Efforts to curb the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic should not be used as an excuse to “silence critical voices”, Europe’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell said on Thursday, after more than a hundred of protesters were detained after protesting against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s appointment of a controversial party member to head Istanbul’s Bogazici university.
“The European Union is seriously concerned over the negative developments in Turkey in the areas of the rule of law, human rights and the judiciary,” the Union’s External Action Service (EEAS) said in a statement.
“The COVID-19 pandemic cannot be used as a means to silence critical voices,” it added, arguing that the st
Read more at:
EU tells Turkey pandemic not an excuse to ‘silence critical voices’ | New Europe
Showing posts with label Freedom of Speech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freedom of Speech. Show all posts
2/8/21
1/12/21
Human Rights: Article 10: Freedom of expression
Article 10 protects your right to hold your own opinions and to express them freely without government interference.
This includes the right to express your views aloud (for example through public protest and demonstrations, or through: published articles, books or leaflets, television, or radiobroadcasting, works of art, the internet and social media).
The law also protects your freedom to receive information from other people by, for example, being part of an audience or reading a magazine.
Read more at: Article 10: Freedom of expression | Equality and Human Rights Commission
This includes the right to express your views aloud (for example through public protest and demonstrations, or through: published articles, books or leaflets, television, or radiobroadcasting, works of art, the internet and social media).
The law also protects your freedom to receive information from other people by, for example, being part of an audience or reading a magazine.
Read more at: Article 10: Freedom of expression | Equality and Human Rights Commission
8/18/19
Russia: Opposition figure detained upon release from jail
Russian opposition figure detained upon release from jail
Read more at:
https://p.dw.com/p/3O5yI
https://p.dw.com/p/3O5yI
4/12/19
Free Speech: Julian Assanges charges are a direct assault on Press freedom experts warn
Julian Assange's charges are a direct assault on press freedom, experts warn
Read more at:
4/18/18
Turkey: Erdogan Calls Snap Election for June; Lira, Stocks Rally -
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called elections a year earlier than scheduled, moving to consolidate his one-man rule of the region’s largest economy.
The vote will complete the transformation of the political system, eliminating the prime minister’s job and weakening the role of parliament. Turkish markets rallied after Erdogan’s announcement in Ankara that the country will go to the polls June 24 to pick a president, almost certainly ratifying his hold on power.
“In calling an early election, Erdogan must feel confident he and his AK Party have the necessary numbers to achieve victory," said Paul Greer, a London-based portfolio manager at Fidelity International. "That itself should reduce market uncertainty."
Erdogan’s ruling party has never called early elections in the nearly 16 years it’s been in power, and repeatedly rejected speculation that it’d call them this year. Many analysts had predicted an early vote nonetheless, saying a deteriorating economic outlook and fighting in neighboring Syria would prompt him to move up the date rather than risk re-election in a downturn.
Erdogan, who defeated an attempted coup in 2016, has stoked nationalist fervor since launching an incursion into Syria in January, playing the same card as other strongmen, such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“It has become a necessity for Turkey to overcome uncertainties as soon as possible amid developments of historical importance in our region as well as the cross-border operation we’re carrying out in Syria,” Erdogan said in announcing the vote.
Read more: Erdogan Calls Snap Election for June; Lira, Stocks Rally - Bloomberg
The vote will complete the transformation of the political system, eliminating the prime minister’s job and weakening the role of parliament. Turkish markets rallied after Erdogan’s announcement in Ankara that the country will go to the polls June 24 to pick a president, almost certainly ratifying his hold on power.
“In calling an early election, Erdogan must feel confident he and his AK Party have the necessary numbers to achieve victory," said Paul Greer, a London-based portfolio manager at Fidelity International. "That itself should reduce market uncertainty."
Erdogan’s ruling party has never called early elections in the nearly 16 years it’s been in power, and repeatedly rejected speculation that it’d call them this year. Many analysts had predicted an early vote nonetheless, saying a deteriorating economic outlook and fighting in neighboring Syria would prompt him to move up the date rather than risk re-election in a downturn.
Erdogan, who defeated an attempted coup in 2016, has stoked nationalist fervor since launching an incursion into Syria in January, playing the same card as other strongmen, such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“It has become a necessity for Turkey to overcome uncertainties as soon as possible amid developments of historical importance in our region as well as the cross-border operation we’re carrying out in Syria,” Erdogan said in announcing the vote.
Read more: Erdogan Calls Snap Election for June; Lira, Stocks Rally - Bloomberg
2/22/18
Turkey: Leading Turkish human rights defender sentenced for Twitter post - France 24
A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, one
of the country’s leading human rights advocates, to two-and-a-half years
in jail for a 2016 Twitter post advocating peace.
A former head of Mazlumdar, a prominent Turkish human rights group, Gergerlioglu was sentenced for “disseminating terrorist propaganda”, a charge he denies.
The 53-year-old human rights activist was sentenced for a message he posted on Twitter on October 9, 2016, when he downloaded a photograph of a World Peace Day demonstration featuring Kurdish mothers protesting behind two symbolic coffins, one draped in the Turkish flag and the other in a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) flag.
Read more: Leading Turkish human rights defender sentenced for Twitter post - France 24
A former head of Mazlumdar, a prominent Turkish human rights group, Gergerlioglu was sentenced for “disseminating terrorist propaganda”, a charge he denies.
The 53-year-old human rights activist was sentenced for a message he posted on Twitter on October 9, 2016, when he downloaded a photograph of a World Peace Day demonstration featuring Kurdish mothers protesting behind two symbolic coffins, one draped in the Turkish flag and the other in a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) flag.
Read more: Leading Turkish human rights defender sentenced for Twitter post - France 24
5/5/17
USA: In Donald Trump's America, the crackdown on protesters is the real free speech issue - by lauri Penny
A nation has decided that preaching hatred is non-violent protected
speech, but standing outside shouting, holding a sign and wearing black
is an act of violence punishable by years in jail.
Read more: In Donald Trump's America, the crackdown on protesters is the real free speech issue
Read more: In Donald Trump's America, the crackdown on protesters is the real free speech issue
11/3/16
The Netherlands: Geert Wilders, 'Fewer Moroccans,' and the Question of Hate Speech - by Uri Friedman
In March 2014, during a rally in The Hague, Geert Wilders asked his
supporters whether they wanted more or fewer Moroccans in the
Netherlands, where Dutch Moroccans constitute 2 percent of the
population. “Fewer, fewer!” the crowd chanted. “Then we will arrange
that,” the Dutch politician responded, flashing a smile. The remarks
lasted only seconds, but they launched a years-long legal battle that
resulted, this week, in a trial. Wilders is facing charges of
deliberately insulting a group of people based on their race and
inciting discrimination and hatred against them.
Over the next few weeks, the trial will revolve around one question, The Wall Street Journal reports: “Is the right of free speech for politicians absolute, or should it be restricted to protect against discrimination?”
Here’s the video when Dutch prosecutors claim Wilders’s free speech veered into hate speech.
Note Almere-Digest: You might like Wilders or you may hate him, but to qualify the above speech as a hate speech, rather than a derogatory political speech, is somewhat far fetched, specially for a nation which respects the right of 'freedom of speech".
Read more: Geert Wilders, 'Fewer Moroccans,' and the Question of Hate Speech - The Atlantic
Over the next few weeks, the trial will revolve around one question, The Wall Street Journal reports: “Is the right of free speech for politicians absolute, or should it be restricted to protect against discrimination?”
Here’s the video when Dutch prosecutors claim Wilders’s free speech veered into hate speech.
Note Almere-Digest: You might like Wilders or you may hate him, but to qualify the above speech as a hate speech, rather than a derogatory political speech, is somewhat far fetched, specially for a nation which respects the right of 'freedom of speech".
Read more: Geert Wilders, 'Fewer Moroccans,' and the Question of Hate Speech - The Atlantic
10/26/16
The Ideal Nation State: Free Universal Health Care, Free Quality Education and a Fair Share Tax System-does it exist?
Sounds too far fetched - not at all.
When we look at Unversal Health care there are thirty-two of the thirty-three developed nations have universal health care, with the United States being the lone exception . The following list, compiled from WHO sources where possible, shows the start date and type of system used to implement universal health care in each developed country .
Note that universal health care does not imply government-only health care, as many countries implementing a universal health care plan continue to have both public and private insurance and medical providers.
If we look at Free Quality education and live in a country where it is not free but costly, like in the US, or if you fail to qualify for fully-funded university scholarships, consider enrolling in universities that are tuition free or universities that charge low tuition fees. Countries like Finland, Austria, Norway, Germany, and Sweden offer different types of free/low tuition schemes for international students.
scholars4dev.com has compiled information and provided links to tuition-free Colleges and Universities in these countries.
At the moment, scholarships there are mainly available only for Doctoral level studies and research.
When we look at Unversal Health care there are thirty-two of the thirty-three developed nations have universal health care, with the United States being the lone exception . The following list, compiled from WHO sources where possible, shows the start date and type of system used to implement universal health care in each developed country .
Note that universal health care does not imply government-only health care, as many countries implementing a universal health care plan continue to have both public and private insurance and medical providers.
If we look at Free Quality education and live in a country where it is not free but costly, like in the US, or if you fail to qualify for fully-funded university scholarships, consider enrolling in universities that are tuition free or universities that charge low tuition fees. Countries like Finland, Austria, Norway, Germany, and Sweden offer different types of free/low tuition schemes for international students.
scholars4dev.com has compiled information and provided links to tuition-free Colleges and Universities in these countries.
According to studyinfinland.fi: There are currently no tuition fees charged in Finland, regardless of the level of studies and the nationality of the student however tuition
fees for non-EU/EEA students will be introduced from autumn 2017
onwards for English-taught Bachelor’s or Master’s programmes. Doctoral level studies will remain free of tuition fees.
Updates concerning the forthcoming non-EU tuition fees and related new scholarships options can be found at www.studyinfinland.fi/
Remember that even when there are no
tuition fees, you still need to plan your finances – you are expected to
independently cover all your everyday living expenses during your studies in Finland.
At the moment, scholarships there are mainly available only for Doctoral level studies and research.
There are now a number of Universities also offering online degrees/courses for free. The first such University is University of the People which
is a tuition-free, non-profit, accredited online university dedicated
to opening access to higher education globally. University of the
People offers online Associates and Bachelors Degrees in Business
Administration and Computer Science.
This was followed by an initiative of MIT and Harvard called edX
which is a learning platform that gives students from any country the
opportunity to take free online courses offered by three premier
Universities in the US – Harvard, MIT, and UC Berkeley and about 50+
Universities and institutions.
Following this trend, Coursera was introduced which is an online learning platform that partners with the top universities in the world to offer online courses in many fields of study for anyone to take, for free.
Following this trend, Coursera was introduced which is an online learning platform that partners with the top universities in the world to offer online courses in many fields of study for anyone to take, for free.
Last but not least: which countries have a Fare Share Tax System? For the US one place to turn for factual information on who pays how much percent of the total in income taxes is a report posted on the American Spectator’s blog
on May 6, 2015. The data come from 2014, and are reported by the Tax
Policy Center, which is the creation of the Urban Institute and the
Brookings Institution, two entities not known for right-wing sentiments.
According to the IRS, in 2014 the top 1% of all income earners paid
45.7% of all federal income taxes, but earned 17.1% of all income in the
U.S. The top 20% paid 83.9% of all federal income taxes, after earning
51.9% of all income in America. The middle 20% of income earners – who
the American Spectator claims are the true middle class in America – paid 5.9% of all federal income taxes, but earned 14.8% of all income.
In Europe The EU Commission suggests that tax policy should be geared towards meeting
more general EU policy goals. Tax policy must contribute to achieving
the goal established at the Lisbon European Council of March 2000 and
confirmed at the Stockholm European Council in March of this year of
making the Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based
economy in the world by 2010. This means that efforts must be made to
achieve a durable reduction in the overall tax burden in the EU, by
ensuring a balance between cutting taxes, investing in public services
and sustaining fiscal consolidation. At the same time, tax policy must
be fully consistent with other EU policies such economic, employment,
health and consumer protection, innovation, environmental and energy
policies. But in particular tax systems must allow individuals and
businesses to benefit fully from the Internal Market. This implies a
need to focus on eliminating the inefficiencies due to the co-existence
of 15 different tax systems within the EU and on making those tax
systems simpler and more comprehensible to taxpayers.\
At the recent European Commission’s “Debate on the Future of Europe” event in Luxembourg there was a comment from the audience arguing that corruption and tax
evasion in some European countries was one of the root causes of the
economic crisis in Europe, and it should be up to individual member
states to solve their own problems:
One thing the people can do to promote changes on any of the issues listed above is to use their voting power and their brains to vote in gthose politicians who are in favor of Free Unversal Health Care, Free Quality Education and a Fair Tax System, and vote out those who do nothing else than give you promises and more promises.
It is high time for voters around the world to clean-up those political systems which have brought us non of the above, but instead, constant warfare, environmental disasters, while they empowered corporate entities to infiltrate and manipulate prevalent political systems.
© EU-Digest
© EU-Digest
8/2/16
Germany: Cologne Turkish demonstration shows major flaws in EU legislation re: New EU citizens rights and obligations
 |
| German Citizens of Turkish Descent demonstrating in Cologne |
In the meantime Turkey has summoned a senior German diplomat, the embassy said, a day after German authorities stopped Turkey president from addressing a rally in Cologne via video-link. ministry at 1pm (10:00 GMT)," a spokeswoman for the German embassy in Ankara told the AFP news agency, adding that the ambassador, who was summoned originally, was not in town.
Hours before the demonstration, Germany's constitutional court banned an application to show live speeches from Turkey by politicians including Erdogan, amid fears that political tensions in Turkey could spill over into Germany.
The decision sparked anger in Turkey, with presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin calling the ban unacceptable and a "violation of the freedom of expression and the right to free assembly".
Germany is home to aboutthree million ethnic Turks, making up Turkey's largest diaspora, and tensions over the failed coup have put authorities there on edge.
The tension comes at a time when relations between Germany and Turkey are already strained over the German parliament's decision to brand as genocide the World War I-era Armenian massacre by Ottoman forces.
As to new EU citizens rights and obligations. It is high time the EU Commission and EU Parliament review some of the procedures for EU member states immigrant swearing in ceremonies related to new citizen. In this respect the EU would be well served to copy the swearing in procedures applied in the US where a new citizen swears agreement to the following:
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
This would certainly avoid ridiculous scenes like recently in Cologne,Germany, where German citizens of Turkish descent demonstrated in favor of "the leadership in their country of origin, and where the President of that country consequently got upset with the German Government that he was not allowed to participate as a speaker in the demonstration via a TV hookup.
It can not get any crazier than this. Mr. Erdogan, given his record on freedom of speech, should be the last person to make remarks about human rights or freedom of speech - as to the German demonstrators of Turkish descent. In case they feel more in-line with Turkish Customs, Tradition and Culture, or Mr. Erdogan's Government ideals, they are completely free to go back to live in Turkey.
EU-Digest
7/16/16
Turkey: How to circumvent Turkey’s social media block
Access to several social media sites
was blocked for over an hour in Turkey today during a reported military
coup. Although internet traffic appears to be flowing normally again,
Turkey’s government frequently responds to political events by blocking certain websites or throttling traffic.
“We saw the throttling of connections from Turkey to Twitter and Facebook just after the reports of the coup in Turkey,” Doug Madory, the director of internet analysis at Dyn Research, told TechCrunch. “We did not see any problems with YouTube, but I have also seen others report problems accessing that website.” Livestreaming services like Twitter’s Periscope and Facebook Live appeared unaffected by the block.
Overall, internet traffic in Turkey may have dropped by half, according to CloudFlare data. CloudFlare CEO Matthew Prince tweeted, “From CloudFlare data, appears there’s about a 50% drop in Internet traffic coming out of Turkey.”
Turkish censorship of social media has been relatively easy to circumvent in the past — users could use DNS services like Google Public DNS to evade the blocks. But Turkey has become more sophisticated in how it blocks its citizens from accessing social media, according to Madory.
“This time Turkey appears to be restricting bandwidth when accessing social media. This represents a more sophisticated censorship technique that is harder to detect,” Madory said. “Users should still be able to circumvent it using a VPN, but the average user in Turkey may still not have that technology readily available.”
Click on the link below for the completer report and techniques for getting around internet blocks during times of turmoil:
Read more: How to circumvent Turkey’s social media block | TechCrunch
“We saw the throttling of connections from Turkey to Twitter and Facebook just after the reports of the coup in Turkey,” Doug Madory, the director of internet analysis at Dyn Research, told TechCrunch. “We did not see any problems with YouTube, but I have also seen others report problems accessing that website.” Livestreaming services like Twitter’s Periscope and Facebook Live appeared unaffected by the block.
Overall, internet traffic in Turkey may have dropped by half, according to CloudFlare data. CloudFlare CEO Matthew Prince tweeted, “From CloudFlare data, appears there’s about a 50% drop in Internet traffic coming out of Turkey.”
Turkish censorship of social media has been relatively easy to circumvent in the past — users could use DNS services like Google Public DNS to evade the blocks. But Turkey has become more sophisticated in how it blocks its citizens from accessing social media, according to Madory.
“This time Turkey appears to be restricting bandwidth when accessing social media. This represents a more sophisticated censorship technique that is harder to detect,” Madory said. “Users should still be able to circumvent it using a VPN, but the average user in Turkey may still not have that technology readily available.”
Click on the link below for the completer report and techniques for getting around internet blocks during times of turmoil:
Read more: How to circumvent Turkey’s social media block | TechCrunch
5/18/16
Freedom of Speech: When Criticizing the U.S. Government Put You in Prison - by Rosa Inocencio Smith
Ninety-eight years ago today, Congress passed the Sedition Act of 1918,
which made it an imprisonable offense to criticize the federal
government or U.S. military involvement in World War I. The legislation,
which expanded the Espionage Act of 1917, came at the height of wartime
fear and anger:
Violence on the part of local groups of citizens, sometimes mobs or vigilantes, persuaded some lawmakers that the [original] law was inadequate. In their view the country was witnessing instances of public disorder that represented the public’s own attempt to punish unpopular speech in light of the government’s inability to do so. Amendments to enhance the government’s authority under the Espionage Act would prevent mobs from doing what the government could not.
It was in this political climate that James Harvey Robinson, in the December 1917 issue of The Atlantic, addressed “The Threatened Eclipse of Free Speech”—a foreshadowing of the Sedition Act. Robinson argued that in times of national hardship, dissent is not only natural but necessary:
Read more: When Criticizing the U.S. Government Put You in Prison - The Atlantic
Violence on the part of local groups of citizens, sometimes mobs or vigilantes, persuaded some lawmakers that the [original] law was inadequate. In their view the country was witnessing instances of public disorder that represented the public’s own attempt to punish unpopular speech in light of the government’s inability to do so. Amendments to enhance the government’s authority under the Espionage Act would prevent mobs from doing what the government could not.
It was in this political climate that James Harvey Robinson, in the December 1917 issue of The Atlantic, addressed “The Threatened Eclipse of Free Speech”—a foreshadowing of the Sedition Act. Robinson argued that in times of national hardship, dissent is not only natural but necessary:
Read more: When Criticizing the U.S. Government Put You in Prison - The Atlantic
1/10/16
Freedom of Speech: Poland invites German ambassador for talks on politicians′ ′anti-Polish remarks′
Germany's ambassador to Warsaw is set to meet with Foreign Minister
Witold Waszczykowski on Monday, as a row between the two countries
concerning the new Polish government's policies continued to deepen.
A statement from the foreign ministry referenced "anti-Polish remarks by German politicians" after multiple politicians had questioned legislation supported by Poland's right-wing government.
But the spokesman for the German embassy in Warsaw, Lukas Wasielewski, played down the meeting, saying it did not represent a formal diplomatic summons. Instead he said he expects "a conversation among partners."
As Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz took to television on Sunday to criticize Germany for trying to "instruct others about democracy and freedom," his compatriot, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, issued a confrontational letter to European Union Commissioner Günther Oettinger.
In the statement published by state news agency PAP on Saturday, Ziobro called the German politician "silly" and alluded to the Nazi occupation of Poland.
Note EU-Digest: the new Polish Government is on the wrong track. They seem to have forgotten that in the EU free speech applies to every member and that vindictiveness has no place in the Union.
Read more: Poland invites German ambassador for talks on politicians′ ′anti-Polish remarks′ | News | DW.COM | 10.01.2016
A statement from the foreign ministry referenced "anti-Polish remarks by German politicians" after multiple politicians had questioned legislation supported by Poland's right-wing government.
But the spokesman for the German embassy in Warsaw, Lukas Wasielewski, played down the meeting, saying it did not represent a formal diplomatic summons. Instead he said he expects "a conversation among partners."
As Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz took to television on Sunday to criticize Germany for trying to "instruct others about democracy and freedom," his compatriot, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, issued a confrontational letter to European Union Commissioner Günther Oettinger.
In the statement published by state news agency PAP on Saturday, Ziobro called the German politician "silly" and alluded to the Nazi occupation of Poland.
Note EU-Digest: the new Polish Government is on the wrong track. They seem to have forgotten that in the EU free speech applies to every member and that vindictiveness has no place in the Union.
Read more: Poland invites German ambassador for talks on politicians′ ′anti-Polish remarks′ | News | DW.COM | 10.01.2016
5/9/15
The Netherlands-Freedom Of Speech: Royal Family Insult Case Sparks Outrage in Netherlands
A decision to drag a Dutch activist before a judge for insulting King
Willem-Alexander has sparked outrage in liberal-minded Netherlands and
prompted prosecutors to re-evaluate the case based on a century-old law.
Abulkasim al-Jaberi was arrested in November when television cameras showed him spouting a stream of profanity aimed at the king, Queen Maxima and the royal house.
Al-Jaberi was part of a demonstration in Amsterdam against the Dutch "Black Pete" children's figure, which opponents say is a racist throwback.
Al-Jaberi, a well-known critic of the black-faced sidekick that appears at the traditional gift-giving festival of Saint Nicholas, was handed a 500 euro ($568) fine afterwards. He refused to pay.
Prosecutors said on Wednesday that the activist would face trial based on a "lese-majeste" or "injured monarch" law harking back to 1881, which makes deliberately insulting the king or royal house punishable with a prison sentence of up to five years or a 20,000 euro fine.
The announcement sparked instant outrage in liberal Netherlands, which sees freedom of speech as a fundamental cornerstone.
An unknown person spray-painted Al-Jaberi's words on the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, while Twitter saw a stream of similar expletives being tweeted.
Online, in newspapers and even in parliament many denounced the lese-majeste law as archaic and hardly in tune with modern-day rights.
Prosecutors announced on Thursday that they were withdrawing the summons for Al-Jaberi's appearance in an Amsterdam court on May 27 "for further investigation," but the charge itself has not been dropped.
"The issue of freedom of expression is sensitive in the Netherlands. It's a very important fun
damental right," Stef Ketelaar, a lawyer and historian who studied the lese-majeste laws told AFP.
Note EU-Digest : The Dutch legal system needs to be updated and archaic laws like the "lese-majeste"should be removed from the books and while they are reviewing he laws they should also be looking into laws which put the Dutch Royal family in a priviledged position above those of ordinary citizens. In case anyone forgot we are living in 2015 and not in the last century.
Read more: Royal Family Insult Case Sparks Outrage in Netherlands
Abulkasim al-Jaberi was arrested in November when television cameras showed him spouting a stream of profanity aimed at the king, Queen Maxima and the royal house.
Al-Jaberi was part of a demonstration in Amsterdam against the Dutch "Black Pete" children's figure, which opponents say is a racist throwback.
Al-Jaberi, a well-known critic of the black-faced sidekick that appears at the traditional gift-giving festival of Saint Nicholas, was handed a 500 euro ($568) fine afterwards. He refused to pay.
Prosecutors said on Wednesday that the activist would face trial based on a "lese-majeste" or "injured monarch" law harking back to 1881, which makes deliberately insulting the king or royal house punishable with a prison sentence of up to five years or a 20,000 euro fine.
The announcement sparked instant outrage in liberal Netherlands, which sees freedom of speech as a fundamental cornerstone.
An unknown person spray-painted Al-Jaberi's words on the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, while Twitter saw a stream of similar expletives being tweeted.
Online, in newspapers and even in parliament many denounced the lese-majeste law as archaic and hardly in tune with modern-day rights.
Prosecutors announced on Thursday that they were withdrawing the summons for Al-Jaberi's appearance in an Amsterdam court on May 27 "for further investigation," but the charge itself has not been dropped.
"The issue of freedom of expression is sensitive in the Netherlands. It's a very important fun
damental right," Stef Ketelaar, a lawyer and historian who studied the lese-majeste laws told AFP.
Note EU-Digest : The Dutch legal system needs to be updated and archaic laws like the "lese-majeste"should be removed from the books and while they are reviewing he laws they should also be looking into laws which put the Dutch Royal family in a priviledged position above those of ordinary citizens. In case anyone forgot we are living in 2015 and not in the last century.
Read more: Royal Family Insult Case Sparks Outrage in Netherlands
3/19/15
Britain - Freedom of Speech: Civil servants to seek ministerial allowance to speak with media - by Stefano Pozzebon
Civil servants in the UK could be fired if they speak with journalists
without first asking for permission from a government minister, the Telegraph reports.
The new measure is contained in the Civil Service Code, which regulates the jobs of about 400,000 public employees across the country. The Code was updated with the new language on March 16.
According to The Telegraph's Ben Riley-Smith, the measure "effectively bans any communication with journalists unless a senior member of the government has given explicit approval."
A source in the Cabinet Office said that the move was an attempt to increase ministerial accountability of civil servants in their department, the Telegraph reports.
The move raises some doubts about the government's commitment to transparency. The Civil Service is a public body created to support the government, but they are politically neutral employees.
Read more: Civil servants to seek ministerial allowance to speak with media - Business Insider
The new measure is contained in the Civil Service Code, which regulates the jobs of about 400,000 public employees across the country. The Code was updated with the new language on March 16.
According to The Telegraph's Ben Riley-Smith, the measure "effectively bans any communication with journalists unless a senior member of the government has given explicit approval."
A source in the Cabinet Office said that the move was an attempt to increase ministerial accountability of civil servants in their department, the Telegraph reports.
The move raises some doubts about the government's commitment to transparency. The Civil Service is a public body created to support the government, but they are politically neutral employees.
Read more: Civil servants to seek ministerial allowance to speak with media - Business Insider
1/8/15
France: 'Je Suis Charlie' Message Goes Viral After Paris Attack - by Leanne Itallie
Many who poured into Place de la Republique in eastern Paris near the
site of Wednesday's noontime attack waved papers, pencils and pens.
Journalists led the march but most in the crowd weren't from the media
world, expressing solidarity and support of freedom of speech.
Similar gatherings, including some silent vigils, took place at London's
Trafalgar Square, in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, in
Madrid, Brussels, Nice and elsewhere.
"No matter what a journalist or magazine has to say, even if it is not
what the majority of people think, they still have the right to say it
without feeling in danger, which is the case today," said Alice Blanc, a
London student who is originally from Paris and was among those in the
London crowd, estimated in the hundreds.
Online, the declaration "Je Suis Charlie," or "I Am Charlie," replaced
profile pictures on Facebook while Twitter users showed themselves with
the slogan on signs with words of support for the 12 victims who were
killed at Charlie Hebdo, a weekly newspaper that had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.
The "Je Suis Charlie" slogan grew into a trending hashtag on Twitter and
spread to Instagram, along with an image of a machine gun with the
words "Ceci n'est pas une religion," or "This is not a religion."
One user on Instagram sent out a simple black-and-white drawing of the
Eiffel Tower with the message: "Pray for Paris." Another wrote: "Islam is a beautiful religion. This is not what we see on TV. Terrorists are not real Muslims. #IamCharlie."
Masked gunmen methodically killed the 12 people, including the
newspaper's editor, as they shouted "Allahu akbar!" ? or "Allah is the
greatest" ? while firing, then fleeing in a car.
Read more: 'Je Suis Charlie' Message Goes Viral After Paris Attack - ABC News
1/1/15
Censorship:: China seeks to export its vision of the Internet - by Nathan Vanderklippe
 |
| China Censors the Internet |
Many nations are also newly skeptical of U.S. leadership in cyberspace, following the Edward Snowden revelations of rampant spying. “The U.S. is no longer seen as a benevolent steward of the Internet system,” said Mr. Creemers.
“The whole idea that Cisco routers, which power the Chinese Internet, might have CIA backdoors installed is a huge concern in Chinese policy circles.” China appears to be taking swift action, saying it wants home-grown technology to supplant foreign-sourced goods in sensitive banking, military and other applications by 2020.
Nlote EU-Digest: it all boils down to Governments controlling what people can see and connect to on the Internet, or having the freedom of choice. To most people who believe in Democracy and Privacy Rights the latter is always preferable. China applies a censorship policy on many forms of expression which it can not disguise in any shape or form.
Read more: China seeks to export its vision of the Internet - The Globe and Mail
3/28/14
China - Freedom of Speech: Michelle's Message to China about Free Speech gets censored by China
The First Lady’s of the US on a trip through China also spoke of freedom of expression and the Internet during a speech at Peking University. It was a brave step because she knew it’s a hot topic for the Chinese regime.
China
consumes a staggering amount of man-hours and money just to monitor,
block and filter communications of half a billion users. China is third in the world for throwing journalists in jail, behind Turkey and Iran, with 32 journalists in prison.
She said: “It’s
so important for information and ideas to flow freely over the Internet
and through the media, because that’s how we discover the truth,” she
said. “That’s how we learn what’s really happening in our communities
and our country and our world.”
Mrs. Obama's specific remarks were censored by China’s news agency, but circulated
in social media. America’s mainstream media praised the First Lady for
speaking out on this issue.
Bravo Mrs Obama.
3/12/14
State of the Future: "World is improving better than most pessimists know while future dangers worse than most optimists indicate".
The 2013-14 State of the Future, an influential annual report on what we know about the future of humanity will be launched at the Washington, DC Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on March 20th from noon to 1:30pm.
The report integrates and distills the rapidly changing global situation in technology, environment, social unrest, development gaps, security, energy, food, organized crime, gender relations, governance, health, education, and more.
Jerome Glenn, CEO, The Millennium Project; Dennis Bushnell, Chief Scientist, NASA Langly Research Center; and Paul Werbos, Program Director, National Science Foundation, will launch the report at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars March 20th from noon to 1:30pm.
This is the 17th State of the Future report produced by The Millennium Project – a global participatory think tank that has grown to over 50 Nodes around the world and is listed among the top ten think tanks in the world for new idea/paradigm by the Go to Think Tank index of the Univesity of Pennsylvania and selected by Computerworld as a laureate for its innovations in collective intelligence systems.
At the same time, notes the report, the world is increasingly engaged in many diverse conversations about the right way to relate to the environment and our fellow humans and about what technologies, economics, and laws are right for our common future. These great conversations are emerging from countless international negotiations, the evolution of standards established by the ISO, the preparations for the post-2015 UN Development Goals and other UN gatherings, and thousands of Internet discussion groups and big data analyses. Humanity is slowly but surely becoming aware of itself as an integrated system of cultures, economies, technologies, natural and built environments, and governance systems.
These great conversations will be better informed if we realize that the world is improving better than most pessimists know and that future dangers are worse than most optimists indicate. Better ideas, new tech, and creative management approaches are popping up all over the world, but the lack of imagination and courage to make serious change is drowning the innovations needed to make the world work for all.
Meanwhile, the world is beginning to automate jobs more broadly and quickly than during the industrial revolution and initial stages of the information age. How many truck and taxicab drivers will future self-driving cars replace? How many will lose their jobs to robotic manufacturing? Or telephone support.
The number of employees per business revenue is falling, giving rise to employment-less economic growth.
New possibilities have to be invented, such as one-person Internet-based self-employment, for finding markets worldwide rather than looking for local jobs. Successfully leapfrogging slower linear development processes in lower-income countries is likely to require implementing futuristic possibilities—from 3D printing to seawater agriculture—and making increasing individual and collective intelligence a national objective of each country.
The number of employees per business revenue is falling, giving rise to employment-less economic growth.
New possibilities have to be invented, such as one-person Internet-based self-employment, for finding markets worldwide rather than looking for local jobs. Successfully leapfrogging slower linear development processes in lower-income countries is likely to require implementing futuristic possibilities—from 3D printing to seawater agriculture—and making increasing individual and collective intelligence a national objective of each country.
The explosive, accelerating growth of knowledge in a rapidly changing and increasingly interdependent world gives us so much to know about so many things that it seems impossible to keep up. At the same time, we are flooded with so much trivial news that serious attention to serious issues gets little interest, and too much time is wasted going through useless information ( Facebook, Twitter, linked-in).
Although the long-range trend toward democracy is strong, Freedom House reports that world political and civil liberties deteriorated for the eighth consecutive year in 2013, with declines noted in 54 countries and improvements in just 40 countries. At the same time, increasing numbers of educated and mobile phone Internet-savvy people are no longer tolerating the abuse of power and may be setting the stage for a long and difficult transition to more global democracy.
1/12/14
Questionable Anti-Freedom of Speech action by Google after it blocks Dutch Politician 'Geert Wilders' account
Google has deactivated the
mail account of Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders following
complaints that the anti-Islam politician was using it to spread anti
Islam initiative.
“Unbelievable; Google just blocked the account. It seems Mohammed Rabbae’s complaint was successful,” Wilders tweet was quoted by NL Times on Friday, December 27.
Wilders’ was referring to the complaint presented by Rabbae on behalf of the National Council of Moroccans at Google that Wilders was abusing its service.
Rabbae’s move followed many other complaints that were lodged against Wilders after he came out with his anti-Island sticker a week ago; it read “Islam is a lie. Mohamed is a criminal. The Qur’an is poison.”
The politician claimed the sticker was not meant as an action against Muslims.
After Google’s move, Wilders launched a new account where people may order his sticker.
"Regardless if one agrees with Wilders or not, but this action by Google is unheard of in a democratic country like the Netherlands or for that matter any EU member state as it relates to secularism and freedom of speech" said a member of the Dutch CDA political party.
Almere-Digest
“Unbelievable; Google just blocked the account. It seems Mohammed Rabbae’s complaint was successful,” Wilders tweet was quoted by NL Times on Friday, December 27.
Wilders’ was referring to the complaint presented by Rabbae on behalf of the National Council of Moroccans at Google that Wilders was abusing its service.
Rabbae’s move followed many other complaints that were lodged against Wilders after he came out with his anti-Island sticker a week ago; it read “Islam is a lie. Mohamed is a criminal. The Qur’an is poison.”
The politician claimed the sticker was not meant as an action against Muslims.
After Google’s move, Wilders launched a new account where people may order his sticker.
"Regardless if one agrees with Wilders or not, but this action by Google is unheard of in a democratic country like the Netherlands or for that matter any EU member state as it relates to secularism and freedom of speech" said a member of the Dutch CDA political party.
Almere-Digest
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)