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Offsite Article: Glasgow City of Censorship Culture 1990...


Link Here28th September 2019
With a history of banning cinema films

See article from glasgowlive.co.uk

 

 

Offsite Article: Beyond redemption...


Link Here18th September 2019
Chinese news channel hires ex Ofcom bigwig for reputation management after a disgraceful reporting incident, only for him to resign when he sees how the channel handled the Hong Kong protests

See article from theguardian.com

 

 

A conspiracy to censor the internet...

YouTube is tweaking its recommendation algorithms to downplay conspiracy theory videos


Link Here29th August 2019
YouTube plans to tweak its recommendation algorithm to cut back on conspiracy theory videos in the UK. The platform is in the middle of rolling out the update to its British users, a spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch. It's unclear when exactly the change will occur.

Back in January, the platform said it would begin reducing what it deemed borderline content, or videos that came close to -- but didn't quite -- violate YouTube's Community Guidelines and videos that misinformed people. The company listed Flat Earth, 9/11 and anti-vax conspiracy theories as some examples of content it would try to reduce.

It's unclear whether YouTube's efforts in the US are working. A Huffington Post investigation from July revealed that even though recommendations for conspiracy theories have been cut in half and some heavyweight distributors have been deplatformed, conspiracy theory videos are still thriving on the platform.

 

 

Offsite Article: The war against book censorship...


Link Here19th August 2019
Publisher halts publication of The Changing of the Guard by Simon Akam after bad vibes from the British Army

See article from theguardian.com

 

 

Off Quay Language...

The human rights abusers of Salford City Council end ban on public swearing


Link Here31st July 2019
Salford City Council has decided not to continue with the banning of public speech it considers to be foul and abusive language. The banning of speech in Salford Quays was enabled through a 'Public Spaces Protection Order'.

The order was set up three years ago but will not now be renewed. It is understood the decision was made following discussions with residents and workers in the area, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Those who breached the censorship rules by swearing in public spaces could be issued with an on-the-spot fine of up to £1,000.However, no-one was ever fined for swearing in Salford Quays.

MarkThomas, who has protested the ban, reacted to the news by swearing when contacted by the BBC. He described the ban as

the most insane piece of censorship. Public Spaces Protection Orders enabled councils to bring in draconian legislation and outlaw types of activities and behaviour that were previously legal.

 

 

What have Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and Cambridge Analytica clients got in common?...

They deserve and need investigating...but Aaron Banks' wallet says otherwise


Link Here21st July 2019
The businessman Arron Banks and the unofficial Brexit campaign Leave.EU have issued a legal threat against streaming giant Netflix in relation to The Great Hack, a new documentary about the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the abuse of personal data.

The threat comes as press freedom campaigners and charity groups warn the government in an open letter that UK courts are being used to intimidate and silence journalists working in the public interest.

In a joint letter to key cabinet members, they call for new legislation to stop vexatious lawsuits, highlighting one filed last week by Banks against campaigning journalist Carole Cadwalladr. The letter says:

Following the recent global conference on media freedom held in London by the UK government, we write to draw your attention to what appears to be a growing trend to use strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP) lawsuits as a means of intimidating and silencing journalists working in the public interest.

Such legal threats are designed to inhibit ongoing investigations, and prevent legitimate public interest reporting. Abuse of defamation law, including through SLAPP lawsuits, has become a serious threat to press freedom and advocacy rights in a number of countries, including the UK.

Fears have been expressed in the UK and abroad, and by the European parliament that this legal tactic was being deployed against the murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who at the time of her death in October 2017 was subject to 42 civil libel suits against her, many of which were brought through UK-based law firms, acting for foreign banks and wealthy individuals. Twenty-seven of these vexatious lawsuits remain open more than 21 months after her assassination. A range of other Maltese media have faced threats of similar suits, including investigative outlet the Shift News.

Numerous legal and online threats have been made against Carole Cadwalladr, whose journalism for the Observer and a range of other publications has stimulated a global debate about the power of online platforms to influence the behaviour of citizens, and raised important questions about the regulation of digital technology.

The legal claim against Ms Cadwalladr, issued on 12 July by lawyers acting for Arron Banks, is another example of a wealthy individual appearing to abuse the law in an attempt to silence a journalist and distract from these issues being discussed by politicians, the media and the public at a critical time in the life of our democracy.

The increasing deployment of what appear to be SLAPP lawsuits in the UK poses a threat to media freedom and public interest advocacy, and demands a robust response. We believe that new legislation should be considered to prevent the abuse of defamation law to silence public interest investigative reporting. We also urge you to take a clear public stance condemning such practices and supporting investigative journalism and independent media.

We urge you to address this issue as a matter of priority. Action has been discussed within the institutions of the European Union, but it is important that the government makes clear that the UK remains a country that welcomes and celebrates the role and value of independent public interest reporting.

Paul Webster, editor, the Observer, Rebecca Vincent, UK bureau director, Reporters Without Borders, Jodie Ginsberg, CEO, Index on Censorship, John Sauven, executive director, Greenpeace UK, Thomas Hughes, executive director, Article 19, Carles Torner, executive director, PEN International, Carl MacDougall, president, Scottish PEN, Summer Lopez, senior director of Free Expression Programs, PEN America, Tom Gibson, EU representative, Committee to Protect Journalists, Flutura Kusari, legal adviser, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, Scott Griffen, deputy director, International Press Institute, Caroline Muscat, co-founder and editor, the Shift News, Dr Justin Borg-Barthet, senior lecturer, University of Aberdeen School of Law, Matthew Caruana Galizia, director, Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, Paul Caruana Galizia, finance editor, Tortoise, Corinne Vella, sister of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Andrew Caruana Galizia, son of Daphne Caruana Galizia

See details of The Great Hack from theguardian.com

 

 

Comments: A line has been crossed...

A Former Guardian editor notes that the police need classes in the basics of free speech.


Link Here21st July 2019

pupils lining up for class
 

What, you wonder, do they teach them in police college these days? Gangs, cyber crime, forensics, public safety, drugs --there's doubtless a lot to learn. But I would like to suggest a new and compulsory course, let's call it The Basics Of Free Speech.

Lesson number 1. The police do not tell newspaper editors what to write.

You think this is too basic? That in 21st Century Britain no police officer would dream of telling a newspaper editor not to publish information and meekly to hand back any leaked documents to their rightful owners?

If you think that, then you haven't been paying attention. You evidently missed Friday's statement from one of the most senior officers [Neil Basu] in the , advising owners, editors, publishers -- along with anyone on social media -- exactly what they shouldn't publish.

See article from dailymail.co.uk by Alan Rusbridger

 

Offsite Comment: We must protect the free British press from state bullies

21st July 2019. See article from dailymail.co.uk by David Davis

 Press freedom is the most vital freedom because it underpins all the others. When governments allow that freedom to be corroded they undermine the very foundations of our democracy.

For that reason we need a new Official Secrets Act, and a general protection for press freedom against the rapidly developing intrusive powers of the modern State.

The events of the past few weeks have demonstrated only too clearly why this is necessary.

...Read the full article from dailymail.co.uk

See also How the country's most powerful civil servant and the Met Police plotted an extraordinary attack on press freedom from dailymail.co.uk

 

 

Into the spotlight...

A webcamming death through asphyxiation has prompted calls for new control laws


Link Here7th July 2019

The sister of an adult online performer who died during a sexual role play game gone wrong has called for strict new webcamming pornography laws.

Hope Barden was found asphyxiated after carrying out a sex act on the internet for a customer 250 miles away. A coroner has now ruled she was unlawfully killed and Hope's mother said she was left to die.  He added that the extent of his encouragement to her to carry out this act and his failure to report appropriately when she lost consciousness makes it clear that the male was so subjectively reckless as to amount to manslaughter.

It is understood a file was being prepared by police for submission to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider charging the man with Hope's manslaughter. The man has already been jailed after a police investigation found extreme pornography in his possession.

The government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said certain online adult content should not be permitted under extreme pornography laws falling within the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 . Violent, obscene acts that are non-consensual or involve other criminal activity would be investigated by the law enforcement agencies, DCMS said.

Hope's sister Lily said there needs to be specific guidelines in the online sex industry where the performer and the punter clearly understand what is and is not acceptable by law. The main thing that isn't acceptable is being able to watch someone (potentially) die on webcam and then not do anything about it, she said. She is also seeking a legal online contract between the webcam performer and consumer for a clear code of conduct.


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