Freedom of Speech Roundup

The future Beijing headquarters of The People's Daily newspaper, a daily and online publication known as a 'mouthpiece' for the CCP. Photo via Facebook group Trust Me, I'm an Architect.

Chinese Officials Prohibit Jokes About Phallic Building

Complex. All search queries of “People’s Daily” and “building” on the Chinese social media site Weibo yield the following message: “In accordance with relevant laws, regulations and policies, search results cannot be displayed.” Read here.

Bulgarian Journalist Threatened for Uncovering Communist Crimes

The Epoch Times. Investigative journalist Hristo Hristov and his family have been receiving death threats that, according to six members of the European parliament, “are directly related to his revelations.” Read the interview with Hristov here.

Interview: Libraries and Palestine

Counterpunch. This June, a delegation of librarians, archivists, and other library workers will travel to Palestine to connect with colleagues in library- and archive-related projects there. The hope is to shed light on Palestinian voices and bear witness to the destruction and appropriation of information in the area. In this interview the delegation discusses the planned trip, libraries in Palestine, and academic censorship. Read here.

‘Forbidden Voices’: Female Bloggers Fight for Freedom of Speech

CNN. A new documentary entitled Forbidden Voices follows the lives of female dissident bloggers from “across the globe,” including bloggers from Cuba (Yoani Sanchez), Iran (Farnaz Seifi), and China (Zeng Jinyan). Read here. 


Video: CNN.com

Syria and 7 Other Places the Internet Has Been Shut Off

PCMag This week Syria lost internet connectivity for 20 hours, possibly an intentional action by the country’s president, Bashar Assad. See a slideshow of countries that have lost internet access here.

Editorial Cartoonists Resist Censorship

KBIA Cartoonists Aseem Trivedi and Ali Ferzat have been jointly awarded the 2013 Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award by Cartoonists Rights Network International. Read more about Trivedi and Ferzat’s work here.

Writing Freedom Comes to Krakow

New Eastern Europe The Biannual PEN International WiPC Conference & ICORN Network Meeting is taking place in Krakow, Poland this month. 200 people from around the world are expected to attend to discuss the freedom to write and human rights issues. Read more about the conference here.

Battling Censorship Behind Bars

Salon Inmates in U.S. prisons can face huge restrictions on what kinds of writing they are permitted access to. Lou Johnson, an inmate in Gatesville, Texas, is an example of this. After being interviewed for a book on women prisons, she was unable to obtain a copy after the Texas Department of Criminal Justice censored the book. Read more about prison censorship here.