Latest Censorship News
Pakistan's top cleric says use of VPNs is against Islamic laws as the government seeks to ban them
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's top body of clerics has declared the use of virtual private networks, or VPNs, against Islamic laws, officials said Monday, as the Ministry of Interior sought a ban on the service that helps people evade censorship in countries with tight internet controls. ...
As China cracks down on bookstores at home, Chinese-language booksellers are flourishing overseas
WASHINGTON (AP) — Yu Miao smiles as he stands among the 10,000 books crowded on rows of bamboo shelves in his newly reopened bookstore. It’s in Washington’s vibrant Dupont Circle neighborhood, far from its last location in Shanghai, where the Chinese government forced him out of business six...
Ben & Jerry's lawsuit accuses parent company of censorship over Gaza
Ben & Jerry’s has sued its parent company Unilever accusing it of silencing the ice cream maker from making statements in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war. The complaint, filed Wednesday in federal court in New York, says the multinational conglomerate has failed to...
Guatemalan court overturns order that freed journalist José Rubén Zamora, orders his return to jail
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A Guatemalan appeals court on Friday overturned the order freeing journalist José Rubén Zamora and ordered his return to jail. Zamora, founder of El Periódico newspaper, had spent more than two years in jail awaiting trial before a judge granted him house...
Brazil authorities link bombing in the capital to extremist discourse
SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice said Thursday that he believes the explosion outside the court in capital Brasilia was the consequence of frequent far-right attacks and hate speech targeting the country’s institutions. “It grew under the guise of a criminal...
German soccer club St. Pauli is leaving X, saying it has become a 'hate machine' under Musk
BERLIN (AP) — German soccer club St. Pauli is leaving the social media platform X, saying it has become a “hate machine” that could influence upcoming German elections. The left-leaning Hamburg-based Bundesliga club said Thursday said it was ending its activities on the...
Florida education officials report hundreds of books pulled from school libraries
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. “Forever” by Judi Blume. “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut. All have been pulled from the shelves of some Florida schools, according to the latest list compiled by the Florida Department of Education...
Azerbaijan accused of ramping up repression of critics ahead of hosting UN climate summit
As representatives from nearly 200 countries, along with hundreds of journalists, arrived in Azerbaijan in November for the U.N. climate conference known this year as COP29, they bring with them a level of scrutiny the hosts aren't accustomed to — and don't often tolerate. ...
Algeria opens book fair opens without winner of top French language literary prize
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — As one of the Arab world’s largest book fairs opens in Algeria on Wednesday, there is one conspicuous absence. French-Algerian author Kamel Daoud, who won France’s most prestigious literary award earlier this week, was not invited to this year’s event. ...
Trial opens in France in the beheading of a teacher over prophet cartoons
PARIS (AP) — The trial of eight people in Paris on terrorism charges started on Monday over the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty, who was killed by an Islamic extremist after showing caricatures of Islam's prophet to his middle school students for a lesson on freedom of expression. ...
