Kremlin
Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden has withdrawn a request for political asylum in Russia after President Vladimir Putin said he should stop “harming our American partners”, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
(Reuters)

TUNISIA
Free speech under threat in Tunisia
As Tunisian lawmakers resume debating the draft constitution on Monday (July 1st), legal and media experts are criticising the document for failing to protect freedom of expression and access to information.
(The Daily Beast)

TURKEY
Turkey’s Violent Homophobia
For a brief moment, Istanbul’s Taksim Square was transformed yesterday. The riot police, clouds of tear gas, and barricade-building protesters that characterized the past month’s unprecedented unrest were gone. Instead, a mass of rainbow flags, garish makeup, and neon clothing and face paint gleamed in the afternoon sunshine ahead of the city’s 10th LGBT pride march.
(Magharebia)

UNITED KINGDOM
Libel letter disowned by Nazeing Parish Council
A HOAX letter opposing a planning application by travellers has been distributed in Nazeing claiming to be from the parish council.
(Hertfordshire Mercury)

UNITED STATES
Edward Snowden’s statement released through WikiLeaks
The NSA whistleblower, currently in Moscow, has released a statement through the freedom of information group WikiLeaks
(The Guardian)

Planned Parenthood Sues Kan. Over Free Speech Violation
In June, two different lawsuits were filed in Kansas over a new state abortion law. But the lawsuit that Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri filed on June 20 isn’t about the freedom to perform abortions. It’s about freedom of speech.
(KCUR)

Pro-Life Group Charged $650 for ‘Free Speech’ on University Campus
A pro-life student group filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the University at Buffalo for charging the group unconstitutional fees in order to exercise its freedom of speech.
(Charisma News)

Fox’s Starnes fears Facebook censorship
Fox News Radio personality Todd Starnes and the hosts of “Fox & Friends” think Facebook may be censoring conservatives after a weekend incident involving Starnes’s page.
(Politico)

Atheists File Lawsuit Following Alleged ‘Censorship’ of Material Attacking Christianity
An atheist activist group is suing one of the country’s largest public school districts after officials allowed some materials to be distributed, but prohibited items of a more controversial and explicit nature.
(Christian News Network)

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