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Censorship, the ultimate silence
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October 26, 2013 - 17:59 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran's culture minister, Ali Jannati, has some good news: The country will be reviewing book censorship policies and maybe -- just maybe -- relaxing its book ban in the near future, Huffington Post said.

The encouraging announcement arrives amid what appear to be progressive reforms in Iran under new president Hassan Rouhani, evidenced with particular potency by Rouhani's telephone conversation with the U.S. President Barack Obama, the first U.S.-Iran phone chat since the 1979 revolution.

Under Iran's hard-line former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, countless classics were banned, much to the dismay of Iranian publishers who were required to submit prospective books to the culture ministry for review. As reported by The Guardian, "words such as 'kiss', 'beloved', 'wine', 'drunk', 'pork', 'dance', 'rape', 'dog' and 'meditation'" were prohibited and would lead to censorship, by either text manipulations or total censorship.

Jannati, however, has recognized the absurdity of such restrictions. Quoted by Iranian reformist newspaper Arman, the culture minister said:

I sadly learned that some books were denied permission to be published only on the grounds of personal opinions. I think if the Qu'ran was not a divine revelation, when it was handed to the book supervisory board, they would say some words did not comply with public chastity and would deny it permission for publication.

Even if nuclear talks stall, Iran may regain respect in the literary world if Jannati's promise to review censorship policies becomes reality.

Excerpt from:
Iran may review book censorship policies, relax book ban

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Chinas fearsome censorship apparatus is increasingly expanding beyond the confines of the Great Firewall to influence media outside its borders, often by online attack, according to a new report from a US Congress-funded think tank.

The Long Shadow of Chinese Censorship (h/t WSJ) by Freedom House analyst Sarah Cook is a report for the Center for International Media Assistance, part of the Congress-backed non-profit National Endowment for Democracy.

Chinas increasingly proactive stance on how its portrayed outside the country comes in response to its tech-savvy citizens' growing desire to circumvent the Great Firewall to read international coverage, and Beijing's intensifying soft power battle with Washington.

The report continued:

Since coming to power in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has constructed a multi-layered system for censoring unwanted news and stifling opposing viewpoints within China. Over the past two decades, this domestic apparatus has spawned mechanisms that extend some censorship to media outlets based outside China. Reflecting the adaptive nature of Chinese authoritarianism, such pressures are a complex mix of overt official actions and more discreet dynamics.

China's efforts can be split into four distinct areas: direct action from Chinese officials to prevent negative articles being published and punishing media owners that disobey; economic carrots and sticks to induce self-censorship; indirect pressure by advertisers, foreign governments and others; cyber attacks and physical assault.

The report claimed that different strategies are used for different geographies and situations.

For example, Chinese language media owners outside of the PRC have been rewarded with lucrative advertising deals and other incentives for positive reporting, while for non-Chinese language outlets in Asia, Latin America and Africa local government officials are often approached to restrict damaging reporting, Cook said.

It continued:

See more here:
Beyond the Great Firewall: China's global censorship campaign

IMPORTANT STOP ACTA NO CENSORSHIP OF THE INTERNET!
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IMPORTANT STOP ACTA NO CENSORSHIP OF THE INTERNET! - Video

The cadres in charge of controlling the media in Chinaand importantly over the last several years, influencing the media outside of Chinahave a crucial job to perform, necessitated by the internal logic of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule: On the one hand, they must show that the Party is the rightful and successful ruler of China; on the other, they must deal with those who would say otherwise.

As Sarah Cook, a researcher for Freedom House, puts it in her recent report: For the partys narrative to be convincing to audiences inside and outside China, reportingespecially investigative reportingabout the darker sides of CCP rule at home and Chinese activities abroad must be suppressed.

According to two new reports published on Oct. 22, Chinese communist propaganda and censorship officers have over the last few years developed a rich and nuanced set of practices and tactics aimed at affecting these outcomes.

Anne Nelson, another researcher, published a report on the international expansion of China Central Television, the broadcast mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, on the same day. Both reports were sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy, a U.S.-funded agency that supports democracy around the world.

Cooks report methodically peels back the layers of the Partys censorship apparatus, examining each to see how it functions, who it targets, and what effect it has: there is direct action by Chinese diplomats, officials, and security personnel, who simply obstruct reporters and punish recalcitrant media outlets; there are economic inducements and punishments; there is indirect diplomatic, political, and economic pressure, transmitted through advertisers or governments; and then simply cyberespionage or even physical attacks.

There was, for example, the time that the chief editor of Bloomberg was approached by a top Chinese diplomat, who attempted to have him kill a story about the finances of the family of Xi Jinping, at the time the incoming general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. The story ran, but Bloombergs English website was blocked soon afterward.

That did not have a significant impact on Bloombergs business because its English-language readership in China is limited. The New York Times, however, was hit somewhat harder. After it ran an investigation that sought to show how the family of Wen Jiabao had gained vast wealth, the Chinese authorities shut down its Chinese-language website, which had just opened. The stock dropped 20 percent overnight, Cooks report says. Reprisals of this kind are meant as a warning to others who would transgress against the Partys reporting preferences.

Journalists on the ground in China can find that the face of censorship is a little more sharp-toothed. In February of this year, thugs believed to be dispatched by the local government of a village near Beijing intercepted the vehicle of a German film crew and smashed their windshield in with baseball bats.

The former chief technical officer of Epoch Times in 2006 was also a recipient of the kinetic approach: a group of men made their way into his home in Atlanta, tied him up, and beat him about the head with a gun handle. There is no direct evidence that the men were associated with the Chinese Communist Party, but Mr. Yuan believed it to be the case. Two of my file cabinets were pried open. Two of my laptop computers were taken away, but the more expensive items, such as cameras, were not.

More subtle forms of influence are almost ubiquitous. Eutelsat, a French satellite company, was one of the more disturbing examples of undue influence, Cook said at an Oct. 22 National Endowment for Democracy forum in Washington, D.C.

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Chinese Censorship Under the Microscope