Free Speech
Censorship in America: Hate Speech Overview
Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic. In law, hate speech is any speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or display which is forbidden because it may incite [...]
Burma Celebrates Independence Amid Criticism
Burma is marking the 64th anniversary of its independence from Britain Wednesday, amid criticism that the government’s recent clemency program is not doing enough for political prisoners. President Thein Sein, in a statement commemorating independence day, praised the military’s role in bringing about the recent democratic reforms. He said Burma is “marching towards a democratic [...]
Censorship 2011: A Year That Began and Ended Anonymously
It’s something of a party game, this time of year, to look back and put together lists. Top ten this, bottom five that; trends that are in or out, predictions about the coming calendar year. Of course, it is largely that: a party game. Of all the moments of 2011, all the events on which [...]
Tunisia: Censorship and Freedom of Speech in the Year That Was
| Written by Afef Abrougui | Sourced from Global Voices (Creative Commons) | Former Tunisian President Zeine El Abidine Ben Ali was an enemy to freedom of speech. With its heavy tactics, his regime attempted to silence all dissidents. The Tunisian Internet Agency (known as the ATI from its French acronym) spent significant resources on [...]
Art Censorship: Dark Musings #29 – Yes, Comics Are Still for Kids
The following article was written by Andrew Zar, owner of DarkBrain Comics. DarkBrain is a massive comic project that has already produced over 800 pages of content in full color and with music and voice-over narration. Re-published with permission of Andrew Zar. Copyright© 2012, DarkBrain, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Original article appeared on Andrew’s blog, [...]
Free Speech: Nigerians Protest End to Fuel Subsidy
Protesters in Nigeria marched against a government decision to end a popular consumer fuel subsidy, which has sent prices soaring in the oil-rich nation. Demonstrators in Lagos Tuesday chanted as they carried banners and signs critical of President Goodluck Jonathan. Some protesters went to gas stations to disrupt business. Jonathan has said ending the $7.5 [...]
Media Censorship: Vietnam Writer, Priest Handed Jail Sentences
A court in central Vietnam sentenced a female writer to five years in prison and ordered an activist priest jailed for two years for “activities undermining the state,” official media said Friday. Ho Thi Bich Khuong, 44, was handed three years under house arrest in addition to her five-year sentence, while Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, [...]
Internet Censorship: China Clamps Down on Microblogs
New microblog rules requiring account holders to use their real names are being rolled out in two other major Chinese cities following the first clampdown on Twitter-like services in Beijing earlier this month. Seven major websites in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, in the southern province of Guangdong, began on Thursday to ask new users to register [...]
Media Censorship: Unrest Spreads In Southern China
Residents protest a power plant they say is polluting their village in China’s Guangdong province. Thousands of angry residents surrounded government buildings and blocked roads in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Tuesday in protest at a coal-fired power plant they say is polluting the environment, officials and protesters said. Police clashed with large [...]
Free Speech: Mass Anti-Government Rallies Spike Across Syria
Large crowds of anti-government protesters poured into the streets of many Syrian towns and cities Friday, heeding calls by opposition leaders to make a show of strength, as Arab League observers pursue their mission. Government forces fired on protesters causing a number of casualties. Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in the northern Syrian [...]
Internet Censorship: Meet Telecomix, The Hackers Bent On Exposing Those Who Censor And Surveil The Internet
| By Andy Greenberg, Forbes Staff | Read the full article on Forbes | One morning in mid-August, seven months into the Arab Spring protests and government crackdowns in which thousands have been killed, something strange happened on Syria’s Internet. As users aimed their Web browsers at Google and Facebook, they instead saw a page [...]
Internet Censorship: How Even Highly-Targeted Censorship Can Lead To Overblocking
By Glyn Moody | Sourced from TechDirt | As the battle rages over SOPA and PIPA, censorship is very much on people’s minds. But there are many different kinds of censorship, operating at different levels of precision. For example, while some forms are crude and inexact, like Homeland Security’s shutdown of 84,000 sites, others are [...]
