17th July 2011
Syria – Who to Believe?
Two Syrias exist today. One is the Syria of the human rights groups; the activists; the free media of the West and the relatively free reporting of al-Jazeera. This Syria is one where the protesters peacefully, assertively and bravely protest against a regime that has no legitimacy; has brutally suppressed dissent; tortures children and has a profoundly embedded propaganda machine.
21st June 2011
Syrians Demonstrate to Support Peace
Reports from the mainstream media are portraying the current situation in Syria as part of the “Arab Spring” – a peaceful rebellion sweeping the Middle East that is ushering in a new dawn of democracy and rule of law. The Syrian government’s official line of an armed uprising killing security forces is often portrayed with derision by the Western media.
7th March 2011
China To Be First State to Openly Monitor Citizens’ Location
It may well appear innocuous enough: a simple, technologically-driven method of easing congestion, enabling the authorities to accurately plan the road, rail and bus networks of an over-populated and increasingly congested city. Welcome to the spin!
22nd February 2011
Libya and Bahrain Crackdown as Protests Spread in Middle East
In a terrible development in the protests in the Middle East and North Africa, Colonel Gaddafi has unleashed a violent crackdown upon protesters. Egypt and Tunisia fell to the demands of the people, with the former Tunisian leader and the former Egyptian leader submitting to the will of the people and relinquishing power.
10th January 2011
Twitter At Centre of Free Speech Battle
Twitter, the micro-blogging website, has found itself at the centre of a global free speech battle, as the US and China clampdown on the site and target human rights activists and Wikileaks workers.
1st January 2011
US Watching on the Basis of a Single Tip-Off
The United States has been keeping a “watch list” of those which they monitor due to suspicions that they may engage in terrorism-related activity. This list has been kept since 2001, and is a well used tool for US government agencies to track and identify those it suspects to be a danger to US security.
4th December 2010
Capitalist Clampdown on WikiLeaks
It seems that the sometime claim by the free market proponents that a capitalist system prevents an over-authoritarian government from suppressing free speech may not have much truth in it.
22nd September 2010
FBI Monitored Innocent Groups Under "Terrorism" Charge
Numerous groups and individuals were monitored by the FBI in the United States under the reasoning of anti-terrorism powers, yet there was scant evidence that there should have been an investigation in those cases, a review has concluded.
