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27-02-2012 07:37 ...and neither is mine

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Your censorship is not special - Video

Egyptian film-makers and critics denounced the authorities on Monday for blocking the screening of a "taboo" film about a love story between a Christian woman and a Muslim man.

"We denounce the fact that censorship authorities have prevented the screening of Hesham Issawi's 'Cairo Exit' at the Luxor African Film Festival," dozens of film-makers and critics said in a signed statement.

They charged the censorship authorities had failed to respond to festival organisers on whether they could screen the movie even outside the main festival.

"The festival organisers suggested to the censorship authorities that the film be shown only to members of the jury, critics and journalists but they never replied," the statement said.

"The censorship authorities stalled," preventing the film from being screened as planned on Monday at the event which opened on February 21 and is to run until Tuesday.

Under Egyptian law, films must obtain a written permit from censorship authorities in order to be screened. Anyone violating the procedure could be sentenced to jail.

Cairo Exit -- which deals with the ultra-sensitive issue of a relationship between a Muslim and a Coptic Christian -- was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York last year.

"The story deals with many issues that touch on the fabric of the Egyptian society," Issawi, who directed and wrote the movie, said in a statement posted on the website of the Tribeca Film Festival.

"Religious conflict between Moslems and Coptic is one important taboo in Egyptian media," he added.

Rumours of Coptic-Muslim incidents have often led to deadly violence between the two communities.

Critics of the ban expressed "regrets that such practices continue in Egypt after the January 25 (2011) revolution" that toppled the iron-fist regime of president Hosni Mubarak and "adopted the concepts of freedom and civil state."

"The idea of censorship is ridiculous," in a country that has emerged from a revolution that toppled an autocratic regime, they said.

Copts, who make up between six and 10 percent of Egypt's 82-million population, complain of systematic discrimination. Concern has grown over the triumph of Islamists in the first polls since Mubarak's fall last year.

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Censors ban screening of 'taboo' Egypt love story

The president's Google+ page is bombarded with hundreds of messages from Chinese citizens who found a way to get past censorship blocks.

President Barack Obama's Google+ page was inundated with Chinese comments over the weekend with messages saying, "Mr. President, Please pay more attention to Chinese civil rights," "I want a Green Card," and "the Chinese GOV doesn't represent the Chinese people."

This barrage comes as Chinese citizens caught onto a glitch that allowed them temporary access to the Google+ social-networking site, according to Reuters. Now, each of Obama's posts--going back more than a month--has hundreds of Chinese comments.

China is well known for Internet censorship. Even though the amount of Web users in the country is skyrocketing, with estimates at half a billion, government Web site blocking is common. As of this writing, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Foursquare, Google+, and other popular sites are unavailable in China. Google has also engaged a long-standing censorship battle with the country over its search function.

Exactly how Chinese users got access to Google+ is not known. According to Reuters, Google has not done anything differently that would allow access to the site. Some speculate that it possibly happened through mobile phones, which could have been overlooked by censors.

In addition to political messages left on Obama's Google+ page, users also posted jokes, nonsense, and notes that they were "occupying" the president's page in camaraderie with the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The number of comments petered out today, according to Time magazine, which shows that the defect in the censorship system most likely has now been fixed.

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China occupies Obama's Google+ page

COMMENTARY | In the words of Mark Twain, "Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak because a baby can't chew it." Knowing this, how can anyone not find it wrong that YouTube has adopted a policy of banning religiously offensive material, as I've just learned from the videographer "Thunderf00t?" Are we so hyper-sensitive and politically correct we should see the free market of ideas and discussion die in silence out of fear of being "offensive?"

Is it possible for any policy to be more offensive to the sensibilities of grown-ups? Not by much. YouTube has chosen to take on a guideline which cannot be fairly enforced. While some may find a small bit of solace in seeing those perspectives they disagree with squelched, they may also find their opinion silenced also. The nature of religion makes it impossible for any religious topic to not be offensive to someone.

It seems the most religious among us would feel the greatest threat from the new policy. While many might believe themselves glad to see Thunderf00t silenced or the likes of Dusty Smith allowed to speak no more, they must understand this decision also threatens their chance to evangelize, as in the case of " The 700 Club ," Billy Graham Evangelistic Association or even any myriad of new Islamic ministries . Every religion offends someone.

Were I to have any sort of a deity, it would not -- could not -- be one which is so weak and fearful as to resist any questioning, criticism or doubt. Were I to have ever chosen to place my life and my faith in any "higher power" I cannot envision it being one which would have created human intellect and curiosity, only to then punish that creation for using those faculties.

YouTube cannot be banning religiously offensive material for any reason other than fear of violence. And a free society cannot remain so if mere threats of violence prevent honest, rational discussion. I can't tell YouTube how to run their business or how to be a better bunch of cowards. All any of us can do is refuse to allow them to earn a single penny in advertising revenue as long as they're complicit in the stifling of the free exchange of knowledge, information, ideas and discussion. This is ridiculous.

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YouTube's Censorship of Religiously Offensive Material is Evil

Hundreds of Chinese have flooded US President Barack Obama's Google+ page, apparently taking advantage of a glitch in China's censorship system to post about human rights and green cards.

Google+ -- the US Internet giant's social networking site -- has been unavailable in China since it was launched last year, apparently blocked by the nation's strict censorship system, dubbed "the Great Firewall of China."

But over the past few days, Chinese netizens say they have unexpectedly managed to get onto the site, and have decided to concentrate their presence on Obama's page.

"Many people don't understand the meaning why all Chinese are coming here. We envy American people their democracy and freedom!" one netizen said in English under Obama's latest posting about his campaign's bumper stickers.

The comments centre on freedom of expression and human rights, as well as more mundane issues such as how to get US green cards.

"We are not barbaric people, we are just suppressed," one netizen wrote, while others called on the US president to "come and liberate China".

It is hard to prove if all those commenting are from China, but most write in simplified Chinese characters -- used in the mainland as opposed to Hong Kong -- and expressions are similar to those found on the nation's microblogs.

It is also difficult to determine what glitch in the Firewall they are taking advantage of.

On Sunday, Google+ appeared to be available in China on some people's mobile devices but not on fixed computers -- a fact confirmed by some netizens on Obama's page.

Others in China, however, were still unable to access the site, which remained blocked on their mobiles along with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Some netizens urged Obama to help free activists such as blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who is currently under house arrest, or Liu Xiaobo, the jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Many of those posting comments also enquired about green cards -- US permanent residency certificates -- asking Obama to send them one along with his re-election campaign stickers.

One called on the US president to join China's ruling Communist Party.

"We will give you a big red flower, which you can wear on your chest, and honourably give you a party certificate (completely free membership for the first year)," said an online user named Duke Dai.

As part of its censorship system, China blocks most content it considers politically sensitive in its traditional media and on the Internet.

Twitter and Facebook, for instance, were made unavailable in China in 2009 apparently over official concerns that people had instigated deadly ethnic riots in the country's northwestern region of Xinjiang using the sites.

Google, meanwhile, has had a difficult time in China since January 2010, when it said it was no longer willing to self-censor content to comply with government rules.

After a few months, it decided to automatically re-route users of its mainland search engine to its uncensored site in Hong Kong and has since lost ground in China, which has the world's largest number of web users.

Some of the Chinese netizens railed against their country's censorship on Obama's page.

"We hate GFW (Great Firewall). We 'occupy President Obama' like performance art," one online user said.

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Chinese netizens flood Obama's Google+ page