We are ready to perform a peaceful dialogue with anyone who opposes this. BUT if they don't listen to us, we will use our 'notorious' way.

Indonesian Programmes have ruined their children

From Pacific Media Watch

A hardline Indonesian Muslim group, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), have expressed support for the Indonesian Film Censorship Body (LSF) and called for an expansion of its power.

Jafar Sidik, a FPI co-chairman We encourage LSF to expand their power not just on films, but also on TV programmes that have ruined our children.

FPI's stand came in reaction to an campaign launched by young Indonesian artists and filmmakers in the past few weeks for the dissolution of Indonesia's censorship institution, which they accused of discouraging freedom of expression in Indonesian films and TV.

We are ready to perform a peaceful dialogue with anyone who opposes this (increased censorship) idea, Sidik said: But if they don't listen to us, we will use our notorious way.

The hardline FPI is known for its violent attacks against bars, nightclubs and other establishments it considers "anti-Islamic."

   
Utah games censorship bill on hold again

From Gamasutra

The state House committee has voted to hold the infamous “games as porn” bill for a third time, following continued concerns over freedom of speech issues.

Republican Kay McIff has announced plans to draft a substitute bill to replace the now thrice defeated original.

The original bill attempted to amend an existing law preventing the sale of pornography to minors by categorizing violent video games as obscene, and has previously been approved by the Utah House of Representatives, only to stall at House level.

The Daily Herald quotes McIff as saying, I am concerned, when all the legal experts, including our own attorney general as well as the sponsor, tell us that the bill is likely to fail in a constitutional challenge. One where we cannot control the amount we spend, because we spend our side and then we are potentially obliged to spend the legal costs of the other side.

Although a large number of other states have pursued similar anti-games legislation, the Utah bill was seen as the most openly problematic with regard to the U.S. constitution – with two constitutional law experts from the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment heavily criticizing the bill in an editorial for the Salt Lake City Tribune.

   
Mexican journalists under duress

From IFEX see full article

Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has condemned harassment of the local press in Mexico after publications were censored and journalists spied on in the second half of January 2007 in Sonora state in the north-west, Guanajuato, in central Mexico, and Puebla in the south.

Aides to Sonora state governor, Eduardo Bours, were recently suspected of involvement in the disappearance of a journalist in 2005. The governor of Puebla State, Mario Marín, is no [bystander] in the case of the unfair arrest of freelance journalist Lydia Cacho, also in 2005. These new cases confirm the complete contempt which some local leaders have for the press, said RSF.

On 18 January 2007, police in Hermosillo, Sonora State, halted a distribution truck for the twice-monthly magazine Contralínea, and seized 2,500 copies from inside the vehicle. Police officers, claiming the truck was stolen, pretended to seize two packets of cocaine in order to arrest distribution manager Mauricio Capdevielle and the driver. The two men were released on 21 January.

The magazine's editor, Alvaro Cepeda Neri, told RSF that during the arrest the police officers made threats against Capdevielle, the magazine's publisher, Miguel Badillo, and himself, adding that Bours was personally responsible for this confrontation. The magazine had carried an article about the plundering of land belonging to Yaqui Indians in which the governor was implicated. The case has been referred to the National Human Rights Commission and the special federal prosecutor's office for journalists.

On 15 January,, Martha Laris, head of the Science and Communications Department of the Americas University in Cholula, Puebla state, had the editorial team of the university weekly La Catarina thrown out of its offices and its equipment and files confiscated. In October 2006, the weekly had criticised collusion between the university rector and the state governor, Mario Marín, of whom they published cartoons.

   
Chinese leader Hu vows to 'purify' the Internet

From CNET News

Chinese Communist Party chief Hu Jintao has vowed to "purify" the Internet describing a top-level meeting that discussed ways to master the country's sprawling, unruly online population.

Hu, a strait-laced communist with little sympathy for cultural relaxation. But he made it clear that the Communist Party was looking to ensure it keeps control of China's Internet users, often more interested in salacious pictures, games and political scandal than Marxist lessons.

The vast majority of Chinese users have no access to overseas sites offering uncensored opinion and news critical of the ruling party. But even in heavily monitored China, news of official misdeeds and dissident opinion has been able to travel through online bulletin boards and blogs.

Hu told officials to intensify control even as they seek to release the Internet's economic potential: Ensure that one hand grasps development while one hand grasps administration.

   
Complaints dismissed against A Girl's Guide to 21st Century Sex

From Digital Spy

Ofcom has cleared A Girl's Guide to 21st Century Sex, ruling that the Five programme did not breach the Broadcasting Code.

21 viewers complained to the regulator, claiming that the programme contained "shocking and explicit" material worthy of an R18 rating from the BBFC. The complainants also claimed that the programme could impart inappropriate information to vulnerable young girls.

The show contained footage of sexual activity including the filming of ejaculation in a woman's vagina. Topics ranging from masturbation to STIs were discussed in detail.

In its response to the complaints, Ofcom said that the programme was "factual" and "educational", and noted that there was no ban on the broadcast of non-simulated sexual intercourse on television. The regulator said that images of "real" sex "should not automatically be equated with BBFC-rated R18 material," and added that the portrayal of sex in this programme genuinely sought to inform and educate rather than stimulate or arouse sexually.

None to blasphemy accusing Amsterdam nutters

From Antara News

Prosecutors in Amsterdam said they would not take action against the singer Madonna over charges of alleged blasphemy during a concert tour in which she underwent a mock crucifixion.

Young people belonging to the SGP, a small deeply conservative Protestant party, called for her to be prosecuted after she gave two concerts last September in Amsterdam during which she knelt and took off a crown of thorns while a crucifix was projected behind her.

The prosecutor's office believes that through her show, the singer on all the evidence tried to express her frustrations about certain situations in the world .. it is not a question of contempt for God: Furthermore, Madonna did not discredit Christians as a group.

   
Law Commission consulting on which laws to reform

I tend to agree with Littlejohn here. This Government doesn't have the vaguest notion of being liberal. Any identification of any of the UK's crap laws may only make things even worse.

From Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail

The public are to be asked which laws they would like changed. Suggestions can be made on a new website set up by the Law Commission.

Sir Terence Etherton, the High Court judge who chairs the organisation which advises the Government on legislation, said: We are trying to improve people's lives by making law more up-to-date and fair.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Before you all start logging on at once to www.lawcom.gov.uk the only thing you need to know is that they don't mean it.

There is not the remotest chance that any change in the law put forward by the paying public will be implemented.

This is just another gimmick in the name of 'consultation'. Sir Terence goes on to admit that new legislation will be brought forward only if it finds favour with the Lord Chancellor and other ministers.

Any idea that the public could have a say in framing laws is anathema to those in power.

From www.lawcom.gov.uk see Tenth Programme of Reform Consultation [pdf file]

The Law Commission was established to keep the law of England and Wales under review with a view to its systematic development and reform. Our aim is to achieve more accessible, intelligible and modern law. We would like you to help us identify new projects for inclusion in our next programme of work. Please respond by 30 March 2007.

In formulating the next programme the Commissioners will wish to identify projects that will provide real public benefit. Whilst our statutory duty requires us to keep all the law under review, inevitably we have to make choices about which projects would make the best use of our resources. In making our decisions, we will be using the following criteria:

• Importance
  
  The extent to which the law is unsatisfactory (for example, unfair, unduly complex, unclear, inaccessible or outdated); and the potential benefits likely to accrue from undertaking reform, repeal or consolidation of the law.
   
• Suitability
  
  Whether the changes and improvements in the law are suitable to be put forward by a body of lawyers after legal (including socio legal) research and consultation. This would tend to exclude subjects where the considerations are shaped primarily by political judgements.
   
• Resources
  
  The qualification and experience of the Commissioners and their legal staff; the funding likely to be available to the Commission; and the need for a good mix of projects in terms of the scale and timing so as to enable effective management of the programme.

It is open to anyone to suggest to the Commission an area of the law that is need of reform. We tend to consider reform of particular branches of the law (as opposed to looking at the operation of a particular statute for example), but we will consider any proposal that is made to us applying the criteria set out above. We are particularly interested in projects that will assist the drive for better regulation by reducing regulatory burdens on business and the public.

   
Commercial web addresses disallowed from kids' programmes

From CNET News

The Federal Communications Commission decreed that during shows geared toward children age 12 and under, cable and broadcast operators may not display addresses for Web sites that contain any links to commercial content. The rules took effect on January 2.

The entire new media landscape is one immense personalized ad targeted at kids, said Jeff Chester, director of the advocacy group Center for Digital Democracy, which has pressed the FCC to extend children's TV programming rules to the Internet.

The new rules came about because regulators were concerned that some broadcasters were using children's programming as a billboard for addresses to Web sites established solely for commercial purposes, and thus sneaking around federal law. Under the 1990 Children's Television Act, every hour of children's programming may contain only 10.5 minutes of advertising during weekends and 12 minutes on weekdays.

Under the new rules addresses for sites with commercial content can still be displayed during advertising so long as they're against the networks' allotted advertising minutes and "clearly separated" from show content.

The rules also permit the display of addresses for "noncommercial" Web sites during actual show broadcasts. Sites fit that bill if they offer a substantial amount of bona fide program-related or other noncommercial content, aren't primarily intended for commercial purposes, clearly label commercial content, and don't link directly to e-commerce sites or other pages with commercial material.

Nutters call for investigation into filming of Hounddog

Based on an article from the BBC

Twelve-year-old actress Dakota Fanning is the focus of nutters over a new movie, Hounddog,  that depicts her being raped by a teenage boy.

US religious groups are calling for a boycott, saying Fanning's appearance in the film is tantamount to child abuse.

Director Deborah Kampmeier has defended the film, saying issues like child rape need to be discussed in public: This issue is so silenced in our society. There are a lot of women who are alone with this story.

The criticism began before the film was screened, with the New York-based Catholic League calling for a federal probe into whether child pornography laws were violated during filming.

Ted Baehr, chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, also believes the rape scene falls foul of the law.

Fanning herself played down the controversy following the film's premiere: It's not a rape movie. That's not even the point of the film. It's not really happening. It's a movie, and it's called acting. I'm not going through anything. And for me, when it's done it's done. I don't even think about it any more.

During the rape scene, only Fanning's face, neck, shoulders, hand and foot appear on screen. Much of the scene takes place in darkness, punctuated only by the sound of Fanning's screams.

Prosecutors in two states said on Jan. 26 that they found nothing illegal about a movie shot in North Carolina and screened last week at Utah’s Sundance Film Festival.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who watched the movie last week with his state’s child sexual exploitation law in hand, said his concerns didn’t materialize on the screen.

None of the things on the Internet that people were saying about it were true, Shurtleff said. Not only does it not violate the statute, I think it’s a good message for people on the subject.

The opinion is shared by the district attorneys in the two North Carolina counties where Hounddog was filmed last summer.

Rex Gore, the Brunswick County district attorney, said there was no evidence that the scene constituted “sexual activity” under North Carolina law, so child exploitation didn’t occur. Even if a film contains simulated sexual activity, Gore said, it doesn’t cross the line into obscenity as long as the film has serious artistic value or is protected speech.

That outcry led state Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, to begin work on legislation that would require any film seeking North Carolina’s 15% tax credit for television and movies to receive script approval from the state. Berger said the state should ensure its citizens aren’t subsidizing what many may consider inappropriate.

   
Amnesty International report on Azerbaijan

From Earth Times see full article

Journalists striving to expose the misuse of government power are increasingly living under the threat of politically motivated arrests, physical assault and even death, Amnesty International said today.

The organization's report, Azerbaijan: The contracting space for freedom of expression, reveals a pattern of encroachment on the rights of members of civil society, and in particular journalists, to freedom of expression.

Journalists who deviate from the government's party line or draw attention to Azerbaijan's endemic corruption are putting their lives on the line, said Maureen Greenwood-Basken, Amnesty International USA advocacy director for Europe and Central Asia. President Aliyev's denunciations of attacks on reporters must be backed up by genuine efforts to protect writers. In Azerbaijan today, freedom of expression is permitted only when it's in the government's interest.

The Azerbaijani authorities have an obligation to uphold commitments to a healthy environment for the free dissemination of information and exchange of opinions, including those alleging official wrongdoing and abuse of public office, said Laurence Broers, Amnesty International's expert on Azerbaijan. Government officials in Azerbaijan must understand that it is a legitimate function of the media to put their activities under public scrutiny and that such scrutiny must not lead to violence against journalists.

The ongoing assault on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan appears to be three-pronged -- the harassment and ill-treatment of journalists by police and other law enforcement officials, especially during election campaigns; assaults, and in one case murder, of journalists by unknown individuals; and the silencing of journalists through their arrest and imprisonment on dubious charges or by heavy fines following trials for criminal defamation.

Amnesty International calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to ensure the prompt and conclusive investigation of assaults on journalists, to institute measures to tackle institutionalized impunity for harassment of journalists by law enforcement officials, to end the use of criminal defamation suits as a means to silence dissent and to ensure that due process is observed in the enforcement of media industry standards.

   
First Bond film to pass the Chinese censors

From The Telegraph

Tonight, the actor Daniel Craig will be the first Bond to walk up the red carpet in Beijing after Casino Royale was finally allowed past the censor and into Chinese cinemas. It is the first Bond film to pass the censor and be officially screened in China

Sony, the distributors, said that despite its theme – all gambling is banned in mainland China – it had been accepted without a cut. What we told them is, we are fighting a common enemy, terrorists, said Li Chow, Sony's China head: That was well accepted.

The last Bond film, Die Another Day, was never likely to be accepted, since it showed Bond enlisting the help of Chinese intelligence to take on rogue officers in China's communist ally, North Korea.

The fact that it is set in a post-Cold War period helped, the Communist Party's favourite way of defending itself against western critics is to accuse them of "Cold War thinking". Nevertheless, Dame Judi Dench, who plays "M", said that despite the company's claim of not having been asked for cuts, she had to re-dub one line. Where in Britain, she says: Christ, I miss the Cold War, in China, she says: God, I miss the old times.

   
Year of the pig to be less 'offensive' in China

From India eNews

China's ruling Communist Party has banned images and mention of pigs in television advertisements aired over the lunar new year to avoid offending the country's Muslims.

We were told by the CCTV (China Central Television) censorship team that the CCTV advertising department announced a new regulation on pigs in its internal document, an executive at the Shanghai-based Mindshare advertising agency told DPA.

The ban also applies to cartoons and traditional paper-cut images of pigs, and to slogans such as golden pig brings you fortune and wish you a happy pig year, the executive said.

The regulation only applies to advertisements. The Year of the Pig begins on February 18.

Copyright used for censorship

From Red Herring

Last Following a week’s worth of controversy about her behavior, Fox Broadcasting ordered clips of Paula Abdul swaying, appearing intoxicated, and answering questions on TV news programs in a nonsensical way taken down from YouTube this week.

The move raises questions about where the line should be drawn between copyright infringement and outright censorship. It also shows how quickly an embarrassing piece of footage can become a viral sensation now that videos can be easily uploaded to the web.

What Fox runs the risk of is using copyright law as a form of censorship, said Van Baker, an analyst at Gartner Media Service.

Any violation of what is known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is grounds for removal of videos on YouTube, a division of Mountain View, California-based search giant Google. However, there are also “fair use” laws that allow some content—such as short clips or satirical depictions of celebrities—to be aired online.

Some people would say this is an overly aggressive use of the takedown procedure [allowed in the DMCA], said James Nguyen, an attorney who specializes in entertainment and copyright law at the Los Angeles-based law firm Foley & Lardner. They’re within their rights … but most of the major TV networks don’t ask you to take down their other clips.

   
Google admit to costs of Chinese censorship

From The Guardian

Google's decision to censor its search engine in China was bad for the company, its founders admitted yesterday.

Google was accused of selling out and reneging on its "Don't be evil" motto when it launched in China in 2005. The company modified the version of its search engine in China to exclude controversial topics such as the Tiananmen Square massacre or the Falun Gong movement, provoking a backlash in its core western markets.

Asked whether he regretted the decision, founder Sergey Brin admitted yesterday: On a business level, that decision to censor... was a net negative. The company has only once expressed any regret and never in as strong terms as yesterday. Brin said the company had suffered because of the damage to its reputation in the US and Europe.

Much of the harm had come from newspaper headlines, he said, which affected perception for most people, who then did not read the actual articles.

I claim unfair  stereotyping

Concern at media portrayal of muslims

Based on an article from The Telegraph

After the war, every Hollywood bad guy seemed to be German. With the onset of the Cold War, they became Russian. Now the blockbuster bogeyman is Muslim.

The oxymoronic Islamic Human Rights Commission said films as diverse as The Siege, a portrayal of a terrorist attack on New York, the British comedy East is East and Disney’s Aladdin are reinforcing impressions that Muslims are violent and dangerous.

The reports claims Raiders of the Lost Ark also exhibited “cultural stereotypes” and East is East, a story of an Anglo-Pakistani family in Salford, with its wife-beating husband fits into many of the negative perceptions people have of Muslims.

The study entitled The British Media and Muslim Representation: The Ideology of Demonisation argues that all these “negative stereotypes” along with negative portrayal in the media affect the general perception of Muslims and has a crucial role in influencing detrimental public views.

A survey conducted as part of the research revealed that Muslims in Britain felt negative images of their faith on the big and small screen had consequences in their daily lives. Those interviewed found a direct correlation between media portrayal and their social experiences of exclusion, hatred, discrimination and violence.

As well as deep unease with big screen portrayals, the research also claimed there was a perception of “unashamed bias” in the media against Muslims, with 62% believing the media to be Islamophobic and 16% describing it as racist. Only 4% considered its representation “fair”.

The report, which involved interviewing more than 1,125 Muslims in England, Scotland and Wales, concluded that there was evident from all genres that they contained negative stereotypes about Islam and Muslim/Arabs.

   
A Debate on Government Plans to Criminalise the Possession of Extreme Pornography

From Durham University

Why is nobody talking about pornography anymore? Why is nobody talking about the Government’s plans to criminalise possession of extreme porn? This is a fundamental issue – whether you are in favour or against. Is this legislation vital to ensuring a safer world for women? Or, is this the start of a more sinister invasion into personal privacy?

The aim of the workshop is to encourage debate and discussion on this important issue. This event is free but places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If you would like to join us for this important debate please RSVP
Confirmed Speakers

* Julie Bindel, freelance journalist and political activist
* Professor Jill Radford, University of Teeside
* Professor Gavin Phillipson, Human Rights Centre, Department of Law, Durham University

1-4pm, 15 March 2007, Pennington Room, Grey College, Durham

Organised by Clare McGlynn, Erika Rackley (Department of Law) and Nicole Westmarland (School of Applied Social Sciences).

For more information and to RSVP please contact: Angela Emerson: angela.emerson@durham.ac.uk

   
Airline again take offence at terrorist Bush T-shirt

From the BBC

A passenger barred from a Qantas airlines flight for wearing a T-shirt depicting US President George Bush as a terrorist has threatened legal action.

Allen Jasson said he was sticking up for the principle of free speech by challenging the decision by the Australian flag carrier.

Jasson was stopped as he was about to board the flight from Melbourne to London last Friday. Jasson had previously encountered difficulties with the same T-shirt on an earlier Qantas flight in December.

Qantas said the T-shirt had potential to offend other passengers. The T-shift features an image of President George W Bush, along with the slogan "World's Number One Terrorist".

After clearing the international security checks at Melbourne Airport, he reportedly approached the gate manager to congratulate him on the company's new-found open-mindedness.

At that point, Jasson was ordered to remove the T-shirt after being told it was a security threat and an item which might cause offence to other passengers. He was offered the chance to board the flight wearing different clothing, but refused.

I am not prepared to go without the t-shirt. I might forfeit the fare, but I have made up my mind that I would rather stand up for the principle of free speech, he told Australian media.

   
Beer advert banned

From The Times

A group of complaining Englishmen who live in Australia succeeded in their long campaign to outlaw advertising that depicted Englishmen as whingers.

The Advertising Standards Bureau ruled that the Englishmen were right to be offended by an advertisement for beer that negatively stereotyped and demeaned English people.

The radio advertisement for Tooheys brewery and its New Supercold beer employed a group of Englishmen to sing the tune of Land of Hope and Glory using various synonyms for whinge, including whine, moan, slag and complain.

The advertisement ended with a voiceover saying: Introducing Tooheys New Supercold, served so cold it’s a Pom’s worst nightmare. The bureau ruled that negative words in the advertisement detracted from what it said was the otherwise playful nature of the word Pom. Instead, Pom had been given “a derogatory and almost hostile meaning”, Mark Jeanes, the acting chief of the bureau, said. The advert has been withdrawn.

Last month British People Against Racial Discrimination, the organisation campaigning for the removal of the advert, said that the word Pom was derogatory. David Thomason, the group’s spokesman, said: The Oxford Dictionary classes Pom as being derogatory.

His group also contested another version of the advert that had been made for television audiences. It featured footage of an overweight, pale man, wearing a Union Jack T-shirt, cringing in fear at the offer of a cold beer. The advert was withdrawn before the action against it could proceed.

   
Belgium bans football shirts with numbers 18 & 88

From the Brussels Journal

Patrick Dewael, the Belgian minister of the Interior, has forbidden the wearing of football shirts displaying the numbers 18 and 88. According to the Liberal minister the number 18 stands for “Adolf Hitler” and the number 88 for “Heil Hitler.” A is the 1st letter of the alphabet, H the 8th.

   
Given a likely ban first, investigate later attitude, who will want to work with kids

From Graham on the SeeNoEvil forum

I came across a Parliamentary discussion of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill.

This, as far as I can see, is a proposal to Make provision in connection with the protection of children and vulnerable adults by ensuring that people deemed "unsafe" by an "Independent Barring Board" cannot work with these groups.

Now this is all very laudable, however in the debate I found the following:

As I was saying, the pornography amendments—Nos. 114 to 118 and 122 to 127—ensure that the IBB can consider behaviour involving child pornography and conduct involving violent pornography that the IBB considers to be inappropriate. That applies equally to barring for both lists—a change that has been made as a result of a debate in another place—thereby expanding the focus of the children’s list from just child pornography, so that it also includes violent pornography.

Interest in child pornography is a matter that we wish the IBB to be able to consider, given the sexual interest in children that that indicates. Clearly, anyone who is unable to understand that that is unacceptable behaviour is precisely the kind of person that the scheme was designed to consider for barring. Similar considerations apply in respect of the most extreme and violent forms of pornography. The Secretary of State has the power to give guidance to the IBB in relation to inappropriate behaviour involving violent pornography. It is intended that that should be used so that acceptable behaviour involving adult pornography is excluded from consideration, while all pornography that is unlawful can be considered.

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm061023/debtext/61023-0014.htm

In other words, if you work with "vulnerable adults" and you're found to have "violent pornography", you could find yourself out of a job!

   
Censored airline version of The Queen

From Post Chronicle

Some international airline viewers of the movie The Queen didn't catch all the dialogue because the word "God" was excised from the version they saw.

The censored airline version, shown by at least Delta and New Zealand Air prompted complaints by passenger.

A Delta spokeswoman said the airline had no choice because Miramax Films, distributor of the movie, shipped only the censored version of the movie to airlines. New Zealand Airline officials said they would replace the censored version with an uncensored one.

Eric Johnston, an attorney with the Southeastern Law Institute in Birmingham, Alabama, told the newspaper that airlines, similar to some retail businesses, have a diverse customer base and don't want to offend anyone. But I don't agree with that at all. If the movie industry can use the word 'God,' then certainly the airlines can use it.

   
Moldova government close radio station

From Tiraspol Times

Government censorship continues unabated in Moldova despite the attempts by OSCE and international NGOs to protect human rights and freedom of expression. In mid-December, the popular Chisinau-based public radio station Antena C went off the air, and it is doubtful if the country's authorities will ever allow the signal to be restored.

The worldwide Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ,  issued a highly critical statement deploring the suspension of Antena C. The station, which frequently aired reports critical of the government, has been off the air for more than a month, and local sources said they fear it is part of an official clampdown on news ahead of May elections.

Broadcasting was interrupted at 3 p.m. on December 16, while the station was airing a report that criticized a new government plan to privatize Antena C and the television station Euro TV. Antena C journalists had also recently protested the authorities’ decision to change the station’s management; Veceaslav Sitnic, former chief editor for the government radio station Radio Moldova, had been named the new director.

Police arrived at the station at 2 a.m. the next day, claiming they had received a bomb threat targeting the premises, Antena C correspondent Lucia Culev told CPJ. Police searched the building and forced employees to leave, Culev said.

The pope considers media sex & violence to be a perversion

From CNET News

Pope Benedict XVI voiced his opinion on games from the Vatican, saying that violent or sexually explicit games are a "perversion" and "repulsive."

As part of the annual papal message for World Communications Day, the theme of which was Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education, the pope talked about the media's effect on children, paying particular attention to games and films.

Any trend to produce programs and products--including animated films and video games--which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray antisocial behavior or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive when these programs are directed at children and adolescents, the pope said.

Pointing toward the media's growing influence on youth, he said the media can support a family's education of children provided it promotes fundamental human dignity, the true value of marriage and family life, and the positive achievements and goals of humanity. He called upon media leaders to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity, and promote respect for the needs of the family.

   
TV evangelists to be allowed to ask for cash

From The Times

Ofcom are changing their rules to allow TV evangelists to appeal for money on screen.

The change, opposed by the Church of England as having a clear potential for exploiting viewers’ sensitivities, comes after a consultation process by the regulator Ofcom. It found that channels being beamed in from overseas, and therefore not subject to British broadcasting rules, rendered the previous regulations ineffectual.

The new rules come with caveats such as not creating unrealistic expectations of what a donor’s gift will actually accomplish. Ofcom said: There is evidence that this move will help religious broadcasters who otherwise might not be able to get off the ground by giving them a way to raise money.

The change was welcomed by Revelation’s boss, Howard Conder: I said to Ofcom last year that I was going to have to break the law. It wasn’t fair that the channels broadcasting via satellite from overseas could appeal for funds when we couldn’t ask for anything on-air, or even thank anyone who had sent anything in.

All we want to do is tell people how much we need to run the channel, and show them what our shortfall is. At the moment we want an outside broadcast van so we can broadcast from other cities. We want to do less of the preaching and more documentaries.

The change could also pave the way for greater involvement of American evangelicals in Britain. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, one of America’s biggest ministries, said that it was aware of the rule change and right now we are consulting with our partners in the UK and considering a range of options.

Twelve satellite channels beam Christianity to Britain. Ten broadcast from outside the UK and so are out of Ofcom’s jurisdiction. UCB, the other British channel, said that it would not appeal for funds.

   
China bans 8 books about historical events

From Asia Media See full article

Chinese press authorities have banned eight books by renowned writers and intellectuals in a new move to control dissent and stifle discussion of sensitive historical events.

The General Administration of Press and Publications (Gapp) deputy director Wu Shulin told propaganda and publication officials at a meeting last week that the eight books were banned and vowed to impose severe punishment on their publishers.

All eight books are reflections by intellectuals on historical and social events of the past six decades, events that have traditionally been subject to tight censorship.

Another administration source said Gapp came up with the ban after the Central Propaganda Department included the books on its 2006 list of publications that overstepped the line.

Banned books:

• Cang Sang by Xiao Jian tells the story of a man in northern Shaanxi from the 1911 Revolution to the Great Leap Forward.
• I Object: The Road to Politics by a People's Congress Member by journalist Zhu Ling tells of the 12-year struggle of activist Yao Lifa to run for a seat in the local legislature.
• Past Stories of Peking Opera Stars by Zhang Yihe is an account of the lives and deaths of seven Peking Opera artists.
• The Family History of an Ordinary Chinese by Guo Ya describes the experiences of a normal Chinese family during the war of liberation, the Cultural Revolution and other eras
• The Other Stories of History: My Days at the Supplement Division of the People's Daily by Yuan Ying is a memoir of time working for the People's Daily.
• Era of History edited by Kuang Chen is a historic series on major events from the 1950s to the 1980s.
• This is How it Goes@sars.com by Hu Fayun tells the story of a woman who fell in love with the internet at the cost of her relationship with a vice-mayor during the Sars outbreak.
• The Press by Zhu Huaxiang uses fictional characters to tell of the intrigues and behind-the-news stories of China's media industry.

   
Government trial no-evidence search and seizure in Northern Ireland

From Reporters without Borders

Reporters Without Borders voiced concern today about a bill currently being discussed by the Parliamentary Assembly of Northern Ireland. Entitled the “Draft policing - Miscellaneous Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 2007,” it would extend the powers of the police to search and seize documents.

The organisation wrote yesterday to Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain warning him about the threats that this bill poses to press freedom and the confidentiality of journalists’ sources, and asking him to intervene to ensure that they do not materialise: As you know, the work of journalists depends closely on their ability to protect the confidentiality of their sources. This essential condition for investigative journalism is seriously threatened by this bill.

The letter continued: Under this law, the police would no longer have to produce such explicit evidence as they are currently required to show in order to obtain permission to carry out a search and seize documents. The new prerogatives would also allow them to confiscate documents or electronic files for a period of 48 hours, which could be extended to 96 hours if the files had to be translated or deciphered.

Reporters Without Borders pointed out in the letter that journalists have been subject to harassment and threats and that controversial searches of premises and homes of journalists have taken place in recent years in Northern Ireland. We are convinced that the adoption of this bill would do a great deal of harm to press freedom and the process of normalisation in this region, the letter concluded.

The order is expected to come into effect by the spring or summer of this year. These enhanced powers relate only to Northern Ireland, but the national situation regarding the threat of serious crime and terrorism is under review, and a government official in Northern Ireland Office said she understood that consideration might be given to extending the measures throughout the UK in the future.

Paul Goggins, the Northern Ireland minister with responsibility for security, told members of the region’s legislative assembly last week that police would not be able to go around willy-nilly seeking documents. There has to be a rationale. He said that, having examined such documents or files, an officer must have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has taken place.

Séamus Dooley, Irish secretary of the London-based National Union of Journalists, said he would write a letter, expressing his concern, to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain. The NUJ has a particular concern at the abuse of searches because of our past experience of ’fishing expeditions’ by securityforces in raids on the homes of reporters and photographers. We have experienced such behaviour in the past where notebooks were unlawfully seized. There must be an onus on the security forces not just to obtain a lawful warrant but also to justify the need for seizure. That need must be based on firmly grounded suspicions.

Two cases in recent years have drawn particular sharp protests from media workers.

One website journalist, Anthony McIntyre, had his home raided in 2003 by police who took away his computer, disks and notebooks, saying they were looking for stolen documents. McIntyre called it political policing, censorship and a trawl for my contacts. He got his property back after protesting that the raid was unlawful.

Liam Clarke, the Northern Ireland editor of London’s Sunday Times, and his wife Kathryn Johnston had their home raided in 2003 after they published leaked transcripts of telephone conversations between a senior Republican politician and government officials. Clarke says the authorities had sought to create a "chill factor" by using heavy-handed policing to stifle investigative reporting. But the couple complained to the Police Ombudsman who ruled the police action unlawful - leading, in September 2006, to a compensation payment by the police.

   
International internet companies talk about about freedom

But of course the likes of Google will be expected to 'cooperate fully' with any requirements from Western governments

From tvnz

Technology companies Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Vodafone are in talks with human rights and press freedom groups to draw up an internet code of conduct to protect free speech and privacy of Web users.

The parties said in a statement that they aim to produce a code by the end of this year that would counter such trends as the increased jailing of Internet journalists, monitoring of legitimate online activity, and censorship.

Talks are being led by the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology and San Francisco's non-profit Business for Social Responsibility. They are trying to craft a code to hold companies accountable if they cooperate with governments to suppress free speech or violate human rights.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the spotlight had been put on Internet companies after arrests in China of internet writers such as Shi Tao, who was jailed in 2005 for 10 years for leaking state secrets abroad. Rights groups have accused Yahoo of helping China trace Shi Tao's e-mail exchanges with a New York-based news Web site.

Governments around the world are jailing Internet journalists at a growing pace, with 49 bloggers, online editors, and Web-based reporters behind bars at the end of 2006, said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. Protecting the rights of these journalists to express ideas and exchange information without fear of reprisal is one of the highest priorities for the press freedom community today.

Opus Dei whinge about Waking the Dead

Based on an article from the Daily Mail

The religious sect, Opus Dei has accused the BBC of portraying its members as "murderers, thieves and adulterers" in over a popular fictional drama.

The secretive Catholic organisation lodged an official complaint of defamation after the award-winning drama, Waking the Dead showed an episode featuring a murder investigation of a Opus Dei devotee.

In the drama, a spurned Opus Dei member exacts revenge on his lover, a married woman, also a member of the sect, by shooting her and his love rival to death in what the organisation has called gratuitous scenes of sex and violence.

The episode entitled The Fall also sees the fictional head of Opus Dei being portrayed as a shadowy figure pursuing wealth and influence.

Last night a spokesman for the community, which the former Education Secretary Ruth Kelly is a member of, accused the corporation of copying ideas from the Hollywood blockbuster Da Vinci Code, whose plot also revolves around a murdering Opus Dei member.

Jack Valero said: In this programme Opus Dei was portrayed as an organisation of murderers, thieves and adulterers who justify and cover up evil actions while hiding behind a veneer of hypocritical piety and penitential rituals of self-flagellation. The three characters were portrayed as members are self-serving hypocrites whose main reason for belonging to Opus Dei is depicted as being their wealth. This portrayal is lifted from the Da Vinci Code, a book and film which claimed – against all evidence - to be based on fact.

The religious organisation has also accused makers of the two-part BBC 1 drama shown on Sunday, January 21 and 22 of breaching the corporation's strict guidelines on religious prejudice.

Valero added: Members of Opus Dei are Catholics, they are not going around killing people, having sex with married people and making money. It is a completely false portrayal. Whilst the BBC chose to create a fictional bank for the programme, it chose not to create a fictional religious organisation. We believe that it is irresponsible of the BBC, as a public service broadcaster, to have perpetuated that prejudice, in breach of its editorial guidelines. Opus Dei is not an anonymous corporation but a family with feelings and values.

Last night a BBC spokesman said: We are unable to comment as we are yet to receive the complaint. There have only been four complaints from the viewers about the show.

   
Making an example of Girls Gone Wild Boss

From AVN

Girls Gone Wild mogul Joe Francis was sentenced this week to two years' probation, a $500,000 fine and 200 hours of community service for violating the federal government's 2257 record-keeping law.

The sentence is part of an ongoing case against Francis and his company Mantra Films stemming from the 2003 appearance of two 17-year-old girls in a Girls Gone Wild video shot on Florida's Panama City Beach.

Last month, a Florida judge slapped Mantra Films with a $1.6 million fine, ordering Francis and three other Mantra officers to perform eight hours of community service each month for a period of 30 months. Mantra is appealing the December verdict.

Francis told reporters that he has been unfairly targeted because: the government needs to make an example.

   
Ofcom Content Board appointment

From Mad

Ofcom has appointed Chris Banatvala to executive member of its content board.

Banatvala is director of standards at Ofcom with responsibility for the implementation and policy development of standards regulation in broadcasting. He is responsible for the development of Ofcom's first broadcasting code, which sets standards for television and radio broadcasts.

The board is currently reviewing some 40,000 complaints about Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother over allegations of racism.

As a member of the content board, Banatvala will sit as a full member of both Ofcom's content sanctions committee and its fairness committee.

Banatvala takes his new position with immediate effect.

   
Utah suggests a split into a family Internet and an adult Internet

One size fits all nonsense

Based on an article from KSL

A Utah based non-profit organisation called the CP80 Foundation has proposed that two ports should be used for websites, which currently use the single port 80. One that is acceptable to children, families, education and business, and another which is open for all other legal adult content.

The Utah legislature is considering a resolution to the US Congress, asking that US Internet governing organizations implement the plan and its enforcement. Developers of the Internet Channel Initiative, as its called, say the Internet shouldn't belong to pornographers.

Ralph Yarro, Founder, CP80 Foundation: It's for everyone and its time to make an internet that's accountable to the people its supposed to serve. Yarro says the initiative leverages the current structure of the Internet to categorize Internet content into Internet ports or channels similar to cable television channels. There would be Community Port channels for general-public content and Open Port channels for mature content, such as pornography.

Once content is categorized, Internet consumers will be able to choose what content and material is accessible in their home and office.

The House Utility and Technology Committee voted to send the resolution on to the House for its approval.

   
Blogger to remove posting on grounds of 'libel'

From Al Jazeera

A Malaysian court has ordered Jeff Ooi, a popular Malaysian blogger, to remove more than 10 postings on his blog Screenshots that a publisher claims are libellous, by January 17.

Ooi is prohibited from republishing those postings in his blog or on the internet until the disposal of the defamation suit filed by New Straits Times Press (NSTP).

The company, however, failed to obtain an injunction against Ahirudin Attan, another blogger facing a similar lawsuit, who posted almost 50 allegedly defamatory comments on his blog Rock's Bru.

The lawsuits are the first of their kind in Malaysia. The lawsuits were jointly filed by the NSTP, which publishes the country's oldest English-language daily, the New Straits Times, and the group's top brass.

A media analyst said this would instil fear in a society already unaccustomed to open debate. But he also said that bloggers should not post wild accusations: If the postings are defamatory, then bloggers are not exempted from facing the music. But one has to be very clear... it is a thin line between fair comment and defamation

Zaharom Nain, a journalism lecturer at the school of communications in Universiti Sains Malaysia in the northern state of Penang, said the action could intimidate bloggers and other internet users: The community of bloggers in Malaysia is lively but still relatively small. They would feel intimidated even though the government guarantees no censorship of the internet under the MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor). The no-censorship rule is provided in the 10-point Bill of Guarantees under the MSC initiative that is designed to attract foreign investors.

The court will hear the inter parte application for Ahirudin on January 25 while Ooi's will be heard on January 30.

   
BBFC move into the censorship of Internet video

From Strictly Broadband posting on the Beer and Bollocks webmasters forum

I had a meeting with the BBFC last week to discuss their plans, and get their views on where the law is going. Note that the BBFC don't set the law, but they need to interpret it. Below are the points that came out of the meeting, most of them known already to some degree. A follow-up meeting will be held next week to look in more detail at how they intend to enforce the use of their online certificates specifically for streaming content.

• The BBFC will shortly (well before the end of this year) be introducing a VoD certificate. This will be issued free of charge to companies that submit content for distribution on DVD/video. It will cover downloads for sure, and possibly streaming. The certificate will allow companies to display BBFC certificate logos on their web sites.
   
• For companies that do not certificate for the time being, the BBFC will soon be publishing a set of guidelines for adult web companies laying out in more details what they do/don't consider legal content. I see this as a good step forward, as it will allow adult webmasters a clearer view of what may be likely to get them prosecuted under the OPA.
   
• Certification will for now be voluntary for online use.
   
• Online certificates will have three parts:
  1. A visible logo to display online
  2. A video "card" to put at the start of a certificated video
  3. A paper certificate to file away
   
• The BBFC will be making content submission possible online - currently you need to submit on physical media.
   
• By 2010, the UK will have to sign up to the EU's Television Without Frontiers framework - this means that laws will be introduced to regulate online content - my interpretation of this is that within a couple of years, all adult content online will fall within regulation.
   
• The BBFC expect that their certification of online content will be a key part in enforcing the new legislation.
   
• People within the BBFC scheme will be fairly well protected from prosecution - those outside the scheme have no protection.
   
• In the longer term, the BBFC are investigating content labelling schemes, especially for adult material - this will be technically similar to existing ICRA content labelling.
   
• The timescales are fluid, but will be forced by the implementation of the EU legislation.
   
• I raised the specific issue of watersports; many webmasters are unaware that this is illegal in the UK. the BBFC have no role in deciding what is classed as obscene, they are simply guided by the police. I was informed that the police have made prosecutions of web sites for this content - the problem being that webmasters tend to plead guilty to avoid a prison sentence, and so the guideline hasn't been challenged in court.

   
Big Brother, a shipwrecked survivor

Limey, if we put a hidden reality TV microphone in a single typical pub, there would be enough offence to keep Ofcom in complaints for a generation

From The Herald

Channel 4 bosses have ordered a review of Big Brother following the racism row, but say that the current Celebrity edition of the show will remain on air.

Chairman Luke Johnson said that the Channel 4 board expressed "profound regret" for any offence that may have been caused.

Johnson said the board believed that last week's events on Celebrity Big Brother had triggered an important debate: Clearly many people were worried and offended by what they saw. I want to reassure them that we take the views of our audience very seriously and profoundly regret any offence that may have been caused.

Johnson said the board had commissioned a review of the "editorial and compliance processes" of Big Brother. The board will receive a full report and seek to identify any lessons that can be learned for the future, he said.

From The Telegraph

But just as Luke Johnson sought to dampen down criticism of the organisation, he became embroiled in further controversy over a racial rant on another reality TV programme on the channel.

The television regulator Ofcom said it had received scores of complaints about another reality show in which a contestant praised slavery. More than 69 viewers complained about the outburst on Shipwrecked, which occurred on a pre-recorded episode seen by 1.2 viewers on Sunday night.

One contestant, Lucy Buchanan, a former public schoolgirl, said she was "for slavery" and said black people were "really bad". Buchanan went on to make offensive remarks about the overweight describing them as "disgusting and offensive". She admitted she was racist and went into a tirade about the people making a "complete mess" of Britain.

A Channel 4 spokesman said the comments, filmed five months ago, came from a "very young woman" who had led a "closeted existence" and that, after interacting with the other contestants, she changes her view. Other contestants reprimand her and say they disagree with her, the spokesman said. Over the course of the series it becomes clear that her views change. It is quite a justified portrayal.

   
OFLC in need of mind enhancing drugs

From Spong

The OFLC have now released their reasons for banning the computer game, Blitz the League:

In the course of the game, the player may access what are purported to be both legal and illegal performance-enhancing drugs for the members of the team. Choosing to use these drugs (by selecting from a menu) will have both negative and positive effects on team-members, for example, by improving their speed while making them more susceptible to injury.

Each drug has different characteristics. Fake urine samples may also be acquired for avoiding positive drug tests. While the game-player can choose not to use the drugs, in the Board’s majority view there is an incentive to use them.

By using them judiciously, the player can improve the performance of the football team (while managing the negative effects) and have a better chance of winning games, thereby winning bets and climbing the league table.

In the ‘morally-upstanding’ eyes of the OFLC’s board members this falls into the realm of unacceptable content that depicts matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults.

   
FCC angling to regulate violent TV content

From Broadcast Newsroom

The FCC is readying a report that could set the agenda for US TV censorship. FCC sources confirm that the Media Bureau has circulated a Media Bureau TV violence report among the commissioners for their comment.

Media violence is an issue that surfaces periodically in Washington. Frequent media violence critic Senator Jay Rockefeller isn't waiting for the report, or for the courts: Obviously, the preference would be to have the industry police itself when it comes to excessive violence. However, if they can't or won't do it, then Congress must step in and address this growing societal problem One of the most basic steps we can take is to give the FCC authority to regulate violence.

A source confirms that Rockefeller will re-introduce a bill giving the FCC the authority to regulate violence as it does indecency He also expects the committee to hold hearings on TV violence.

The FCC report is the product of a more than two-year-old inquiry prompted by, among others, the now-chairs of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and Telecommunications subcommittee.

Among the issues the report addresses are the negative effects on kids caused by cumulative viewing, the limits on the FCC's power to regulate violence, and what the definition of "harmful" TV violence is. The report is said to suggest there are constitutional hurdles to regulating violence, but not insurmountable ones if Congress wants to give the FCC the power, and Rockefeller want to do just that.

   
Ontario disagrees with US film ratings

For comparison, This Film is Not Yet Rated received an 18 certificate in the UK.

From The Star

There may be a more hypocritical organization on the face of the planet than the Motion Picture Association of America. It's just hard to think of what it might be.

The MPAA claims it represents the cherished family values of American parents and their impressionable children. Yet it employs a movie ratings system that approves horrific scenes of violence while censoring acts of love.

The MPAA insists it is fair and reasonable. Yet it judges independent films more harshly than studio ones, and it views gay sex more sternly than straight sex.

The MPAA boasts of being open and accountable, yet it operates like a star chamber with secret censors and arbitrary rulings.

The MPAA says its ratings have no impact whatsoever on box office receipts. Yet it knows full well that its punitive NC-17 rating kills movies, because many American newspapers and broadcast outlets won't carry ads for these films and many exhibitors and retailers won't give them screen time or shelf space.

And Canadians aren't immune to its outrageous ratings, even though our provinces have their own film review boards. American movies cross the border pre-censored by the MPAA, since there is no financial incentive to edit a film just for the Canadian audience.

These facts were already known before last year's Sundance premiere of documentarian Kirby Dick's MPAA expose, This Film Is Not Yet Rated. It was a situation akin to what Mark Twain once said about the weather: everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it.

Dick actually did do something and the result is a movie that is at once eye-opening and hilarious. He talked to the usual suspects, outraged filmmakers like John Waters, Kevin Smith and Canada's Atom Egoyan and Mary Harron, who have all felt the MPAA's lash.

According to MPAA logic, it's okay to show people getting shot, brutally killed or mutilated if you want a family friendly rating. But to show sex, even to talk about it in some circumstances, will get you hobbled with a rating of "NC-17" (no one 17 and under admitted). NC-17 is the most feared of ratings, since it amounts to a blacklisting.

Violence is fine; sex isn't. That's what America believes, says John Waters (Pink Flamingos), who succinctly describes the dubious MPAA mindset.

There's no question, however, that the film has already made an impact, although it took a year to do so. The MPAA announced this week it is making its operations more transparent, although Dick says the changes don't really amount to much. And the biggest problem of all remains: the NC-17 rating is completely unjust and unworkable, yet the MPAA refuses to delete or change it.

Most telling of all is the rating that This Film Is Not Yet Rated has finally received from the MPAA. You guessed it: NC-17, meted out because it contains "some graphic sexual content." Not to mention graphic mocking of the MPAA.

Here in Ontario, where our own censors rightly judge violence much more harshly than sex, the film gets a reasonable rating of 14A, meaning adult accompaniment for persons 14 and under. Ontarians know that many people have died from guns, but nobody was ever hurt by the sight of a bare breast.

   
US adult industry comply with record keeping

From AVN

A feature article in the Los Angeles Times examined the FBI's recent 2257 inspections of San Fernando Valley porn studios.

Free Speech Coalition chairman Jeffrey Douglas said: Although the public perception of porn producers often tends to be that of a wild and unseemly underworld, many of the Valley's X-rated entities are tightly-run multimillion dollar corporations. Douglas said that complying with the rules had buried X-rated producers in paperwork."

Joe Francis' Mantra Films, which produces the popular Girls Gone Wild video series, is the only company to be prosecuted thus far since changes in 2257 laws took effect in May 2005. The Times article mentioned the FBI's recent visit to the K-Beech offices in Chatsworth. K-Beech passed the inspection.

Why would I jeopardize $10 million a year to shoot an underage girl? We're not stupid, Kevin Beechum told the Times.

Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra was quoted as saying, If [porn producers'] feeling is there's nothing to worry about, then complying with the inspections shouldn't be a problem.

The FBI is being decent and fair about it, Steven Hirsch of Vivid Entertainment told the Times. But I don't think it's an issue. There's plenty of girls of age who are willing to do [porn].

Cuban writers protests reappearance of Stalinist censor

From White Rock Reviewer

The Cuban government's arts union has backed protests against the recent reappearance of a former top censor blamed for Stalinist-type purges on artistic expression in the 1970s.

The resurfacing of Luis Pavon Tamayo and others from the period known to writers here as the "gray five years" has raised worries that Cuba's new caretaker government was moving to tighten expression with ailing President Fidel Castro on the sidelines.

During those years, writers and artists were expelled from their jobs for being homosexuals or not toeing the government line. Some, including Jose Lezama Lima, were hounded into exile. Beatles music and even long hair were banned on the island.

Since Castro ceded his powers provisionally to his brother Raul on July 31, the younger Castro has campaigned for fearless and critical debate within the confines of the island's communist system. Last week, ideology chieftain Rolando Alfonso Borges called on journalists for official media to report more on problems affecting Cuban citizens.

   
BBFC now censor 25% of adult rated videos

Spotted by Calidoniaguy on The Melon Farmers Forum

A worrying trend of increasing censorship by the BBFC?

Official censorship figures from the BBFC, for video works

	% cut	% Cut
2002	10.5	15.4
2003	11.4	18.4
2004	15.2	20.6
2005	17.6	23.2
2006	25.4	24.1

Remember, these figures are artificially low due to the fact that the BBFC do not require distributors to declare whether they have censored works prior to submission. Also, it does not show how much has been cut – e.g. the multi-award winning “Pirates” had 1 hour 34 minutes censored from it!!!

   
If only the walls had ears

Surely then we would hear a few more derogatory terms than ever we heard on TV

From The Herald

Andy Duncan, chief executive of Channel 4, is today expected to be called to account over his handling of the Celebrity Big Brother row.

The Channel 4 board is said to be reluctant to make a "knee-jerk" reaction and is not expected to make a decision on whether to axe the reality show at this stage.

The alleged abuse has now resulted in more than 40,000 complaints from viewers to Ofcom.