censorship

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Justices Cite Free Speech in Animal Abuse Videos

They seem ready to strike down law

(Newser) - The Supreme Court seems likely to back an appellate court ruling that said depictions of animal cruelty are protected as free speech by the First Amendment. In arguments today, the justices considered the case of a man convicted of selling dogfighting videos under a 1999 law that equates videos of...

Colleges Use Student Blogs as Free PR

Warts-and-all posts by undergrads can lure savvy prospects

(Newser) - Colleges are loosening the reins on student bloggers in hopes that a dose of candid commentary will lure prospective applicants. At MIT, for instance, bloggers paid by the admissions office go about their work with no fear of censorship. That policy has caused some friction—including a spat between the...

Activists Behind Fake Post Prank Arrested

(Newser) - Police today arrested three activists who were distributing a parody issue of the New York Post, Daily Finance reports. Volunteers all over New York were distributing the phony paper, which was intended to call attention to climate change. But when some tried distributing it in front of the Post’s...

Yale Slammed for Censoring Cartoons

Danish cartoons yanked from prof's book to 'avoid violence'

(Newser) - Criticism is continuing to mount against Yale University, even from its own professors and alumni, for publishing The Cartoons That Shook the World—while censoring the cartoons that shook the world, reports AP. Yale University Press yanked the Danish caricatures from a book about the protests they spawned out of...

China Orders Websites to Register Names of Users

Once-anonymous posters must register with true identities for 'social responsibility'

(Newser) - The Chinese government has quietly instructed news websites there to require new users and commenters to log on under their true identities, the New York Times reports. Netizens in China have long resisted the so-called “real name system,” which the government claims engenders “social responsibility” and greater...

Opposition to School Speech 'Silly': Gibbs

Obama press secretary also hints at possible racially-driven censorship

(Newser) - Robert Gibbs fired back today at critics of President Obama's planned address to school children, calling it "a little bit of the silly season," the Hill reports. Noting that that Ronald Reagan and the elder President Bush both made school addresses, he painted Obama's critics as censors,...

GQ Buries Story on 'Putin's Dark Rise to Power'

Piece on '99 bombings at odds with Condé Nast's biz in Russia

(Newser) - GQ is keeping a tight lid on one of its own articles that questions the Russian government’s involvement in the 1999 bombings that catapulted Vladimir Putin to power, NPR reports. GQ owner Condé Nast operates in Russia, where dissent is often met with crippling “audits.” So management...

Yale Sides With Dictators by Censoring Cartoons
Yale Sides With Dictators by Censoring Cartoons
OPINION
Aug 29, 2009 10:57 AM CDT

Yale Sides With Dictators by Censoring Cartoons

Muhammad decision is short-sighted

(Newser) - Yale University has “handed a victory to extremists” by deciding to pull images of the prophet Muhammad from its upcoming book on the Danish cartoon controversy, writes Mona Eltahawy in the Washington Post. Eltahawy is a Muslim living in Denmark, and she knows full well that the cartoons offended...

Quietly, Censorship Takes Hold in Iraq

(Newser) - When Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003, his draconian censorship laws fell with him, and Iraq was flooded with American news, Egyptian soap operas, and Turkish music videos—not to mention pornography and jihadist videos. But now, reports the New York Times, censorship is quietly making a comeback in Iraq,...

'French Eminem' Ignites Censorship Fight

Canceled concerts fuel national censorship debate

(Newser) - A rapper slammed for backing violence against women has sparked a censorship debate that’s reached the upper levels of France’s government, the BBC reports. OrelSan, the “French Eminem,” was dropped from a music festival after former presidential candidate Segolene Royal warned she might pull public funding....

China Censors Artist Leading Quake Inquiry

Police stake out whistleblower's studio, shut down blog

(Newser) - The Chinese artist who has made investigating the deaths of children in the Sichuan earthquake a personal crusade is facing a government crackdown, reports the CBC. Ai Weiwei's widely read blog has been deleted, and plainclothes police officers are staking out his studio in Beijing. Ai has relaunched his blog...

Russia Censors South Park Putin Scene
Russia Censors South Park Putin Scene
Jul 10, 2009 10:34 AM CDT

Russia Censors South Park Putin Scene

(Newser) - South Park has angered another vigilant parent—Mother Russia. A Russian channel cut a scene from a rerun this week because it depicted Vladimir Putin as greedy and desperate, a network spokesman announced today. It's unclear whether the decision came from the channel's executives or regulators, but the move prompted...

Sure Sotomayor Is Tough&mdash;as She Should Be
Sure Sotomayor Is Tough—as She Should Be
OPINION
Jul 10, 2009 9:13 AM CDT

Sure Sotomayor Is Tough—as She Should Be

Arguing a case before her isn't fun, but that's not a bad thing

(Newser) - Sonia Sotomayor may be a self-proclaimed “bear on the bench,” but the critics saying she's too harsh are way off base, writes constitutional lawyer Floyd Abrams in the Wall Street Journal. Abrams has argued multiple cases before Sotomayor. “Her questions are tough and fair, demanding and acute....

China Scraps Web Filter Software Mandate—for Now

(Newser) - China is postponing enforcement of a new rule mandating that all new computers be sold with filtering software. The rule was to go into effect tomorrow, but the official Xinhua News Agency said in a brief report today that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had decided to delay...

China, Cuba Censor News From Iran

(Newser) - Authoritarian regimes around the world, including Burma, China, and Cuba, have been censoring some or all news coverage from Iran, afraid the rebellious sentiment may spread, the Washington Post reports. But news is trickling through anyway, inspiring small acts of defiance. In China, political bloggers have compared it to the...

Anti-Porn Curbs Mask Chinese Crackdown on Dissent

Google blocked as Beijing ramps up Internet controls

(Newser) - The Chinese government ramped up restrictions on Internet use yesterday, sharply curtailing access to medical research on sexual health. It's the latest escalation in what Beijing calls an anti-pornography campaign that will culminate in new filtering software, called the Green Dam, that will be installed on all new computers from...

No Sex (After 9), Please—We're the BBC

Survey prompts British channel to cut back on racy content, swearing

(Newser) - Responding to viewers’ concerns, the BBC will no longer give free rein to potentially offensive material after 9pm, the Telegraph reports. A network survey of 2,700 people age 11 and up found that its audience, especially older viewers, is unhappy with the content. Now, foul language may be subject...

Ill. Parents Seek to Ban Award-Winning Novel

Language, sex in Alexie book inappropriate for high schoolers

(Newser) - Parents at an Illinois high school are trying to get Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian taken off the summer reading list, and out of the school’s library, the Chicago Tribune reports. “I can’t imagine anyone finding this book appropriate for 13-...

Iran Uses Internet to Spy on Dissidents

Nokia, Siemens technology allows regime to monitor Internet use

(Newser) - Iran has relied on European telecom companies, including Siemens and Nokia, to develop one of the world's most intricate systems for monitoring and censoring the Internet, reports the Wall Street Journal. The regime's surveillance goes beyond blocking access; it gathers information on individual users using a technique known as deep...

Obama Should Support Iran's Reformers
Obama Should Support Iran's Reformers
OPINION
Jun 17, 2009 8:00 AM CDT

Obama Should Support Iran's Reformers

Let Mousavi know the US is there for them, ex-Bush officials advise

(Newser) - Whether or not Iran’s protests coalesce into a full-scale revolt, it seems clear that the Iranian people would like to change their totalitarian government. Barack Obama should help them do it, Bush administration officials Dan Senor and Christian Whiton write in the Wall Street Journal. He could start by...

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