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The ACLUs Project on Speech, Privacy, and Technology (SPT) is dedicated to protecting and expanding the First Amendment freedoms of expression, association, and inquiry; expanding the right to privacy and increasing the control that individuals have over their personal information; and ensuring that civil liberties are enhanced rather than compromised by new advances in science and technology. The project is currently working on a variety of issues, including political protest, freedom of expression online, privacy of electronic information, journalists rights, scientific freedom, and openness in the courts.

Additional Resources

What Is Censorship? (2006 resource): Censorship, the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive," happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others. Censorship can be carried out by the government as well as private pressure groups. Censorship by the government is unconstitutional.

Artistic Freedom (2006 resource): Provocative art and in-your-face entertainment put our commitment to free speech to the test. Why should we oppose censorship when scenes of murder and mayhem dominate the TV screen, when some art can be seen as a direct insult to religious beliefs, and when much sexually explicit material can be seen as degrading to women? Why not let the majority's morality and taste dictate what others can look at or listen to?

Brief Timeline on Censored Music (2005 resource)

Censorship at the Smithsonian (2010 blog)

Booksellers, Publishers, Librarians and Others Challenge Censorship Law (2008 press release)

ACLU and Drug Policy Groups Sue Over Censorship of Advertisements Criticizing "War on Drugs" (2004 press release)

Film Censorship: Noteworthy Moments in History (2006 timeline)

Print Censorship - Banned Books Week (2006 resource)

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Censorship | American Civil Liberties Union

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.

Link:
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