Archive for the ‘Censorship’ Category

Wanda Nara employs impromptu nudity censorship method in light of wardrobe malfunction – Marca English

Wanda Nara is no stranger to sharing racy and revealing posts to her social media accounts.

In a recent wardrobe malfunction, the entrepreneur, influencer and presenter let a breast slip while interacting with her followers on a live stream.

On this occasion, though, Nara, in yet another sensual upload, drew on an unorthodox tool to prevent the same incident from occurring, and that was an emoji of a cookie.

Many celebrities have been known to employ ingenious methods of bypassing nudity regulations on social media sites.

Instagram, for instance, cannot censor an image that does not feature an element of nudity, such as nipples.

Nara is the owner of an underwear brand that she promotes via her social media accounts.

She is often seen flaunting her clothing line online, much of which seems to be almost entirely transparent.

In this particular post, the 36-year-old sported a newly released item of hers that is, you guessed it, essentially see-through.

While social media sites continue impose the same set of nudity regulations, celebrities and influencers alike will continue to look for creative ways to push the boundaries.

Read the rest here:
Wanda Nara employs impromptu nudity censorship method in light of wardrobe malfunction - Marca English

Bidens education secretary charges censorship after conspiring … – The Lion

The U.S. Secretary of Education has joined a Democrat chorus characterizing the removal of pornographic materials from libraries and schools as book banning and censorship.

Miguel Cardonas comments came after emails revealed he conspired with a liberal school board group to have the Department of Justice label parents as domestic terrorists.

As U.S. secretary of education, as well as a father and lifelong educator, heres what I know to be true: Parents dont want politicians dictating what their children can learn, think and believe. Thats not how public education is supposed to work in a free country, Cardona wrote in an op-ed in the Tampa Bay Times on Thursday.

Ironically, some of the very politicians who claim to promote freedom are banning books and censoring what students can learn, Cardona said.

The opinion piece was a not-so-veiled shot at Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has led the fight against inappropriate materials in public schools.

In Florida, pornographic and inappropriate materials that have been snuck into our classrooms and libraries to sexualize our students violate our state education standards, the governor said in a statement on Wednesday,which included a video presentation.

When DeSantis discussed the content of the books, several news stations cut their live feed of the event to comply with U.S. laws that prevent the transmission of pornographic materials, despite the fact the liberal media argue the books are appropriate for schools.

While Cardona claims to promote freedom, critics argue Democrats are really waging a war against parents. Indeed, President Joe Biden seemed to tell a group of teachers nearly a year ago that children are actually theirs.

Theyre all our children. Theyre not somebody elses children. Theyre like yours when theyre in the classroom, Biden told the teachers.

His comments echoed those of the former Democratic governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, who said in 2021, I dont think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.

In a now infamous memo, Bidens attorney general, Merrick Garland, after prodding from the National School Boards Association, compared parents who complain to school boards to domestic terrorists.

It later turned out the slur was solicited from the school board association by Cardona himself, according to emails revealed by Fox News.

This is about intimidation. This is about chilling free speech, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan claimed of Cardona and Garland.

Jordan is leading a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee investigating how Cardona and others have tried to weaponize the government against citizens, including parents.

Original post:
Bidens education secretary charges censorship after conspiring ... - The Lion

Far-Right Republican Group Sounds Censorship Alarm Over Instagram Ban – Newsweek

The far-right conservative advocacy group, Republicans for National Renewal, has accused Instagram of censorship amid a scuffle with the social network over the group's banned account.

The group posted a message to its official Twitter account March 14, stating that it had been "permanently banned" from Instagram, supposedly on the grounds that it was believed to be a fake account. Furthermore, the group claimed that the platform has all but completely limited its ability to appeal the decision.

Republicans for National Renewal was founded by attorney Mark Ivanyo in early 2020 in the wake of that year's Conservative Political Action Conference and in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election. A Mother Jones report from the time described it as a "group of far-right activists" advocating for the mainstream Republican Party to more firmly "embrace national populism." Other reports described it more generally as friendly to former President Donald Trump and in favor of "nationalist and populist" political ideologies.

"We have been permanently banned from [Instagram], not for anything we said on there, but for supposedly being a fake account," the group tweeted. "We're not allowed to appeal, as IG doesn't even allow the request to be processed. This is disgraceful censorship."

As of Tuesday, Instagram has not commented on the matter and the account remains inaccessible. The group has maintained a presence on other platforms, like Twitter and Facebook, with the latter operated by Meta, which also owns Instagram, muddying the group's claims of censorship.

Newsweek has reached out to Republicans for National Renewal and Instagram via email for comment.

On its official website, the group centers its message and goals explicitly around Trump, claiming that he "stands largely alone in advocating a bold, populist vision for our country."

"Years after Donald Trump's groundbreaking 2016 victory, we have yet to see the fundamental change within the Republican Party that we need in order to truly reflect the will of the voters," the group's official website states. "On issues from immigration to infrastructure, Trump stands largely alone in advocating a bold, populist vision for our country. It is time to change that. By assisting activists in taking over the party apparatus and pushing Republicans in Congress to back our President's agenda, Republicans for National Renewal intends to be at the forefront of that fight."

Read more

The group's advocacy largely comes in the form of endorsing candidates for political office. On Sunday, it officially endorsed Trump in the 2024 presidential race, shortly after rumors began to emerge that he would soon be indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Over the years, events hosted by the GOP activist group have been attended by numerous far-right Republicans, including Paul Gosar, Louie Gohmert, Matt Gaetz, Kari Lake and Blake Masters.

Read the original here:
Far-Right Republican Group Sounds Censorship Alarm Over Instagram Ban - Newsweek

Record number of demands made to ban or censor books in 2022: Report – ABC News

Most were written by or about the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color.

March 23, 2023, 2:11 PM ET

5 min read

A record-breaking 1,269 demands were made to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since the American Library Association began collecting data over 20 years ago, the association said.

A record 2,571 unique books were targeted for censorship in 2022, a 38% increase from 2021 when 1,858 titles were targeted.

"Of the overall number of books challenged, 90% were part of attempts to censor multiple titles," the ALA said. "Of the books challenged, 40% were in cases involving 100 or more books."

In 2021, there were 729 attempts to ban or restrict library materials, up from 156 attempts in 2020, according to the ALA.

"Of those titles, the vast majority were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color," the ALA said in a press release.

The most frequently challenged title was challenged 151 times. While 144 titles received nine or more challenges.

This is an uptick from data collected between 2011 to 2020, when the most frequently challenged title of the year received an average of eight challenges.

"Overwhelmingly, we're seeing these challenges come from organized censorship groups that target local library board meetings to demand removal of a long list of books they share on social media," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom.

"Their aim is to suppress the voices of those traditionally excluded from our nation's conversations, such as people in the LGBTQIA+ community or people of color," Caldwell-Stone said.

The books challenged include 550 children's titles and 1,604 young adult titles.

Of the reported book challenges, 58% targeted books and materials in school libraries, classroom libraries or school curricula.

"ALA began documenting the book challenges reported to us over two decades ago because we want to shine a light on the threat of censorship facing readers and entire communities. Book challenges distract from the core mission of libraries: to provide access to information," ALA President Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada said in a statement. "While a vocal minority stokes the flames of controversy around books, the vast majority of people across the nation are using life-changing services that public and school libraries offer. Our nation cannot afford to lose the library workers who lift up their communities and safeguard our First Amendment freedom to read."

Original post:
Record number of demands made to ban or censor books in 2022: Report - ABC News

Why China has a history of censoring Winnie the Pooh – NPR

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was initially approved by Chinese officials to screen at more than 30 cinemas in Hong Kong and Macau on Thursday. But days ahead of the screening, the film's distribution company was told it was no longer allowed to show the slasher film starring a murderous Winnie the Pooh. Chen Cici/AP hide caption

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was initially approved by Chinese officials to screen at more than 30 cinemas in Hong Kong and Macau on Thursday. But days ahead of the screening, the film's distribution company was told it was no longer allowed to show the slasher film starring a murderous Winnie the Pooh.

A gory, microbudget slasher film in which the beloved children's book character Winnie the Pooh is a murderous psychopath has been pulled suddenly from theaters in Hong Kong and Macau.

While the plot may not be everyone's cup of tea, there is concern that the decision to spike the British movie has less to do with the film's goriness and more to do with Beijing's suppression of civil liberties in Hong Kong and specifically, the government's efforts to block an unlikely symbol of protest: the crop-top-wearing, pant-less bear.

"Winnie the Pooh has become a symbol for dissidents in China," says Rongbin Han, an associate professor of international affairs at the University of Georgia. "So now the character alludes to Xi Jinping himself and the president doesn't like this."

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, written and directed by British filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield, has become something of an internet sensation, exceeding all expectations with releases across Latin America and Asia. It was scheduled to start screening at more than 30 cinemas in Hong Kong and Macau on Thursday, but the distributor said all showings have been called off.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey will be canceled in Hong Kong and Macau, VII Pillars Entertainment said in a statement on Facebook.

The company added that the film "failed to meet the audience" and asked for the public's forgiveness. They offered no additional explanation and company officials did not respond to NPR's questions.

The last minute removal from theaters marks the second time that the release of a Winnie-the-Pooh-based film has been blocked in China. But why?

The connection between Chinese leader Xi and Pooh can be traced back to 2013, when people on social media compared a photo of Xi and former President Barack Obama walking side by side to an image of Pooh and Tigger. The meme took off and for several years, government critics appropriated the character to make fun of Xi or lambaste his policies.

That prompted Beijing to censor the Chinese name for Winnie the Pooh and animated gifs of the chubby, somewhat dopey bear on social media platforms in 2017.

The University of Georgia's Han explained that it's not Pooh that's objectionable to Xi and the authoritarian regime, but the fact that critics are using the bear as a stand-in to denounce the government's policies.

That's why, he says, "the censorship machine" is constantly looking for perceived criticism, which often takes the form of seemingly benign images, coded plays on words, or no words at all. For instance, in November in a rare show of public protest, Chinese dissidents marched through the streets holding up blank sheets of paper, sending a silent message of defiance to the authorities.

Han noted that images or objects with Pooh's likeness are still permitted in China, but online is a different story. "Anywhere that online dissident groups are mobilizing, that's what triggers the nerve of this state," he said.

Given the history with the character, Han said he is surprised that the film got past the Chinese government's censorship system in the first place. Domestic and foreign films are all subjected to a strict pre-publication review system, and the government retains the right to ban any film that doesn't comply from being shown in theaters or even from streaming online within the country.

Michael Berry, director for the University of California Los Angeles Center for Chinese Studies, told NPR that a film like Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey would be up against a number of hurdles regardless of the Xi connection.

"Firstly there is a quota system in China that strictly limits the number of foreign films distributed; because of this quota, most studios submit big tentpole films like Marvel and DC superhero movies or big-budget war films. Smaller films often have trouble getting access to the market," Berry said.

The UCLA professor also noted that China doesn't usually welcome horror films because the country has no rating system. The thinking is that all films should technically be suitable for general audiences. "That provides inherent challenges when it comes to the horror genre," he said.

For now, audiences in Hong Kong and Macau will have to wait for the possibility of watching a bloodthirsty Winne the Pooh.

But as one would-be fan remarked, it may be coming to a streaming service near you.

More:
Why China has a history of censoring Winnie the Pooh - NPR