Aamer Anwar is a lawyer who unsuccessfully defended a client on terrorism charges.

His client Mohammed Atif Siddique is currently serving eight years after becoming the first Scot to be convicted of al-Qaeda-inspired terrorism offences. The most serious being possessing al-Qaeda propaganda material on his laptop computer for a purpose connected with terrorism. He had also made a series of extremist claims to fellow students at Glasgow Metropolitan College, including that he would "blow up" the city.

Immediately after Siddique's trial, Anwar spoke with barely concealed rage from the steps of the High Court in Glasgow, he spoke. He unleashed a stinging verbal attack on Scotland's justice system.

Standing in the full glare nation's media, he described the verdict a tragedy for justice and insisted the prosecution had been driven by the state.

Anwar is now on trial himself accused of contempt of court as a result of those remarks seven months before. In particular he is accused of a common-law contempt or actions that are an affront to the court. That might be willfully impeding the smooth running of the court, or doing something that brings it into disrepute.

Supporters of free speech came out to support Anwar. They gathered in their dozens outside the court building, holding banners in support of the beleaguered lawyer.
Their message was simple: Defend Aamer Anwar. Defend the freedom of speech.

Lord Carloway, the judge in the terror trial of Mohammed Atif Siddique, described Anwar's statement as a multi-faceted tirade, and said much of it was untrue or misleading. Referring the case to the panel of three judges that yesterday began trying Anwar for contempt, Lord Carloway said a defence lawyer had specific duties not only to his client but to the court.

The case is unprecedented in British legal history. It has triggered grave fears among civil-liberty groups that Scotland's judiciary could be about to strike a serious blow against freedom of speech. The case is likely to be ultimately decided in the European courts.

High-profile human-rights lawyers, including Michael Mansfield, Gareth Peirce and Imran Khan, have publicly backed Anwar, as have writers, academics, anti-war protesters and politicians.

A full-page advert in a Sunday newspaper branded the trial against Anwar not only a violation of the right to free speech but also "an attack on the fundamental right of all lawyers to represent their clients".

Liberty, the UK civil-liberties group, has taken a keen interest in the case. Yesterday, a representative of the group stood before the three judges hearing the case and argued a guilty verdict would contravene the right to free expression enshrined in European law. Its director, Shami Chak-rabarti, earlier told The Scotsman: The ability of a lawyer to protest on behalf of his client is crucial to both free speech and justice in a democracy.

But while the roar of support from legal circles in England has been deafening, lawyers in Scotland have been conspicuously quiet. The Scotsman understands that many were asked to sign a letter of support, but refused. They say talk about a threat to free speech is overblown.

John Scott, president of the Edinburgh Bar Association, said: The problem was (Anwar] was inaccurately reporting what had happened in court. His take for the cameras of what the jurors had decided was very misleading. Aamer said his client had been convicted of finding answers on the internet. In truth, he was found guilty of very serious offences. Trying him for contempt was, I think, an overreaction.

A blogger who "let off steam" about the way he was treated by police has been convicted of posting a grossly offensive and menacing message.

Gavin Brent was fined £150 with £364 costs by magistrates at Mold.

The court heard Brent had been charged with theft offences - which have yet to be dealt with - and posted a message about a police officer's new-born baby. Magistrates said any reasonable person would find the comments menacing.

The court heard how detective constable Steve Lloyd conducted interviews, but was not present when Brent was charged because his wife was having a baby. Prosecutor Liz Bell said someone unfortunately told Brent why the officer was absent.

Brent then ranted about his perceived mis-treatment at the hands of police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

His posting ended: P.S. - D.C. Lloyd, God help your new-born baby.

In interview, he said he felt he had been mistreated and hoped the officer would not treat his child the same way.

Brent was prosecuted under the Telecommunications Act, relating to the sending of an electronic message.

He claimed he had not meant to be offensive, had used the blog "to let off steam", but had not intended any harm. He apologised if it was perceived as a threat, offered to remove the offending words, and to write a letter of apology.

Flintshire magistrates, sitting at Mold, said the blog was articulate, detailed, specific and critical of the police and the CPS. They said any reasonable person would find the words about the baby to be menacing in the context of the overall blog.

DSGi-owned electrical retailer Currys is planning to place its own age ratings on video games sold through its stores, according to Sky News.

The chain wants to establish a customer panel who will rate the games on how fun, suitable and challenging they are.

Sky reports that the sticky labels will feature a "squabble-ometer" and a laughter scale.

The move comes after Dr Tanya Byron’s Review into the industry found that parents can find the current dual PEGI/BBFC ratings confusing.

Plans to widen the use of cinema-style rating for computer games are at risk of failing, amid predictions that soon there will be too many for the censors to regulate.

Games industry bosses told MPs on the Culture Select Committee, who are examining harmful content on the internet and in video games, that an explosion in online gaming would mean up to 100,000 games appear a year – far more than the 1,750 titles produced today.

Paul Jackson, director-general of Elspa, the games industry trade body, said it would need to fill a tower block with censors to make the system work. He was responding to questions from John Whittingdale, the Conservative chairman of the committee.

Jackson’s comments mean that government plans, announced this month, to introduce compulsory rating for all games that would attract a 12 certificate and above would collapse because the BBFC could not cope: We are concerned about plans to introduce a hybrid system. On the face of it, it means classifying another 500 games a year. But will they be able to rate 100,000 games and game elements in five years’ time?

Comment: Future Proofing Games Ratings

Paul Jackson's comments are better explained in an interview with TechRadar

See interview from TechRadar

Paul Jackson: Our concern is this – the games industry needs to be reassured that the British Board of Film Classification would be capable of delivering against a new remit. There are two broad areas of concern.

Firstly, it looks as though the PEGI system currently delivers a harsher rating on games than (historically) the BBFC has – and we want to understand why that is happening and, if it’s not right, how we can fix it.

The second area of concern is about ‘future-proofing’. We know that our industry is going online and we know that the methodologies used with PEGI allow complete flexibility, because it is generated from within the industry. Every product has got a product manager, so every product can be self-assessed. And then the checks and balances that are so important come into play after that.

With the BBFC system that has been developed since the 1930s it is based around individual censors reviewing each and every product. Now what does that mean in a world where there are perhaps a million online elements a year which need to be classified? I don’t know? That is where we need to make sure that we understand how the BBFC would be capable of delivering against that remit.

TechRadar: The BBFC told TechRadar recently that they were more than happy and confident to take on what they estimate to be an extra three to five hundred games a year.

Paul Jackson: Yes, and at the level of three-to-five hundred, who would question that? The question really is – ‘what happens in that online space?’

As the industry goes online over the next three to ten years what we don’t want to do, including the BBFC, I’m sure – and this is why we keep talking about ‘future proofing’ – is we don’t want to invest in a system that effectively becomes redundant over the few years’ time.

TechRadar: Why would it become redundant?

Paul Jackson: Well if – and there are many ‘ifs’ in this which is why we want to work with government and with the BBFC over the next 18 months – if, for instance, one scenario is that the games industry moves almost exclusively online and then the products that we are selling, many of those products fragment… So, The Sims would be a good example here. If you look at The Sims as a product, it’s a £30 purchase at the point of display and then just look at the number of items that are already available to purchase online for The Sims. Every one of those in future will need to be referenced and classified. How will that be done?

Those are the areas of concern we have got, because we are certainly not talking five to six hundred ‘elements’ per year over the next ten years. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands, millions, who knows?

We’ve tried to word our concern very clearly. We are concerned because we don’t understand how that is going to work. And if it doesn’t work, if we’ve not ‘future proofed’ then we just have a system that’s going to last us the next three years. Which is not what any of us want.

Film Four’s recent screened Roger Avery’s THE RULES OF ATTRACTION.

Though the original NC-17 version of THE RULES OF ATTRACTION was passed uncut for theatrical screenings in the UK, the subsequent video version was cut to remove a shot of Teresa Wayman cutting her wrist lengthwise with a razor because the BBFC considered it instructional depiction of a potentially lethal suicide technique. The shot in question only lasts a few seconds, so the distributor removed it and then slowed down the remaining footage to cover the gap left by the deleted shot and allow the Harry Nillson song ‘Without You’ to play as it does in the uncut version. As a result the BBFC list a substitution cut of 1 min 34 seconds, the total amount of footage slowed to accommodate the cut.

The BBFC’s intervention did not really lessen the power of this crucial scene, but unfortunately when the film was screened recently on Film Four, whoever prepared the film for broadcast misunderstood the technical aspects of this cut, and instead removed the 1 minute 34 seconds the BBFC appeared to mandate deleting the suicide scene in almost its entirety. Accidental though it seems to be, it’ a crippling cut, but I’m sure a few helpful e-mails sent in Film Four’s direction could sort this out.

The advertising censor, ASA, has received 10 complaints that Pot Noodle's resolutely un-PC television campaign, featuring a 1980s power ballad about how women should be easy, simple and hassle free, is sexist and portrays women as sexual objects.

Pot Noodle's latest ad, which launched earlier this week, features a crooner who wishes that women were as simple as the ready-to-eat snack.

Complaints to the ASA include the claim that the ad is: offensive and demeaning to women, is misogynistic and portrays women as sexual objects.

The ASA will now assess whether or not to launch a formal investigation into the campaign.

Pot Noodle's TV campaign, created by ad agency Mother, is a spoof of a 1980s music video. In the song a singer and his backing musician argue that if women were a Pot Noodle it would be farewell to nagging and random tantrums. They wish women could be freeze-dried and quick and done in a jiffy.

If she lived in a cupboard things wouldn't be so tough, runs one line. The final scene ends with a group of men raising their forks in unison to celebrate Pot Noodle, in praise of things simple, easy and more hassle free.

Thailand's new Film Act will go into effect on June 4. And though nothing ever goes as planned when it comes to the Culture Ministry, moviegoers should brace for the historic introduction of the rating system, which is likely to be accompanied by confusion and clamour.

The Film Act was actually passed last December, but the Ministry Regulations, the practical rules that will implement various provisions of the law, are being written by the scribes at the ministry.

When the new law is applied in June, each movie, Thai and foreign, will be assigned one of six ratings:

• G (fit for all age groups)
• 13-plus
• 15-plus
• 18-plus
• 20-plus
• ''P'' an unusual label designed for films that deserve to be promoted to the society because of its content. For instance, a historical Thai movie that everyone including young children should be encouraged to see it because of its historical and patriotic values.

What's not clear right now is how the ratings and filtering will be enforced. As it is understood, theatre staff at the box office will check the IDs of customers before letting them buy tickets. But since nobody has seen the Ministry Regulations, it's not certain whether the age classifications are simply a guideline for parents and multiplexes, or are actual legal restrictions with punishment clauses.

It's rumoured that the ID check will be carried out only with the 18- and 20-plus movies. But if, say, a 19-year-old wants to see Rambo 4 with his father, will he be allowed to go in? And if not, why? Because when he goes to an election booth, a process more detrimental to his mental health, he doesn't have to bring his dad in there with him to tell him which box to tick or which politician is a thief.

I feel itchy about the 20-plus rating, itchier and sadder still that the new Film Act still has the cutting and banning provisions. Hardly any country in the world restricts access to cinema for its 20-year-old people, except, well, Singapore. What's very funny in the Thai law is that the 20-plus rating will not be applied to those who have reached their legal age of consent by marriage. So if you're a 17-year-old girl who's already married, you can breeze into the theatre to see a 20-plus film, supposedly because since you've already had sex, nothing else can shock you. Just remember to carry your wedding certificate as proof.

Bending over backwards to Putin's wishes

Russia's lower house of parliament voted yesterday to widen the definition of slander and libel and give regulators the authority to shut down media outlets found guilty of publishing such material.

The legislation, passed by the State Duma 339-1, is the latest attempt by the government to squeeze the country's increasingly embattled news media.

The bill allows authorities to suspend and close down media outlets for libel and slander — punishment that is identical for news media found to be promoting terrorism, extremism and racial hatred.

It also expands the definition for slander and libel to dissemination of deliberately false information damaging individual honor and dignity.

The legislation will be considered in two more readings, before heading to the upper house of parliament, where approval is likely, and then to Putin for signing.

The bill's passage comes just days after a scandal involving a tabloid newspaper that had reported that President Vladimir Putin had divorced his wife and planned to marry a champion gymnast.

Amendments to the Criminal Injustice Act have been tabled for the 3rd Reading

Baroness Miller and Lord Wallace have suggested that dangerous pictures should be defined as both violent and legally obscene. They have also proposed reducing the maximum sentence from 3 to 2 years.

The evil Lord Hunt has proposed a minor exemption. Those participating in the dangerous pictures and hence knowing that they were produced legally would be exempt. Surely a recipe for injustice as the same images would be legal for some to own and illegal for others

Clause 62

BARONESS MILLER OF CHILTHORNE DOMER
LORD WALLACE OF TANKERNESS

Page 49, line 31, leave out paragraph (b) and insert—
"(b) is obscene as defined by section 1 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (c. 66) (test of obscenity)."

After Clause 64

THE LORD HUNT OF KINGS HEATH

Insert the following new Clause—
"Defence: participation in consensual acts
(1) This section applies where—
(a) a person ("D") is charged with an offence under section 62, and
(b) the offence relates to an image that portrays an act or acts within paragraphs (a) to (c) (but none within paragraph (d)) of subsection (7) of that section.
(2) It is a defence for D to prove—
(a) that D directly participated in the act or any of the acts portrayed, and
(b) that the act or acts did not involve the infliction of any non-consensual harm on any person, and
(c) if the image portrays an act within section 62(7)(c), that what is portrayed as a human corpse was not in fact a corpse.
(3) For the purposes of this section harm inflicted on a person is "non-consensual" harm if—
(a) the harm is of such a nature that the person cannot, in law, consent to it being inflicted on himself or herself; or
(b) where the person can, in law, consent to it being so inflicted, the person does not in fact consent to it being so inflicted."

Clause 65

BARONESS MILLER OF CHILTHORNE DOMER
LORD WALLACE OF TANKERNESS

Page 52, line 3, leave out subsections (2) to (4) and insert—
"(2) A person guilty of an offence under section 62 is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years."

LORD HUNT OF KINGS HEATH

Page 52, line 8, leave out "depict" and insert "portray"

The boss of Edinburgh video game company Rockstar North has said critics of the forthcoming Grand Theft Auto IV title are the same kind of people who complained about Elvis.

Leslie Benzies, the president of the Capital-based firm, made the claim amid waves of protest aimed at the game, which is due to be released tomorrow.

Benzies said the Grand Theft Auto games were victims of the same kind of misplaced moral panic that had greeted the early days of rock'n'roll.

He added: There is a big fear factor here. It's (like) the coming of the railways, it's Elvis shaking his hips. It's cars going over 25 miles per hour and making people explode. We've had such a beating over the past three years, by the US government, the British government, the Daily Mail. 'You kill prostitutes' – that's usually the objection. I ask if they've ever played the game. Invariably they haven't.

Benzies' reaction comes after top neuroscientist Baroness Greenfield, said yesterday that the rush of continually winning and losing at computer games produces "hits" of dopamine – a euphoria-inducing chemical that has also been linked to drug dependency. She added the long-term result could be damage to a part of the brain that is key to forming personality.

However, another leading neuroscientist, Stafford Lightman, professor of medicine at Bristol University, says there is "no evidence at all" for Baroness Greenfield's theory about the longer-term personality effect.

See review from the New York Times

Grand Theft Auto IV is a violent, intelligent, profane, endearing, obnoxious, sly, richly textured and thoroughly compelling work of cultural satire disguised as fun.

It calls to mind a rollicking R-rated version of Mad magazine featuring Dave Chappelle and Quentin Tarantino, and sets a new standard for what is possible in interactive arts.

It is by far the best game of the series, which made its debut in 1997 and has since sold more than 70 million copies.

MPs have blocked a bill that would have banned the advertising of junk food and drinks to children. The Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill aimed to make it an offence to promote "less healthy" foodstuffs to children.

Introduced by Labour MP Nigel Griffiths last year, it would also have introduced a 9pm watershed for television advertising of unhealthy food. However, the bill failed at its second reading in the House of Commons.

On 1st January Ofcom introduced a ban on television adverts for foods high in fat, salt and sugar during shows aimed at under-16s.

The lawsuit by the archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur against the government of Malaysia has been adjourned until April 29. The archdiocese is claiming the right to use the word "Allah" in its Catholic weekly, the Herald.

The standoff over the use of the word "Allah" is just one more chapter in the difficulties facing the majority Muslim country, where a secular constitution is accompanied by Islamic courts charged with applying sharia.

On December 10, the domestic security ministry had prohibited the Malay-language section of the Herald from using the word "Allah" to designate the Christian God, claiming it could be used in this way only by Muslims. Fr Andrew Lawrence, the director of the newspaper, was forced to accept the restriction, but the archdiocese decided to sue the government.

The archbishop of the capital, Murphy Pakiam, maintains that the domestic security minister and the federal government are making a mistake: I am advised by my solicitors that I have a legal right to use the word 'Allah' in the Herald, and this legal right stems from the right to freedom of speech and expression as enshrined in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

Archbishop Pakiam further reports that he has been under constant pressure from the government to conform to the "directives". At the same time, numerous threats have been issued, creating a climate of "apprehension".

The bishop concludes by describing as unreasonable and irrational" the justification of the ministry, according to which the use of the word "Allah" is a security issue which is purportedly causing much confusion and which threatens and endangers peace, public order and security". Over thirteen years of publication, he adds, no article in the Herald has ever caused any incidents.

The Ofrum blog is intended to give viewers of adult services available via Sky a chance to air their views and opinions about the treatment they receive Ofcom

From Billy on Ofrum

It is my opinion that media regulators, Ofcom, are doing everything in their power to bring to an end the broadcasting of pay-per-view and free-to-air adult channels, currently available through the adult section of Sky's EPG. However, because an outright ban is not an option, Ofcom have opted for a 'bullying' tactic by continually targeting these shows, often hitting them with hefty fines for even the mildest of offences. Meanwhile, mainstream channels that break similar regulations, often escape with little more than a warning.

Update: Blogged Off

The blog is already discontinued

Malaysia's government lifted the ban on a newspaper catering to ethnic minority Indians, but denied caving in to criticism that it was stifling press freedom.

The Home Ministry told the Tamil-language Makkal Osai, or People's Voice, last week that its operating license had not been renewed. Authorities subsequently said the newspaper flouted media guidelines on how racial issues should be reported.

The newspaper's general manager, S.M. Periasamy, said he received a letter from the ministry Thursday informing him that the ban had been dropped. No reasons or conditions were given, and the newspaper expects to resume publication Saturday, Periasamy said.

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar confirmed he approved a new annual permit for Makkal Osai, saying its editors have assured the government that: they will abide by the guidelines and contribute to our nation-building efforts.

He denied that the government had backtracked because of fierce criticism by opposition leaders and media activists. Syed Hamid had said last week he was considering doing away with the annual licensing and switching to licenses that only need to be issued once, saying the country needs press freedom in order for us to have a check and balance in government.

Family First NZ is calling for the latest version of the Grand Theft Auto video game series to be banned in NZ.

Grand Theft Auto IV is scheduled for release this week. It follows on from previous Grand Theft Auto games which included constant graphic violence and sexual situations. Players could re-enact having sex with a prostitute, beating her bloody, taking her money and running her over with a car and shooting at police officers.

Rockstar Games which produces the game says the company is going even further in its pursuit of realism with this latest game in the series and players can buy cocaine, set enemies alight, shoot a policeman, drink drive, and visit strip clubs – all with improved physics and animation which makes the game feel more real, according to reviewers.

In Australia the graphic violence contained in the game was modified to meet an MA15+ rating, still with warnings of strong violence, strong coarse language, drug and sexual references. The Australian censorship board warned that as the violence is relatively frequent, causing blood spray and injury detail, the impact is strong.

It is completely naïve to believe that teenagers and young children won’t have access to and be able to play the game, says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ: It is also completely unrealistic to believe that young people will not be influenced in their attitudes and behaviours by constant exposure to this type of material.

Family First says that with concerns in the increasing rates of juvenile violent and sexual offending, it is time we acted to protect our young people and communities from the effects and influences of these extreme types of video games.

So-called ‘entertainment’ and freedom of expression should never be at the expense of the safety of our community, appropriate emotional and moral development of our children, and promoting acceptable attitudes towards women, violence and law enforcement, says McCoskrie.

However, such is the popularity of the title that big electronics stores are planning midnight openings to cash in on demand from gamers.

A prominent democracy activist whose blog featured reports on demonstrations against the relay of the Beijing Olympic torch was arrested by Vietnamese police.

Police arrested Nguyen Van Hai, who blogs under the name Dieu Cay, on charges of tax evasion.

Hai is a member of a group of internet bloggers known as the Union of Independent Journalists. Other members of the group have called for protests along the torch's route when it is carried through Ho Chi Minh City.

On his blog, Hai had featured articles on protests against the torch in other cities around the world, and others critical of China's policies in Tibet and the Spratlys and opposing the torch's relay through Vietnam.

A detailed schedule for the relay in Ho Chi Minh City was published in the Vietnamese press in March, but has apparently been rescinded since pro-Tibetan protests were staged against the torch's progress through various European cities.

he Russian prosecutor's office wants tough anti-extremism laws to be extended to the Internet, state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported, prompting fears of growing media censorship.

The prosecutors office has proposed a legal amendment to bring the Internet under the same rules as printed media, Vyacheslav Sizov, a top official at the prosecutor general's office told the daily.

Newspapers deemed in court to have published extremist material can be shut down under current laws. The new proposal is for any website deemed to have hosted extremist material to be blocked by providers in Russia within a month, Sizov said.

The extremism law has already come under fire from human rights activists, who say its sweeping nature is open to abuse by officials wanting to outlaw legitimate criticism.

A complaint by games nutter, Jack Thompson, has prompted Miami’s transit authority to remove ads for Grand Theft Auto IV from local bus shelters.

Miami thus joins Chicago as the second major US city to pull GTA IV ads from its public transit system in recent days.

GamePolitics reported on Thursday that Thompson had complained about the GTA IV ads to Miami Mayor Carlos Alvarez. The GTA IV ads were apparently removed sometime on Friday afternoon.

Hugh Chen, Miami-Dade Transit’s deputy director of operations, told GamePolitics on Friday evening, via e-mail: The posters were removed after a review of our approval process and contract… Be assured that the circumstances around placing and removing these specific posters were reviewed before action was taken. We are governed by our contract with our shelter contractor and County ordinances.

In the wake of this success, Thompson is proceeding to get all GTA IV ads pulled from all US transit systems since such ads clearly violate promises made by the [ESRB], found right at its web site, not to place “Mature-rated” game ads in venues that will be seen by teens.

However, Thompson’s contention about the ESRB appears to be incorrect. An ESRB spokesman told GP on Friday, Considering the overwhelmingly adult demographic profile of mass transit riders… the placement of GTA IV ads in these types of outlets would typically not be in violation of [Ad Review Council] guidelines.

Prominent Saudi blogger Fouad Alfarhan was freed today. He is back home in Jeddah after 137 days in custody.

Alfarhan was arrested on 10 December 2007 for unspecified: violation of non-security regulations.

The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the Tunisian government’s apparent censorship of the opposition weekly Al-Mawkif.

Over the past month, Tunisian authorities have prevented distribution of four successive issues of Al-Mawkif, published since 1984 by the opposition Progressive Democratic Party (PDP). Rachid Khechana, editor of Al-Mawkif, told CPJ that plainclothes police have seized copies of the newspaper at kiosks throughout the country. In a statement, the newspaper said authorities have acted without any judicial or legal ground.

The censorship comes at a time when Al-Mawkif facesa major civil defamation lawsuit, a case that Khechana claims is politically motivated.

Khechana told CPJ that five companies that market cooking oil filed a lawsuit against the weekly this month, alleging that the paper “spread false news” and “harmed their interests.” Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, the paper’s managing editor, and Khechana have been summoned to appear in court on May 10. Each company seeks 100,000 Tunisian dinars (US$87,000) in damages.

The lawsuit was triggered by an April 4 opinion piece by Khechana that called for a transparent investigation into allegations that contaminated Tunisian cooking oil was illegally exported to neighboring Algeria. The April 4 edition was among those seized by police.

Related: Come 4 Censorship News

12th May 2008

Reporters Without Borders condemns the Tunisian government’s censorship of the international French-language news website Come4news, to which access has been blocked in Tunisia since 10 March.

Come4news (C4N) allows Internet users to express themselves directly online, the press freedom organisation said. Banning access to such a website in Tunisia, where the number of Internet users is growing steadily, just helps to reduce the country’s Internet to silence. We call on the government to give an official explanation for the decision.

A London mayoral candidate is taking the BBC and ITV to the High Court for censoring his party Election Broadcasts in the run up to the May 1 elections.

The Christian Choice candidate, Alan Craig, has instructed the Christian Legal Centre to file papers this morning at the Royal Courts of Justice after BBC and ITV officials instructed him to remove parts of his Party Election Broadcast which was aired on Wednesday evening.

Cllr Craig, a long-standing campaigner against the 'mega-mosque', due to be built in Newham close to the site of the Olympic Games, originally described the organisation behind it, Tablighi Jamaat, as ‘separatist’.

However, BBC and ITV officials responsible for supervising the Broadcasts instructed him to moderate his views and change this description of the Islamic organisation if he wanted it aired.

Cllr Craig claims not only ‘political interference’ by the broadcasters, but says such action breeches his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects freedom of speech.

According to the Christian Legal Centre, Cllr Craig changed the word to “controversial” under duress. Late in the day ITV insisted that the agreed word “controversial” should be applied to the mosque plans not to the Islamic group. Cllr Craig’s objections to the mega-mosque, however, have consistently been related to the nature of the Islamic group behind the project - the plans have not yet been published.

Cllr Craig said: BBC and ITV officials, none of whom were lawyers to our knowledge, clearly instructed us to ‘tone down’ our views and change the sense if we wanted the PEB broadcast. The legal language of ‘libel’ was mentioned by the BBC, and in the case of TV, we were forced to go back to the studios at the last minute to record a censored version of the PEB.

I am advised that libel is a defamation of an individual, and no-where in the broadcast do we defame individuals. My comments are reasonable and moderate and do not contradict the Racial and Religious Hatred Act. The BBC and ITV are not entitled to limit free speech and I look forward to the judge ordering them both to broadcast my original message.

Andrea Minichiello Williams, barrister and director of the Christian Legal Centre, said: Providing that the content of an election broadcast is within the law, the BBC and ITV should enable the electorate to hear the unedited views of candidates and allow them to make up their own minds as to whether they agree or not.

The Christian Legal Centre will be calling for a Judicial Review of the BBC’s and ITV’s decision, and ask the judge to order, as a matter of urgency, the unedited Party Election Broadcast on both channels. The case will be heard next Monday when Cllr Craig will be represented by leading Human Rights barrister, Paul Diamond.

Update: The Censored Word

29th April 2008

Original version:

You may know about plans by a separatist Islamic group to build Europe’s biggest mosque next to the Olympics site in West Ham. I think it’s a bad idea that will bring division and I’m glad moderate Muslims support my stance in opposing it.

Censored version:

You may know about controversial plans by an Islamic group to build Europe’s biggest mosque next to the Olympics site in West Ham. I think it’s a bad idea that will bring division and I’m glad some Muslims leaders support my stance in opposing it.

Sweden has decided not to ban sexist advertising, saying it would risk undermining the country's cherished right to freedom of speech.

But the decision puts the country at odds with its Nordic neighbours. Norway and Denmark have strict limits on the use of such images for commercial gain.

In Norway, sexist advertising has been banned since 2003. The ban forms part of a much broader package of legal limits on advertising, protecting the depiction of religion, sexuality, race and gender.

Basically, if something is offensive or it makes the viewer feel uncomfortable when they look at it, it shouldn't be done, explained Sol Olving, head of Norway's Kreativt Forum, an association of the country's top advertising agencies: Naked people are wonderful, of course, but they have to be relevant to the product. You could have a naked person advertising shower gel or a cream, but not a woman in a bikini draped across a car."

Norwegian firms that refuse to remove or alter offensive adverts after having a complaint upheld face a hefty fine of 500,000 Norwegian kroner (£49,000; 62,500 euros).

Both Norway and Denmark are keen to emphasise that their advertising limits do not prevent freedom of speech, stifle creativity or mean that there is never a beautiful naked human form on display.

Denmark's advertising ombudsman Henrik Oe says many advertisers are becoming increasingly creative, using humour to stretch the boundaries and appeal to Danish consumers. He says he receives only around 10 complaints about sexist advertising each year and that firms normally remove the offending images quickly.

Sweden, however, despite commissioning a special government rapporteur to look into the matter, is not following the legal professor's advice that freedom of speech does not extend to commercial messages and limits are needed.

This law would be against freedom of speech, which is protected by the constitution, said Malin Engstedt, spokesperson for Equality Minister Nyamko Sabuni: The minister is not convinced that this law would improve things.

See Also:

• Sexist ice cream enrages Swedish consumer watchdog
  
  The Swedish Consumers Association (Sveriges Konsumentråd) has reacted angrily to one of the ice pops in GB's new line. 'Girlie', a star-shaped, pink ice-cream with glitter make-up stored inside the stick, is entirely inappropriate, according to the association...
   
• Jägermeister - Sexist advertising?
   
• Sweden mulls ban on sexist ads
   
• Underwear ads slammed as 'too sexy'
   
• Swedish transport bosses ban boobs
   
• Underwear campaign bottoms out in Sweden
   
• Swedish school stops topless hockey pics
   
• Female road sign rejected

Thank you for your e-mail dated 12 March 2008 asking for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

You asked for:

I would like a list of all of the DVDs that have been stopped by Customs and Excise in the years 2006-2007. I would also like the reasons for the stoppages. So, I would like the DVD title, reason for the stoppage for the years 2006-2007

With regard to part one of your request we can provide the total number of DVDs stopped for the period 2006-2007 which is 121,102.

We are unable to provide you with a list of the DVDs that have been seized as we do not hold that information. The title of DVDs seized are also not necessarily recorded and we do not therefore hold that information. To answer this part of your request would involve either new analysis or the exceeding of the appropriate cost limit, which is specified in regulations and for central government is set at £600.

You also requested reasons for stoppages. This information falls within the provisions of the Freedom of Information act that may exempt it from disclosure. The exemption in question is section 31(1).

As far as section 31 (1) is concerned you have asked for data relating to reasons for stoppage of DVDs. That is directly related to our anti-smuggling activities. Criminals are known to research carefully UK Law Enforcement capabilities and border controls. Releasing this type of information might enable those intent on wrongdoing to subvert our operational effectiveness thus putting at risk law enforcement. Because of that s31 (1) (a) (b) and (d) are engaged.

These are qualified exemptions and we are required to weigh the public interest in maintaining the exemption against the public interest in disclosing the information.

Turning to the exemption in section 31 (1) I accept that there is a public interest in HMRC being accountable for the way it enforces the law and being open about results and practices. There is also a public interest in ensuring that the public understand that our operations provide value for money and are carried out fairly and effectively. These factors would favour disclosure. However, HMRC already publishes national seizure results, along with other statistical information such as operating costs, receipts etc in its Annual Report. That report is published to enable public scrutiny of the Department, including but not limited to its operational effectiveness. The fact that we publish annual seizure figures in our annual report meets our obligations to be accountable for our performance. You can see the Annual Report by going to the following link www.hmrc.gov.uk.

There is however also a very strong public interest in protecting society from illegal imports and tax and duty evasion, and to do this we need to keep our risk assessment and operational procedures confidential in order to preserve the integrity of our systems for tackling smuggling and protecting the revenue. Providing the detailed criteria of what we are looking for would assist smugglers to evade our controls, and this would not be in the public interest.

In my view it is not in the public interest to set aside the section 31 exemption and release the information you have requested.

Mr. Sanjay Aeri
HM Revenue & Customs

Video footage of vicious bare-knuckle fighting on a Bradford housing estate has been posted on the internet.

Half a dozen videos, condemned as absolutely reprehensible by community leaders, show blood-soaked teenagers going head-to-head in brawls in Holme Wood.

YouTube has now removed a number of the videos.

Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe said he is due to meet YouTube bosses in his capacity as Minister for Culture, Media and Sport. He said: I will be raising the issue of these videos with YouTube. They should not be publicising this kind of thing. They have got to show more responsibility.

Tommy Hughes, Bradford Council's senior policy officer for safer communities, said: Bradford Council finds these videos absolutely reprehensible and we have already contacted YouTube get this material removed.

Other illegal activities, including footage of motorbikes pulling wheelies and cars performing hand-brake turns on residential streets in Bradford, have also been posted on Youtube.

The Index of Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards are awarded to honour those who, often at great personal risk, have given voice to issues and stories that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.

2008 Award Winners:

• Guardian Journalism Award: Arat Dink
  
  Recognising determined and brave journalism that often represents a different point of view in the media.
  
  Index on Censorship Chief Executive Henderson Mullin commented: The bravery of Arat Dink, and the rest of the staff of Agos, in the face of Draconian laws restricting their freedom of expression, provides inspiration for journalists throughout the world. In honouring Arat, we also commemorate the work of his late father, Hrant Dink.
   
• The Economist New Media Award: Wikileaks
  
  Having faced down an attempt by an investment bank to have it shut down, wikileaks continues to be an invaluable resource for anonymous whistleblowers and investigative journalists.
   
• Bindmans Law and Campaigning Award: U Gambira
  
  U Gambira is the pseudonym of the leader of the All-Burma Monks Alliance, which organised and spearheaded the nationwide protests in September of last year.
   
• TR Fyvel Book Award: The Art of Political Murder: Who killed Bishop Gerardi? by Francisco Goldman. Publisher, Atlantic Books
  
  The culmination of years of investigative journalism, The Art of the Political Murder is an astonishing account of the search for the killers of Guatemalan bishop Juan Gerardi. The book has made a huge impact in Guatamela, even majorly influencing the result of the recent presidential election
   
• The Index Film Award: Ahlaam (Dreams)
  
  Bradford-based director Mohamed Al-Daradji’s film Ahlaam (Dreams) interweaves the stories of three broken souls in a broken Baghdad. The director explores the aftermath of the collapse of the Saddam regime and the US-led occupation.

The judges of the 2008 awards are: Peter Wright, Mark Kermode, Maureen Freely, Lemn Sissay, Rabinder Singh QC, Richard Sambrook.

Wednesday 28 May 2008, BBC: Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story

With Julie Walters starring as Mary Whitehouse and Hugh Bonneville playing her arch-enemy, BBC Director-General Hugh Carleton Greene, Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story will bring to life the battle for Britain's morals that raged in the Sixties.

Julie Walters said: I am very excited to be playing Mary Whitehouse, and to looking at the time when she attacked the BBC and started to make her name.

The 90-minute film was written by Amanda Coe,

European electronics retailer Media Markt was sued by a Swiss politician for selling John Woo’s Stranglehold. To be more precise, Roland Näf sued the manager of a local branch of Media Markt.

Now, the reason Näf is doing this is that he wants to see how effective this law is when used against video games. He states that Swiss law isn’t strict enough in that respect. Even though the video game industry voluntarily uses a system that prohibits selling overly violent games to minors, kids could still easily get their hands on them, especially since the law doesn’t forbid giving the games to them.

So Näf wants to ban video games from being produced or sold at all. He wants prohibition.

Actually, he already tried to change the law but was turned down by the parliament. They said that the law as it is now was good enough and that no connection between video games and violent minors was evident.

Good to know that there are some politicians who actually think about the matter instead of lashing out irrationally.

A US government decision to limit the First Amendment to certain often-fenced "zones" is being tested in a court case in Philadelphia by a man who was arrested for not following by the terms of a "speech permit" he didn't request and didn't agree to accept.

The judge hearing the case against Michael Marcavage of Repent America this week heard prosecution arguments, then agreed to review written motions to dismiss the case and said the hearing would be continued at a later date, if it is needed.

Marcavage is a street preacher who regales passers-by on public property with exhortations to review their own spiritual condition and consider their future whether they choose Christianity or not.

He was arrested in 2007 by rangers at the Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia, which houses the Liberty Bell, the artifact from American history that rang to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence and is inscribed with Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof.

Marcavage was speaking to passersby about the national issue of abortion when he was arrested.

This case is not just about Christians, he said: The outcome affects everyone. His arguments are focusing on the government's ability to censor the speech of dissidents by requiring them to protest in a single location separated from the audience the protester is trying to reach. The government alleges the preaching created a safety concern.

At the Liberty Bell Center, Marcavage had preached a number of times. But in the 2007 visit, he was told that new rules required him to be in a specially designated permit-required free speech zone that was located on the far side of the property away from the audience.

The ranger told him since it was a new policy, he would grant Marcavage a verbal permit for his preaching. Marcavage rejected that, saying he did not need a permit to exercise his First Amendment rights. He then was arrested for violating the conditions of the permit he did not accept.

Marcavage noted on a free speech blog that such free speech zones are routine when cities sponsor various "gay" parades or other events, as well as on college campuses where officials want to maintain a tight control over events.

They've been bombed three times, received death threats and stood before the red-robed justices of the Supreme Court of Canada.

No, Jim Deva and Bruce Smyth are not killers or terrorists. The soft-spoken Vancouver men sell books. And in some peoples' eyes, Deva says, that made the gay owners of Little Sister's Book & Art Emporium dangerous.

Only two years after the store opened in 1983, the owners took on a fight that bolstered and exhausted them, lasting until just last year and challenging Canada's censorship laws.

After 23 years of fighting Canada Customs' seizures of books bound for the gay and lesbian bookshop, the partners have put Little Sister's up for sale.

It's time to do something else, Deva says as he plans to get a choir booked for the store's 25th anniversary celebrations: It's probably time to pass on the torch hopefully to some younger, energetic people who are willing to work with our store. I'm not in a rush. We're going to take our time.

The fight against Customs put the store at the forefront of the battle against censorship in Canada. Among books seized were Jean Genet's Querelle, Quentin Crisp's The Naked Civil Servant, Joe Orton's Prick Up Your Ears, The Joy of Gay Sex and The Joy of Lesbian Sex.

I think it's our tenacity. We just wouldn't give up and came back again and again at them from every angle we could figure out.

But after all the court battles, Deva believes Canada Customs has developed a respect for the gay community's literature and imagery: They know that . . . when they make a sort of pronouncement on a book that they may well have to defend that. We still disagree with the process but it's certainly fairer than it was 20 years ago.

EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Vivianne Reding has told the industry that a code of conduct for retailers must be in place within two years, so that existing ratings systems are better known.

The Commission has found that 20 of the EU's 27 countries use the Pan European Games Information (PEGI) system for classifying games by age.

Only four of the EU's member nations have banned violent computer games. These are the UK, Ireland, Germany and Italy.

There are 4 countries with no classification system in place at all are: Cyprus, Luxembourg, Romania and Slovenia.

PEGI, as an example of responsible industry self-regulation and the only such system with almost pan-European coverage, is certainly a very good first step, said Reding. However, I believe it can be greatly improved, in Europe and beyond, by making the public more aware about its existence and fully implementing PEGI Online. I also call on Member States and the industry to govern the sale of video games in shops to respect the fundamental need to protect minors.

Reding wants the industry to do more to promote and raise awareness of PEGI, for EU countries to make PEGI a part of their own classification systems, for countries to co-operate on age verification systems, and for the industry to create the code of conduct for retailers within two years.

Update: Manhunt 2 in Ireland

The Film Censor's Office (IFCO) banned Manhunt 2 last year after finding the gross, unrelenting and gratuitous violence unacceptable. It is the only video game banned in Ireland.

Deputy Irish censor, Ger Connolly told The Irish Times today that the ban on Manhunt 2 remains in place and that the publisher Rockstar Games has not sought to appeal the decision.

Someone buying the game online or importing it from another country would be committing a criminal offence, he said.

Adult industry attorneys today blasted a Georgia lawmaker, who has introduced a proposal that would further restrict adult material sold at military exchange stores.

The Military Honor and Decency Act, introduced last week by Representative Paul Broun would amend a provision of the 1997 Defense Authorization Act that limited sales of sexually explicit material on military bases.

Broun said in a statement that he wants to bring the Defense Department into compliance with the intent of the 1997 law so that taxpayers will not be footing the costs of distributing pornography. The Military Honor and Decency Act will right a bureaucratic — and moral — wrong, he said.

Broun’s proposal would require the Defense Department to review on an annual basis all material that is not deemed sexually explicit now, and is therefore allowed in military stores, to determine if it should be prohibited.

Broun’s legislation also would modify the current definition of sexually explicit, to lower the threshold required to deem material sexually explicit. It also adds a new definition of “principal theme,” adds a definition of “lascivious” that is broader than what is included in the current definition, and adds a definition of “nudity” that makes it much more difficult for the sale of sexually explicit material.

Attorney Greg Piccionelli told XBIZ that he was offended by the proposal by ignorant and intolerant hypocrites like Broun and his ilk that are currently plaguing the planet.

May I remind the congressman that our troops honor stems from their willingness to lay down their lives to preserve the very freedom that he is so willing to take away from them. They are defending our way of life, which fortunately includes our ability to read Playboy and Penthouse magazines. How dare he insult our brave soldiers by claiming they can be sullied by viewing ink on a page.

If one of our troops, who daily risks being blinded or killed by a roadside explosive tomorrow, would like to view nude images of one of God's greatest creations, a woman, on what could be his last day of sight, how dare this hypocritical imposter of a patriot try to take that sacred right away from one of our true guardians