Police Censorship In Bahrain Against Exhibition
Riot police in Bahrain have stormed an exhibition dedicated to the Arab Spring-inspired uprising in the Gulf nation, saying material inside was likely to inc...
By: VideoMedia
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Police Censorship In Bahrain Against Exhibition - Video
While the freight train of Chinese development powers into the 21st century, complex social, political and economic forces are shaping a new China - one that President Xi Jinping hoped would be the foundation for a "Chinese Dream" when he made his inaugural speech as president in March 2013.
But while Xi and the Communist Party may speak from the highest platform, they are increasingly obliged to listen to a different national conversation - one that takes place on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging service, which doubles as one of the world's biggest rumour mill.
The government has now realised, especially with the emergence of social media, that media is just a battleground that they cannot afford to lose.
Bingchun Meng,London School of Economics and Political Science
Until recently, Weibo censorship has been a matter of stamping out sensitive terms as and when they emerge. Reports suggest the state may employ as many as two million "public opinion analysts" in this game of semantic "whack-a-mole".
However, since August, China's opinion police have begun to target the "rumour-mongers" themselves. A number of high-profile microbloggers - known in China as "Big V" bloggers - have been arrested and paraded on state TV - "Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys", as the Chinese proverb goes.
China is, in a way, caught between its Maoist past and its capitalist present which one can see in the devotion to industry that stains the skies over its mega-cities and scars the lungs of its people.
And it is there, too, in the media - where Beijing uses soft power to get its story out to the world (in English) - while cracking down hard on citizens who stray from the official version of events.
To discuss China's complex social media equation, we speak with Zhuang Chen, the editor of the BBC Chinese website; Chinese writer and journalist, Lijia Zhang; Xia Yeliang, a professor of economics at Peking University; and Bingchun Meng, a media lecturer at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Our Newsbytes this week: Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef is on the airwaves and back in the firing line; Argentine President Cristina Kirchner scores a legal victory against the Clarin media empire; and a crackdown on critical radio in Somalia.
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Censorship in China: A game of cat of mouse
Social media giant Facebook has waded into one of Europe longest-running conflicts after it banned pages belonging to Turkey's largest pro-Kurdish political party.
The main page of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) came down on Tuesday, October 29, following several warnings about posting content related to a Kurdish militia fighting in northern Syria and an interview with one of its deputies in which she spoke out for political autonomy of Kurdistan.
Facebook policy on censorship and the recognition of the Kurdish identity proved to be worse than that of Turkey, the party said in a statement.
Long running conflict
Turkey has been in conflict with the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which began a war of insurrection in the 1980s seeking independence for swathes of Turkey's southeast, home to the majority of Turkey's estimated 14 million ethnic Kurds. That demand has since been downgraded to political autonomy for minorities. Still, the PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union, United States and Turkey.
The PKK declared a ceasefire in May as the Turkish government promised democratic reforms to recognize minority rights. Negotiations between the Turkish state and the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah calan, are ongoing.
Facebook denies that the page came down over the use of Kurdistan -- a term that denotes a Kurdish homeland that encompasses territory in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.
Its statement from Facebook's European office to Deutsche Welle reads in full:
The BDP page was not removed for mentioning the word 'Kurdistan'. It is true that several BDP pages have been taken down from Facebook. This is because these pages have repeatedly breached Facebook's rules. These rules allow users of Facebook to post political content, including controversial views, but prohibit the posting of content that shows support for internationally-recognised illegal terrorist organisations [including the PKK].
BDP spokesman Cem Bico says the main page came down following the group posting of an interview with BDP's MP Sebahat Tuncel calling for political autonomy for Kurdistan. There is no mention of armed groups.
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Facebook censorship of Kurdish political party
Social media giant Facebook has waded into one of Europe longest-running conflicts after it banned pages belonging to Turkey's largest pro-Kurdish political party.
The main page of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) came down on Tuesday, October 29, following several warnings about posting content related to a Kurdish militia fighting in northern Syria and an interview with one of its deputies in which she spoke out for political autonomy of Kurdistan.
Facebook policy on censorship and the recognition of the Kurdish identity proved to be worse than that of Turkey, the party said in a statement.
Long running conflict
Turkey has been in conflict with the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which began a war of insurrection in the 1980s seeking independence for swathes of Turkey's southeast, home to the majority of Turkey's estimated 14 million ethnic Kurds. That demand has since been downgraded to political autonomy for minorities. Still, the PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union, United States and Turkey.
The PKK declared a ceasefire in May as the Turkish government promised democratic reforms to recognize minority rights. Negotiations between the Turkish state and the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah calan, are ongoing.
Facebook denies that the page came down over the use of Kurdistan -- a term that denotes a Kurdish homeland that encompasses territory in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.
Its statement from Facebook's European office to Deutsche Welle reads in full:
The BDP page was not removed for mentioning the word 'Kurdistan'. It is true that several BDP pages have been taken down from Facebook. This is because these pages have repeatedly breached Facebook's rules. These rules allow users of Facebook to post political content, including controversial views, but prohibit the posting of content that shows support for internationally-recognised illegal terrorist organisations [including the PKK].
BDP spokesman Cem Bico says the main page came down following the group posting of an interview with BDP's MP Sebahat Tuncel calling for political autonomy for Kurdistan. There is no mention of armed groups.
Originally posted here:
Facebook censorship of BDP
Social media giant Facebook has waded into one of Europe longest-running conflicts after it banned pages belonging to Turkey's largest pro-Kurdish political party.
The main page of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) came down on Tuesday, October 29, following several warnings about posting content related to a Kurdish militia fighting in northern Syria and an interview with one of its deputies in which she spoke out for political autonomy of Kurdistan.
Facebook policy on censorship and the recognition of the Kurdish identity proved to be worse than that of Turkey, the party said in a statement.
Long running conflict
Turkey has been in conflict with the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which began a war of insurrection in the 1980s seeking independence for swathes of Turkey's southeast, home to the majority of Turkey's estimated 14 million ethnic Kurds. That demand has since been downgraded to political autonomy for minorities. Still, the PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union, United States and Turkey.
The PKK declared a ceasefire in May as the Turkish government promised democratic reforms to recognize minority rights. Negotiations between the Turkish state and the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah calan, are ongoing.
Facebook denies that the page came down over the use of Kurdistan -- a term that denotes a Kurdish homeland that encompasses territory in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.
Its statement from Facebook's European office to Deutsche Welle reads in full:
The BDP page was not removed for mentioning the word 'Kurdistan'. It is true that several BDP pages have been taken down from Facebook. This is because these pages have repeatedly breached Facebook's rules. These rules allow users of Facebook to post political content, including controversial views, but prohibit the posting of content that shows support for internationally-recognised illegal terrorist organisations [including the PKK].
BDP spokesman Cem Bico says the main page came down following the group posting of an interview with BDP's MP Sebahat Tuncel calling for political autonomy for Kurdistan. There is no mention of armed groups.