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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Jordan king approves controversial media law |
| 2012-09-19 |
| Jordan’s King Abdullah II has endorsed controversial amendments to the press and publication law seen by online journalists as a threat to freedom of expression. The king on Monday night issued a decree approving the law in its new form, after parliament passed the amendments that require the country’s 220 news websites to obtain licences from the government, which can censor content and hold journalists liable for posted comments. The amendments also stipulate that website chief editors must be members of the Jordan Press Association. Journalists and rights activists have urged the king to reject the law. “We refuse to be terrorised,” read a banner carried by journalists during a sit-in on Saturday. “We have high hopes that the king will protect the media in Jordan,” read another banner. Human Rights Watch has also criticised the law. Of course they did, wringing their hands most earnestly as they did so... “The government has long imposed restrictions on how Jordanians may express their thoughts and opinions,” the New York-based watchdog’s senior Middle East researcher, Christoph Wilcke, said. “The state should be rolling back those laws, not extending them to online expression.” |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 To paraphrase Pink Floyd: "Forward! To the rear!" he cried, and the on-line died. |
| Posted by: Shinter Javirong9154 2012-09-19 14:10 |
| #1 Having a Palestinian pillow mate probably has some enfluence on King Ab's decision making. I believe this is the direction our Champ and Holder would like to move as well. I'm not certain how they might proceed with it, but it could involve prohibitions on alleged incitements to terrorist under a link to Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969).em> A Champ second term may be very, very interesting. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-09-19 04:00 |