Campaigners fear a new government censorship policy could see comedians who make jokes about transgender issues hauled in front of a judge.

A barrister warned telling jokes about trans people, like Ricky Gervais in his most recent show, could be criminalised if a new Home Office plan is put in place.

The new censorship plan is due to be published shortly, with a Home Office minister saying it will set out steps to increase the reporting of all forms of hate crime -- including hate crimes targeting sexual orientation or transgender identity. They will see people accused of non crime hate incidents [NCHIs], which are recorded on police systems.

It comes after the Court of Appeal ruled that College of Policing guidance telling forces to record incidents believed to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice against a person as NCHIs violates the European Convention on Human Rights

Sarah Phillimore, a barrister from Fair Cop, a group describing itself as a gender critical organisation of lawyers, police officers and writers, said:

It is astonishing that legislators are planning to expand the discredited and unlawful practice of recording non-crime hate incidents [NCHIs].

A Home Office spokesperson responded:

These claims are completely wrong - there are no plans to expand recording of non-crime hate incidents, nor will we criminalise comedians or introduce a complaint scheme. Free speech is a fundamental right and we will always protect it. [clearly not true when the government is introducing its Online Censorship Bill]

Britain's cinemas are to introduce digital ID cards for adults and children as proof of age for entry to age restricted films.

The UK Cinema Association, which represents 90% of cinemas, will from Monday accept a digital ID app which confirms the age of an adult or child to box office staff based on a previously uploaded official ID document such as a passport.

The technology, developed by digital ID provider Yoti is part of a wider move towards digital IDs for adults and children where there are restrictions on age-related products.

The Home Office is trialling Yoti's AI facial photo checks that can estimate age and its apps at supermarket checkouts to prevent children buying alcohol. If successful, ministers will consider amending the law to allow digital age checks for alcohol sales. It is not allowed under current legislation.  About 3 million Brits have already downloaded the Yoti app.

To obtain the digital age ID app, the person has to prove identity with a document such as a passport then take a live picture to confirm. The information is stored in a government-grade database that Yoti  claims it does not have access to and which can be erased at any time by the individual. However it should be noted that similar systems used for online ID generally maintained a full database of usage supposedly for 'fraud prevention' auditing.

The digital ID card shows the verified photo of the individual and their age as over 18, 15 or 12. There is a hologram on the card that moves when the phone is tilted to prevent spoofing. However this suggests that phones will have to be handed over to cinema staff to check the hologram.

A Paris appeals court has rejected requests to block the most popular adult tube sites in the country.

Following months of statements and threats pressuring tube sites to implement undefined age verification schemes, French media censor ARCOM went to court in March and April to demand that French ISPs block Pornhub, xHamster, xVideos, Cliphunter and Xnxx.

Meanwhile 2 morality campaign groups are also pushing for ISP blocking via the courts, and their blocking requests add YouPorn, RedTube and Tukif to the list.

ARCOM had  sent formal notices to tube site operators demanding they find a more robust solution than the simple declaration of age. The porn sites did not comply, seemingly because ARCOM had not defined what age verification methods would be acceptable.

French reports now reveal that the Council of State, an appeals court, issued a ruling rejecting the ARCOM blocking requests. The reasons for the rejection are not wholly clear so far but the most plausible is that recourse to blocking should be the last resort rather than the first call. It seems that ARCOM should be doing more work to define what age verification measures the porn websites should be taking.

The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA), the censor for premium rate services (PRS) in the UK is to hand its responsibilities over to telecoms censor Ofcom by late 2023.

Subject to approval from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) , the PSA will then cease to operate as an independent body. The PSA says that it anticipates Ofcom will assume responsibility for regulation in the second half of 2023, with PSA staff transferring to Ofcom. Ofcom will look to retain the key components of Code 15 to continue regulation in the consumer interest. PSA rules and Code 15 will remain in place until the transfer.

The PSA Chairman, David Edmonds said:

The work of the PSA in recent years has reduced risks to consumer to historically low levels. We introduced in April this year a new set of regulations which further protect consumers. And the industry -- both phone companies and service providers -- is increasingly conscious of its own responsibility to ensure dubious services are not operated. Complaints to the PSA are down by over 90%. We are also conscious of market trends and as a result the Board decided that future regulation of an industry increasingly dominated by larger players would be better served by an organisation with the capacity and breadth of Ofcom rather than a free-standing body. We already work closely with Ofcom who designate the PSA to deliver the day-to-day regulation of the market, by approving our Code of Practice. We look forward to working with them on this transition.

This proposed transfer of responsibilities has already been approved by the Ofcom board.

The US state of Florida responded to social media's silencing of Donald Trump by enacting a new law to ban social media from censoring users for political reasons. The law was challenged in the courts and it has now been judged to be mostly unconstitutional.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Florida's social media regulation law is unconstitutional.

The Appeals Court ruled against most of the provisions in Florida's social media regulation law. However, it said some of the provisions, including one that requires platforms to allow banned individuals to access their data for at least 60 days, were constitutional.

The ruling said that the law violated social media companies' First Amendment rights:

We conclude that social media platforms' content-moderation activities -- permitting, removing, prioritizing, and deprioritizing users and posts -- constitute 'speech' within the meaning of the First Amendment.

Most notably, the court rejected the argument that social media companies should be defined as common carriers, saying:

Neither law nor logic recognizes government authority to strip an entity of its First Amendment rights merely by labeling it a common carrier.

Earlier this month, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a similar law in Texas to be enforced. The Texas law prohibits social media companies from censoring content or banning users based on political viewpoints. Tech companies have appealed the ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and have submitted the ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to support their case.

An outdoor poster ad for Get Hard, an online gay sex toy store, seen in January and February 2022, featured a person wearing a gimp mask and a background of aubergine and peach emojis. Large text superimposed in-front of the person's face said GET HARD and ANYONE CAN GET INTO IT!. The ad also included the URL www.WeGetHard.com.

The ASA received two complaints. The complainants challenged whether the ad was:

1. offensive because they believed it was overly sexualised; and

2. inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium where children could see it.

Get Hard Ltd said they used the tagline Get Hard. Anyone can. Get into it! to encourage an attitude of passion, grit, empathy, affection and self-care, that could be reached by anyone.

Get Hard said they wanted to encourage people to be open with themselves and have fun with the topic of sex, rather than the over serious and frigid attitude they believed was held by many people.

ASA Assessment: Complaints upheld

The ad was displayed at an outdoor poster site in London, which was an untargeted medium and where the image was likely to be seen by children and adults.

The ad featured a person in what appeared to be a gimp mask and large text that stated GET HARD. We understood that a gimp mask was an item of clothing worn by some people during sex who liked to be dominated. We considered that the image of the person wearing a gimp mask, which also emphasised their open mouth, was overtly sexual. We also considered that the text GET HARD was likely to be understood as slang for an erection, which we considered was sexually suggestive. We further understood that the peach and aubergine emojis were commonly used as references to a bottom and a penis, respectively, and often had sexual connotations. Taking the image of the person in the gimp mask together with the references to getting hard and the use of peach and aubergine emojis, we considered that the ad was overtly sexual.

We concluded that, because the ad was overtly sexual and was displayed in an untargeted medium where it had the potential to be seen by a large number of people, including children, it was likely to cause serious and widespread offence and was irresponsible. We concluded that the ad was unsuitable for outdoor display and therefore breached the Code.

The ad must not appear again in outdoor advertising. We told Get Hard Ltd to ensure that their advertising was suitably targeted and to exercise caution when preparing ads for display in outdoor space.

The Government's new Public Order Bill would allow police to put innocent people on electronic ankle tags and ban them from attending marches and demonstrations.

Campaigners and people who want to attend a protest need not have ever committed any offence in order to be given a so-called protest banning order by the police.

Under this new anti-protest law, the police will be given powers to monitor campaigners using electronic GPS tags, restrict their internet activities and prevent them from attending protests. These are some of the most disturbing and anti-democratic police powers introduced in the UK for decades.

After the shocking police behaviour towards grieving women at the Clapham vigil for Sarah Everard, we fear these ankle tags could entail serious abuse. There is no place for police monitoring and oppression of people simply campaigning for change.

These extreme police powers would be controversial in Russia and China -- we cannot allow them in a democratic country like the UK.

Sign petition from you.38degrees.org.uk

House On The Edge Of The Park is a 1980 Italy horror thriller by Ruggero Deodato
Starring David Hess, Annie Belle and Christian Borromeo

Alex, a psychopathic mechanic, rapes a woman in the park. Later, a debauched couple pull into his shop needing car repair. They invite Alex and his mentally challenged buddy to join them at a decadent suburban party. Once there, Alex amuses himself by raping the guests and tormenting them in various ways.

House on the Edge of the Park has just been passed 18 uncut by the BBFC for an 88 Films release advertised as the Uncut Nasty Edition.

The film has a long history of censorship in the UK:

Banned by the BBFC for 1981 cinema release. Banned as a video nasty in 1983. Unbanned after 12 minutes of cuts in 2002. Cuts reduced to 43s in 2011, and then uncut for 2022 Blu-ray. Uncut and MPAA Unrated in the US.

Versions

cut: run: 91m pal: 87m		UK: Passed 18 uncut for sexual violence, sadistic violence, strong threat: 2022 88 Films video Set for Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray release in late 2022 in a release advertised as the Uncut Nasty Edition.
cut cut: 43s run: 91:23s pal: 87:44s		UK: Passed 18 for strong sexual violence and threat after 43s of BBFC cuts for: 2014 Shameless [Deadato's Cinema of Death set] R2 DVD 2011 Argent/Shameless R0 DVD The BBFC commented: Company was required to make cuts to one sequence of sexualised violence in which a razor is traced over a woman's naked body, after which her body is cut with the razor. According to Shameless, the BBFC originally asked for 16 cuts totalling 1:20s. The BBFC was asked to think again, and it reduced the cuts by 37s, leaving 43s still cut. The waived cut was 37s to the sex scene between Alex and Lisa which had previously been cut due to the questionability of whether or not Lisa is enjoying her ordeal. See article from dvdcompare.net . The 43s of cuts are to remove: sight of razor being traced between woman's breasts. sight of razor being traced over woman's breast and nipple. sight of razor being traced over woman's breasts and nipples. sight of razor being traced over woman's breast and nipple and over her body. sight of razor being traced over woman's stomach, with her breast visible. sight of razor being eased inside woman's jeans. As man approaches woman with razor blade, remove all sight of breast and arm being slashed with razor. all sight of razor cutting woman's breast and arm. all sight of razor cutting woman's breast and arm (again). all sight of razor cutting woman's breast and arm (again, for a third time). close sight of razor cutting woman's leg, next to her genitals. close sight of razor cutting woman's leg, next to her genitals (again). sight of razor cutting down woman's body, between her breasts.
cut cut: 11:43s run: 79:15s pal: 76:05s		UK: Passed 18 after 11:43s of BBFC cuts for: 2009 Cornerstone R2 DVD 2002 Protected/Vipco R2 DVD The BBFC commented: Cuts required to several sequences of sexual violence, humiliating depictions of female nudity and gross violence From IMDb: BBFC removed most of the rape and assault scenes heavily edited the razor-slashing of Cindy heavily edited the opening murder scene removed shots of Tony's head being slammed against a table.
uncut		UK: Released uncut on pre-cert video for: 1982 Skyline VHS Released in October 1982, it was listed as a video nasty in July 1983. It stayed on the list throughout the panic so became one of the collectable DPP39s
banned	New Zealand	UK: Banned by the BBFC for: 1981 cinema release New Zealand: Banned for a 2014 re-release

The Kashmir Files is a 2022 India historical thriller by Vivek Agnihotri
Starring Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty and Darshan Kumaar

The Kashmir Files is a story, based on video interviews of the first generation victims of the Genocide of Kashmiri Pandit Community In 1990.

The Indian hit film The Kashmir Files has been banned in Singapore by the country's InfoComm Media Development Authority, on the grounds that it could supposedly disturb religious harmony.

The IMDA said that it had consulted with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and the Ministry of Home Affairs, and that they together found the film to have exceeded the Film Classification Guidelines for its provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims and the depictions of Hindus being persecuted in the on-going conflict in Kashmir saying:

These representations have the potential to cause enmity between different communities and disrupt social cohesion and religious harmony in Singapore's multi-racial and multi-religious society.

The film was also briefly banned by the UAE film censors but the decision was reversed and the film was released uncut.

The New Zealand film censor initially passed the film R16 but this was uprated to R18 in response to muslim 'concerns'.

An upcoming EU law has been leaked that requires big tech companies to scan the private messages of all their users regardless of any end to end encryption technolgy being used. Of course the EU cites child porn and grooming as the nominal justification but when messages have been scanned I am sure that governments will demand that the tech companies hand over the messages for a much wider range of reasons than that claimed.

Under the plans, tech companies -- ranging from web hosting services to messaging platforms - can be ordered to detect both new and previously discovered child sexual abuse material (CSAM) as well as potential instances of grooming. The detection could take place in chat messages, files uploaded to online services, or on websites that host abusive material. The plans echo an effort by Apple last year to scan photos on people's iPhones for abusive content before it was uploaded to iCloud. Apple paused its efforts after a widespread backlash.

If passed, the European legislation would require tech companies to conduct risk assessments for their services to assess the levels of CSAM on their platforms and their existing prevention measures. If necessary, regulators or courts may then issue detection orders that say tech companies must start installing and operating technologies to detect CSAM. The draft legislation doesn't specify what technologies must be installed or how they will operate -- these will be vetted by the new EU Centre -- but says they should be used even when end-to-end encryption is in place.

Read the full details in article from wired.com

A tweet and two poster ads for sports bras, seen in February 2022:

• a. A tweet on Adidas' own account showed, in a grid format, the bare breasts of 20 women of various skin colours, shapes and sizes. The pictures were identically cropped to show only the torso from below the shoulders to above the navel. It stated, We believe women's breasts in all shapes and sizes deserve support and comfort. Which is why our new sports bra range contains 43 styles, so everyone can find the right fit for them. Explore the new adidas sports bra collection at LINK. #SupportIsEverything.

• b. A poster showed the same cropped images of the bare breasts of 62 women and stated, The reasons we didn't make just one new sports bra.

• c. A poster showed the same text and cropped images of 64 women, but their nipples were obscured by pixelation.

The ASA received 24 complaints.

1. Some complainants, who considered the ads' use of nudity was gratuitous, objectified women by sexualising them and reducing them to body parts, challenged whether they were harmful and offensive; and

2. Some complainants also challenged whether ads (b) and (c) were appropriate for display where it could be seen by children. Response

1. Adidas UK Ltd believed the images in the ads were not gratuitous; they were intended to reflect and celebrate different shapes and sizes, illustrate diversity and demonstrate why tailored support bras were important. They said the images had been cropped to protect the identity of the models and to ensure their safety. All the models shown had volunteered to be in the ad and were supportive of its aims. They did not consider the ad to be sexual; they intended to show breasts simply as a part of a woman's body.

2. Adidas said that the pictures were intended to reflect and celebrate different shapes and sizes and they did not believe they would cause harm or distress to children.

ASA Assessment: Complaints upheld

The ASA acknowledged that the intention of the ads was to show that women's breasts differed in shape and size, which was relevant to the sports bras being advertised. Although we did not consider that the way the women were portrayed was sexually explicit or objectified them, we considered that the depiction of naked breasts was likely to be seen as explicit nudity. We noted the breasts were the main focus in the ads, and there was less emphasis on the bras themselves, which were only referred to in the accompanying text.

We acknowledged that in ad (c) the women's nipples had been obscured by pixelation. Although the image was less immediately explicit, we considered that the breasts were still visible and recognisably naked, and therefore the effect of the image would be the same as in the ads (a) and (b).

As the ads contained explicit nudity, we considered that they required careful targeting to avoid causing offence to those who viewed them.

Ads (b) and (c), which were large posters, appeared in untargeted media and were therefore likely to be seen by people of all ages, including children. We considered that the image was not suitable for use in untargeted media, particularly where it could be seen by children. We concluded that ads (b) and (c) were inappropriately targeted, and were likely to cause widespread offence.

We noted the content typically featured on the Adidas Twitter feed promoted their sportswear for women and considered explicit nudity was not in keeping with their usual content. Because ad (a) featured explicit nudity, we concluded it was likely to cause widespread offence in that media.

We therefore concluded that the ads breached the Code.

The ads must not appear again in the forms complained of. We told Adidas UK Ltd to ensure their ads did not cause offence and were targeted responsibly.

365 Days: This Day is a 2022 Poland romance by Barbara Bialowas, Tomasz Mandes
Starring Kamil Lemieszewski, Oliwia Babuska and Nikola Bogucka

Laura and Massimo are back and stronger than ever. But Massimo's family ties and a mysterious man bidding for Laura's heart complicate the lovers' lives.

Morality in Media (which now likes to call itself the National Center on Sexual Exploitation) has written a glowing write up of Netflix's latest sexy offering. The campaigners write:

Netflix is in the business of hosting and producing shows that overtly glorify sexual violence. A prime example of this is the film 365 Days and its recently released sequel, 365 Days: This Day . 365 Days was widely criticized for glamorizing sexual violence. But rather than removing the film Netflix produced a sequel, 365 Days: This Day, which was released on the platform on April 27, 2022, and rapidly became the 5th most watched movie in the US on Netflix that week.

The plotline of 365 Days is as follows: A handsome, powerful man name Massimo kidnaps a woman named Laura whom he desires. Massimo tells Laura that he will hold her captive for 365 days, and if she doesn't fall in love with him by the end of that timeframe, she will be free to leave. Although Massimo promises Laura that he will not touch her without her consent, he repeatedly gropes her during her captivity, even in the very act of making that promise. He also handcuffs her to the bed and forces her to watch while he performs sexual acts with another woman. When Laura tries to escape, Massimo threatens to hurt her family. Nonetheless, Laura does eventually fall in love with Massimo and the two go on to have a steamy, glamorous relationship. This progression of events romanticizes and implicitly condones all of Massimo's abuse, painting it as merely the rising action in a glorious love story.

Following the release of 365 Days in 2020, a petition was launched by influencer and survivor Mikayla Zazon, calling on Netflix to remove this incredibly harmful movie from its platform. The petition garnered almost 100,000 signatures. The singer-songwriter Duffy also urged Netflix to remove the film through an open letter in which she bravely sharing her experience of surviving being sex-trafficked and raped. Duffy writes:

365 Days: This Day picks up with Laura and Massimo getting happily married, again whitewashing all the abuse that led to their relationship. Massimo continues to be depicted in romanticized terms. For example, in the ending scene he swoops in to rescue Laura from other captors who are holding her at gunpoint -- a supposedly grand romantic gesture which conveniently ignores that Massimo himself was the first person to kidnap Laura and hold her captive against her will.

Unlike the first movie, 365 Days: This Day is a Netflix original, produced by Netflix itself. This means that Netflix not only failed to condemn and remove 365 Days from its platform, but it actively decided to take even further responsibility for its abhorrent messages by producing its follow-ups.

Trevor Phillips has attacked the BBC for censoring the word 'nigger' in Bob Dylan's anti-racism protest song Hurricane .

The former race equality chief said it was incredibly patronising of the BBC to let black artists on urban radio station 1Xtra use the word, but then censor other musicians. He described the decision of Radio 6 Music bosses to edit out a line of the Dylan song featuring the word as absurd and insulting.

Bob Dylan's anti-racism protest song Hurricane is about the boxer Rubin Carter, who was wrongly convicted of murder. It had the line:

And for the black folks he was just a crazy nigger

removed when it was broadcast on Tom Robinson's 6 Music show, Now Playing, on April 24. T

A listener pointed out that the song itself was an impassioned anti-racist account of a notorious miscarriage of justice and that the line you fellows deleted is very much a key moment in the story. Phillips appeared on a Radio 4 show to discuss the issue and was scathing about the way the BBC had behaved. He told the programme:

Bob Dylan has used that word for a particular reason in one of his most powerful pieces of work --which by the way is a profoundly anti-racist piece of work and for somebody, who frankly shouldn't be there to judge a genius, to tell me I'm too fragile to listen to what Bob Dylan has done with his work of art -- I think this is both absurd and insulting and actually not what the BBC is there to do.

As part of the Government’s package of sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on Wednesday 27 April 2022, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs made new regulations imposing restrictions on the provision of certain internet services to, or for the benefit of, designated persons. Currently the Secretary of State has named TV-Novosti (RT) and Rossiya Segodnya (Sputnik) as designated persons for these purposes.

The Regulations relate to the provision of internet access services, social media services and application stores. They were laid before Parliament and came into force on Friday 29 April 2022.

The Regulations require different actions to be taken depending on the nature of the services that are offered:

• Providers of internet access services must take reasonable steps to prevent users of the service in the United Kingdom from accessing, by means of that service, an internet service provided by TV-Novosti or Rossiya Segodnya.

• Providers of social media services must take reasonable steps to prevent content that is generated directly on the service, or uploaded to or shared on the service, by TV-Novosti or Rossiya Segodnya being encountered by a user of the service in the United Kingdom.

• Providers of application stores through which an application for an internet service may be downloaded or otherwise accessed must take reasonable steps to prevent users of the application store in the United Kingdom from downloading or otherwise accessing, by means of that service, an internet service provided by TV-Novosti or Rossiya Segodnya.

For these purposes, internet services provided by TV-Novosti include rt.com; internet services provided by Rossiya Segodnya include sputniknews.com.

The Regulations appoint Ofcom as the enforcement authority responsible for ensuring compliance, including granting us information gathering powers, and additional powers to impose monetary penalties of up to £1,000,000 in relevant circumstances. Were it necessary for Ofcom to take enforcement action, we would follow the general processes and procedures set out in our regulatory enforcement guidelines.

India's cybersecurity censor, the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), will require  cloud and VPN providers to register their users. Custodial wallets, exchange, virtual asset providers, cloud providers and even VPN providers will have to keep records of their customers (KYC) and records of financial transactions for five years. Service providers will maintain logs of their systems for 180 days.

This would defeat the purpose of using a VPN and creates honeypots of data that could be misused for surveillance or stolen.

CERT-In are claiming that the new requirements will improve the overall cybersecurity posture and ensure a safe and trusted internet in India.

Update: VPN Providers Threaten to Quit India

6th May 2022. See article from wired.com

VPN companies are squaring up for a fight with the Indian government over new rules designed to change how they operate in the country. On April 28, officials announced that virtual private network companies will be required to collect swathes of customer data204and maintain it for five years or more204under a new national directive. VPN providers have two months to accede to the rules and start collecting data.

...

There's a worry other, more liberal governments will follow the Indian-Chinese model, too. Attacks on end-to-end encryption are commonplace in the UK, while the US joined India, the UK, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand in signing an international statement asking for backdoor access that would subvert encryption standards.

Read the full article from wired.com

Update: India's New VPN Policy Explained

10th May 2022. See article from beebom.com

A good write of how Indian government policies will effect the use of VPNs in India

Elon Musk has been giving off mixed signals about the direction of travel for his newly acquired Twitter. On one hand he seems to speak about more freedom of speech. Perhaps hinting that the pre-censorship cancel culture movement will have no truck on Twitter. On the other hand he has been speaking about authenticating all humans, possibly meaning ID verification for all users. Surely a move that will increase censorship as the authorities will then have more power to identify and punish those whose views differ from those mandated by the state.

Anyway this suggestion of mass ID verification has piqued the interest of pro-censorship MPs in the UK parliament. Julian Knight, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee, has written to Musk wishing to speak further about mass ID verification. Knight wrote:

My committee has noted your proposed acquisition of Twitter and we are interested in the developments you propose. In particular, your intention to roll out verification for all users echoes our calls on the U.K. government as part of proposed legislation, which we hope will restore the U.K. public's trust in digital platforms.