Tag: censorship

Struggles for democracy and human rights in South Asia: Taking forward Asma Jahangir’s legacy

Ironically, the late Asma Jahangir’s last public appearance and speech were at a demonstration led by Pashteen in Islamabad, February 2018, against the extrajudicial killing of a Pashtun youth in a ‘police encounter’ in Karachi in January 2018. The protest marked the launch of the PTM. Jahangir passed away just days later at her home in Lahore. Since then,… Read More Struggles for democracy and human rights in South Asia: Taking forward Asma Jahangir’s legacy

Dilip

The grotesque inequality embodied by Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg is a threat to democracy

Jeff Sparrow The higher the monkey climbs, the more he exposes his backside. So too with the super rich. Oxfam tells us that a mere 10 people now possess more wealth than the bottom 40% of humanity – and that the richest 20 tycoons collectively own more than the entire GDP of sub-Saharan Africa. You’d think that… Read More The grotesque inequality embodied by Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg is a threat to democracy

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India criticised over arbitrary travel bans after photojournalist blocked from Pulitzer trip

Aakash Hassan in New Delhi Indian authorities have been criticised after a Kashmiri photojournalist said she was barred from taking a flight to New York where she was scheduled to receive the 2022 Pulitzer prize. Sanna Irshad Mattoo, 27, was in a team of Reuters photographers who had won a Pulitzer for feature photography for their… Read More India criticised over arbitrary travel bans after photojournalist blocked from Pulitzer trip

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Xinjiang lockdown: Chinese censors drown out posts about food and medicine shortages

Helen Davidson Chinese censors have reportedly been ordered to flood social media with innocuous posts about Xinjiang to drown out mounting complaints of food and medication shortages in a region under lockdown for more than a month. The Ili Kazakh autonomous prefecture, also known as Yili, is home to about 4.5 million people, and is believed to… Read More Xinjiang lockdown: Chinese censors drown out posts about food and medicine shortages

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Dare you to condemn Godse: Kunal Kamra’s letter to VHP after show gets cancelled

Comedian Kunal Kamra’s scheduled show in Haryana’s Gurugram was called off following protests by the right-wing organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Kamra was slated to perform for his gig on September 17 and 18 at Studio Xo Bar, however, it was ordered to be cancelled after the VHP filed a complaint with Gurugram’s district commissioner.… Read More Dare you to condemn Godse: Kunal Kamra’s letter to VHP after show gets cancelled

Dilip

Ai Weiwei: ‘I became the enemy of the established power, but without a crime’

There is no existing vocabulary to illustrate a condition that requires a special kind of reality. Once it comes to a point when the authority cannot rationally communicate or have a clear exchange of ideas or when they cannot allow the argument, then the only thing they can do is to make you feel that… Read More Ai Weiwei: ‘I became the enemy of the established power, but without a crime’

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In Turkey, Pop Singer arrested for Offending Clerics

By Arzu Geybullayeva Police in Turkey have arrested pop singer Gülşen (full name Gülşen Colakoglu), 46, pending trial, over a comment she made about religious schools, months ago during one of her concert. Last April, Gülşen, joked about one of her colleagues’ Imam Hatip past during a concert in Istanbul. Imam Hatip high schools are Islamic religious education institutions originally… Read More In Turkey, Pop Singer arrested for Offending Clerics

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The Real Cancel Culture: Anti-Palestinianism and the Crisis of American Free Speech

By Nasim Ahmed | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The firing of Palestinian American woman, Natalie Abulhawa, has sparked a debate over free-speech, “cancel-culture” and the ever-growing crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism. The 25-year-old athletic trainer was fired by a private girls school in Bryn Mawr over years-old social media posts criticising Israel. In March the… Read More The Real Cancel Culture: Anti-Palestinianism and the Crisis of American Free Speech

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