Freedom Of Expression

Freedom of expression has been threatened more seriously in Gaza than in any recent conflict, with journalists targeted in the war-torn territory and Palestinian supporters targeted in many countries, a United Nations expert said Friday. Irene Khan, the U.N. independent investigator on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, pointed to attacks on the media and the targeted killings and arbitrary detention of dozens of journalists in Gaza. The banning of Al Jazeera, the tightening of censorship within Israel and in the occupied territories, seem to indicate a strategy of the Israeli authorities to silence critical journalism and obstruct the documentation of possible international crimes, she said. Khan also sharply criticized the discrimination and double standards that have seen restrictions and suppression of pro-Palestinian protests and speech. She cited bans in Germany and other European countries, protests that were crushed harshly on U.S. college campuses, and ...

In a deepening crackdown, Mali's ruling junta on Thursday banned the media from reporting on activities of political parties and associations, a day after suspending all political activities in the country until further notice. The order, issued by Mali's high authority for communication, was distributed on social media. The notice said it applied to all forms of the media, including television, radio, online and print newspapers. Mali has experienced two coups since 2020, leading a wave of political instability that has swept across West and Central Africa in recent years. Along with its political troubles, the country is also in the grip of a worsening insurgency by militants linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The scope of the ban or how it would be applied in practice was not immediately clear. It was also not known if journalists would still be allowed to report on issues such as the economy, which are closely tied to politics and who would monitor their work. Th

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed Disney's free speech lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, leaving the company's remaining hopes of regaining control of the district that governs Walt Disney World to a separate state court challenge. US District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee said in his decision that Disney lacked standing in its First Amendment lawsuit against the Republican governor, the secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and DeSantis' appointees to the Disney World governing district. The separate lawsuit is still pending in state court in Orlando. Disney had argued that legislation signed by DeSantis and passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature that transferred control of the Disney World governing district from Disney supporters to DeSantis appointees was in retaliation for the company publicly opposing the state's so-called don't say gay law. That 2022 law banned classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in .

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Freedom of speech and expression cannot be allowed to go beyond the limits of reasonableness otherwise it could lead to disastrous consequences, the Bombay High Court has said. A single bench of Justice Milind Jadhav made the observation on Tuesday while upholding the termination of service of an employee with Hitachi Astemo Fie, an auto parts manufacturing company. The employee was terminated after he uploaded two posts of Facebook against the company. The company had approached the HC challenging an order of a labour court reversing the termination of the employee for putting provocative posts against Hitachi. Justice Jadhav in the order said the posts were directed against the company with a clear intent to incite hatred and were provocative. "A strong message needs to be sent out against such acts," the court said adding such acts should be nipped in the bud. "Freedom of speech and expression cannot be allowed to be transgressed beyond reasonableness. If that is allowed, it c

The Press Club of India on Saturday condemned the killing of a reporter of a Hindi daily in Araria town of Bihar. Vimal Kumar Yadav (35), who worked for a Hindi daily, was killed at his residence in Premnagar village on Friday. "The impunity with which such attacks on journalists are carried out is unacceptable and must be addressed effectively," the Press Club of India said in a statement here.

Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra on Tuesday charged that people's freedom of speech and right to work are being attacked in the country, and said it is "worrying" for democracy. Dotasra, who unfurled the tricolour at the Rajasthan Congress headquarters, said the Congress is working to keep the country united, maintain brotherhood and strengthen it as per constitutional values. The way people's freedom of speech and right to work are being attacked in the country, it is worrying for democracy of our country, he said. Dotasra also charged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Parliament through a "conspiracy", but our Constitution and judiciary is so strong and transparent that he got justice and the right to speak in the Lok Sabha. He said the Congress is united against the "agenda of weakening democracy, intimidating people and spreading hatred". Dotasra said the biggest threat to democracy has become how people's representatives are being ...

The decision drew harsh criticism from the supporters of free speech in the country

The groups said that the new IT Rules would censor journalism and severely jeopardise freedom of expression

The Allahabad High Court has dismissed the petition filed by one Nandini Sachan of Jhansi district, seeking quashing of an FIR that accused her of propagating obscene content on social media

A statement made by a minister cannot be attributed vicariously to the government even when applying the principle of collective responsibility, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice S A Nazeer said no additional restrictions against free speech can be imposed except those mentioned under Article 19(2) of the Constitution. "Statement made by a minister even if traceable to any affairs of state or protecting the government cannot be attributed vicariously to the government even applying the principle of collective responsibility. "Fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) can be exercised even against other instrumentalities other than the state," the bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai, A S Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian, said. Justice B V Nagarathna, who was also part of the bench, wrote a separate judgement and said freedom of speech and expression is a much needed right so that citizens are well informed and educated on ...

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said he has no personal feelings about who manages Twitter, but he is very interested in how the platform is managed, underlining the importance of combating hate speech and ensuring freedom of expression, especially of journalists, on social media platforms. I have no personal feelings in relation to who manages a platform. I am very interested in about how the platform is managed, he said here on Monday. Guterres was responding to a question during his end of the year press conference on whether he thinks Twitter's owner Elon Musk was a threat to free speech and would he be relieved if the billionaire stepped down as head of the social media platform. Twitter users had voted on Monday for Musk to quit as head of the social media giant in a poll the technology tycoon ran on his future and promised to abide by its results. A total of 57.5 per cent of people voted "yes" after the 51-year-old billionaire asked his 122 million followers whethe

Harnessing dissent can help us develop faster and better

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said there is a propaganda that there is no freedom of expression in India, but that is not the truth

The report found that Meta faced criticism and potential reputational risks related to risks of hateful or discriminatory speech by end users.

Earlier this month, about 26 activist organisations and NGOs signed a letter to Twitter advertisers asking them to boycott the platform if Musk makes content moderation changes

The Twitter deal may only move ownership from one set of private hands to another, but the fact that the world's richest (and controversial) billionaire is involved seems to make it worse

Musk was responding to a tweet about board members' stock holdings, saying that with the departure of Jack Dorsey, the board "collectively owns almost no shares."

Naidu called for observing decency in public utterances and said that writers and thinkers are expected to create intellectual discourse in society, not trigger controversies

Activist Sudha Bharadwaj, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, was on Thursday released from a prison here on bail, after spending three years in jail