Monthly Archives: March 2015

CIJ against further curbs on freedom of speech

Posted: March 20, 2015 at 3:56 pm

Parliament only allowed to place legitimate restrictions on freedom of expression as set out in the Constitution.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) has called on the government to consult with stakeholders, including civil society, on any proposed amendments to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA).

CIJ, in addition, condemns any attempts to further curb the freedom of expression and calls on the government to amend the CMA so that it moves towards international standards on freedom of expression, rather than away from them.

Other laws such as the Penal Code and the Sedition Act have also repeatedly been used to arrest and charge individuals for comments that they have posted online, said CIJ Directors Sonia Randhawa and Jac Kee. It is thus puzzling why the government requires more laws to purportedly improve control over social media.

The CIJ was expressing its grave concerns on the announcement by Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek on the intention to amend the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA) to improve enforcement and governance of social media.

The CMA, noted CIJ, was frequently used to curb freedom of expression on the internet and contains clauses which are unreasonably wide and open to misinterpretation and abuse. Section 233, for instance, makes it an offence to post any content which is obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with the intention to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person.

This clause is extremely wide and goes beyond the legitimate restrictions that are allowed to be placed on the freedom of expression by Parliament, as set out in the Constitution, warned CIJ. While posting content that annoys, someone may be rude or undesirable in certain contexts, but it should not constitute an offence punishable with a hefty fine and/or imprisonment.

CIJ has repeatedly called for the clause to be repealed in order to comply with the Constitution and international human rights standards on freedom of expression.

Ahmad Shabery Cheek told Parliament on Thursday that communication laws will be amended to further curb the increasing number of cases involving the abuse of the Internet and social media.

Ahmad Shabery said his ministry would be amending the Communications and Multimedia Act, and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act, especially provisions related to governance and enforcement.

More here:
CIJ against further curbs on freedom of speech

Posted in Freedom of Speech | Comments Off on CIJ against further curbs on freedom of speech

South Africa: Groundup Op-Ed – a Stealthy Attempt At Censorship

Posted: at 3:56 pm

analysis

Freedom of speech is a fundamental right recognised in our Constitution. But that doesn't mean everyone has to allow that speech anywhere you want to make it. By KEVIN CHARLESTON for GROUNDUP.

You can stop your drunken uncle from uttering his racist rants at your festive dinner table. Commercial enterprises have the right to limit "speech" on their communication platforms if they feel that content is going to harm them, their customers or their investors.

Internet service providers (ISPs) give us a connection to the public internet. For most of us, who cannot afford to host our own web-servers, they also provide shared web servers or hardware. In exchange, we pay them to provide us with a communication platform so that we can exercise our freedom of speech. This is particularly important for activists and critics who might not otherwise have access to places where their points may be heard.

And that's where things get a bit messy.

Dr. Harris Steinman has published his CamCheck website on Hetzner South Africa's shared website hosting platform since 2009. This website focuses on false and exaggerated medical advertising claims. Since almost all public advertising of normal medicines is heavily regulated (and thus there...

See the rest here:
South Africa: Groundup Op-Ed - a Stealthy Attempt At Censorship

Posted in Freedom of Speech | Comments Off on South Africa: Groundup Op-Ed – a Stealthy Attempt At Censorship

Bayes’ Theorem and Atheism 3-14-2015 by Paul Giem – Video

Posted: at 3:55 pm


Bayes #39; Theorem and Atheism 3-14-2015 by Paul Giem
Theoretically, it would seem that the spontaneous origin of life has such a low probability that it is unbelievable. However, many atheists believe that it happened. Some of them justify their...

By: ItIsAboutGod

Excerpt from:
Bayes' Theorem and Atheism 3-14-2015 by Paul Giem - Video

Posted in Atheism | Comments Off on Bayes’ Theorem and Atheism 3-14-2015 by Paul Giem – Video

Atheism’s False Prophets – Video

Posted: at 3:55 pm


Atheism #39;s False Prophets

By: mrtadreamer

Follow this link:
Atheism's False Prophets - Video

Posted in Atheism | Comments Off on Atheism’s False Prophets – Video

Minute in Atheism: Bibles for starving people – Video

Posted: at 3:55 pm


Minute in Atheism: Bibles for starving people
This is the start of hopefully a weekly series. If you liked this rant be sure to let me know by liking the video and commenting down below. Intro by DtK --- http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/DtK...

By: Godless Engineer

Follow this link:
Minute in Atheism: Bibles for starving people - Video

Posted in Atheism | Comments Off on Minute in Atheism: Bibles for starving people – Video

Atheism: Irrational and Absurd (Part 3) | Brian Schwertley – Video

Posted: at 3:55 pm


Atheism: Irrational and Absurd (Part 3) | Brian Schwertley
Brian Schwertley gives a Biblical refutation of atheism, while debunking the New Atheists like Dan Barker, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris. This video is part of the #39;Atheism:...

By: Theology, Philosophy and Science

The rest is here:
Atheism: Irrational and Absurd (Part 3) | Brian Schwertley - Video

Posted in Atheism | Comments Off on Atheism: Irrational and Absurd (Part 3) | Brian Schwertley – Video

10. Is atheism a religion? – Video

Posted: at 3:55 pm


10. Is atheism a religion?
Dr. Andy Bannister (http://bit.ly/andybannister) of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries answers the question "Is atheism a religion?". Want to read more widely on this question? Check out...

By: RZIM Canada

More here:
10. Is atheism a religion? - Video

Posted in Atheism | Comments Off on 10. Is atheism a religion? – Video

You Don’t Understand Atheism – Video

Posted: at 3:55 pm


You Don #39;t Understand Atheism
Please become a Patreon Patron, if you can: http://www.patreon.com/BionicDance Visit my gaming channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BionicaGaming Twitter: http://twitter.com/BionicDance ...

By: BionicDance

Original post:
You Don't Understand Atheism - Video

Posted in Atheism | Comments Off on You Don’t Understand Atheism – Video

Reponse to Miranda Devine: Atheism a formula for Junior Jihadi – Video

Posted: at 3:55 pm


Reponse to Miranda Devine: Atheism a formula for Junior Jihadi
My response to Miranda Devine #39;s article on atheism. Read her follow up article http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/mirandadevine/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/jihadis_fill_atheist_void/

By: David Townsend

Read the original post:
Reponse to Miranda Devine: Atheism a formula for Junior Jihadi - Video

Posted in Atheism | Comments Off on Reponse to Miranda Devine: Atheism a formula for Junior Jihadi – Video

How One Man Made Himself Into an Aboriginal God With Wikipedia

Posted: at 3:55 pm

In Chapter 10 of his 2012 book Atheism and the Case Against Christ, Matthew S. McCormick provides a list of "gods and religions in history that have fallen out of favor." Between the Chinese deities Jade Emperor and Ji Gong on this list sits Jar'Edo Wens, an exotic-looking nonsense phrase some Australian guy added to Wikipedia seven years prior.

The blog Wikipediocracy recounts the genesis of a wholly fictional Aboriginal deity, created by an anonymous Australian pranksterpresumably named Jared Owens, get it?who published a Wikipedia article for Jar'Edo Wens and added an entry about the god to the site's page on Australian Aboriginal mythology in 2005. Thanks to Wikipedia's immense and often indiscriminate ability to disseminate facts and factoids alike, Jar'Edo has spread its gospel of humility and learning to the furthest reaches of the internet in the years since then.

The brief Jar'Edo article read:

In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Jar'Edo Wens is a god of earthly knowledge and physical might, created by Altjira to oversee that the people did not get too big-headed, associated with victory and intelligence.

(A person working from the same anonymous IP address also attempted to add a god called "Yohrmum" to the list, in case there's any doubt that Jar'Edo was a work of fiction.)

According to Wikipediocracy, Jare'Edo Wens is the longest-running hoax in Wikipedia history; its article sat on the site for nine years before it was recognized as fiction in November 2014 and finally deleted earlier this month. But by then, the internet had already accepted Jar'Edo as real.

In addition to Atheism and the Case Against Christ author McCormicka professor of philosophy at Sacramento StateJar'Edo managed to dupe the editors of several non-English Wikipedias, many of which still list him alongside legitimate Aboriginal gods. (Here's Jar'Edo on the Russian, Polish, French, and Turkish sites.) Wikipediocracy also notes a 2013 sci-fi novel called The Captain's Propensity: The Andromeda Incident II with a character named Jar'Edo Wens, though "whether that's a coincidence, a knowing wink, or an attempt to reuse the name of a genuine Aboriginal mythological figure for dramatic purpose is an open question."

It doesn't stop there: Jar'Edo also turns up in online dictionaries, spammy-looking sites about religion, rhetorically-challenged debates in the comments sections of news articles, Yahoo! Answers threads, and, of course, vaguely "spiritual" Tumblrs.

See the original post:
How One Man Made Himself Into an Aboriginal God With Wikipedia

Posted in Atheism | Comments Off on How One Man Made Himself Into an Aboriginal God With Wikipedia