Being undercover as a Western journalist in Burma.
Showing all posts tagged censorship
Growth + power = abuse?
My following article appears in the Amnesty International Australia’s Uncensor campaign about human rights in China: China’s rapid growth is often forgotten when analysing the country’s human rights record, but these issues should not be ignored in the rush for super-power status, writes Antony Loewenstein. Amidst all the current stories about China and the Beijing…
Blaming the victims
Talking honestly about Palestine in Australia is clearly too challenging for some: The decision by a Sydney library to dump an exhibition about Palestinian refugees after a visit by counter-terrorism police the night before it opened has been criticised as an act of censorship. Leichhardt municipal library was to launch the Al-Nakba pictorial exhibition last…
Who said talking didn’t solve anything?
China, the Beijing Olympics, Tibet and corporate sponsorship are a toxic mix. So where to from here, a Chinese blogger asks?
How not to rule a country
Wikileaks reveals the reality of web life under Thailand’s former military rulers: The January 11, 2007 official blocklist contains 13,435 websites, an increase of more than 500% over the 2,475 sites blocked by MICT’s 13 October 2006 list, compiled following Thailand’s military coup d’etat on 19 September. In addition to this figure, the Royal Thai…
Is Iran next?
My following article appears in today’s ABC Unleashed: The fifth anniversary in March of the Iraq war should have given the political and media elite time to reflect on their actions since 2003. Virtually ignored by the mainstream media were stories such as life in Fallujah, where citizens remain mired in poverty and resentment. Despite…
Users beware
The war against bloggers continues: A prominent Malaysian blogger was charged Tuesday with sedition for allegedly implying the deputy prime minister was involved in the sensational killing of a young Mongolian woman. Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin, who has not denied that he linked Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak to the slaying, pleaded innocent to the…
Reflections on China
My following article appears in the Amnesty International Australia’s Uncensor campaign about human rights in China: There are small signs that Chinese nationalism is being tempered by more thoughtful analysis of the motherland, writes Antony Loewenstein. The Olympic torch relay has arrived in China. Unsurprisingly, the route in North Korea was protest-free. Away from the…
This is what US “freedom” looks like
Iranian blogger Omid Memarian, currently living in California, explains to his readers the apparent appeal of the current presidential race: Many Iranians are obsessed with Barack Obama. If he goes to Iran, I’m sure he could fill Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, which has a capacity of 100,000. To a large extent this is because of the…
Let the news run free
A new global study by WorldPublicOpinion.org proves that a majority of people support the concept of press freedom and object to government interference with the internet: A new poll of nations around the world finds worldwide support for the principle of media freedom and broad opposition to government having the right to limit access to…