(AFP Photo/Bulent Kilic) The Turkish parliament has recently passed a controversial piece of legislation that would exert tighter restrictions over internet users on what they can post. Under this legislation, it would allow Turkey's telecommunications agency to restrict a website that they would consider to be a threat to the state. According to AFP by Yahoo! News, "President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have already been repeatedly criticised for using court orders to block critical websites." This is not the first time that Turkey has attempted to control the media. On March 2014, Turkey... Continue reading

View Blog (Photo: Reuters) India is one of the fastest developing countries in the world. Their film industry has become a huge success, with Bollywood being the top money-making machine in the world . With the Indian film industry expanding, it has become no surprise when the Indian censors decided to ban 'Fifty Shades of Grey" from debuting in Indian theaters. Reuters stated that the Indian censor has been receiving growing criticism in recent times. Leela Samson, who was the chairman for several years at the Central Board of Film Certification, resigned earlier this year after accusing the federal government... Continue reading

Japanese protests against limitations of press freedom (Photo: European PressPhoto Agency) Recently, Japan has been the center of attention for media censorship in global media news. Since the execution of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, Japan has taken swift measures in reforming its freedom of the press. An example of how they are reforming their freedom of the press is by passing their secrets law, which took effective December 2014. According to The Wall Street Journal Japan: "Earlier this week, critics of what they see as the Japanese government’s suppression of press freedom regarding the hostage crisis issued a statement calling... Continue reading

(Photo: BBC News) North Korea, one of the most isolated countries in the world, runs its heavily state-controlled media for the population to absorb. It can easily spread the agenda of the regime through propaganda, and also through biased information. All publications through North Korea state media are widely accepted by the people as true and for their own good. One example of how North Korea can influence its population is the most recent news on its travel ban on foreigners to participate in the upcoming Pyongyang marathon due to the response of the Ebola outbreak. According to BBC News,... Continue reading

(Photo: AP) The Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA) stated that its determination of 36 breaches of broadcast rules have been committed, in divergent variations of severity, by state channels France 24, France 2, France 3, France 5, France Info, France Inter and RFI along with commercial broadcasters TF1, LCI, Euronews, Canal+, BFMTV, iTele, Europe 1, RMC and RTL. As The Local puts it: "The CSA said in a statement it recognized the broadcasters' role in 'ensuring the public is informed' but that had to be balanced against 'allowing law enforcement to fulfil their mission with the required effectiveness'." In this... Continue reading

(Photo: AFP/Philippe Huguen) The Charlie Hebdo magazine massacre that occurred on January 7th, 2015 has not been the first attack that France has experienced, and quite frankly, it may not be the last. The country as a whole has lost the chance to truly appreciate its cultural diversity, thus, consequently demonstrating bad effects from this lack of embrace. In comparison to the United States, a systematic approach for creating equal opportunities — such as affirmative action, or national quotas — has never existed in France. Citizens who are in a small social group of elites continue to strengthen their power... Continue reading

Egypt's highest appeals court on New Years Day ordered a retrial for three jailed journalists from Al Jazeera's English-language service, citing major procedural faults in a case that many rights activists have expressed as fraudulent. However, the decision offers no security that the journalists, who have been in jail for more than a year, will be released anytime in the near future. According to the New York Times, "The men were convicted in June on charges that included conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood to broadcast false reports, though prosecutors presented no evidence for such claims. All three were sentenced to... Continue reading