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Over at Gareth Renowden’ s Hot Topic blog the ‘Climate cranks claim a scalp‘ post has been removed with the following disclaimer:

This post removed at the request of The Listener and their friends at Bell Gully.

He provides some explanation here and here.

The story has created quite a little storm in the blog sphere including a couple of reproductions (PDF) of the offending article, so as is often the case with such heavy handed slaps the story just gets bigger. When will they learn??

Continue reading ‘Hot Topic in hot water’

The top 25 censored stories from 2007 so far #3 is ‘Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger’ which is something pretty close to my heart. The rest are pretty US biased which perhaps shouldn’t be surprising.

Here’s the rest of the list:

#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US
#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo
#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
# 7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians
#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed
#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines
#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup
#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US
#15 Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner
#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court
#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda
#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story
#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever
#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem
#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers
#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed
#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe
#24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year
#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region

Read more here

That is the kaupapa behind the Amnesty irrepressible campaign.

It’s a campaign for freedom on the internet and freedom itself. People are imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information. The Internet is a new frontier in the struggle for human rights. Governments – with the help of some of the biggest IT companies in the world – are cracking down on freedom of expression. Amnesty International, with the support of The Observer UK newspaper, is campaigning to show that online or offline the human voice and human rights are impossible to repress.

I’m down with that.

I just got this email from Amnesty International…

Dear Irrepressible supporter,

It’s now a year since the launch of our global campaign against internet repression, and we’ve come a long way in putting issues of web censorship high on the agenda for organisations and governments worldwide.

But we need to do more.

Join Amnesty International and The Observer online for a unique, interactive global event.

When: Wednesday 6 June
18:30 (UK), 19:30 (Europe), 13:30 (EST), 10:30 (PST)
Where: Online at www.amnesty.org.uk/webcast

On 6 June we will use the internet to link activists from around the world to discuss the struggle against internet repression, and to celebrate the irrepressible human desire for freedom of expression.

We will also launch a news hub, that will enable you to link news stories about internet repression to the Irrepressible website.

The event will be chaired by BBC journalist, Clark Boyd.

* Listen to a preview (Quicktime or RealPlayer required).
* Find out more about other participants, including Jimmy Wales from Wikipedia and Sami Ben Gharbia, a Tunisian cyber-dissident.

Wherever you are, you can watch the debate live by webcast, ask questions, and make comments.

We hope you will be able to join us in cyberspace.

Best wishes

Nick Dearden
Business and Human Rights Team