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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social issues > Ethical issues & debates > Censorship
Journalist Allum Bokhari has spent four years investigating the
tech giants that dominate the Internet: Google, Facebook, YouTube,
Twitter. He has discovered a dark plot to seize control of the flow
of information, and utilize that power to its full extent-to
censor, manipulate, and ultimately sway the outcome of democratic
elections. His network of whistleblowers inside Google, Facebook
and other companies explain how the tech giants now see themselves
as "good censors," benevolent commissars controlling the
information we receive to "protect" us from "dangerous" speech.
They reveal secret methods to covertly manipulate online
information without us ever being aware of it, explaining how tech
companies can use big data to target undecided voters. They lift
the lid on a plot four years in the making-a plot to use the power
of technology to stop Donald Trump's re-election.
Featuring a timely and diverse cross-section of frequently targeted
titles, complete with many quotes and comments from authors whose
works have been challenged, this book will be an important tool for
library managers, children's and YA librarians, and teachers. In
our polarized environment, the censorship and outright banning of
children's books which some deem to be controversial or
objectionable remains a major concern for libraries. Intellectual
freedom champion Scales returns to the fray with a new edition of
her matchless guide, updating the focus to titles published since
2015 which have been the target of challenges. School and public
librarians, LIS students, and classroom educators will find the
assistance and support they need to defend these challenged books
with an informed response while ensuring access to young book
lovers. For each of the dozens of titles covered, readers will find
a book summary; a report of the specific challenges; quotes from
reviews, plus a list of awards and accolades; talking points for
discussing the book's issues and themes; links to the book's
website, additional resources about the book, and suggested further
reading; and read-alikes that have been challenged for similar
reasons.
What information about you is available on the Internet? What if
it's wrong, humiliating, or true but regrettable? Will it ever go
away? Teeming with chatrooms, online discussion groups, and blogs,
the Internet offers previously unimagined opportunities for
personal expression and communication. But there's a dark side to
the story. A trail of information fragments about us is forever
preserved on the Internet, instantly available in a Google search.
A permanent chronicle of our private lives-often of dubious
reliability and sometimes totally false-will follow us wherever we
go, accessible to friends, strangers, dates, employers, neighbors,
relatives, and anyone else who cares to look. This engrossing book,
brimming with amazing examples of gossip, slander, and rumor on the
Internet, explores the profound implications of the online
collision between free speech and privacy. Daniel Solove, an
authority on information privacy law, offers a fascinating account
of how the Internet is transforming gossip, the way we shame
others, and our ability to protect our own reputations. Focusing on
blogs, Internet communities, cybermobs, and other current trends,
he shows that, ironically, the unconstrained flow of information on
the Internet may impede opportunities for self-development and
freedom. Long-standing notions of privacy need review, the author
contends: unless we establish a balance between privacy and free
speech, we may discover that the freedom of the Internet makes us
less free.
In many parts of the world, oppositional publishing has emerged in
contexts of state oppression. In South Africa, censorship laws were
enacted in the 1960s, and the next decade saw increased pressure on
freedom of speech and publishing. With growing restrictions on
information, activist publishing emerged. These highly politicised
publishers had a social responsibility, to contribute to social
change. In spite of their cultural, political and social
importance, no academic study of their history has yet been
undertaken. This Element aims to fill that gap by examining the
history of the most vocal and arguably the most radical of this
group, Ravan Press. Using archival material, interviews and the
books themselves, this Element examines what the history of Ravan
reveals about the role of oppositional print culture.
A leading Democrat challenges his party to return to liberal values
and evidence-based science Democrats were the party of intellectual
curiosity, critical thinking, and faith in scientific and liberal
empiricism. They once took pride in understanding how to read
science critically, exercising healthy skepticism toward
notoriously corrupt entities like the drug companies that brought
us the opioid crisis, and were outraged by the phenomenon of
"agency capture" and the pervasive control of private interests
over Congress, the media, and the scientific journals. During the
COVID pandemic, these attitudes have taken a back seat to blind
faith in government mandates and countermeasures driven by
pharmaceutical companies and captive federal agencies, promoted by
corporate media, and cynically exploiting the fears of the American
people. A Letter to Liberals is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s, challenge
to "lockdown liberalism's" embrace of policies that are an affront
to once cherished precepts. Kennedy invites readers to look at the
data in order to answer questions such as: Did COVID vaccines
really save millions and end the pandemic? Why were the lowest
COVID death rates in countries and states that relied on
therapeutic drugs, and in countries with the lowest vaccination
rates? Did vaccines prevent infection or transmission as officials
promised? Why do COVID vaccines appear to show "negative
efficacy"--making the vaccinated more susceptible to COVID. Why
does the most reliable data suggest that COVID vaccines do not
lower the risk of death and hospitalization. Should government
technocrats be partnering with media and social media titans to
censor and suppress the questioning of government policies? And why
have so many liberals abandoned fundamental Constitutional
principles in their headlong rush to embrace pandemic policies
pushed by captured bureaucrats, feckless politicians, a compromised
news media, and Big Pharma? In his November 2021 book The Real
Anthony Fauci, which sold over 1,000,000 copies, Kennedy made
predictions that have matured from "conspiracy theories" to proven
facts. Among these: Masks Are Ineffective and Dangerous Social
Distancing Was Not Science-Based School Closures Were Not
Science-Based Lockdowns Were Counterproductive Vaccinating Children
Causes More Harm and Death Than It Averts Officials Wrongly Used
PCR Tests to Justify the Countermeasures COVID-19 May Have Come
from Wuhan Lab Natural Immunity is Superior to Vaccine Immunity
Kennedy throws down the gauntlet for the kind of vigorous
scientific debate that liberals have long stood for and strives to
ensure that unbiased honesty and well-researched thought is brought
to bear on one of the most important and still unfolding chapters
in human history.
A Wolfson History Prize Finalist A New Statesman Book of the Year A
Sunday Times Book of the Year "Timely and authoritative...I enjoyed
it immensely." -Philip Pullman "If you care about books, and if you
believe we must all stand up to the destruction of knowledge and
cultural heritage, this is a brilliant read-both powerful and
prescient." -Elif Shafak Libraries have been attacked since ancient
times but they have been especially threatened in the modern era,
through war as well as willful neglect. Burning the Books describes
the deliberate destruction of the knowledge safeguarded in
libraries from Alexandria to Sarajevo, from smashed Assyrian
tablets to the torching of the Library of Congress. The director of
the world-famous Bodleian Libraries, Richard Ovenden, captures the
political, religious, and cultural motivations behind these acts.
He also shines a light on the librarians and archivists preserving
history and memory, often risking their lives in the process. More
than simply repositories for knowledge, libraries support the rule
of law and inspire and inform citizens. Ovenden reminds us of their
social and political importance, challenging us to protect and
support these essential institutions. "Wonderful...full of good
stories and burning with passion." -Sunday Times "The sound of a
warning vibrates through this book." -The Guardian "Essential
reading for anyone concerned with libraries and what Ovenden
outlines as their role in 'the support of democracy, the rule of
law and open society.'" -Wall Street Journal "Ovenden emphasizes
that attacks on books, archives, and recorded information are the
usual practice of authoritarian regimes." -Michael Dirda,
Washington Post
In 1883 the editor of a penny newspaper stood trial three times for
the "obsolete" crime of blasphemy. The editor was G.W. Foote, the
paper was the "Freethinker", and the trial was the defining event
of the decade. This is a reconstructed account of blasphemy in
Victorian England, retelling the forgotten stories of more than 200
working-class blasphemers, such as Foote, whose stubborn refusal to
silence their "hooligan" voices helped secure the present right to
speak and write freely, and whose "martyrdom" transformed blasphemy
from a religious offence into a class and cultural crime.
The New Iranian Cinema is considered by many to be the most
fascinating cultural phenomenon produced within the Islamic
Republic of Iran. Containing twelve first-hand interviews with the
most renowned film-makers living and working in contemporary Iran,
this book provides insights into film-making within a society often
at odds with its rulers. Reflecting upon the 1979 revolution and
its influence on their work, as well as the effect of their films
on Iranian audiences, film-makers such as Abbas Kiarostami and
Jafar Panahi highlight the key issues surrounding the reception of
Iranian cinema in the West and also its role in the development of
Iran's global image. Through these conversations Shiva Rahbaran
reveals that the seeds of the New Iranian Cinema were sown long
before the revolution, and that Iranian film-makers gave rise to a
cinema which became a global phenomenon despite censorship,
sanctions and political isolation.
This groundbreaking two-volume set provides readers with the
information they need to grasp new developments in the swiftly
evolving field of media literacy. The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed media
literacy a "fundamental human right." How fitting that there is
finally a definitive handbook to help students and the general
public alike become better informed, more critical consumers of
mass media. In these A-Z volumes, readers can learn about
methodologies and assessment strategies; get information about
sectors, such as community media and media activism; and explore
areas of study, such as journalism, advertising, and political
communications. The rapid evolution of media systems, particularly
digital media, is emphasized, and writings by notable media
literacy scholars are included. In addition to providing a wide
range of qualitative approaches to media literacy analysis, the
handbook also offers a wealth of media literacy resources. These
include lists of media literacy organizations and national media
literacy programs, plus relevant books, websites, videos, and
articles.
A hard-hitting expose that shines a light on the powerful
conservative forces that have waged a multi-decade battle to hijack
the meaning of free speech -- and how we can reclaim it. There's a
critical debate taking place in this country over one of the most
fundamental pillars of our democracy: free speech. But what few
realize is that this debate is less a debate than a multi-decade
war waged by the rich to redefine free speech, further a
conservative agenda, and silence a progressive one. The Case
Against Free Speech takes readers into the battleground over this
foundational concept, from the backrooms of think-tanks where the
very definition of free speech is influenced by billionaires like
the Koch Brothers; to "safe spaces" on college campuses; to
neo-Nazi rallies protected by the police; and deep into the history
of who benefits from free speech. As Moskowitz shows, the rights
associated with free speech have always been reserved primarily for
those in power. The Case Against Free Speech offers a new politics
of speech, one that takes into account power, equality, and all our
civil liberties.
How did writers convey ideas under the politically repressive
conditions of state socialism? Did the perennial strategies to
outwit the censors foster creativity or did unintentional
self-censorship lead to the detriment of thought? Drawing on oral
history and primary source material from the Editorial Board of the
Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and state science policy
documents, Libora Oates-Indruchova explores to what extent
scholarly publishing in state-socialist Czechoslovakia and Hungary
was affected by censorship and how writers responded to
intellectual un-freedom. Divided into four main parts looking at
the institutional context of censorship, the full trajectory of a
manuscript from idea to publication, the author and their
relationship to the text and language, this book provides a
fascinating insight into the ambivalent beneficial and detrimental
effects of censorship on scholarly work from the Prague Spring of
1968 to the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Censorship in Czech and
Hungarian Academic Publishing, 1969-89 also brings the historical
censorship of state-socialism into the present, reflecting on the
cultural significance of scholarly publishing in the light of
current debates on the neoliberal academia and the future of the
humanities.
In this issue of Index on Censorship magazine, authors from around
the world including the former Observer literary editor Robert
McCrum, and Oxford University's Stuart White consider what clauses
they would draft into a 21st century version of the Magna Carta;
from Mexico a review of its constitution and its flawed justice
system; Turkish novelist Kaya Genc looks at the recent intimidation
against Turkish female writers and Natasha Joseph reports from
Johannesburg on allegations of witchcraft in South Africa, and how
people take action into their own hands. With reports from the
Ukraine and Russia on the information and propaganda war, and plus
new poetry and a previously unpublished play extract.
A groundbreaking and surprising look at contemporary censorship in
China As authoritarian governments around the world develop
sophisticated technologies for controlling information, many
observers have predicted that these controls would be easily evaded
by savvy internet users. In Censored, Margaret Roberts demonstrates
that even censorship that is easy to circumvent can still be
enormously effective. Taking advantage of digital data harvested
from the Chinese internet and leaks from China's Propaganda
Department, Roberts sheds light on how censorship influences the
Chinese public. Drawing parallels between censorship in China and
the way information is manipulated in the United States and other
democracies, she reveals how internet users are susceptible to
control even in the most open societies. Censored gives an
unprecedented view of how governments encroach on the media
consumption of citizens.
Today should be a Golden Age for free speech - with technology
providing more ways of communicating ideas and opinions than ever
before. Yet we're actually witnessing a growing wave of
restrictions on freedom of thought and expression. In Having Your
Say a variety of authors - academics, philosophers, comedians and
more - stress the fundamental importance of free speech, one of the
cornerstones of classical liberalism. And they provide informed and
incisive insights on this worrying trend, which threatens to usher
in a new, intolerant and censorious era.
This impassioned history tells a story of censorship and politics
during the early Cold War. The author recounts the 1950 Empire Zinc
Strike in Bayard, New Mexico, the making of the extraordinary
motion picture 'Salt of the Earth' by Local 890 of the
International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers, and the
films suppression by Hollywood, federal and state governments, and
organised labour. This disturbing episode reflects the intense fear
that gripped America during the Cold War and reveals the unsavoury
side of the rapprochement between organised labour and big business
in the 1950s. In the face of intense political opposition,
blackballed union activists, blacklisted Hollywood artists and
writers, and Local 890 united to write a script, raise money, hire
actors and crews, and make and distribute the film. Rediscovered in
the 1970s, Salt of the Earth is a revealing celluloid document of
socially conscious unionism that sought to break down racial
barriers, bridge class divisions, and emphasise the role of women.
Lorence has interviewed participants in the strike and film such as
Clinton Jencks and Paul Jarrico and has consulted private and
public archives to reconstruct the story of this extraordinary
documentary and the co-ordinated efforts to suppress it.
Since the mid-2000s, public opinion and debate in China have become
increasingly common and consequential, despite the ongoing
censorship of speech and regulation of civil society. How did this
happen? In The Contentious Public Sphere, Ya-Wen Lei shows how the
Chinese state drew on law, the media, and the Internet to further
an authoritarian project of modernization, but in so doing,
inadvertently created a nationwide public sphere in China--one the
state must now endeavor to control. Lei examines the influence this
unruly sphere has had on Chinese politics and the ways that the
state has responded. Using interviews, newspaper articles, online
texts, official documents, and national surveys, Lei shows that the
development of the public sphere in China has provided an
unprecedented forum for citizens to influence the public agenda,
demand accountability from the government, and organize around the
concepts of law and rights. She demonstrates how citizens came to
understand themselves as legal subjects, how legal and media
professionals began to collaborate in unexpected ways, and how
existing conditions of political and economic fragmentation created
unintended opportunities for political critique, particularly with
the rise of the Internet. The emergence of this public sphere--and
its uncertain future--is a pressing issue with important
implications for the political prospects of the Chinese people.
Investigating how individuals learn to use public discourse to
influence politics, The Contentious Public Sphere offers new
possibilities for thinking about the transformation of
state-society relations.
One of the original, and greatest defenses of free speech,
originally published as a written 'speech.' Please visiti
www.ArcManor.com for more works by this and other great authors.
In our latest issue, we look at the impact of the Russia revolution
of 1917 on the world today. From propaganda, film and literature as
well as politics our correspondents report from all corners of the
globe including Uzbekistan, China, Russia and Turkey. Writers for
this issue include David Aaronovitch on film, Khrushchev's great
grand daughter Nina Khrushcheva on living in the USA, and an
interview with author Margaret Atwood on a free speech wall,
science censorship and her childhood in the wilderness.
Throughout Western history, there have been those who felt
compelled to share a dissenting opinion on public matters, while
still hoping to avoid the social, political, and even criminal
consequences for exercising free speech. In this collection of
fourteen original essays, editors Han Baltussen and Peter J. Davis
trace the roots of censorship far beyond its supposed origins in
early modern history. Beginning with the ancient Greek concept of
parrhesia, and its Roman equivalent libertas, the contributors to
The Art of Veiled Speech examine lesser-known texts from historical
periods, some famous for setting the benchmark for free speech,
such as fifth-century Athens and republican Rome, and others for
censorship, such as early imperial and late antique Rome. Medieval
attempts to suppress heresy, the Spanish Inquisition, and the
writings of Thomas Hobbes during the Reformation are among the
examples chosen to illustrate an explicit link of cultural
censorship across time, casting new light on a range of issues:
Which circumstances and limits on free speech were in play? What
did it mean for someone to "speak up" or "speak truth to
authority"? Drawing on poetry, history, drama, and moral and
political philosophy the volume demonstrates the many ways that
writers over the last 2500 years have used wordplay, innuendo, and
other forms of veiled speech to conceal their subversive views,
anticipating censorship and making efforts to get around it. The
Art of Veiled Speech offers new insights into the ingenious methods
of self-censorship to express controversial views, revealing that
the human voice cannot be easily silenced. Contributors: Pauline
Allen, Han Baltussen, Megan Cassidy-Welch, Peter J. Davis, Andrew
Hartwig, Gesine Manuwald, Bronwen Neil, Lara O'Sullivan, Jon
Parkin, John Penwill, Francois Soyer, Marcus Wilson, Ioannis
Ziogas.
Winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature.
J. M. Coetzee presents a coherent, unorthodox analysis of
censorship from the perspective of one who has lived and worked
under its shadow. The essays collected here attempt to understand
the passion that plays itself out in acts of silencing and
censoring. He argues that a destructive dynamic of belligerence and
escalation tends to overtake the rivals in any field ruled by
censorship.
From Osip Mandelstam commanded to compose an ode in praise of
Stalin, to Breyten Breytenbach writing poems under and for the eyes
of his prison guards, to Aleksander Solzhenitsyn engaging in a
trial of wits with the organs of the Soviet state, "Giving Offense"
focuses on the ways authors have historically responded to
censorship. It also analyzes the arguments of Catharine MacKinnon
for the suppression of pornography and traces the operations of the
old South African censorship system.
"The most impressive feature of Coetzee's essays, besides his ear
for language, is his coolheadedness. He can dissect repugnant
notions and analyze volatile emotions with enviable
poise."--Kenneth Baker, "San Francisco Chronicle Book Review"
"Those looking for simple, ringing denunciations of censorship's
evils will be disappointed. Coetzee explicitly rejects such noble
tritenesses. Instead . . . he pursues censorship's deeper, more
fickle meanings and unmeanings."--"Kirkus Reviews"
"These erudite essays form a powerful, bracing criticism of
censorship in its many guises."--"Publishers Weekly"
"Giving Offense gets its incisive message across clearly, even when
Coetzee is dealing with such murky theorists as Bakhtin, Lacan,
Foucault, and Rene; Girard.Coetzee has a light, wry sense of
humor."--Bill Marx, "Hungry Mind Review"
"An extraordinary collection of essays."--Martha Bayles, "New York
Times Book Review"
"A disturbing and illuminating moral expedition."--Richard Eder,
"Los Angeles Times Book Review"
A global history of free speech, from the ancient world to today.
Hailed as the "first freedom," free speech is the bedrock of
democracy. But it is a challenging principle, subject to erosion in
times of upheaval. Today, in democracies and authoritarian states
around the world, it is on the retreat. In Free Speech, Jacob
Mchangama traces the riveting legal, political, and cultural
history of this idea. Through captivating stories of free speech's
many defenders - from the ancient Athenian orator Demosthenes and
the ninth-century freethinker al-Razi, to Mary Wollstonecraft,
Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and modern-day digital activists -
Mchangama demonstrates how the free exchange of ideas underlies all
intellectual achievement and has enabled the advancement of both
freedom and equality worldwide. Yet the desire to restrict speech
is also a constant, and he explores how even its champions can be
led down this path when the rise of new and contrarian voices
challenge power and privilege of all kinds. Meticulously
researched, deeply humane and provocative, Free Speech challenges
us all to recognise how much we have gained from this principle -
and how much we stand to lose without it.
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