Political Correctness News

Millian Liberalism and Extreme Pornography

By Nick Cowen. Article first published online: 4 DEC 2015

Abstract

How sexuality should be regulated in a liberal political community is an important, controversial theoretical and empirical question--as shown by the recent criminalization of possession of some adult pornography in the United Kingdom. Supporters of criminalization argue that Mill, often considered a staunch opponent of censorship, would support prohibition due to his feminist commitments. I argue that this account underestimates the strengths of the Millian account of private conduct and free expression, and the consistency of Millian anticensorship with feminist values. A Millian contextual defense of liberty, however, suggests several other policy approaches to addressing the harms of pornography.

See  paper from onlinelibrary.wiley.com

For some reason a ludicrous whinge about radio presenter Jeremy Vine saying he had man flu has made the news.

He was apparently reported for political incorrectnes under the BBC's equality and diversity rules.

He referred to his man flu while talking to Dr Sarah Jarvis about whooping cough and other illnesses common in the 1800s. Vine explained on Twitter:

Oh great, someone's reported me under the BBC Equality and Diversity Code because I told @DrSarahJarvis yesterday I had man flu.

The BBC confirmed that a complaint had been received, and a Radio 2 spokesman later said no further action will be taken. The broadcaster investigates possible breaches of standards, but does not investigate minor, misconceived, hypothetical, repetitious or otherwise vexatious complaints .

A Radio 2 spokeswoman said:

Jeremy was clearly making fun of himself, no BBC policies have been breached and the complaint has been dismissed.

A photo exhibition of naked women aimed at promoting positive body image in Copenhagen has been shut down by police.

The police message seems to be that the insecure young girls of Denmark should be ashamed of their bodies as they are not fit to be seen in public

Danish nudist photographer and artist Mathilde Grafström had planned the display of her Female Beauty collection for Copenhagen's Nytorv square, but police have denied her permission claiming the photos are offensive . Speaking to Denmark's TV 2 she said:

I take my photos to show young women that they are more beautiful than they think. I show the woman that she is beautiful, and that way I can help her to accept herself.

The Australian supermarket Cole's has banned the latest issue of fashion magazine, Harper's Bazaar .

Cole's cited easily offended customer and justified the censorship in a statement:

We didn't think the cover was appropriate for our stores so the decision was made.\

He added that customer feedback prompted the dumping.

Later a spokesman refused to comment on why the cover, shot by renowned fashion photographer Steven Chee and featuring Miranda Kerr standing in a pair of stilettos, covering her naked breasts with her arm,

Miranda Kerr's management has fired back at Coles questioning the motives of the supermarket's censorship. Kerr's manager Annie Kelly said:

There have been numerous examples of similar covers sold without restriction that celebrate and support women and this is no different. They seem to have used it to get publicity during the busiest trading time of the year.

  An renown art gallery has been criticised after censoring words such as negro and Mohammedan from the descriptions of its artworks in case they cause offence.

Indian and dwarf are two other words that have been altered at the the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam -- leading to observation that it is pandering to political correctness. It has removed 'offensive' words from around 200 titles and descriptions of it works of art, replacing them PC friendly terminology.

Martine Gosselink, head of political correctness at the history department, who initiated the project, said:

The point is not to use names given by whites to others.

We Dutch are called kaas kops, or cheeseheads, sometimes, and we wouldn't like it if we went to a museum in another country and saw descriptions of images of us as "kaas kop woman with kaas kop child" and that's exactly the same as what's happening here.'

The term Mohammedan , an archaic word for Muslim, is also among those to be changed in a drive to get rid of the insulting descriptions .

Offsite Comment: Should we censor art and books to fit our times

16th December 2015. See  article from theguardian.com

There are many words and phrases which, while accepted in their day, are clearly insulting and derogatory in the modern context and distort or confuse our understanding of the art itself.

For example, when Huckleberry Finn was republished a few years ago its liberal use of the N-word was replaced with the word slave . In the white-supremacist era in which the book was written, just 20 years after the abolition of slavery, the N-word was clearly acceptable among its mainly white readership. The story's underlying liberal message, though, could be lost if the modern reader was distracted by language which, today, is only used by bigots. In fact, if the original story wasn't meant to be hate-filled, changing the words can actually bring it into line with the original intention rather than distorting it with words now out of context.

...Read the full article from theguardian.com

  A pair of shops in Glasgow have made the news for selling gollywogs. The controversial dolls have large oversized red lips, black frizzy hair, and are clothed in traditional minstrel clothing. They were spotted in the windows of Cards and Gifts, and Party, in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street.

Nicola Hay, campaign manager at show Racism the Red Card Scotland, said:

We are extremely saddened to hear that a shop in Glasgow is selling Golliwog dolls.

The sale of these dolls perpetuate racism as they hark back to a time when the mockery and stereotyping of black people was considered a social norm rendering black people as submissive and lesser.

We urge the public to refrain from buying such overtly racist items and we hope the shop selling Golliwogs would consider taking them out of the store as one cannot profit on the oppression of an entire community.

The manager of Cards and Gifts confirmed that both shops had the same owner and that he was aware the dolls were considered offensive to some. He added that they had been a popular sale in the store and that it was not his decision to sell them.

A newspaper cartoon published in The Australian has offended a few people in India.

The cartoon, by Bill Leak, one of the nation's best-known cartoonists, depicted starving Indians attempting to eat solar panels with mango chutney has been criticised as racist and drawing on a stereotype from the 1950s .

Chris Kenny, a columnist at the newspaper, told IBTimes India that the cartoon was mocking the Paris deal for spending aid on climate instead of reducing poverty , adding that solar panels are not the greatest need in developing world .

But the cartoon prompted a few 'outraged' tweets. eg:

Get it - brown people are stupid and a waste of our (superior white people's) effort. Excellent racism Bill Leak.

David Pope, a cartoonist from the rival newspaper The Canberra Times , tweeted:

How backward is Aust #climate politics? Here, the absurd racist rubbish published by Murdoch's national newspaper.

A comment piece in The Hindustan Times attacked the cartoon for focusing on a stereotype of Indian poverty straight out of the 1950s .

A Christian street preacher found guilty of delivering supposedly homophobic sermons has won an appeal against his conviction. Michael Overd, who preaches on the streets of Taunton, was found guilty of a public order offence in March.

The conviction was quashed by Judge David Ticehurst at Taunton Crown Court.

Following Friday's hearing, Overd said the Crown Prosecution Service had failed to provide sufficient evidence to justify his conviction. He said:

Today the court was faced with the farcical situation of a witness telling the judge that he couldn't even remember what I had said, but simply asserting that it was 'homophobic'.

Rather than prizing freedom of expression and protecting it, the police and the prosecutors risk undermining it, because they've become paranoid about anyone who might possibly feel offended. 'Motivated by love'

Judge Ticehurst also awarded costs in favour of Overd, who was supported by the Christian Legal Centre (CLC).

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the CLC, said it was the right decision but it should never have come to this :

Public debate is becoming more superficial and fragile. People feel that certain things can't be said. That is dangerous.

It prevents us from challenging ideas, beliefs and behaviour that need to be challenged. It may make some people feel more comfortable, but it doesn't make the country safer.

Jack the Ripper: The Panto is an adult show due to run at the Norwich Playhouse next weekend and describes itself as a politically incorrect comedy that is not for children, or, for that matter, the easily offended, or basically anyone who doesn't think the idea of a pantomime about Jack the Ripper is big, clever or funny!

But about 500 easily offended people have signed the inevitable Change.org petition calling for the Spooky Kid Productions show to be banned. Sophie Elliott, who started the campaign, spouted:

We, the undersigned, are fed up with watching the very real risks and challenges that come with being a woman being turned into a joke.

As much as Spooky Kid Productions wishes to pride itself on alternative and adult entertainment, what they have actually done is created a show which makes a mockery of violence against sex workers, violence against women -- and vilifies those who perpetuate those things.

Just by laughing at a joke that is about rape or is derogatory towards women, the audience are participating in rape culture.

She told Telegraph Women:

I know the pantomime doesn't focus on the victims of Jack the Ripper but that's almost worse. It's making light of violence against women and we seem to be going through a bit of a Jack the Ripper obsession at the moment. It's important to take a feminist stand against it. The description of the play on the theatre's website The description of the play on the theatre's website

She called for the theatre to stop selling tickets and not allow the panto to be performed on its premises.

Caroline Richardson, Norwich Playhouse director, told the Eastern Daily Press:

We think very carefully about the shows we programme here, and the comedy in Jack the Ripper the Panto may be not to everyone's taste, but we would like to reassure the people who are worried that violence against women is not the butt of the joke, although obviously as it is a show about a murderer, murder will feature. Do not desecrate the memories of the real-life victims of Jack the Ripper by turning him into the good-guy protagonist of a sexist and misogynistic stage show.

A statement from production company Spooky Kid Productions said:

Jack The Ripper The Panto categorically does not make a mockery of violence against sex workers and women, or participate in rape culture.

We have performed the show in Norwich several times at two other theatres, to over 1,600 people from a broad range of backgrounds, and we have never had any complaints about the content of the panto.

The BBC has landed itself in hot water after reportedly including a rather feeble muslim joke in a Catherine Tate Christmas special.

Her character is a potty-mouthed elderly woman called Nan who asks a Muslim if he is an ISIS bomber. When she sees a Muslim man, recognised from anger management classes, she jokes that if he were to have anger troubles, we're all in trouble . Then, she expresses relief that he is a caretaker, and not an ISIS bomber.

 Meanwhile an example from New Zealand where the joke was a bit flat. A New Zealand company has taken down a billboard featuring a photo of Caitlin Jenner after numerous complaints.

Alongside the photo of the reality TV star, the billboard featured the sentence, I hope your sack is fuller than mine this Christmas .

Cranium Signage agreed to remove the billboard after an LGBT support group emailed the company's director and argued that it was tasteless, crass, insulting and vile .

And with a different spin on 'outrage', many have apparently taken to social media in disgust at a photo shoot for Interview magazine showing 18-year-old Kylie Jenner posing in a wheelchair.

Kylie Jenner is the youngest of the Kardashian/Jenner family and is no stranger to controversy, but her latest photoshoot has been criticised for being ableist .

In the photoshoot for Interview Magazine shot by photographer Stephen Klein, Kylie is seen sitting in a gold wheelchair wearing a PVC bodysuit.

This has sparked 'outrage' on Twitter as many dislike the casual use of a wheelchair as a fashion prop.

For years, it has been the last word in glamorous women, style and high fashion. But now the Pirelli calendar has swopped the sexy nude models for women of achievement .

Shot by Annie Liebovitz, it will star Yoko Ono, Patti Smith and Serena Williams. Most of the women will be fully-clothed, with only comedian Amy Schumer appearing in the flesh as part of a knowing in-joke that she didn't get this year's memo .

Fran Lebowitz, writer and calendar model, joked: Women with their clothes on are having a moment .

Annie Liebovitz told a press conference that the calendar represented a shift in the way women were viewed in here world, with an increasing focus on achievement over looks.

Game developer Team Ninja Has announced that the console game Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 won't be released in North America or in Europe. And there are no plans to change that decision.

The developer explains that political correctness does allow for a game with so many sexy bikini scenes: Team Ninja write:

Do you know many issues happening in video game industry with regard to how to treat female in video game industry? We do not want to talk those things here. But certainly we have gone through in last year or two to come to our decision. Thank you.

A few viewers have vented their 'fury' at the BBC after this week's episode of Doctor Who showed a plane being shot out of the sky by a missile.

The super sensitive tweeters claimed the timing of the episode was insensitive given the terror attack on the Russian plane flying out of Egypt.

In the episode a shapeshifting alien takes the form of Clara Oswald and shoots at the plane with the with the intention of killing the doctor and all of the others on board The missile is seen hitting the plane before it explodes and is brought to the ground where viewers were shown the burning wreckage.

The Daily Mail dredged up a few trivial tweets:

• Surprised the BBC would show a plane being shot down given recent events #doctorwho
• Given the situation in Egypt, perhaps blowing up a plane on this week's episode of Doctor Who was not wise.
• Can't believe #doctorwho showed a plane being shot out of the sky given the current news #insensitive.

A BBC spokesman responded:

The episode was clearly signposted as science fiction set in a fantasy world and no one died in the scene.

Update: Official BBC response: Gotcha, it was a military aircraft, not a commercial airliner

10th November 2015. See  article from bbc.co.uk

Doctor Who
BBC One, 7 November 2015

Complaint:

We received complaints from viewers who felt that scenes showing the destruction of an aeroplane were inappropriate in light of recent events.

Response:

We're aware that elements of drama programmes can sometimes bring to mind real events, and we always think very carefully about this.

In this case, though, the story was presented as a science fiction fantasy, far removed from the real world. The episode didn't depict a passenger-carrying commercial airliner - it was a military aircraft on official business - and both the Doctor and his companion survived.

With this in mind we didn't feel the scenes would be outside of most viewers' expectations for the programme, but we appreciate the differing feedback we've received.

Update: Complaints to Ofcom will surely be made into paper planes for crashing into the waste bin

13th November 2015. See  article from independent.co.uk

TV censor Ofcom said it has received 30 complaints about the Doctor Who plane crash. No doubt these will soon be consigned to the waste paper bin.

Update: Ofcom reject complaints without investigation

24th November 2015. See  article from theguardian.com

Ofcom has decided against launching an investigation into the plane crash episode of Doctor Who. A spokesman said:

We received a number of complaints that it was insensitive to broadcast this episode, which featured a plane being shot down, so close to events in the Sinai peninsula. In our view, the science fiction nature of Doctor Who and the storyline created a sufficient distinction from recent events. We therefore will not be taking the matter forward for investigation.

My Boomerang Won't Come Back is a comedy song from Charlie Drake dating back to 1961. It was controversial at the time but has just hit the news again after just being banned in Australia on grounds of political correctness.

The song is about an Aboriginal boy banished from his tribe because he can't use a boomerang and includes the lyrics:

In the bad backlands of Australia
Many years ago,
The aborigine tribes were meeting,
Having a big pow-wow.

My boomerang won't come back,
My boomerang won't come back,
I've waved the thing all over the place,
Practised till I was black in the face,
I'm a big disgrace to the Aborigine race,
My boomerang won't come back.

When the song  was played on ABC's radio station in Hobart, Tasmania, in September one listener complained that it was racist. Now the broadcaster's Audience and Consumer Affairs Department has upheld that complaint, saying:

The track as not in keeping with the ABC's editorial standards for harm and offence; there was no editorial justification for playing it.

The song was not on a regular ABC playlist but was aired because it was requested by a listener. This error was due to staff not being familiar with the track's lyrics.

The ABC apologised to the complainant, removed the track completely from the system and took steps to ensure that this would not happen again.

At the time of its 1961 release. The BBC refused to play the original version which contained the line: I've waved the thing all over the place/practiced till I was black in the face , so it was re-recorded as blue in the face .

Its lack of political correctness also means an Aboriginal meeting is described as a pow-wow , a term usually associated with Native Americans, while the chanting on the track sounds more African than Aboriginal.

About 200 people have compalied to the newspaper censor Ipso about a cartoon by Mac published in the Daily Mail. It featured caricatured refugees crossing the border into Europe, accompanied by rats scurrying across the floor.

The Daily Mail's managing editor's office said in a statement that:

As should be blindingly obvious, Mac's cartoon is a comment on the terrorist atrocities in Paris. The rats were intended to depict terrorists smuggling themselves into Europe amongst innocent refugees.

Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, wrote to the paper's editor, suggesting that the animation:

Appears to liken immigrants of the Muslim faith to rats. To me, and to many of my constituents, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, this cartoon appears to be Islamophobic,

And, what is more, comes at a time when our country's Muslim community - which was as shocked and saddened as we all were at the unforgivable atrocities in Pairs - feels under threat of demonisation.

The letter was published  by an unofficial group campaigning for Jeremy Corbyn to become UK Prime Minister (JeremyCorbyn4PM). The group tweeted:

Well done to @RichardBurgon for standing up to the @DailyMailUK over their disgraceful cartoon. Needed to be said.

The press censor Ipso confirmed it had received 200 complaints regarding the drawing.

The BBC responded to a complaint without informing viewers what the complaint was about. The BBFC said:

Strictly Come Dancing,
BBC One, 24 October 2015

Complaint:

We received complaints from viewers unhappy with Bruno Tonioli's use of strong language during this episode.

Response:

We're sorry for any offence caused by Bruno's remark during the live show. Bruno made the comment in the heat of the moment, and apologised immediately when he realised what he had said. Tess also apologised to viewers, as did the Strictly team on Twitter. The remark was removed from the iPlayer version of the show.

In fact Bruno said 'bollocks'. When passing his verdict on Jay and Aliona Vilani's dance, he shrieked: Oh yeah! those are the bull's bollocks! Tess Daly then apologised to viewers, telling them: I would just like to apologise for Bruno's language there, he got a little over-excited .

Update: Ofcom dismisses bollocks complaints

10th November 2015. See  article from telegraph.co.uk

The world 'bollocks' can be used before the watershed in some circumstances, the TV said, as it rejected complaints about a Strictly Come Dancing judge's use of the term:

Our research shows that in general audiences would tolerate this language before the watershed

Update: Ofcom makes a bollocks clarification

13th November 2015. See  article from christian.org.uk

Newspapers generally reported that Ofcom had dismissed complaints about the pre-watershed use of the word 'bollocks' with the inference that it was OK to use pre-watershed. However an Ofcom TV censor has written to the Times to clarify that in fact the word 'bollocks' is not OK before the watershed, it's just that the Strictly Come Dancing presenter grovelled enough that the programme was let off from the transgression of the censorship rules.

In a letter to The Times, Ofcom's Director of Content Standards, Licensing and Enforcement, Tony Close, explained the TV censor's decision:

In deciding not to pursue complaints about Strictly Come Dancing, we took into account the live, accidental nature of the incident and clear recognition by the other judges and presenter that this was unacceptable.

We also recognised the swift and sincere apology by the presenter.

We continue to enforce the watershed to protect audiences and will take swift, robust action when broadcasters get it wrong.

A BBC radio DJ who said that breastfeeding in public was unnatural has been criticised by TV censor Ofcom for his highly offensive comments.

Alex Dyke told listeners of his daily show on BBC Radio Solent that he found it embarrassing to sit next to a breastfeeding mother on the bus.

Ofcom today announced that 45 complaints against Dyke had been upheld, saying that his views were likely to be perceived as misogynistic .

The comments breached rule 2.3 of the body's regulations, which states that potentially offensive material must be justified by its context. An Ofcom spokesman said:

We found this radio discussion broke our rules regarding offensive content. The presenter's statements were highly offensive, stereotyped women who breastfed and were likely to be perceived as misogynistic.

The BBC took various steps after the broadcast, including the presenter broadcasting an apology, further compliance training for the presenter, and tightening its compliance processes.

However the presenter had been permitted to broadcast highly offensive comments, with minimal editorial oversight.

A 'vile' cartoon published in the Daily Mail has sparked 'outrage', amid accusations that the drawing looked as though it should have been published in Britain's bygone racist era.

The Mac image, which also appears on the paper's website, references news that singer Tom Jones will undergo tests in a bid to discover whether he has black ancestry .

It depicts two white colonial-type explorers, one reading a newspaper with the headline 'Am I black?' asks Tom Jones , another approaching two black tribesmen with a test-tube, clutching a briefcase adorned with the words DNA tests . The cartoon caption reads:

The DNA matches - now just one more test... can you sing Delilah?.

The Huffington post dragged up a few angry tweets to show the 'outrage', eg:

How does the Daily Mail cover Tom Jones' alleged black ancestry? With a cartoon about black people in a jungle. Vile

An Australian pharmacy has come under fire from a strident feminist campaign group for selling a hand-held sex toy on their website.

A description for the toy said: You'll be be her first and only. This virgin is waiting to be touched for the very first time.

The Virgin Pussy Palm Pal was soon removed from the retailer's website after complaints from Collective Shout. The group's director of operations, Coralie Alison, told Daily Mail Australia:

We got a tip off about the product and then I emailed them this morning.

Collective Shout encouraged their followers to whinge on social media so the Daily Mail had plenty of angry tweets to include in the story, eg:

We believe chemists are supposed to be selling products with medicinal and health benefits rather than promoting paedophilic fantasies for profit.

Chemist Warehouse atrocious that you're selling Virgin Palm Pal. 'Tight as a virgin

  A coffee shop in south-east London called Fuckoffee has been ordered by its landlord to remove the supposedly offensive sign bearing its name.

The cafe owners posted a tweet showing a redacted version of the letter outlining the censorship. The letter read:

We are instructed that you have either erected or allowed your sub-tenant to erect an offensive sign on the exterior of the buliding... without the permission or authority from our client to do so and this constitutes a trespass.

According to the letter, the Bermondsey Street coffeeshop could face legal proceedings or the forfeiture of its lease if it does not remove the sign. It will also have to cover the costs of the legal steps taken so far.

Fans of the coffee shop took to Twitter to express their support of the sign, with several accusing the landlord of being joyless and criticising the property owner for adding further hurdles for small businesses.

Update: You Star

29th October 2015. See  article from huffingtonpost.co.uk

 After a warning from their landlord, Fuckoffee have 'censored' their sign by replacing the 'u' with an asterisk.

The new design was unveiled on Twitter on Tuesday.

Customers had rallied behind the store to hold strong against the threat, and London Mayor Boris Johnson had also voiced his support.

A petition was later started to rally support for the cafe. It read:

There is a small, indie coffee shop in Bermondsey called Fuckoffee. They have had a few anally retentive and gormless people complain about their name and now they have their money grabbing corporate landlord demand they take the sign down as it is deemed to be offensive.

We, the undersigned, confirm we have a sense of humour and find the continued attack on our beloved Fuckoffee an insult to freedom of expression, freedom of speech and humour.

The company responsible for a giant billboard showing construction workers and their shadows has blown off whinges about the humorous advertising campaign.

The billboard, erected by Christchurch-based property developers Gillman Wheelans, advertises constructions in West Melton, under the headline, Getting the job done .

However a local whinger thought the billboard was in bad taste and complained to the Advertising Standards Authority. A complaint read:

On the wall behind them, the advertiser has chosen to depict shadows cast by the workers. They have chosen to do this to look as though the woman worker is performing fellatio on the man. That was deeply offensive and was an objectifying, demeaning sexualisation of women.

In a majority decision, the advert censor shot down the complaint. The double entendre with the shadow was acknowledged, but the risque image was described as subtle and was covered by a provision in the industry code allowing for humour. The humour within the shadow did not meet the threshold of causing serious or widespread offence, the authority ruled.

  Students at Cardiff University have begun an online petition trying to bar Germaine Greer, the Australian feminist author, from speaking there next month because of her views on transgender women.

The petition was initiated on Friday by Rachael Melhuish, women's officer at the Cardiff University Students' Union. The petition states that Ms. Greer has:

Demonstrated time and time again her misogynistic views towards trans women, including continually 'misgendering' trans women and denying the existence of transphobia altogether.

The petition had received about 880 signatures by noon on Saturday. However Cardiff University said it had no plans to cancel Ms. Greer's lecture. In a statement, the university's vice chancellor, Colin Riordan, said:

Our events include speakers with a range of views, all of which are rigorously challenged and debated.

Greer called the petition a bit of a put-up job because she was not even going to talk about the issue in her lecture on Nov. 18, titled Women & Power: The Lessons of the 20th Century. She said:

The issue is broader. I do not know why universities cannot hear unpopular views and think about what they mean.

  No Offence, founded by student Jacob Williams and Oxford local Lulie Tanett, is a magazine recently set up to promote debate and publicise ideas people are afraid to express .

The intention was to hand out copies at Oxford University Student Union (OUSU) fresher events. However OUSU took offence at the political incorrectness of the satirical content and banned distribution of the magazine.

The censors sited the OUSU rules about being able to ban anything offensive but in an age where everything is offensive to someone somewhere, this rather gives organisers carte blanche to censors anything that they personally do not like, in this case a little mockery of feminism.

The parts of the publication that OUSU found to be offensive included a satirical feature Letters to the Editor . In one of the fake letters, an author under the name Les B Anne criticized men by saying that all of the assaults are done by them [the men], all of the rapes, all of the murders , and in another A Wyatt Man referred to the liberal media from stopping us from asking all the hard questions about the muzzies .

A separate submission entitled Dickly Living , a satire of the Facebook discussion group Cuntry Living, was also deemed to be offensive for use of 'ableist' language and reference to organizing a mass rape swagger .

Williams commented that:

There is nothing offensive about healthy debate. To ban us from promoting it on the grounds that people might be offended proves everything the free speech movement has been saying. No offence OUSU, but you just shot yourself in the foot.

Tanett added:

We're not inciting violence, as many people do with impunity. We're not revealing national security secrets, as many people would applaud. We're not even campaigning for any particular view to be listened to. All we're doing is campaigning for events and magazines like ours to not be shut down. For the free exchange of ideas.

Offsite Comment: Oxford: where free speech goes to die

1st October 2015. See  article from spiked-online.com by Eleanor Sharman

 A student magazine called No Offence has been banned for being offensive.

Update: Why are police always quick to act as bully boys for the complainants, regardless of the merits of the case?

24th October 2015.See  article from dailymail.co.uk

The Daily Mail has published further details about police censorship of the No Offence magazine.

Thames Valley police confiscated 150 copies of thel student magazine at the behest of student union leaders who claimed the  magazine might upset rape victims and people from ethnic minorities.

Editor Jacob Williams said he was prevented from distributing the magazines. He feared being arrested as Thames Valley Police decided whether he had committed a crime, but they have now decided that no further action will be taken.  Williams said officers at the time told him that handing out the magazine may constitute a public order offence. He said:

I have been sitting for nearly two weeks not knowing if I was going to be arrested over this. I have been very worried.

He accused officers of acting in a heavy-handed way and added:

It is incredibly important people are given the opportunity to engage with different ideas.

The magazine featured humorous articles including a defence of colonialism and an article entitled Islam is not the religion of peace . It also includes a satirical article about organising a rape swagger in the style of a slut walk.

A policeman spokesman said they were warned that a magazine containing offensive and distressing material was being distributed. An officer deemed it was not obscene and arranged for the issue to be left at a university college. The student union and university declined to comment.

The Daily Mail has gone to town on a trivial bad taste joke about Cilla Black on You've Been Framed

An old episode contained a clip of red-haired woman falling and hitting her head on the side of a swimming pool. Harry Hill quipped: It is Cilla Black appearing in her last show for ITV. Cilla died in August after collapsing and banging her head in Marbella.

The episode was made last year and was repeated again on Saturday. The Daily Mail reports:

Furious fans were left distraught and complained to ITV calling them crass , sick and insensitive for allowing a joke about Cilla falling over to be broadcast last weekend.

The Daily Mail dragged up a few angry tweets, eg:

Simon Gittins: The you've been framed CIlla joke was just sick. All you have done is hurt her memory. You should be ashamed.

ITV later apologised for the mistake and said the clip should have been cut

The Daily Star reported:

A hidden camera and prank show featuring a cast of black and Asian comedians has been commissioned by the channel for autumn -- called Sniggaz . In an ITV press release, the channel said:

C4 backed indie Renowned Films has also been commissioned by ITV2 to produce a 1 x 30 comedy special, completing the set of singles. The show, entitled Sniggaz (w/t) will feature a brand new cast of up and coming Black and Asian comics, as they hit the streets in a mix of fast paced provocative hidden camera and character based pranks poking fun at prejudices and stereotypes around race and diversity in the UK.

Renowned's Duane Jones added:

We're thrilled to be working with ITV2 to unleash our brand new comedy show, Sniggaz, bringing some of the freshest Black and Asian comics and writers to the channel for the first time. 'Sniggaz' will poke fun at the stereotypes and prejudices that most of us are too afraid to discuss. Watch out UK, the sniggaz are coming.

By the time I checked out the story the ITV press release reads:

C4 backed indie Renowned Films has also been commissioned by ITV2 to produce a 1 x 30 comedy special, completing the set of singles. The show, entitled Pranksterz will feature a brand new cast of up and coming Black and Asian comics, as they hit the streets in a mix of fast paced provocative hidden camera and character based pranks poking fun at prejudices and stereotypes around race and diversity in the UK.

An advert featuring an image of a women's bottom in jeans has been taken down from railway stations across London after causing supposed 'outrage' over sexism. It describes the woman's backside being good for squeezing and shaking . The advert warns about slippery floors and reads:

Good for sitting, squeezing and shaking. Don't bruise it. Please take extra care in wet weather conditions.

There have been a few whinges from politically correct politicians claiming that the poster somehow trivialises sexual assaults and encourages groping.

Labour MP and London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan said the advert had no place on London's transport network. Meanwhile, Teresa Pearce, the Labour MP for Erith and Thamesmead, tweeted at Southeastern trains to complain. She whinged:

Nothing sexist about this at all is there @Se_Railway? Thats a really bad advert!

A Southeastern spokesman said:

Following a complaint last night from Teresa Pearce, MP for Erith and Thamesmead, this poster has been removed from the 70 stations it was placed in.

The poster was used as it was intended to be a harmless but impactful way of drawing attention to safety issues at stations, particularly trips and falls during wet weather. This poster was put to an independent panel, which included both women and men, who approved it before it was used.

We since recognise that to some it may cause offence and have taken appropriate action by removing it.

A complaint about the packaging of Dragon Soop (500ml can) for encouraging immoderate consumption and appealing to under-18s has not been upheld by the Independent Complaints Panel (ICP).

The complainant, Middlesbrough Council Public Health Team, were concerned that the product encouraged irresponsible consumption as it contained the UK Chief Medical Officers' (CMO) daily unit guidelines for men (3-4 units) and exceeded that for women (2-3 units). The complainant also considered that the brightly coloured packaging, the cartoon dragon image and product flavour would appeal to younger people.

In considering the product, the Panel referred to previous rulings on 500ml cans and the wider societal context including the Public Health Responsibility Deal pledge which stated that signatories will not produce or sell any carbonated product with more than (4) units of alcohol in a single-serve can . It was noted that whilst four units of alcohol was on the threshold of the CMOs' lower risk daily guidelines for men (3-4 units) and above for women (2-3 units), taking into consideration all factors within the context of the case, they concluded that on balance the product did not encourage immoderate consumption. Accordingly, the Panel did not uphold the product under Code paragraph 3.2(f).

The Panel considered whether the product had a particular appeal to under-18s. The Panel noted that whilst some of the colours were bright, the imagery (including the dragon) was neither overly childish nor likely to particularly appeal to under-18s. The Panel therefore concluded that the product did not breach the Code.