Turkish Court Clears Actors of ‘Insulting’ Erdogan
An Istanbul court on Monday delivered a rare victory to freedom of expression advocates in Turkey by acquitting two veteran actors of “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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censorship
Panel Overturns 4 Facebook Content Takedowns in First Ruling
Facebook’s quasi-independent oversight board issued its first rulings on Thursday, overturning four out of five decisions by the social network to take down questionable content.
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In Farewell Speech, Trump Denounces Political Violence and Censorship
In a nearly 20-minute video released Tuesday afternoon, outgoing President Donald Trump touted the accomplishments of his administration and deflected responsibility for an insurrectionist attack at the U.S. Capitol two weeks ago.
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‘Uncle Roger’ Comedian Sparks China Censorship Row With Deleted Video
A U.K.-based comedian has sparked a censorship row after he apologized to Chinese fans and removed a video featuring a fellow YouTube star who had been critical of Beijing.
Read moreOnline Censorship
A federal court in Washington ruled against a tech policy group in their case against President Donald Trump over his executive order on preventing online censorship. The group claimed the order constituted “retaliatory action” against companies like Twitter, which flagged the president’s tweets for inaccuracies, but the court found “online behemoths” do not need the group to “carry their water for them.”
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Tech CEOs Defend Measures to Combat Election Misinformation
Twitter labeled 300,000 tweets for election-related misinformation from Oct. 27 to Nov. 11, the company’s CEO Jack Dorsey told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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France Alarms Rights Defenders With Proposed Ban on Police Images
France’s lower house of parliament is opening debate Tuesday on a security bill that would permit the imprisonment of people who publish images of police officers with intent to cause them harm.
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Trolls Get Creative After WHO Censors Taiwan
Alleged censorship of Taiwan on the World Health Organization’s Facebook page inspired some creative trolling Thursday, with special characters and foreign scripts used to bypass filters that also censored Winnie the Pooh, a character used to poke fun at Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Read moreYouTube Channels
A federal court in California declined to grant YouTube channel creators a temporary restraining order against Google in their case alleging the company censored conservative YouTube channels. A YouTube employee stated the channels espoused harmful conspiracy theories and “horrifying and unsubstantiated accusations of violent and criminal conduct supposedly committed” by various people.
Read moreSocial Media
A federal court in California denied voter education and registration groups’ request to block President Donald Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies to combat the “allegedly biased content management” by social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
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Judge Unlikely to Block Trump Order Targeting Social Media Immunity
Despite recent action by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to review the limits of liability protection for online platforms, a federal judge said Wednesday he is unlikely to block an executive order that directs federal agencies to crack down on social media firms for censoring the president’s speech.
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Twitter Shifts Policy on Blocking Links After Outrage Over Biden Article
Twitter announced Friday that it will change its policy around hacked information after its decision to block users from sharing an unverified New York Post exposé about Hunter Biden sparked outrage among conservatives.
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Bolton Says White House Violated First Amendment Out of Embarrassment
Bolstered by a career official’s searing affidavit, attorneys for John Bolton told a federal judge Thursday that the Trump administration blocked the former national security adviser’s explosive tell-all to shield the president’s fragile ego rather than protect classified information.
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Social Networks Should Archive Hate Speech as Evidence: HRW
Social media networks should start archiving hate speech and other illegal posts after taking them down so they can be used as evidence in prosecutions, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.
Read moreOnline Censorship
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claims in federal court that Texas A&M University violated a settlement agreement by deleting PETA’s comments about the school’s research on dogs from its Facebook and YouTube pages.
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India Ruling Party Denies Preferential Treatment by Facebook
Members of India’s governing party on Monday rejected allegations that Facebook had chosen to turn a blind eye to partisan hate speech on its platform to protect its growing business interests in India.
Read moreInstagram Immunity
The New Hampshire Supreme Court denied Facebook immunity under the Communications Decency Act for deleting a Somersworth cafe’s Instagram account without warning or explanation. The cafe used its @Teatotaller account to voice support for LGTBQ rights as well as promote its business, but it is unknown if the account was deleted due to content.
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Bollocks! Judge Advances Fight Over California DMV License Plate Rules
A fan of the heavy metal band Slayer, a British-themed pub owner, a man who wants to take back the term “queer” from bigots, and a motorcycle aficionada have one thing in common: They’ve all run afoul of the personalized license plate censor at the California DMV.
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Bolton Book Reveals a Dizzyingly Uninformed President
President Donald Trump “pleaded” with China’s Xi Jinping during a 2019 summit to help him be re-elected, according to a scathing new book by former national security adviser John Bolton that accuses Trump of being uninformed on important issues and driven by political calculations when making national security decisions.
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