Journalists simply doing their job are at risk. We stand in solidarity with anybody challenging the business or political elites: The number of journalists killed around the world in 2009 rose to a record 68 after a massacre in the Philippines, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Thursday. The press freedom group said…
Showing all posts tagged censorship
Fighting Australia’s impending web censorship farce
An important letter sent by Reporters Without Borders: The Hon Kevin Michael Rudd Prime Minister Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Australia Paris, 18 December 2009 Dear Prime Minister, Reporters Without Borders, an organisation that defends free expression worldwide, would like to share with you its concern about your government’s plan to introduce a mandatory Internet…
Journalists being green face abuse, fire and stalking
I write regularly about the dangers faced by journalists in various nations who write against governments and business interests. Reporters who challenge environmental abuse are the new workers in the firing line: Cherelle Jackson turned a deaf ear to the threatening calls she got after publishing the first two parts of a story about a…
How men can dress up as women in Iran and show solidarity
Resistance in Iran continues to take many forms. Global Voices shows us one way: Hundreds of Iranian men have dressed as women in Hijab to support Majid Tavakoli, a student activist who was arrested on December 7. Iranian authorities claim Mr. Tavakoli was dressed as a woman to escape after delivering a speech in Tehran…
Washington’s Big Brother is watching us
Talking about internet censorship in a nation like Iran is necessary and chilling. But, correctly writes the New York Times in an editorial today, how much do we know about the American government’s meddling in the online world? The government is increasingly monitoring Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites for tax delinquents, copyright infringers…
What reporters are not saying about Palestine
The pressure on media companies and journalists to cover up Israeli crimes is legendary (and something I examined in detail in My Israel Question). A new book by Emma Williams, It’s Easier to Reach Heaven Than the End of the Street, is by an English doctor married to a UN official. She recalls her conversations…
The threat of Gmail for Islamic leaders
The state of human rights in Iran in 2009 has been grim and worsening. Reporters Without Borders highlights the web apartheid (possibly backed by Western multinationals): The authorities have also targeted the Internet in an attempt to extend their control to the new media. News websites that were likely to criticise Ahmadinejad’s victory, including around…
Iranians won’t stop shouting against oppression
While Iran erupts again with protesters against dictatorial rule, Reporters Without Borders finds massive attempts by authorities to shut down modern communications (a futile act, and only temporarily successful, that shows its desperation): The Iranian censors targeted the new-generation media with renewed energy. The authorities have responded, blow by blow, to demonstrations in recent months…
Raul Castro can’t crush all signs of dissent
Human rights in Cuba are grim. But as I discovered in The Blogging Revolution, bloggers are starting to challenge the government’s strangehold on information. We should therefore welcome news of the Bloggers Cuba group one year anniversary with optimism. Here’s Zorphdark: A couple of hours after the boring midday of May, I received the only…
Stop 30 billion dollars in “aid” to Israel
Muzzlewatch on the brave souls in the US fighting America’s slavish relationship with the Jewish state: Back in April, after gaining approval for text and design, anti-occupation activists in New Mexico signed a contract with Lamar Advertising to display 10 billboards (pictured at left) for 8 weeks. But after only 3 weeks, and a pressure…