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Act of changing or suppressing speech or writing that is considered subversive of the common good. In the past, most governments believed it their duty to regulate the morals of their people; only with the rise in the status of the individual and individual rights did censorship come to seem objectionable. Censorship may be preemptive (preventing the publication or broadcast of undesirable information) or punitive (punishing those who publish or broadcast offending material). In Europe, both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches practiced censorship, as did the absolute monarchies of the 17th and 18th centuries. Authoritarian governments such as those in China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and the former Soviet Union have employed pervasive censorship, which is generally opposed by underground movements engaged in the circulation of samizdat literature. In the U.S. in the 20th century, censorship focused largely on works of fiction deemed guilty of obscenity (e.g., James Joyce's Ulysses and D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover), though periodic acts of political censorship also occurred (e.g., the effort to purge school textbooks of possible left-wing content in the 1950s). In the late 20th century, some called for censorship of so-called hate speech, language deemed threatening (or sometimes merely offensive) to various subsections of the population. Censorship in the U.S. is usually opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union. In Germany after World War II it became a crime to deny the Holocaust or to publish pro-Nazi publications. See also Pentagon Papers.

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Censorship - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster ...

Downing Street was forced to make an official complaint to senior Chinese officials after a financial journalist on the Prime Minister's delegation was banned from attending the only official public event on the trip.

While no reason was given for ban the reporter worked for the financial wire service Bloomberg which has written critical stories about the party leadership.

A senior embassy official said that they had been warned two days before that Robert Hutton would not be welcome to attend the press conference in Beijing with David Cameron and his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang.

"We were told by the Chinese authorities that it would not be appropriate for you to attend," the embassy official told Mr Hutton.

When Downing Street were informed they tried with no avail to get the ban lifted. They then made an official complaint to the Chinese authorities.

A Number 10 spokesman said: "As soon as this issue became apparent on Sunday, we raised our concerns at senior levels and made clear it would be completely inappropriate to exclude journalists from the press statements.

"When we heard what had happened today we expressed our deep concern to senior Chinese officials about journalists being blocked."

The ban is embarrassing for Mr Cameron as he had hoped the focus of the trip to be about improving British Chinese trade and move on from a focus on human rights and freedom of speech.

But having said in the run up to the trip that "nothing was off limits" in discussions Downing Street had little choice but to make an official complaint - especially as Mr Hutton is a Westminster-based journalist travelling with Mr Cameron's delegation.

The Bloomberg website is blocked in China after it ran stories on the wealth of families of senior leaders including relatives of the president, Xi Jinping.

See the rest here:
'Censorship' row overshadows David Cameron trip to woo China

This story first appeared on Billboard.com.

Miley Cyrus bared her chest in New York on Twitter, but it wasn't another random act of nudity for the singer; this time, it was in support of a cause.

PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus' Most Controversial Moments

Cyrus posted the picture to Twitter on Saturday, featuring her flashing the camera -- though fret not, as two red hearts reading "Merry Christmas" covered her up, joined by other holiday-esque graphics, such as wreaths and a snowman.

"Merry Christmas THANK YOU NY for being one of the few states to @freethenipple," she tweeted along with the photo, referring to the indie film Free the Nipple. The feature film questions the censorship of the U.S. media in regards to naked females compared with its censorship -- or, often, lack thereof -- of violence.

Despite Cyrus' support, Free the Nipple is struggling to receive a wide release in American theaters, especially due to its NC-17 rating, The Daily Dot reports. Director Lina Esco is attempting less traditional routes for the film, currently using crowdfunding to get the film seen.

PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus Turns 21: A Look Back at Her Wild Year

As Cyrus pointed out on Twitter, her support of the movie isn't just another excuse to get naked -- "it's about equality," she tweeted.

It is illegal for women to be topless in public in 37 U.S. states. New York City made it legal in 1992, though that hasn't stopped police from arresting topless women, according to the film's FundAnything page.

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Miley Cyrus Tweets Topless Photo in Support of 'Free the Nipple' Film

BEIJING: US technology giant Apple has removed an anti-censorship application from its Chinese app store on orders from Beijing, the software's developers said on Friday.

The FreeWeibo app is intended to allow users to read sensitive postings on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter, that have been censored and deleted, one of its designers said.

Beijing maintains strict controls on the Internet, including a range of technical measures known as the Great Firewall of China, and weibo operators employ ranks of censors to delete contentious comments.

California-based Apple blocked Chinese app store users' access to the FreeWeibo app on November 28 following a request by Beijing, said Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW), which co-developed the software with Chinese cyber-activists.

Attempts by AFP in Beijing to locate the app on a Chinese app store account on Friday returned a message saying it could not be found, but it was located and downloadable from devices with overseas app store functionality.

Company representatives in China did not immediately respond to requests for comment from AFP by phone and email.

Apple has seen its global smartphone market share slip and has made China one of its top priorities.

A co-founder of FreeWeibo, who uses the pseudonym Charlie Smith, linked the move to Apple's "big business interests" in China.

"Apple's image of being a hip and trendy company is eroding -- the brand will hold little cachet for the consumer because of actions like these and in the long run that means less Apple devices will be sold," he told AFP.

"Steve Jobs must be rolling over in his grave. This is a 'bad karma' move on Apple's part," he said.

Original post:
Apple removes censorship bypass app on Chinese orders

Apple has reportedly pulled a censorship-circumventing app from the Chinese iOS App Store. The app, titled FreeWeibo and developed through collaboration with Radio Netherlands Worldwide, is said to have worked around the government's censorship filters for content posted on the Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo.

The app is believed to have been removed due to pressure from the Chinese government, according to a Agence France-Presse report that was spotted by AppleInsider. Apple's app review board allegedly told the developer that its app was pulled because it violates local laws.

Apple has been criticized for allegedly bowing to government pressure rather than maintaining consistent App Store content guidelines. The company removed several other titles from the Chinese App Store in recent months, including an app with banned books and a utility that bypassed the government's Internet firewall.

"Apple's image of being a hip and trendy company is eroding -- the brand will hold little cachet for the consumer because of actions like these and in the long run that means less Apple devices will be sold," said a FreeWeibo co-founder who goes by the pseudonym Charlie Smith. "Apple makes it impossible for apps concerned with issues such as free speech or human rights to find a home in the Chinese App store."

by MacNN Staff

Originally posted here:
Apple pulls censorship-circumventing iOS app from Chinese App Store