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China, Thailand Applaud Twitter Censorship

Dissidents fear losing free-speech tool

(Newser) - Twitter's controversial decision to allow censorship of tweets on a country-by-country basis has won praise from two of the countries with the busiest censors. In Thailand—ranked 153rd in the world for press freedom because of its strict laws against offending the monarchy—the country's information minister called... More »

Chinese Bloggers Mock US' SOPA Outrage

Even as some say they support the protesters

(Newser) - Chinese Internet users were just a wee bit amused by American protests over the Stop Online Privacy Act . "Don't understand the hoopla over Wikipedia blackout in the US today," one microblogger wrote, according to the LA Times . "We blacked it out here years ago. Where are... More »

In Iran, Fight Brews Over Blocked Broadcasts

Tehran blocking foreign broadcasts while sending out its own

(Newser) - Should Iran be allowed to use Western satellites to broadcast its state-run TV channels to dozens of countries while it continues to jam Persian language-channels from abroad? Human rights activists, who complain that Iran has stepped up censorship of channels such as the BBC and the Voice of America in... More »

Online Piracy Bill Becomes Major Battle

Lobbyists dig in over controversial SOPA measure

(Newser) - A battle is heating up on Capitol Hill over a controversial new bill targeting online piracy. Yesterday Google, Facebook, Yahoo and other web companies took out full-page newspaper ads railing against the House’s recently introduced Stop Online Piracy Act, even as supporters sung its praises at a hearing. “... More »

China's Censors Crack Down on Bloggers

Microblogs, TV muzzled to prevent 'excessive entertainment'

(Newser) - After years of appearing to lighten up, China’s Communist Party is clamping down on free expression. This week it ordered 34 major satellite television stations to limit themselves to two 90-minute entertainment shows a week, and to broadcast state-approved news daily, the New York Times reports. Government officials say... More »

Iran Arrests Alleged BBC Filmmakers

BBC denies it, says they are independents

(Newser) - Iranian authorities have arrested six filmmakers on allegations that they work for the BBC Persian Service—which is a crime in Iran, as is working for any non-government television or radio station. “The members of this covert cell of BBC Farsi were paid tens of thousands of dollars for... More »

Russia TV Edits Out Medvedev Dance Parody

Kremlin says it had nothing to do with decision

(Newser) - In the annals of Russian censorship, this barely makes a ripple. But it's a great excuse to run video of Dmitry Medvedev grooving at a college reunion. The video went viral in Russia when it first surfaced, and a comedy troupe recently won top prize in a TV competition... More »

Bollywood Film on Castes Banned in India

3 states bar movie, worried it could infuriate lower castes

(Newser) - Three Indian states have banned a new Bollywood film that addresses the caste system. The film has already sparked the anger of lower caste groups, who say it fuels prejudice, the AP reports. The lower caste groups, called Dalits, make up about a quarter of India’s population. The film,... More »

GMA Airs Nicki Minaj Nipple Slip

Parents' group says ABC should have used 5-second delay

(Newser) - A parents’ TV group is livid after rapper Nicki Minaj’s breast was accidentally exposed today during a live Good Morning America performance. “For the umpteenth time in recent memory a morning news show has included inappropriate content for children and families,” a rep for the Parents Television... More »

Tennessee Makes Posting 'Distressing' Images Illegal

Constitutional scholars question updated law

(Newser) - Constitutional scholars are raising their eyebrows over a new Tennessee law that makes it illegal to “transmit or display” an image online if it would “frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress.” Doing so is punishable by almost a year in jail or $2,500 in fines. The... More »

What Are the Pentagon Papers' '11 Secret Words'?

Twitter users offer their best guesses

(Newser) - Decades after they were leaked, the Pentagon Papers are finally being released on Monday by the federal government—which originally said 11 words would remain censored. Officials have since changed their minds, and we may never know what 11 words they intended to keep quiet. Not even leaker Daniel Ellsburg... More »

Iran Plans to Unplug Internet, Create Its Own

Tehran aims to put all citizens on internal network

(Newser) - Iran is waging war on open Internet. Looking to limit the cyber-infiltration of Western ideas, Iran's telecommunications chief claimed that, in two years time, all Iranians would be forced to use a state-censored, fully-internal Internet. About 60% of the nation's homes and businesses are expected to be on... More »

Bookstores Censor Shirtless Male

Androgynous teen Andrej Pejic must be covered up on Dossier

(Newser) - Barnes & Noble and Borders officials are insisting that a special wrapper be placed around a magazine featuring a shirtless male teen on its cover before agreeing to place it in bookstores. The male is androgynous Australian model Andrej Pejic, 19; he's wearing curlers in his hair, but he... More »

Uncensored, Gay Dorian Gray Finally Published

Manuscript was altered to make it less overtly homoerotic

(Newser) - You’ve never read The Picture of Dorian Gray—at least not as Oscar Wilde intended it. The uncensored original manuscript is about to be published for the first time, more than 120 years after the classic’s initial release. Before the book’s original serialized publication in Lippincott’s ... More »

Salman Rushdie: Free China's Artists

Communist regime has become 'the world's greatest threat to freedom of speech'

(Newser) - Securing the release of Ai Weiwei , and the other artists China has arrested and silenced, “is a matter of urgency and the governments of the free world have a clear duty in this matter,” argues Salman Rushdie in an op-ed in today’s New York Times . The charges... More »

Protesters Smash 'Piss Christ'

Catholic activists hit it with a hammer in Avignon museum

(Newser) - A pair of extreme Catholic protesters celebrated Palm Sunday this weekend by bursting into the Museum of Contemporary Art in Avignon, France, and smashing Andres Serrano’s (in)famous photograph “Immersion Piss Christ,” and some other works of art they objected to, with hammers. According to a French report... More »

College Paper Goes 'Topless' Over Stripper Story

La Salle's Collegian protests university ban on story above the fold

(AP) - A Philadelphia college newspaper has gone topless to publish a story alleging a professor used exotic dancers in a business seminar. La Salle University students say administrators would not let them print the story above the fold on the front page, so the top half of Thursday's Collegian is... More »

China Bans Movies About ... Time Travel

Bureau complains that they're 'totally made up'

(Newser) - China’s censors are taking a hard line against... flux capacitors? Yes, it seems that time travel TV shows and movies have become increasingly popular in China, and regulators at the General Bureau of Radio, Film and Television are sick of them. They issued a declaration last week calling for... More »

Iran Censors, Slows Internet to Quash Protests

Text messaging and mobile service also slowed, blocked

(Newser) - With the Iranian opposition staging a fresh wave of protests in the wake of the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings, authorities have stepped up a campaign to slow and censor the Internet to sabotage protesters' communication, according to Reporters Without Borders . Broadband service has slowed in major cities, a phenomenon noticed... More »

Russia Expels Journalist After WikiLeaks Stories

'The Guardian' correspondent wrote articles critical of Putin

(Newser) - This won't help the perception that Vladimir Putin is a wee bit thin-skinned: When a British reporter tried to re-enter Russia after writing a series of damning articles based on the WikiLeaks cables, he got this message from a security official: "For you, Russia is closed," reports the... More »

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