#UK / Landmark success at employment tribunal for academic sacked over Israel comments
[…] A university academic who was sacked after making comments criticising Israel has successfully claimed at an employment tribunal that he experienced discrimination based on his anti-Zionist belief in a landmark ruling.
[…] Professor David Miller was also found to have been unfairly and wrongfully dismissed by the University of Bristol in October 2021.
A university academic who was sacked after making comments criticising Israel has successfully claimed at an employment tribunal that he experienced discrimination based on his anti-Zionist belief in a landmark ruling.
Professor David Miller was also found to have been unfairly and wrongfully dismissed by the University of Bristol in October 2021.
[…] Before I took my case, it was unclear whether a belief in the idea that #Zionism is a racist, imperialist, and colonial ideology could be protected under the Equality Act 2010 as a philosophical belief. I’m proud to say that, with this case, we have proven that anti-Zionist beliefs, of the sort that I articulated, should be protected.
[…] I hope this case will become a touchstone precedent in all the future battles that we face with the racist and genocidal ideology of Zionism and the movement to which it is attached.
[…] This verdict is also a vindication of the approach I have taken throughout this period, which is to say that a genocidal and maximalist Zionism can only be effectively confronted by a maximalist anti-Zionism. The self-justifying and defensive approach of the sort illustrated by many on the left and even in the Palestine Solidarity movement will not work. The Zionist movement cannot be negotiated with. It must be defeated.
"Meanwhile, with a “jawboning” case pending before the US Supreme Court, the federal government has stopped sharing information with platforms for fear that putting any pressure on companies to remove content will be seen as a violation of the First Amendment."
... which it seems pretty obvious that it is. As are any attempts to weaken section 230 and make platforms liable to law suits for making independent moderation decisions.
If we're going to say that platforms are publishers, and responsible for the content posted on them, then we need to defend their editorial independence as vigorously as we do for other publishers. If governments can lean on platforms to moderate in their favour, then they can also lean on the news media to tweak reporting in their favour.
This is clearly censorship, by even the most narrow, US-centric definition of the word.
Polish populist nationalists occupied public television premises overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday to protest against the announced reforms of the national channel – widely considered to be a propaganda tool for the previous government.
The sit-in comes as Prime Minister Donald Tusk continues his mission to reform state television and radio in the country.
In Georgia, 'journalism is no longer considered safe'.
Is Georgia ready to join the European Union? The 27-member bloc will decide in December. Officials in Brussels have stressed there's room for improvement on media freedom, amid growing government pressure on journalists.
The European Parliament on Tuesday voted in favour of stronger rules protecting press freedom and journalists.
The so-called Media Freedom Act, proposed in September 2022 by the European Commission, aims to enforce greater transparency of media funding, the protection of outlets from political pressure and the defence of journalists from spyware, such as Pegasus.
1/4 📰 @edri and 77 civil society and journalists' associations are calling on @Europarl_EN to ensure that journalists are completely protected from #spyware in the European #MediaFreedom Act #EMFA.
When a car bomb killed Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, Brussels promised action to better protect journalists.
The European Commission last year forwarded a directive to combat strategic lawsuits against public participation (or SLAPPs), which are used to censor and silence public critics.
Her son, Andrew Caruana Galizia, however, says the new anti-SLAPP law would not have helped his mother.
Russian prosecutors on Tuesday declared the independent TV station Dozhd to be an "undesirable" organisation.
Dozhd, which means "Rain" in Russian, moved from Russia to Latvia shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It later moved its offices to the Netherlands.
The channel had already been banned by Moscow, but the new designation means any staff or donors in Russia can be prosecuted.
Freedom of expression and media freedom are firmly anchored in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. It's considered important for democratic societies to be able to tolerate a variety of opinions, even if they offend religious sensibilities.
However, provocations against religious communities repeatedly spark debate about the limits of this freedom.
1/2 📨 #OpenLetter: 80 civil society, media, publishers and broadcasters organisations, and trade unions are calling on @EP_Justice to BAN #spyware deployment against journalists without exceptions in the European #MediaFreedom Act
The recently adopted @EUCouncil approach to the EMFA would permit the use of intrusive spware against journalists on the basis of 'national security' reasons
✊🏾We are urging @EP_Justice MEPs to oppose this and ensure that the EMFA meaningfully protects journalists.
EU governments want a broad legal carve-out to continue to use #spyware such as #Pegasus against reporters.
Governments are "taking dangerous steps towards legalising unacceptable forms of #surveillance against #journalists and their #sources. If confirmed, these changes would kill all the potential the European #MediaFreedomAct#EMFA has to stop spyware scandals in the EU," says @edri's @chlobemy
EU gov'ts have agreed that using #spyware against reporters (+learn about their sources) is OK wherever a #journalist is suspected of any offence punishable by 5+ years in prison; or punishable by 3+ years if it's on the EU arrest warrant list. You know, horrific things like "computer-related crime", "swindling" or the "facilitation of unauthorised residence."
The European Parliament must absolutely oppose this.
#EU report finds that #journalists & #media outlets in #Serbia face pressure, intimidation, harassment, & attacks. Meanwhile, the wider media market is distorted by a lack of transparency of media ownership & state financing. Via @globalfreemedia