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Media Release: Hong Kong June 28, 2012

Hong Kongs South China Morning Post Accused of Censorship

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is deeply concerned for the independence of Hong Kongs longest-running English newspaper, the South China Morning Post, after becoming aware of reports of censorship and the discontinuation of its contracts with a number of experienced foreign journalists.

According to reports by the Wall Street Journal and Apple Daily, Wang Xiangwei, Editor-in-Chief of the South China Morning Post and Member of the Jilin Province Political Consultative Conference of China, is suspected of ordering the censorship of a story on the suspicious death of Tiananmen dissident Li Wangyang in Hunan hospital on June 6, 2012. The reports claim that Wang directed staff to cover the story as briefly as possible, rather than giving the story the extensive coverage undertaken by other media outlets. When the papers sub-editor, Alex Price, emailed Wang for an explanation, Wang is alleged to have replied, I dont have to explain to you anything. I made the decision and I stand by it. If you dont like it, you know what to do.

In other worrying news, the South China Morning Post has recently discontinued the contracts of a number of its most experienced foreign journalists.

Paul Mooney, an accomplished journalist who was recently celebrated with a number of Human Rights Press Awards in Hong Kong, was informed by Wang that his contract will not be renewed when it expires in September.

Although Wang said the reason for not renewing my contract was budget cuts, I doubt that is the case, Mooney said. Wang never assigned any China news stories to me, preferring to ask journalists from Hong Kong to cover them.

Mooney also recalled an occasion where Wang asked a Chinese journalist to conduct an interview with the Dalai Lama instead of him, despite the Dalai Lama already having accepted his request for an interview.

In addition to Mooney, two other experienced journalists from the papers China desk have left due to disagreements with Wang over news coverage.

Confidence in the press relies upon public trust that the news is being reported free from political consideration, IFJ Asia-Pacific said.

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Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post Accused of Censorship

On the Internet censorship issue, MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar has requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to withdraw India's proposal to the United Nations for control of the Internet through a 50-member inter-governmental body

BANGALORE, INDIA: Internet censorship has become a buzzword these days. As the Centre is seemingly hell-bent on imposing stringent restrictions on the Internet, activist groups of different hues and orientations have been up in arms, protesting such moves tooth and nail.

On May 17, there was the case of blocking file-sharing websites in the country, which came up at the Madras High Court that witnessed an order against some torrent websites being passed. The move led to many Internet Service Providers (ISPs), including Airtel and Reliance, blocking their own set of websites.

It was later revoked following protests and an appeal from ISPs to unblock those restricted sites. Anonymous, a hacktivist group, took to the streets across several cities in India and brought about awareness among citizens on the burning issue.

In this background, Rajya Sabha MP from Bangalore Urban district, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 15 with regards to India's proposal to the United Nations (UN) for control of the Internet through a 50-member, inter-governmental body.

Also read: How users unblock torrent sites

The proposal, in his words, is an assault on our citizens' freedom of speech. "India's statement in the UN in October 2011 regarding government control through a United Nations Committee on Internet Related Policies (CIRP) over the Internet is inherently against the open, democratic, inclusive and unhindered growth of the Internet," states Chandrasekhar.

"It harms India's reputation, has been submitted without a prior public consultation with multi-stakeholder groups, and therefore needs to be withdrawn."

Later, in a letter dated June 1, 2012 addressed to the PM again, the MP expresses his regret over India not withdrawing its proposal at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) in Geneva.

Chandrasekhar's argument is that India's refusal to withdraw "yielded the worst possible results, wherein countries with dubious record on human rights and democracy have publicly aligned their positions to that of India during the review of the implementation of the outcome of WSIS in Geneva".

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Internet curbs: Rajeev Chandrasekhar's letter to PM

Published: 7:36PM Monday June 25, 2012 Source: ONE News

The range of films and television programmes on offer at DVD stores could become more limited for Kiwi viewers.

This is because of a funding squeeze at the Censor's office and the fact that more film distributors are choosing not to put their movies up for classification.

A fee of around $1100 to get one movie or DVD a censor's classification is a small fee when it comes to hits like The Avengers.

But for distributors of smaller films and TV shows the fee can be a big barrier.

Jill Macnab of Vendetta Films says the fee means some TV series are not released in New Zealand

"To have to consider that you're going to recoup that from your sales, it often doesn't happen. So we often find that TV series in particular don't get released in New Zealand," Macnab said.

The Office of Film and Literature Classification gets around a third of its $3 million annual budget from private distributors like Vendetta Films, while the rest comes from taxpayers.

Chief Censor Dr Andrew Jack says that funding structure is not working properly and it is vital they find out why, otherwise "New Zealanders might in future see a narrow range of products available for them watch".

Independent Wellington DVD store, Aro Street Video, said it is already aware of hundreds of films that are not publicly released in New Zealand because of high censorship costs.

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Censorship fees shrink range of DVDs at stores

Calcutta News.net Sunday 24th June, 2012

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has criticised the Chinese government's censorship policy as morally wrong and said 1.3 billion people of China have a right to know the reality.

"Totalitarian regimes like China's have for several decades depended far too much on cruelty, so fear and distrust are part of their atmosphere. This is why they try to conceal reality," the Nobel Peace laureate said.

"The 1.3 billion Chinese have a right to know the reality of their situation and they have the ability on that basis to judge right from wrong. For this reason, censorship and restricting people's movements are morally wrong and limit their creativity," he said in an interview with a magazine in Scotland Saturday, according to a post on the Central Tibetan Administration website here.

The Tibetan leader remarked: "This approach is short-sighted and has to change. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao too has spoken about the need for change and even democracy in China."

On the issue of Tibet, he said: "We are conducting a non-violent struggle in the spirit of reconciliation. It is worth supporting, because it must succeed. Our failure will support those who argue that you can only achieve your goals through force and violence."

He said self-immolations by Tibetans was very sad but showed a commitment to non-violence. "However, they are a clear sign of desperation."

The Dalai Lama along with many of his supporters fled Tibet and took refuge in India when Chinese troops moved in and took control of Lhasa in 1959.

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Censorship in China is morally wrong: Dalai Lama

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Censorship in China morally wrong: Dalai Lama