NewsCloud.com Censorship News

The IOC is Now Officially an Accomplice to the Communists in China

Beijing, which has constantly complained about its precious Games being politicized, is itself politicizing the Olympics every time it censors a website. By not allowing reporters to access sites like Amnesty International or the Chinese version of the BBC, the Chinese government is attempting to shield itself from international criticism and arbitrarily filter out political viewpoints that it deems harmful to its image. This action of censoring the Internet in Beijing is a powerful political statement...

Google's Shareholders Vote to Continue Censorship in China

Google [has been] coming under fire for operating a version of its search engine that complies with China's censorship rules. Google argues that it's better for it to have a presence in the country and to offer people some information, rather than for it not to be active in China at all... [S]hareholders and rights groups including Amnesty International... continue to push Google to improve its policies in countries known for human rights abuses and limits on freedom of speech... Sergey Brin, cofounder and president of technology for Google, abstained from voting on either of the proposals. 'I agreed with the spirit of these proposals,' Brin said. But he said he didn't fully support them as they were written, and so did not want to vote for them.

Journalists Continue to Be Killed With Impunity Across the Globe

Murder is the ultimate form of censorship. The more killings of media workers go unpunished, the more the press is silenced.

Access Denied: report on Internet censorship around the world

Many countries around the world block or filter Internet content, denying access to information--often about politics, but also relating to sexuality, culture, or religion--that they deem too sensitive for ordinary citizens. Access Denied documents and analyzes Internet filtering practices in over three dozen countries, offering the first rigorously conducted study of this accelerating trend.

Athletes who take Tibet stand 'face Olympic cut'

Athletes who display Tibetan flags at Olympic venues - including in their own rooms - could be expelled from this summer's Games in Beijing under anti-propaganda rules.

Randi Rhodes Quits Air America Rather Than Apologize For Hillary Clinton

The Huffington Post has learned that Randi Rhodes quit Air America after being asked by the network to apologize for her inflammatory remarks against Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro.

Think Secret Shutting Down

A number of readers are sending in the news that the Mac rumors site Think Secret will be shutting down, as part of the (secret) settlement of a lawsuit Apple filed in 2005. Apple had claimed that the blog, published since 1998 by college student Nick Ciarelli, had revealed Apple's trade secrets. The only other detail of the settlement that has been revealed is that Think Secret was not forced to reveal any sources.

Ban books? Ban ideas, ban imagination, ban a future

To ban a book is to ban an idea. Some ideas are good; some are bad. But good and bad are judgments each of us must be free to make and learn to make.

Real heroes refuse to shut up and sing

'The US vs. John Lennon' chronicles the egregious lengths the US gov't went to in order to silence an artist who had the audacity to speak out. Of course, Lennon came from an age when artists did that sort of thing, and he wasn't the only one to get on the authorities' nerves. But we don't live in that world anymore...

The Pirate Bay To Create YouTube Competitor

Jared writes The Pirate Bay has confirmed that is working on a streaming video site with user-generated content. A spokesman said the site will be modeled after YouTube but there will be 'no censorship': The Pirate Bay 'will not be the moral police' and determine what content stays or goes as is oftentimes the case with YouTube. He added that 'the community will have to do that.'" The site will be at thevideobay.org, but nothing is up there for the public yet.Read more of this story at Slashdot...

Google Admits China Censorship Was Damaging

Quoting the Guardian article: "Asked whether he regretted the decision, Mr. Brin admitted yesterday: 'On a business level, that decision to censor... was a net negative.'" The reporter concludes that Google is unlikely to revise its Chinese censorship policy any time soon.

Chinese Net users say China likely banned Wikipedia again - iht,asia,China Wikipedia - Asia - Pacifi

Barely a week after Wikipedia viewers were able to access the Web site after a yearlong ban they reported Friday that it was blocked again in several parts of China.

Prickly Peacock nixes Chicks

"It's a sad commentary about the level of fear in our society that a movie about a group of courageous entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate America," Harvey Weinstein said in a statement. "The idea that anyone should be penalized for criticizing the president is profoundly un-American."

Pierre Tristam: In Defense of Michelle Malkin (YouTube's Thought-Policing) /Candide's Notebooks

She may be reprehensible. She may have her own wildly popular platform. She may be bigoted and inflaming. That's no reason to censorr Michelle Malkin.