Political Censorship
Report: Secret US Government Order Targets WikiLeaks Volunteer
A U.S. news report says the U.S. government obtained a secret court order to force Google Inc. and a small Internet provider to hand over information from the e-mail accounts of a WikiLeaks volunteer. A report in The Wall Street Journal newspaper says the small Internet provider, www.Sonic.net, fought the order and lost, and was [...]
Skepticism Meets Burma’s Prisoner-Release Plan
Burma has announced it will release thousands of prisoners as part of a general amnesty amid indications that political prisoners could be among those set free. A leading rights group has dismissed the news, though, as a ploy that shows no real change in policy. Burma’s state TV announced Tuesday that authorities would release more [...]
#OccupyWallStreet: US Activists Protest in Washington, One Arrested
Occupy Wall Street / Occupy DC Washington’s National Air and Space Museum was closed late Saturday after a large group of demonstrators tried to push past security guards and enter the building. Smithsonian Institution officials say at least one demonstrator was pepper-sprayed when protesters, estimated between 100 to 200, attempted to enter the museum with [...]
Burma Censorship Chief Calls for Press Freedom
The chief of Burma’s state censorship body has called for press freedom in the repressive nation, even suggesting his own department should be shut down. Tint Swe, director of the Press Scrutiny and Registration Department, told Radio Free Asia Friday that censorship should be abolished as part of the reforms by the new army-dominated civilian [...]
Russian Media Tests Boundaries Of State Censorship
Supporters of journalist Yuri Shchekochikhin believe he was poisoned because of his work. Written By Gregory Feifer October 7 marks the fifth anniversary of the assassination of “Novaya gazeta” journalist and author Anna Politkovskaya, renowned for her groundbreaking investigative reporting from the North Caucasus region. To mark this date and to honor Politkovskaya’s memory, RFE/RL [...]
#OccupyWallStreet Protest Joined by Labor, Community Groups
Written by Carolyn Weaver | New York City #OccupyWallStreet protestors were joined Wednesday by labor unions and community organizers demonstrating in New York against what they see as economic injustice. The “Occupy Wall Street” protesters, who have camped out in New York’s financial district since mid-September, were joined Wednesday by members of organized labor and [...]
#OccupyWallStreet Protest Movement Spreading Like Wildfire
What began in New York City more than two weeks ago and labeled #OccupyWallStreet has spawned similar demonstrations in several major U.S. cities, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and across the Midwest. Now the #OccupyWallStreet protest crowd will be getting some additional unexpected support. Army serviceman Ward Reilly posted the following on Facebook: I’m heading [...]
If it Bleeds, it Leads: Why it Took Police Violence to Make the Media Notice ‘Occupy Wall Street’
To what do the protesters owe the sudden interest from the mainstream media? Scenes of protesters being dragged by their hair and pepper-sprayed in the face. A bit after 10 p.m. on Saturday night in occupied Liberty Plaza, there was a celebration around the media tables. Photocopied facsimiles of Sunday’s New York Daily News were being passed [...]
Cop Caught Macing “Occupy Wall Street” Protesters a Second Time, NYPD Launches Investigation
The comically named New York policeman Anthony “Tony” Bologna has now been caught macing #OccupyWallSt protesters without apparent provocation not once, but twice. The Guardian reports that new footage of Officer Bologna macing protesters emerged yesterday, and that the NYPD is launching two separate investigations into the matter. Oh, and? Score one for Team Bloggers and [...]
Syrian Forces Seeking Army Defectors Storm Cities, Killing 8
Syrian troops backed by tanks and helicopters have killed at least eight people in raids designed to crush army deserters who are fighting back after months of mostly peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad. Activists say dozens of armored vehicles entered the central town of Rastan early Tuesday, while army troops stormed hospital emergency rooms [...]
Vietnam: Ambassador Urged to Press Rights
Congress members want a greater focus on human rights in Vietnam. More than a dozen U.S. lawmakers have urged the newly appointed American Ambassador to Vietnam to give a higher priority to raising human rights issues in the communist-ruled nation. The 14 members of Congress sent a letter to Ambassador David Shear requesting that he [...]
Poetry Reading To Highlight Turkmen Censorship
American poets will read the works of dissident Turkmen poets on September 24 outside the Washington embassies of Turkmenistan, Myanmar, and Yemen to protest the censorship of poetry, RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service reports. The event is part of the Day of Poets, in which poets are speaking out all over the world for “peace, justice, and sustainability.” The readings [...]
