Dec 24, 8:25 AM EST
Watchdog: Beijing Threatens Free Speech
By ANITA CHANG Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) -- A Beijing city regulation clamping down on people who send text messages that "spread rumors" or "endanger public security" is a threat to freedom of expression, a watchdog group said Monday. ...
... Beijing police will work with government agencies and telecommunications companies to investigate and punish those using text messages to "spread rumors" or "endanger public security," the city government said in a notice posted on its Web site late last month.
Chinese authorities commonly use vague charges such as those to detain dissidents or others it views as a threat to the ruling Communist Party. ...(full article)
But don't be fooled, the Chinese Communists aren't the only authoritarians busy trying to control communication.
Labor Board Restricts Union Use of E-Mail
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE - Published: December 23, 2007
The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that employers have the right to prohibit workers from using the company’s e-mail system to send out union-related messages, a decision that could hamper communications between labor unions and their membership.
In a 3-to-2 ruling released on Friday, the board held that it was legal for employers to prohibit union-related e-mail so long as employers had a policy barring employees from sending e-mail for “non-job-related solicitations” for outside organizations.
The ruling is a significant setback to the nation’s labor unions, which argued that e-mail systems have become a modern-day gathering place where employees should be able to communicate freely with co-workers to discuss work-related matters of mutual concern. ...(full article)
And it's even a local thing
Blogs Are Changing at KGMI.COMAnd speaking of controlling communication;
By Debbie Chavez
... So, after much thought, KGMI is taking a leadership role on this issue. We will no longer allow the automatic posting of comments regarding our staff blogs. Instead, we ask that you email the individual staff blogger with your comment, and it will be up to that blogger to decide whether or not to post your comment. ...
... Some comments may be posted online at our discretion.
(KGMI blog: HERE)
Locally there's been a great deal of conversation about mean, ugly and down-right libelous blog comments. On the local newspapers website, that's a legitimate discussion. But it's utter hypocrisy coming from News/Talk Radio KGMI, which broadcasts local and syndicated right-wing talk. Ugly personal attacks, intentional misinformation and eliminationist propoganda are the stock-in-trade of right-wing talk-radio. KGMI is part of the problem, it incites it's conservative listeners to mean spirited incivility.
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