Daily Archives: April 18, 2020

Dissent and protest are protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees freedoms of speech, assembly, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. These rights are fundamental to our democracy. They cannot be sacrificed even, and perhaps particularly, in times of public emergency.

On April 14, 2020, the police department in Raleigh, North Carolina, tweeted, Protesting is a non-essential activity, as an explanation for breaking up a protest. As organizations dedicated to protecting civil liberties and the First Amendment, the undersigned groups are deeply disturbed by this statement and other remarks and actions by public officials suggesting that peaceful protest can be outlawed during a national crisis. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic cannot be used to justify the suspension of First Amendment rights. People must be free to express disagreement with government decisions, even when it involves criticism of essential public health measures.

Upholding First Amendment rights need not be at odds with the governments authority and obligation to protect public health and safety. The emergency decrees that call for social distancing, wearing of face covers or masks, and limits on the size of public assemblies can regulate the manner in which protests occur. However, regulations should be narrowly tailored to what is necessary to protect public health and cannot be so broad that they ban protest completely or so poorly drafted that they restrict peaceful demonstrations.

Most protesters have been exercising their constitutional rights without threatening the health of their fellow citizens: wearing masks and standing six-feet apart outside hospitals and other places of business to protest inadequate safety precautions; participating in car demonstrations in Arizona, California and Michigan, and launching digital campaigns.

Public officials in Ohio and Michigan have included explicit protections for First Amendment rights in their emergency decrees. Some states have also acknowledged information-gathering and reporting as essential services.

We urge all public officials to recognize their obligation to defend First Amendment rights while they protect public safety. These rights are critically important during uncertain times like these.

Co-signed:

National Coalition Against CensorshipAmerican Booksellers for Free ExpressionAmericans for Prosperity FoundationAssociation of American PublishersThe Authors GuildThe Buckeye InstituteCaesar Rodney InstituteThe Center for Media and DemocracyCivil Liberties Defense CenterCoalition for Policy ReformThe DKT Liberty ProjectDefending Rights & DissentFirst Amendment Lawyers AssociationFirstAmendment.comFree PressFree Speech CoalitionFreedom ForumFreedom Foundation of MinnesotaFreedom to Read FoundationIdaho Freedom FoundationInstitute for Free SpeechKurt Vonnegut Museum and LibraryMackinac Center for Public PolicyMississippi Center for Public PolicyPEN AmericaPEN America Childrens and Young Adult Books CommitteeRestore The Fourth, Inc.United for MissouriWoodhull Freedom FoundationDavid A. Schulz, Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School *institution listed for identification purposes only

See original here:
The Right to Protest During the Pandemic - Blogging Censorship

According to the Motion Picture Association of America,Splash is rated PG. According to Disney+,Splashis rated PG-13. In almost every case, studios work hard to bringdown a movies ratings. Im not sure Ive ever seen a movie studio willfully (and seemingly unilaterally)slap a higher rating on a film that it has been given by the MPAA.

That doesnt mean that Disney has added more sexuality toSplash, the 1984 romantic comedy about a guy (Tom Hanks) who falls in love with an actual mermaid (Daryl Hannah). Quite the contrary. As observed by Allison Pregler on Twitter and confirmed by me with my own eyes on my own Disney+ account Disney has added extra CGI hair to Hannahs character in a key scene in order to remove any inkling that she might be naked onscreen.

Watch the censoredSplash footage right here:

Heres the original version of the scene, albeit in a low-res version that makes comparing a little tougher than it would be otherwise. You will note that Hannahs character already has extremely long hair that masks some of her private areas. Its not like her posterior was just hanging out there for the whole world to see. The Disney+ version just addsmore hair until it looks like shes wearing hair underwear:

Even though its only (technically) rated PG,Splashwas actually Disneys first movie ever released through its Touchstone Pictures label, which was explicitlycreated for films from Disney that were deemed to adult for the traditional, family-friendly Walt Disney Studios banner. Why, then, is it on Disney+, which is specifically intended for that same family audience? Why not put it on Hulu, the Disney-controlled streaming site that has much more adult content? I dont know. All I know is that censoredSplash footage is wild. Really, really wild.

Gallery The Disney Movies Were Surprised Are Actually on Disney+

Here is the original post:
Disney Plus Censors 'Splash's Nudity In the Most Ridiculous Way - ScreenCrush

After Thai actor Vachirawit Chivaaree liked a photo on Twitter that listed Hong Kong as a "country," Chinese fans inundated his Instagram and other social media with comments "correcting" him, and he soon postedan apologyfor his "lack of caution talking about Hong Kong," which is a semi-autonomous Chinese city, and not an independent nation.

Vachirawit, who goes by the name "Bright," was not the first foreign celebrity or brand to cause offense in China by mischaracterizing issues related to Hong Kong or Taiwan, or by crossing numerous other political red lines familiar to those within China's Great Firewall.

Nor was he the first to try to apologize, only to have more alleged transgressions dredged up by nationalist Chinese web users looking for a new scalp.

They called for a boycott of Vachirawit and his TV show, "2gether," and some began posting attacks against his girlfriend on both Weibo and Twitter under the hashtag #nnevvy.

The expression of similar sentiments on Twitter were met with pushback by Thai fans, who quickly found themselves targeted by the Chinese users, who posted insults demeaning the southeast Asian country and its government. But here the users, used to debating within the limits of the Great Firewall, revealed something of how limited their political worldview is by censorship and propaganda.

In seeking to insult the Thais they were arguing with, they turned to the worst topics they could imagine, but instead of outrage, posts criticizing the Thai government or dredging up historical controversies, were met with glee by the mostly young, politically liberal Thais on Twitter.

While all this may seem petty and inconsequential, the failure of this particular trolling campaign is illustrative of a wider issue. The attitude expressed by the angry "little pinks" engaging in it, an easily offended, touchy nationalism that links love for country with love of the Communist Party and its leaders, has grown substantially in recent years, drowning out -- with the assistance of the censors -- what limited criticism there was of the government on the Chinese internet.

This type of groupthink could have potential real world consequences down the line. While China's leaders do not need to worry about public opinion in the same as their counterparts in a democracy, they cannot ignore it entirely. On issues such as pollution, corruption and food safety, public opinion has had a notable effect on government policy, even as the censors worked to ensure that people did not escalate their online dissatisfaction to offline protests.

However, in the past the authorities have seen patriotic anger run out of their control.

In both instances, intense policing both online and off was able to rein in the protests, but it also exposed the government to a level of public anger they were not used to for not giving in to calls for a more belligerent response to either Japan or the Philippines.

This led to calls from many online in mainland China for the Chinese military to intervene.

When the Hong Kong government instead gave in to some of the protesters' demands, it was to the understandable shock of many in China whose view of the unrest had been shaped by state media. This led to a backlash against Beijing, with some online asking the obvious question of why Hong Kong protesters, which state media had persistently referred to as rioters, could win concessions?

In both instances, just as the #nnevvy trolls were unable to conceive of anyone not being offended by having their government mocked, the limits of political imagination had been constrained by censorship and propaganda.

While some Hong Kongers and Taiwanese were crowing over the embarrassment of the Chinese trolls, they shouldn't be too complacent about the potential ramifications for any future debate over either territory's sovereignty.

If China's leaders one day find themselves painted into a corner by their own propaganda, unable to pursue or even consider more pragmatic solutions, the results could be potentially disastrous.

Continued here:
Nnevvy: Chinese troll campaign on Twitter exposes a potentially dangerous disconnect with the wider world - CNN

Comics involve wild cosmic beings and people who somehow get powers from radiation, rather than health problems. But comics get even weirder when you consider the characters who got their powers from actual religious figures. How do demonic bikers and spirits of divine vengeance coexist with Norse gods and Olympian warriors?

Comics history is full of simple events that made Marvel and DCs Heaven and Hell such a strangely convoluted place. A laissez-faire attitude towards using religious motifs ran headlong into a period of industry censorship, and writers and artists were left holding the pieces, with the job of fashioning them into the continuity we know today.

When the Golden Age of Comics started in 1938, using Heaven and Hell was totally fair game. The first character to use the name Black Widow was recruited by the actual devil after her murder, and assigned to return to Earth and take down sinners. When police officer Jim Corrigan died, his spirit encountered a brilliant light and a voice that told him he was to return to Earth as the vengeful Spectre. Elsewhere, a young boy died prematurely due to a clerical error by Mr. Keeper, who managed the passage of souls to Heaven. To rectify the error, St. Peter told Mr. Keeper to mentor the boy in his new career as a hero called Kid Eternity. Meanwhile, the wizard Shazam drew power from both the Jewish figure Solomon as well as deities from Pagan pantheons.

But the audiences taste for placing real beliefs alongside fantasy elements changed. After World War II, US society had an increasing belief that society was delicate and in danger of subversives, and that meant that narrative media was under deep scrutiny. In 1954, the Comics Code Authority was created to monitor comics before they were delivered to the public. There was nothing illegal about publishing a comic without the Codes seal, but most newsstands and many printers wouldnt risk getting involved, for fear of angry parents.

Under the Code, criminals werent to be sympathetic or glamorous, legitimate government authority was not to be put in a bad light, and deviant sexual behavior was prohibited. The Code also blocked the depiction of demon worship, witchcraft, and walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism. Still, who got to decide what wasnt acceptable sometimes depended on who was working at the Comics Code Authority office that day, and some creators realized that as long as you didnt offend the beliefs of the Code employees specifically, you could get your story through.

Amazing Fantasy #15, the same anthology comic that introduced Spider-Man in 1962, featured The Bell-Ringer, a short story by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in which a religious, elderly man was saved from painful death by a shaft of heavenly light. The next story, The Man in the Mummy Case, shows a mummy tricking a thief. The storys mummy couldve been an undead monster or simply a man, disguised. That ambiguity was key to getting past the Code.

That same year, Lee and Jack Kirby wrote the first Dr. Doom story, which shows the maniacal villain with two books: Demons and Science and Sorcery. Later, were told of his long fascination with black magic. But since Doom was clearly a bad guy, it was fine for him to be interested in such topics.

Kirby was fond of Arthur C. Clarkes idea that any sufficiently developed technology is indistinguishable from magic, and he enjoyed depicting gods as science fantasy rather than purely magic. Stan Lee agreed with this approach, preferring the Marvel Universe not validate any specific belief too strongly. In college lectures, Lee said he had no problem showing Thor encountering beings from Olympian and Egyptian mythology because the universe was large enough to hold many such entities and their respective pantheons. If some of those entities believed they had helped the creation of humanity, well, maybe they did and maybe they didnt.

And so Lee and his collaborators populated the Marvel universe with a wealth of Satanic stand-ins. Dr. Stranges early stories involved the beings Nightmare and Dormammu, who seemed to be demonic in nature, but inhabited other dimensions rather than the afterlife. And Lee and John Buscema created Marvels most famous devil in the pages of Silver Surfer in 1968. Mephisto was named after the demon dealmaker from Dr. Faustus, and his realm, where souls were tortured, was said to exist beyond the physical universe. Lee remarked that this helped to paint the Surfer as a science fiction version of a flawed Messiah resisting temptation. Mephisto was the New Testaments Satan in all but name.

Comic book superheroes had their devils, but also their angels, and even god. The Marvel universes cosmic entity, the Living Tribunal, was introduced in 1967. This three-faced being served as a judge over various dimensions and realities, possibly all, and would later refer to his creator and boss as the One Above All. The same year the Living Tribunal showed up in Marvel, DC brought forth a new ghostly hero simply called Deadman. Boston Brand was a murdered acrobat who was given a chance to return to Earth and fight evil. In his case, it wasnt a voice but a goddess called Rama Kushna (similar to the actual Hindu goddess Krishna). As Kushna was an original creation and her nature ambiguous, and since Boston was a ghost acting almost as an angel rather than a zombie or vampire, the Code had no problem with this. In later years, Boston said he believed Kushna was one of the many faces of God.

In 1971, the Comics Code finally relaxed their rule on certain demonic and undead characters with the following run-on sentence: vampires, ghouls and werewolves shall be permitted to be used when handled in the classic tradition such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and other high calibre literary works written by Edgar Allan Poe, Saki, Conan Doyle and other respected authors whose works are read in schools around the world.

Along with allowing vampires and others to return, this opened the door for DC Comics to directly reference Judeo-Christian ideas again. The demon Etrigan, created in 1972, was not from a realm that resembled Hell, he simply came from Hell. But DC was more nervous about putting Jesus Christ in a comic. A major Swamp Thing story arc was meant to end with the titular character meeting the Nazarene carpenter, but editorial decided later the issue would be too controversial, so it wasnt printed.

The Marvel universe continued to sidestep the issue, however. Originally, Ghost Rider like Etrigan, created in 1972 was a man whod made a deal with Satan, but readers were later told it was Mephisto in disguise. Later still, Satan and Mephisto were said to be rivals in different realms, with possibly neither being the Devil of Christian lore. But the House of Ideas felt similarly to DC in one respect: When Tony Isabella wrote a Ghost Rider story featuring an appearance by Jesus, it was rewritten by editor Jim Shooter at the last minute to say it was only an illusion.

By the 1990s, things were changing yet again. The Comics Code Authority had lost most of its teeth, and its seal now only meant a story wasnt any more adult than a PG-13 movie. The Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover had rebooted much of DC Comics continuity, and creators were still debating what rules and canon still applied, which allowed for many new and contradictory ideas to emerge. Series such as Swamp Thing, Hellblazer and Sandman in which the dead were sent the different realms according to personal belief rather than universal law and all gods owed a portion of their existence to the series protagonist, the Lord of Dreams showed that readers could handle modern religious topics in stories without necessarily being offended. On the other end of the tonal spectrum, in 1991s The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special the titular bounty hunter was hired by the Easter Bunny to kill Santa Claus. In 1997, an angel joined the Justice League.

And one of comics oldest divinely-connected heroes was linked up to Christian religious figures more than ever. John Ostrander and Tom Mandrakes 1990s run on The Spectre delved deeply into morality and religious mythology. Their Spectre was the wrath of the god of the Old Testament, bonded to a human soul, and they implied that Jesus was Gods forgiveness given form. Angels like Michael would show up, and change their forms, names, and personalities when appearing to people of different beliefs.

Marvel still flirted with science fantasy to explain its demons, even having Mephisto claim his origin was due to the creator of the cosmic Infinite Gems. But as TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, and later Supernatural consistently showed audiences were willing to accept fiction mixed with religious symbolism, Marvel finally followed suit. Spider-Man saved a Christmas Angel from Mephisto, who later made direct reference to the Anti-Christ in a Daredevil story. Angels, Hell, Satan, and God were directly referenced and presented at face value in various comics. In 2004, the Fantastic Four even journeyed to Heaven and met God he looked a lot like Jack Kirby.

But dont get it twisted: The Marvel and DC comics universes may include angels and demons, but if you ask who created those universes, the answer isnt the god of Abraham. Marvels setting is full of shaggy god stories, where technologically advanced aliens and cosmic beings indirectly inspire human mythology. Over in the DC Universe, we know that existence didnt begin with light on the first day but with a giant blue hand cradling a speck that would become the entire cosmos in part because an alien scientist made a machine that let him observe the very first moment of time.

The cosmology of superhero universes is a patchwork quilt made by the contributions of many people over many years. But ask a historian about how a major world religion came to be, and they might tell you exactly the same thing.

Read more:
Hell, Heaven, and Jesus exist in DC and Marvel comics in a strange way - Polygon

The Chinese authorities are tighteningpolitical censorship in video games. This is according to website Taiwan News.

Protest Art in Animal Crossing: funeral of Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam funeral (in real life, shes alive, but hugely unpopular with Hong Kong residents)

The outlet says that the Chinese Communist Party is drafting a new piece of legislation that will expand the scope of online censorship in video games. The thinking behindit is, allegedly, than online game chats allow users to freely socialize with foreigners, which might undermine the partys official narrative.

If adopted, the law willblock Chinese online players from chatting with users outside of China.

Other provisions require all distribution platforms in Chinato use a real-name authentication system so that individuals can be identified when purchasing a title, whether single-player or online. Zombies, plagues and similar content will also be prohibited to avoid associations with the coronavirus pandemic. Map editing, customized skins should also be disabled so that users cannot modify content to generate political messages.

Finally, participation in guilds or any other in-game organizations will also be limited to prevent any form of trade union activity in games.

The new measures are reportedly being developed following the removal of Animal Crossing: New Horizons from sale in China. The gamedissapeared from online stores in the country aftersomeactivists used its pattern creation tool togenerate politically sensitive slogans like Free Hong Kong, revolution now, whichwere then postedon social media (its important to note that the game was never officially approved by the Chinese regulators in the first place).

Now, its difficult to assess how objective a Taiwanese outlet can be. The cited source (Liberty Times Net) certainly doesnt mind using the term Wohan pneumonia, which is widely considered offensive in mainland China. Anyway, while the scope of this latest censorship initiative might be exaggerated, the Chinese Communist Party has sertainly been active lately reshaping the video games industry in China to advance its political agenda.

See the original post:
Taiwan News: China to ban chats with foreigners in online games. Guilds, zombies and customization features also blocked - Game World Observer

Some fake information related to the coronavirus pandemic has been circulating through the media, including social media, at a time when the people need accurate information to calm their nerves.

This is why the government is concerned that such information could create more anxiety, panic and confusion among the people which is the last thing we want now.

Aliran appreciates that the government is taking measures to curb distorted information. But we are troubled by the way it proposes to overcome this problem, which can eventually lead to the undemocratic practice of censoring fair and critical comments.

We now learn that the official definition of fake news has been widened to even criminalise legitimate criticisms of the government and its policies.

We take issue especially with the governments attempt to punish those whose criticisms are deemed to have caused distrust in the ruling government.

When a government, more so one that is deemed by many as a backdoor government, makes a conflicting decision that causes confusion and unnecessary inconvenience, it stands the risk of earning the distrust of the rakyat.

The recent government ruling to allow barbers to operate is a case in point. Would critics and barbers associations, which are concerned with the physical proximity between barbers and clients, be hauled up by the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission?

Similarly, would concerned Malaysians be blamed if they called out ministers whose behaviour only invited brickbats, such as in the Doraemon, TikTok and warm water remedy cases?

In defining fake news, the government warns against news and comments that could lower the reputation of an individual, organisation and country. So what do we do with the ministers of Doraemon, TikTok and warm-water fame who have done a splendid job of lowering not only their professional reputations but also the governments and the nations. Think of how their antics have turned us into the laughing stock of the world.

The government could deal with any fake news or information by quickly coming out with clarifications that could be disseminated to news portals and over social media.

Resorting to censorship, especially in its extreme form, in a time of crisis reflects the insecurity of the government of the day.

Rather we should be upholding public scrutiny and the democratic checks and balances, including over the media, during this difficult period.

Aliran executive committee

12 April 2020

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Read more:
Censorship under the guise of action against 'fake news' - Aliran

On Wednesdays broadcast of the Fox News Channels The Story, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) touted legislation to sanction officials in China who are actively censoring and silencing information on public health.

Cruz said, Weve now seen that its not just a human rights threat, but it is also a threat to national security and global health. When it comes to this Wuhan outbreak, the Chinese Communist government has direct responsibility, direct culpability, for silencing, for covering it up.

He added, I think there needs to be direct accountability. I introduced legislation today to sanction Chinese officials that are engaged in actively censoring and silencing public health information that endangers the lives of Americans and people across the globe.

Cruz further stated that there needs to be a careful accountability as to whether the Chinese government played an inadvertent part in the outbreak itself.

Follow IanHanchett on Twitter@IanHanchett

The rest is here:
Cruz: Sanction Chinese Officials Who Are Censoring Health Information - Breitbart