Category Archives: Censorship

The photograph of French President Francois Hollande was later 'spiked' after critics said it made the head of state look 'simple-minded'

Francois Hollande has become embroiled in a humiliating debate after a French press agency withdrew an unflattering photograph it had released of the national president, as he attempted to secure support for strikes against Syria.

The photograph, taken at a school in Denain, northern France, made the president resemble a village idiot or clown, with an expression of "stupefaction" in his eyes, according to news magazine Le Point.

Online news outlet Rue 89 said the photograph, published by Agence-France Presse, made Hollande look simple-minded.

The picture was taken by AFP staff photographer Denis Charlet, and was wired to the agency's subscribers around the world, including most major newspapers and TV networks.

It was one of a series of images showing Hollande sitting at a teacher's desk during a visit to the school to mark the beginning of the academic year.

The other photos were said to depict more gravitas.

But hours later AFP sent out a message saying it had decided to withdraw the photograph due to an "editorial issue". A red cross was superimposed over the picture, which was marked: "Mandatory Kill".

Withdrawn on president's instruction?

Critics accused the agency of self-censorship, saying AFP may have wished to avoid losing Hollande's goodwill, particularly as it depends largely on the French state to stay in business.

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Francois Hollande 'Village Idiot' Snap Sparks Censorship Row in France

Thef #39;s Megabytes - 5 - Censorship says what now
Vietnam and my thoughts on net censorship in general Screencap from news.bbc.co.uk.

By: TheVoidHive

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Thef's Megabytes - 5 - Censorship says what now - Video

Censorship rears its head in Myanmar By Roger Hamilton-Martin

UNITED NATIONS - One year after the government officially struck down laws obstructing free press in Myanmar, a parliamentary bill could allow previous censorship practices to re-emerge. When Thein Sein's Union Solidarity and Development party government ended the last of the censorship laws in August last year, many hailed a new era of free expression and an end to the pressures placed on journalists over the previous half century.

Still, many journalists are concerned by the state of media reform in the country. Currently, a publishing bill that critics say gives the Ministry of Information (MOI) overly broad powers to issue and revoke publication licenses has been passed by the lower house of parliament and is set for consideration by the upper house.

Myint Kyaw is secretary for the Myanmar Journalist Network

(MJN), which has been protesting the proposed bill, known as the Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill. He told IPS that the MJN's main criticism of the bill was in its conception of a printer and publisher registry system, which would essentially allow a ministry-appointed registrar to issue or deny publication licenses and thus leave control over these licenses in the hands of the government.

This situation is reminiscent of when the ministry used to control journalists and editors through the threat of license revocation, Myint Kyaw described. Such a possibility, combined with the threat of imprisonment and aggression, would lead to self-censorship, particularly when speaking critically of the military or when investigating corruption, notably that of former dictators and their family businesses.

Myint Kyaw also spoke of the need for a law guaranteeing access to information and ensuring safety for journalists in conflict areas. Earlier in August, MJN also collected thousands of signatures from around Yangon, the country's former capital city, for a petition that demonstrated the public's discontent with the state of media reform.

The current parliamentary bill comes at a time when many human-rights groups remain critical of Myanmar's attitude towards the media. In June, the government banned Time magazine after it featured a piece on the radical Buddhist 969 movement.

"It's a disgraceful decision to ban the issue and indicates recidivism in official censorship in Burma [the former name for Myanmar]," David Mathieson, a senior Asia researcher with Human Rights Watch, told IPS.

Benjamin Ismail, head of Reporters Without Borders' Asia-Pacific desk, expressed a similar viewpoint. "The reflex of censoring news has not disappeared, but this is not a surprise since the government is composed in majority by the same persons who were already in power before 2011."

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Censorship rears its head in Myanmar

The Hidden Truth - FDA Censorship and Unmanned Weaponry
WATCH THE LATEST VIDEO THAT CAME OUT TODAY HERE http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHiddenUncovered http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TheHiddenUncovered Subscribe To http://www.youtube.com/...

By: TheHiddenUncovered

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The Hidden Truth - FDA Censorship and Unmanned Weaponry - Video

G4C13: The Rejected: The Censorship of Social Impact Games
Games that tackle controversial issues have a giant chip on their shoulder: censorship. Whether a game is banned by a distributor or pulled by a sponsor, the...

By: GamesForChange

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G4C13: The Rejected: The Censorship of Social Impact Games - Video

SAN DIEGO As if supervillains and doomsday plots werent enough for any comic book hero to contend with, theyve also had to tangle with that other nemesis censorship since the days when Superman first donned his tights.

Thats why the San Diego Law Library is hosting an interactive discussion, titled Censorship: From 1950s Superheroes to Todays Manga, on July 16, to commemorate the fourth year of its popular Lindley Law & Comics series.

Events like this are typically held in advance of San Diego Comic-Con, which this year runs July 18-21.

The discussion session will be led by Charles Brownstein, executive director of the nonprofit Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. According to its website, the New York-based group is dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians and readers.

Brownstein has written several books on comics, and speaks at venues all over the world about comics and the law.

This years comics and law event is one of many community outreach programs the library hosts each year. The downtown San Diego branch reopened to the public in February 2012 after a $4 million overhaul.

We are experimenting with entirely new ways of information delivery, said John Adkins, the San Diego Law Library director in a news release. Expect more free live lectures, more web broadcasts and more remote access of data.

The event, held at 1105 Front St., is scheduled to run from noon to 1 p.m. Tickets are $10.

Attendees will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win prizes.

To register, call (619) 531-3900 or go to lawcomics2013july16.eventbrite.com.

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Library event focuses on comics and censorship

Feminism #39;s Marxist roots: censorship violent bullying
Modern Feminism is based on Marxism which preaches violent revolutionary overthrow of the government. Feminists have used censorship, harassment, and violence. Like Marxism, Feminism supports...

By: WomanAgainstFeminism

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Feminism's Marxist roots: censorship

Censorship Short film
Actors: Sergio Prestigiacomo, Antonela Lo Porto , Daniele Schillaci Director: Iordanis Stanev Story: Vittorio Bonomonte Assistant: Manuele Genduso Make-up ar...

By: Iordanis Stanev

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Censorship Short film - Video

London, July 3 (ANI): Iran's newly elected President, Hassan Rouhani, has expressed relatively progressive views about civil liberties, freedom of expression and the Internet in his first press conference.

According to Rouhani, social networking sites, such as Facebook, were a welcome phenomenon. He added that he opposed segregation of sexes in society and he would work to minimize censorship. He also mentioned Internet filtering is futile.

He further said that Iranians' freedoms and rights have been neglected.

Rouhani has promised to put the Islamic republic back on the path of moderation after eight acrimonious years under the outgoing president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He accepted that the country is overshadowed by a specific interpretation of its Islamic character. He also said that due to an imbalance in the principles of the constitution, Iran is facing an imbalance.

When asked about internet filtering, Rouhani said some of the measures taken by the authorities to restrict users' access online are politically motivated. He said that he is concerned about an increased distrust between people and the state.

The Guardian reported that access to several websites is blocked in Iran, including Facebook and Twitter, but millions of Iranians use them via anti-filtering software or virtual private network (VPN) services.

Rouhani also reportedly pledged to minimize censorship of artistic and cultural works and said the state should provide them with security.

On the question of women wearing the hijab, with millions unhappy about the mandatory religious code in the country, Rouhani said he is against the crackdown against women with loose clothing. Rouhani added that he is against these actions mentioning 'a women without a hijab is not necessarily without virtue'.

In his interview with the Guardian, Rouhani said he opposed segregation of men and women and criticised the politicians who are against allowing women to enter stadiums to watch football matches along with men.

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Iran's President vows to soften rules on web censorship, sex discrimination and Islamic dress code

Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) July 03, 2013

idcloak says the IP addresses in its newly released Fresh Proxies list will successfully bypass the Great Wall of China and give Chinese netizens unfettered access to the net.

According to idcloaks lead researcher, Robin Welles, IP proxies are effective because they connect the browser directly to the remote server, doing away with the complications of a mediating website. One complication of site-based proxies is that they usually contain the word proxy or unblock in their web page or URL and that betrays their function to filters. The result: censors see them and shut them out.

Its not easy to get around the Great Firewall; says Welles, as it employs several filter mechanisms simultaneously to prevent circumvention. The Golden Shield also has 30,000 staff manually holding it up, so you have the human element to contend with as well. All this means only the newest proxies have a chance of breaking out of Chinas censorship.

A proxy works by allowing a user to connect to a foreign-based server and only then requesting banned web content, from a YouTube or Facebook IP address, for example. Assuming the user has chosen an HTTPS (encrypted) proxy, the requested data is then returned to their device discretely and under the censorship radar.

The location of the proxy server is also extremely important, Welles explains, Of course, censorship circumvention only works if the user connects to a proxy based outside the censorship zone. But they shouldnt send their requests too far. Connecting to a server on the other side of the world makes browsing slow to unacceptable levels. The idcloak list offer a wide variety of IP geolocation options to help users find this balance.

idcloak maintains the list continuously to make sure all displayed proxies are operational. The database is live, which means it is continuously subject to checks, with new proxies being added and old ones taken away daily. This ensures the presented list is always a current snapshot of all major working proxies in the world.

For further information about idcloaks work in censorship circumvention, web privacy and security, visit http://www.idcloak.com.

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Fresh Proxies List Flies Under the Radar of Chinese Censorship