censorship

Middle East Monitor | – – Egypt has deported a British journalist working for The Times, the newspaper said on Saturday, describing an “increasingly oppressive environment” for media in the country ahead of next week’s presidential election. The Times said its correspondent, 33-year-old Bel Trew who had been based in Cairo for several years, was […]

Authoritarianism

The New Censorship: Beware Authoritarian leaders claiming to Fight “Fake News”

contributors

By Courtney C. Radsch | (Project Syndicate) | – – Laws meant to curb “fake news” may be well intentioned, but their implementation has been sloppy, with few mechanisms to ensure accountability, transparency, or reversibility. Governments are outsourcing censorship to the private sector, where maximizing shareholder value, not upholding journalistic freedom, drives decision-making. WASHINGTON, DC […]

censorship

Saudi Arabia, UN Human Rights Council Member, Continues Rights Crackdown

contributors

By Khalid Ibrahim, executive director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) an independent, non-profit organisation that promotes freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in the Gulf region and its neighbouring countries. Saudia Arabia, a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), continues its crackdown on human rights. The HRC, consisting […]

censorship

Israel to Deny Benefits for Pro-Boycott Citizens, Local Groups

contributors

TeleSur | – – The government will create a blacklist for local individuals and groups known to support the pro-Palestinian boycott movement against Israel. Israel is ramping up its crackdown on the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as the government plans a blacklist for citizens and companies in Israel that support the movement to […]

censorship

Robots, kittens and Netflix: Turkish curbs on the media reach ludicrous levels

Juan Cole

By Ozge Ozduzen | (The Conversation) | – – Regulation and censorship mechanisms have recently reached absurd levels in Turkey. Two stark recent examples illustrate the banality of the recent creeping controls. On February 6, a robot was reformatted in Ankara because it warned the Turkish Transport, Maritime and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan to speak […]

Bahrain

Bahrain is even Deporting its own Citizens (Shh, don’t Tell Trump)

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (Beirut) – Bahraini authorities have deported eight stateless Bahrainis, whom they had previously stripped of their citizenship, since January 29, 2018, Human Rights Watch said today. The deportations followed an appeals court decision to uphold a 2012 ruling that ordered the deportation and stripping of citizenship of nine Bahraini […]

censorship

Saudi Arabia makes it ‘Terrorism’ to Criticize the King

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (New York) – Saudi Arabia’s new counterterrorism law includes vague and overly broad definitions of acts of terrorism, in some cases punishable by death, Human Rights Watch said today. The law replaces a widely criticized counterterrorism law promulgated in 2014, adding definitions of specific acts of terrorism and their […]

censorship

Will Egypt’s Jailed Youth Activists Ever See Justice?

Juan Cole

Netizen Report | (Global Voices Online) | – – On 19 October, Egypt’s highest court of appeal postponed the trial of prominent activist and blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah to 8 November. The 36-year-old father and husband was a leading voice in the 2011 protests that helped to overthrow former president Hosni Mubarak. Abd El […]