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Given the wave of corruption that has plagued the region in recent years, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) asked the countries of the American continent to protect journalists and freedom of expression.

Journalists and people working in the media make an important contribution to democracy and the transparency of public management and are in a historic situation of vulnerability and discrimination, the Commission said in its recent report.

In the report released at the end of 2019, Corruption and Human Rights, the IACHR evaluates the impact of corruption on democracy, the rule of law and the exercise of human rights in the Americas.

In the second chapter, the report addresses the impact of corruption on press freedom, specifically regarding freedom of expression, access to information, protection of journalistic and communications sources, and the diversity and plurality of the media.

The organization mentioned the case of Hctor Flix Miranda versus Mexico, in which it said authorities had not carried out the relevant investigations regarding the murder of the journalist (1999), who investigated cases of corruption. It also pointed out the case of Vctor Manuel Oropeza versus Mexico, who also reported acts of corruption in his reports and was murdered in 1999. The Commission recommended that the Mexican country send a message of zero tolerance to those who commit attacks against freedom of expression.

Another case mentioned in the report is the murder of journalist Aristeu Guida da Silva

in Brazil (2016), in which the Commission establishes a relationship between the journalist's complaints and the subsequent crime against him, holding the State responsible for violating Articles 4.1 and 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights.

The report also notes that the crimes of defamation, injuria, calumnias and desacato are the most used in the region by those who seek to sue journalists because of their investigations. The use of the Criminal Code in these cases "is the most restrictive and severe" that Latin American countries can use against journalists, except for exceptions in which hate and violence is incited or false news is spread deliberately, the report said.

In that sense, both the Commission and its Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression have indicated the application of criminal figures drafted in an ambiguous manner whose objective is to inhibit public debate and journalistic investigations. Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Brazil, Peru and Guatemala continue to use these criminal figures in cases against journalists, the report said.

Especially in Venezuela, the Rapporteurship found that the application of the Criminal Code restricts, in that sense, the free dissemination of ideas and opinions, worsening with the creation of the law against hate, enacted at the end of 2017.

Nicaragua is another country that the Commission mentions with special attention in that regard, due to censorship and blocking of websites the report mentioned the blocking of Confidencials site on April 23 or of social network profiles, among other things, that have affected journalism in the last two years.

According to the report, the IACHR found that in Nicaragua, the State has directly and indirectly censored independent media, both through state agents and through violent actions of civilians sympathetic to the government. The murder of journalists is one of the most extreme forms of censorship, the Commission said, mentioning the murder of Nicaraguan journalist ngel Gahona who was killed while broadcasting one of the social protests in April 2018 on Facebook Live.

The Commission highlighted as "essential" for the exercise of journalism that the confidentiality of journalistic sources be protected. In this regard, one of the cases mentioned was that of Peruvian journalists Gustavo Gorriti and Rosana Cueva, who revealed a deep crisis in the justice system from the leak of telephone conversations between judges and politicians. One of the first responses from judicial authorities was to ask Gorriti and Cueva for the journalistic sources they used for their reports.

The document also highlighted the growing interest on the part of States in using technologies that increase their surveillance capacity. As an example of this, the report mentions the spyware program Pegasus, produced by an Israeli company, which was used in 2017 by the Mexican government to access the content of phones and devices of journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers and international investigators looking into the mass disappearance of students in Iguala in 2014.

The plurality of media is also an important part of freedom of expression, the document notes. In that sense, the report mentions as an example of the case of Radio Caracas Televisin (RCTV) against the Venezuelan State, when in 2007 the government decided not to renew its concession in an act of censorship. RCTV was a traditional outlet critical of the government of then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez.

For the Commission, freedom of expression is the cornerstone of a democratic society and therefore establishes three fundamental principles related to this right: The exercise of freedom of expression in harmony with other rights; the duties of journalists and the media; and the plurality of media or information.

"The double dimension of freedom of expression also implies the obligation to avoid the constitution of private or public monopolies aimed at shaping public opinion according to a single point of view," Commission's report said.

In one of its recommendations, the Commission proposes protection mechanisms for journalists, rights defenders and civil society persons who report acts of corruption in situations of structural violence in the countries of the American continent. Risk assessments and protection mechanisms should never require disclosure of sources or material used in journalistic investigations, the report said.

This report, carried out from resolution 1/18 issued by the Commission in March 2018, seeks to analyze the relationship between human rights and the acts of corruption that plague the region to suggest the development and implementation of public policies that strengthen institutions and encourage accountability, the organization said in a statement. Corruption promotes impunity, inequality and undermines the rule of law, it said.

The IACHR said in that resolution that the victims of corruption must be part and be considered in the analysis, design and application of mechanisms and policies to prevent, denounce and end corruption in their coauntries.

Read the original here:
IACHR report on corruption and human rights asks governments in the region to protect journalists - Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas

UK-based non-profit organisation Index on Censorship will be launching a new research project later this month that will expose the extent to which individuals with wealth and influence use vexatious legal threats to shut down investigations into their practices.

Despite recent changes to UK law more needs to be done both in Britain and abroad to tackle spurious lawsuits, the organisation said.

Chief Executive Jodie Ginsberg said that UK law firms were among the most heavily involved in legal threats to journalists outside the UK. We are still seeing people and organisations with almost no UK links bringing expensive and spurious defamation cases, she said.

The organisation also mentioned murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia as an example of a journalist receiving such threats. Caruana Galizia had numerous lawsuits pending at the time of her murder, with some of the lawsuits brought by UK firms, they said.

Shortly before her death, Caruana Galizia had received letters from the London office of the firm Mishcon de Reya asking for some of her blog posts to be deleted. Caruana Galizias sons had accused Mishcon of seeking to cripple the journalist financially. According to British media reports, Mischon specialises in bringing defamation cases and had been hired to defend the reputation of a client doing business in Malta.

Such suits are a particular problem for independent media outlets and other small organisations. They are financially draining and can take years to process. Faced with the threat of a lengthy litigation battle and expensive legal fees, many who receive such threats are simply forced into silence, the organisation said.

News outlets find themselves receiving a letter threatening expensive proceedings unless online articles are rewritten or removed altogether, and demanding an agreement not to publish anything similar in the future. The letters often tell the recipient that they cannot even report the fact that they have received the letter, Ginsberg said.

The Shift has also been threatened with SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) suits twice one by a Russian banker and another by Henley & Partners, Maltas concessionaire for the cash for passports scheme. The same firm also targeted Daphne Caruana Galizia prior to her assassination. In both cases, The Shift did not back down.

Meanwhile, the Maltese government has refused to ban the use of SLAPP suits in Malta.

The research project aims to interview journalists and media organisations across Europe about the extent of these threats and a final report containing recommendations for action will then be drawn up later in the year.

Link:
Index on Censorship project to expose 'vexatious' legal threats on journalists - The Shift News

Irans hardline authorities on Wednesday prepared for another round of protests by shutting down mobile Internet access to overseas sites in several restive provinces, an Iranian news agency reported.

Relatives of people killed last month during unrest over gasoline price hikes have called for renewed protests and commemoration ceremonies for the dead on Thursday.

The semi-official news agency ILNA quoted a source at the Communications and Information Technology Ministry as saying the shutdown was ordered by security authorities and covered the Alborz, Kurdestan and Zanjan provinces in central and western Iran and Fars in the south.

According to this source, it is possible that more provinces will be affected by the shutdown of mobile international connectivity, ILNA said.

In November, Iran shut down the Internet for about a week to help stifle the fuel protests which turned political, sparking the bloodiest crackdown in the 40-year history of the Islamic Republic.

The Internet censorship made it difficult for protesters to post videos on social media to generate support and also to obtain reliable reports on the extent of the unrest and government violence.

With Post wires

See the original post:
Iran censors internet on the eve of new protests - New York Post

This week, there was a whole bunch of hubbub over the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation airing an edit of the seminal 1992 holiday film Home Alone 2: Lost In New York in which Donald Trump's cameo was cut for time. Trump himself even claimed that this was somehow the nefarious doings of one Justin Trudeau as some kind of NATO-based revenge. On Thursday's edition of Fox and Friends, co-host Katie Pavlich claimed that this was obviously "censorship" and all the other co-hosts agreed that it was exemplary of "Trump Derangement Syndrome" and that the scene was cut because Canada itself was terrified to show that before Donald Trump was the New Hitler, he was a beloved cultural figure.

And sure, that was a thing. For a while. Right up until he started hollering at Rosie O'Donnell, and accusing President Obama of faking his birthplace and generally turning himself into a national joke. Lots of people have been beloved cultural icons prior to everyone figuring out they are actually horrible.

Anyway, the big problem with this very prescient take is that this particular edit happened not this year, but in 2014, back when "President Donald Trump" was still a bad Simpson's joke. So unless these editors had psychic powers of some kind and just knew that Donald Trump was going to run for president two years later on a platform of pussy-grabbing and racism, it really was just a not-very-important-scene being cut for time to make room for commercials.

On Friday's edition of The Five, on which Pavlich also appeared, she actually shockingly enough acknowledged this and admitted that she was wrong about it being "censorship."

Via The Daily Beast (where you can also watch the clip):

"I have to issue a correction," the conservative Fox host stated. "Because apparently this edit happened in 2014.""I was saying it would have been censorship if they did it now," she added. "Because it would have been political. But it happened before he was president. So I apologize for that. However, it is still stupid."

And that is probably the best anyone is getting out of her. Why it's stupid, we don't know. Maybe she feels as though this was a very important plot point in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York? I wouldn't know! As much as I do love Tim Curry and Catherine O'Hara, I don't think I've actually seen that movie since I was a child.

Just to be clear though, there's a reason they are doing this and as absolutely stupid and petty as it sounds, it's actually quite smart. In a way. It makes these people identify even more fiercely with Trump, it makes them feel like they have to step up and defend him from the mean liberals who won't even let him have his Home Alone cameo, and that creates loyalty like you can't believe. Are Trump, his supporters, or Fox viewers in general actually being "censored?" Of course not. But "I've been censored" is a lot easier on the ego than "No one wants to hear my shit." So the more Trump and Fox play up the "censorship!" and "freeze peach" angles on things, the more validated their target audience feels. They know they've got a winner with this particular line of bullshit, and they're not wrong.

The way this particular incident ended was perfect. It wasn't that Trump was being "censored," it was that the movie was edited well before he was ever president, and instead of looking like victims, they all looked like fools. All they needed was enough rope.

[The Daily Beast]

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Read more from the original source:
Fox News Lady Sorry She Insisted That Home Alone 2 Edit Was A Candian Plot To 'Censor' Trump - Wonkette

Many investors recognize Tencent (OTC:TCEHY) as the largest video game publisher in the world; the owner of WeChat, China's top messaging app; and a market leader in the digital-payment, advertising, and media-streaming markets.

When reviewing Tencent's financials, they'll likely focus on its core growth engines -- its gaming, digital advertising, fintech, and cloud businesses. However, those headline numbers only give us a surface-level understanding of the 21-year-old company. Today, we'll examine nine lesser-known facts about the Chinese tech giant.

Image source: Getty Images.

WeChat isn't just a messaging app that serves 1.15 billion usersmonthly. It's an all-in-one "super app" that lets users pay bills, order food, book tickets, hail rides, and more.

However, any messages and images sent on WeChat areautomatically scanned for taboo topics by AI algorithms. Offending messages are deleted, often instantly, to prevent China's cyberspace regulators from cracking down on the platform. This isn't surprising, but it's a controversial tactic that often frustrates the app's foreign users.

Tencent's first product was a clone of the messaging app ICQ called OICQ (Open ICQ).ICQ's owner, AOL, threatened tosue Tencent over trademark violations, and OICQ was rebranded as QQ, which expanded into a broader messaging ecosystem. Roughly 731 million people still use QQ on a monthly basis.

Last year, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) honored 100 individuals fortheir contributions to the country. That list included Tencent CEO Pony Ma, Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) CEO Robin Li, and Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) founder Jack Ma. Jack Ma is notably a member of the CPC, but Pony Ma and Robin Li are not affiliated with any political parties.

Chinese regulators crack down on tech companies for myriad reasons, so companies often go to great lengths to stay in the government's good graces. Tencent even launched a game two years ago to coincide with President Xi's speech during the 19th Congress of the CPC. That game, Clapping Hands for Xi Jinping, played a short video of Xi's speech, and players tried to clapas many times as possible within 19 seconds.

However, that fawning gesture didn't prevent China's regulators from suspending all new gaming approvals for nine months the following year and crippling one of Tencent's core businesses.

Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu are clearly subservient to China's government, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Three years ago, the Wall Street Journal claimed that the Chinese government wanted to buy1% stakes in Tencent and other domestic tech giants, gainspecial "management shares," and claim seats on the companies' boards. It's unclear if those plans are still in motion, but they indicate that the Chinese government wants to tighten its grip on its top tech companies.

Image source: Getty Images.

Two years ago, China's Ministry of Science and Technology recruited the BAT triumvirate and iFlytek to lead the development of new AI technologies.

The Ministry assigned Baidu to self-driving cars, Alibaba to smart cities, iFlytek to voice technologies, and Tencent to computer vision applications in healthcare. This complements WeChat's integration into China's hospitals, many of which accept WeChat Pay payments, and the expansion of its cloud business into the healthcare sector.

Tencent is the second-largest cloud platform provider in China after Alibaba, but it still trails far behind market leaders like Amazon and Microsoft in overseas markets. But that could change soon.

Tencent already operates data centers in the U.S., Canada, Singapore, India, and Germany, and it believes that it canmore than quadruple its overseas cloud revenue this year. It faces an uphill battle, but it could be an appealing choice for overseas companies that want to tether themselves to Tencent's ecosystem of social, advertising, and gaming services in China.

Tencent has invested in a long list of companies overseas, including Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Tesla Motors, Snap, and nearly 50 unicorn start-ups. That massive investment portfolio now generates over a quarter of Tencent's profits -- and results in big gaps between its GAAP and non-GAAP earnings.

Lastly, Tencent's largest stakeholder is South African internet group Naspers (OTC:NPSNY), which invested $32 million in the company in 2001. It sold someofits shares since then, but it stillowns a 31% stake -- which is worth about $150 billion today. Pony Ma ranks second in ownership with a 9% stake.

Link:
AI Censors and 8 Other Things You Didn't Know About Tencent - Motley Fool