censorship

AJ+ | (Video news report) | – – “Turkish doctor Bilgin Ciftci posted a meme with side-by-side pictures comparing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to “Lord of the Rings” character Gollum. Ciftci faces a two-year sentence for “insulting the head of the state” – and trilogy director Peter Jackson lends his expert opinion. ” […]

censorship

The End of Press Freedom in Turkey?

contributors

By Joris Leverink | (Inter Press Service) | – – ANKARA, Turkey (IPS) – Days after the 1 November general elections in Turkey, Beyza Kural, a reporter with the independent press agency Bianet, rushed to Istanbul University to cover a stand-off between protesting students and the police. At the scene, Kural was harassed and manhandled […]

censorship

Turkey’s Coup against Press, own Generals over Arms Supplies to Syrian Militants

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Turkey has jailed two very prominent journalists for publishing video last May of a January, 2014, Turkish intelligence convoy of weapons to Syrian militants. When I say prominent, I mean prominent. They are Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul. […]

censorship

Israel To Coordinate With Google, YouTube, To Censor Palestinian Videos Of Conflict

contributors

By Saed Bannoura | ( IMEMC) | – – The Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Member of Knesset Tzipi Hotovely, held meetings this week with representatives of YouTube and Google, to find ways of cooperating to censor Palestinian videos from occupied Palestine, videos she dubbed as “inciting violence and terrorism.” Israeli daily Maariv said Hotovely will […]

censorship

Saudi Arabia: Poet Sentenced to Death for Apostasy

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (Beirut) – A Saudi court sentenced a Palestinian man to death for apostasy on November 17, 2015, for alleged blasphemous statements during a discussion group and in a book of his poetry. The accused, Ashraf Fayadh, 35, denies the charges and claims that another man made false accusations to […]

censorship

Egypt: Free Journalist Hossam Bahgat, Facing Military Prosecution

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (New York) – Hossam Bahgat, a journalist and one of Egypt’s most prominent human rights figures, could be charged in military court after being detained on November 9, 2015, on military prosecutors’ orders. The prosecutors ordered Bahgat held for investigation on charges of publishing false news related to an […]

censorship

Israeli Soldiers Assault AFP Reporters at West Bank Demo

contributors

By IMEMC News | – – Two AFP journalists were assaulted Friday by Israeli soldiers who destroyed and seized their equipment in the occupied West Bank, after the funeral of a Palestinian killed by the army. A video journalist with the agency, Italian Andrea Bernardi, was thrown to the ground and jabbed in the side […]

censorship

Can Digital India flourish without Freedom of Speech? PM Modi in Silicon Valley

contributors

Priya Satia | (Huffington Post) | – – The Indian community of Silicon Valley is preparing to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with open arms next week, in a route stop that has outshined the PM’s ultimate U.S. destination–his meeting with President Obama. Mr. Modi comes to promote Digital India, and local Indians are […]

Arab Spring

Young Protesters Languish in Jail under Egypt’s Military Counter-Revolution

contributors

By Nelly Bassily | ( openDemocracy) | – – Yara Sallam is starting the second year of her sentence in Qanater Women’s prison outside Cairo. She says, “I do not feel any regret or self-defeat, the prison is not inside me.” Yara Sallam is starting her second year of detention in an Egyptian prison. No […]