Daily Archives: March 22, 2013

Public release date: 19-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Pam Cowburn pam@indexoncensorship.org 020-732-42533 SAGE Publications

London (19 March 2013). To celebrate more than 40 years as the world's most influential free speech magazine, Index on Censorship has launched a new print edition.

Index Chief Executive Kirsty Hughes said:

'The magazine's fresh new look reflects Index's increasingly international outlook and role in setting the agenda for freedom of expression. The magazine will continue to build on its unique literary heritage with intelligent content from the world's best authors, writers and thinkers, bringing readers the sharpest journalism, comment and analysis on the key free speech trends of the day.'

Index on Censorship will continue to publish ground-breaking serious journalism with an in-depth report on a pertinent topic or specific region in each issue. In addition, there will be up-to the minute news, opinion pieces and views from the ground. 'In Focus' will explore Index's global themes - from digital censorship, government censorship and surveillance to religious and cultural pressures, restrictive laws and access to information. There's interviews with high profile artists, activists and politicians as well as news of how Index is challenging censorship and supporting those on the frontline of the fight for free expression.

The magazine was designed by Matthew Hasteley, who said:

'Tackling a brief to modernize a magazine of Index's heritage is not a task you can approach without a great degree of care and respect. The magazine balances the weight of its past accomplishments with its current, ongoing struggle against censorship around the globe, and the design need to reflect that tension - honouring the gravity of its editorial content.'

The Magazine is published by SAGE, a leading independent academic and professional publisher. Global Publishing Director, Ziyad Marar said:

"We at SAGE are incredibly proud to publish Index's award-winning magazine. It perfectly exemplifies our belief that the free expression of ideas leads to healthy minds and healthy cultures. We hope this new design will ensure the range of important work we publish receives an even more engaged and wider readership. As one of this year's awards judges my personal sense of the hugely important contribution that Index can make has never been more strongly underscored."

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Index on Censorship magazine launches new print edition

The maker of a documentary in support of oil and gas fracking has accused the International Monetary Fund of censorship after it declined to show a key clip from his film at a conference.

Phelim McAleer, whose film FrackNation argues in support of the controversial exploration technique, said the IMF was afraid of offending Russia by letting him show the clip at the conference this week.

The clip suggests that allowing fracking in Eastern European countries such as Poland would ease the region's dependence on imported energy.

It alleges that powerful gas exporter Russia was financing the anti-fracking movement to protect its sales.

"Basically they were censoring my presentation, they were censoring my speech," said McAleer.

"They're trying to force people not to say terrible things because it could offend one of their senior members," he told AFP. "They didn't want to offend Russia."

McAleer had been invited to make a presentation at lunch on Wednesday, the first day of the two day joint IMF-Oxford University conference in Washington on commodity prices.

But he decided not to attend after the IMF said in an email that it could not permit the clip on Russia and Poland "without allowing others to have their say on the matter".

"Since that isn't possible on this occasion, Phelim will have to skip that," it said in the email, viewed by AFP.

The IMF said it welcomed McAleer showing other excerpts from his documentary.

See the original post here:
Fracking film maker accuses IMF of censorship

Mar 22 2013

Christian groups are complaining of "censorship" after the High Court upheld the Mayor of London's ban on a controversial bus advert suggesting gays can be helped to "move out of homosexuality".

A judge rejected accusations by Core Issues Trust, a Christian charity behind the ad, that Boris Johnson used his position as chairman of Transport for London (TfL) to obtain the ban in order to secure the gay vote and advance his 2012 re-election campaign.

Mrs Justice Lang, sitting at London's High Court, said: "In my view, such unlawfulness has not been established on the evidence."

But she gave the Trust permission to appeal because of the fundamental issues raised by the case over the right to freedom of expression. The ad posters earmarked for the sides of the capital's buses read: "Not Gay! Ex-Gay, Post-Gay and Proud. Get over it!"

The trust said they were in response to a bus poster campaign by gay rights group Stonewall, which carried the message: "Some people are gay. Get over it!"

Mr Johnson condemned the "gay cure" ad as "offensive to gays" and said it could lead to retaliation against the wider Christian community.

The trust, which says its works with gay people seeking to change their lifestyles but rejects the idea of offering a gay cure, argued its right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated by the ban.

The judge ruled the trust had been a victim of unfairness in the way the ban had been introduced in April last year. She said: "TfL's decision-making process fell below the standards to be expected of a responsible public body."

But the Trust's Article 10 rights were outweighed by the rights of gays to respect for their private and family life under article 8(1). The judge said TfL was legally justified in imposing the prohibition in the run-up to the mayoral elections in May 2012 because the ad would cause "grave offence" to gays and "increase the risk of prejudice and homophobic attacks."

See more here:
UK & World News: ' Censorship ' claims over gay ad ban

The maker of a documentary in support of oil and gas fracking accused the International Monetary Fund Thursday of censorship after it declined to show a key clip from his film at a conference.

Phelim McAleer, whose film "FrackNation" argues in support of the controversial exploration technique, said the IMF was afraid of offending Russia by letting him show the clip at the conference this week.

The clip suggests that allowing fracking in Eastern European countries such as Poland would ease the region's dependence on imported energy.

It alleges that powerful gas exporter Russia was financing the anti-fracking movement to protect its sales.

"Basically they were censoring my presentation, they were censoring my speech," said McAleer.

"They're trying to force people not to say terrible things because it could offend one of their senior members," he told AFP.

"They didn't want to offend Russia."

McAleer had been invited to make a presentation at lunch on Wednesday, the first day of the two day joint IMF-Oxford University conference in Washington on commodity prices.

But he decided not to attend after the IMF said in an email that it could not permit the clip on Russia and Poland "without allowing others to have their say on the matter."

"Since that isn't possible on this occasion, Phelim will have to skip that," it said in the email, viewed by AFP.

Follow this link:
Pro-fracking filmmaker accuses IMF of censorship

Christian groups are complaining of "censorship" after the High Court upheld the Mayor of London's ban on a controversial bus advert suggesting gays can be helped to "move out of homosexuality".

London Mayor Boris Johnson blocked the Core Issues Trust's bus posters last April, saying they were 'offensive to gays'

A judge rejected accusations by Core Issues Trust, a Christian charity behind the ad, that Boris Johnson used his position as chairman of Transport for London (TfL) to obtain the ban in order to secure the gay vote and advance his 2012 re-election campaign.

Mrs Justice Lang, sitting at London's High Court, said: "In my view, such unlawfulness has not been established on the evidence."

But she gave the Trust permission to appeal because of the fundamental issues raised by the case over the right to freedom of expression. The ad posters earmarked for the sides of the capital's buses read: "Not Gay! Ex-Gay, Post-Gay and Proud. Get over it!"

The trust said they were in response to a bus poster campaign by gay rights group Stonewall, which carried the message: "Some people are gay. Get over it!"

Mr Johnson condemned the "gay cure" ad as "offensive to gays" and said it could lead to retaliation against the wider Christian community.

The trust, which says its works with gay people seeking to change their lifestyles but rejects the idea of offering a gay cure, argued its right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated by the ban.

The judge ruled the trust had been a victim of unfairness in the way the ban had been introduced in April last year. She said: "TfL's decision-making process fell below the standards to be expected of a responsible public body."

But the Trust's Article 10 rights were outweighed by the rights of gays to respect for their private and family life under article 8(1). The judge said TfL was legally justified in imposing the prohibition in the run-up to the mayoral elections in May 2012 because the ad would cause "grave offence" to gays and "increase the risk of prejudice and homophobic attacks."

See the article here:
' Censorship ' claims over gay ad ban