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Dubai, like Saudi Arabia, provides the censorship as a public service. The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pervasively filters Web sites that contain pornography or relate to alcohol and drug use, gay and lesbian issues, or online dating or gambling. Web-based applications and religious and political sites are also filtered, but less. Additionally, legal controls limit free expression and behavior, restricting political discussion  online. the news media,the internet service provider(ISP) and internet-based content provider in the UAE all face legal controls on expression and access to information. The UAE uses the SmartFilter filtering software to block nearly all pornography, gambling, religious conversion, and illegal drugs sites tested. The state also blocks access to all sites in the Israeli top-level domain. The topics which sensitive for the UAE are offensive views  to adherents of Islam. These include pornography, gambling, homosexuality, and other cultural issues. Conversion of Muslims to other faiths is a sensitive issue. they censor content and they provide an contact address to the government department in charge.   I don't especially like what Dubai is doing, but I think it is better than what China is doing.

Google censorship in China .....

Internet censorship in China is among the most stringent in the world. The government blocks Web sites that discuss the Dalai Lama, the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square protesters, Falun Gong, the banned spiritual movement and other Internet sites.

In January 2010 ,government adopted this policy to restricts one of the world’s high profile companies ,as Google .announced that this company must stop their operations in China unless its search engine results were filtered .China  responded that companies doing business in the country must follow the law .Google closed its internet search service in march 2010 and began directing users in China to its uncensored search engine in Hong Kong .Google attempt to skirt censorship requirements without making any trouble with Chinese law ,it appeared to anger official in China . Weeks later, Google signaled a softer approach to Beijing, saying it had created a Web page that offered users in mainland China a choice, rather than automatically directing them to its Hong Kong site.

Increasing censorship annoy Jordanian

Imad  al –Ash a computer science student was arrested by the government ,intelligence organization known here as the mukhabarat .the mukhabarat accused him to posting critical remarks about king’s policies on the jihadi website  but Al-Ash steadfastly denies all. slandering the royals in Jordan is a crime .he said slandering the royals is crime but without a copy of the post in question .Despite ,they don’t have hard evidence which Al-Ash had written the post .a military court senrenced the student to two years in prison .Jordan has struggled to find a balance between free speech and its old restriction on the internet as more and more of its citizens go online. “In the old media, it was easier for the government to control the content, but the internet has now given the ordinary citizen an unprecedented opportunity to be a journalist,” said Yahia Shukkeir, a local journalist and expert on media and internet censorship in Jordan.

when
u attack Black people, they call it Racism. when u attack Jewish
people, they call it Anti-semetism. when u attack women, they call it
Sexism. when u attack homosexuality, they call it Intolerance. when u
attack ur Country, they call it Treason. when u attack a religious
sect, they call it hate. But when ... they......... attack ... ...the Prophet Mohammad they call it "freedom of speech"

The problem of access block to you tube from turkey

Access to YouTube was first blocked in 2007 by the İstanbul 1st Criminal Court of Peace because of videos that contained insults to the person of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. When YouTube removed the content from its website, access was granted once more. However, similar videos were uploaded to YouTube again in 2008, therefore the ban was reinstated, and a Turkish prosecutor announced that as long as the offensive videos were not removed completely from YouTube's global database, the ban would remain and this restriction also continue . As YouTube has no official representation in Turkey, these calls to remove the videos have not been resolved.

Internet censorship in iran

Iran uses one of the most extensive technical filtering systems in the world .by using this strong system they can to block the foreign blogs and social network such as face book and etc. All internet traffic in and out of Iran travels through one portal the telecommunication company of Iran (TCI) though a few service providers operate below it .this make it easier to monitor traffic. And also decisions on blocking are made by a committee of government officials .in Iran filtering is done by the telecommunication ministry ."The authorities can filter a new website within 24 hours," said Mahmood Enayat, an Iranian expert at the Oxford Internet Institute. "They monitor very intensively. It's not really that sophisticated as they use domain names rather than key words, but that's still enough to stop users' access."

Internet Censorship in U.S.A

American congress by offering two bills which designed to limit material on the internet “clean up” indecent material that are available in the internet .these bills were named the Communications Decency Act and Child online Protection Act .the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) didn’t accept it and they fought against this bill that stated : “whoever uses any interactive computer service to display in a manner available to a person under 18years of age, any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image, or other communication that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards, sexual or excretory activities or organs . . . shall be fined under Title 18, or be imprisoned no more than two years, or both.”


Clearly ,by this bill government considered “patently offensive”. of course ,what may be is offensive for one person may be not be for another .reasoning for the destruction of this bill was that government attempt “to censor cyberspace abridges the freedom of speech protected by the first amendment”

The most recent Internet censorship proposal was viewed in the Child Online Protection Act. In this act stated that “whoever knowingly . . . makes any communication for commercial purposes [by means of the World Wide Web] that is available to any minor and that includes any material that is harmful to minors shall be fined. . ., imprisoned. . . , or both.” (ACLU v. Reno) This act has been proposed and voted on, but a federal judge has blocked enforcement of the bill. Both of these bills are attempting to regulate private Internet organizations’ thoughts, expressions, and ideas. Many people thinking Internet censorship limiting individuals of their freedom to expression, and speech. Frederick Schauer states:



“the separation between the individual and government is central to the Free Speech Principle, and this feature is often lost when . . . we conflate social intolerance and governmental intolerance”

Government believes that it knows what is best for society.

However there is a more efficient way helps to control material on the internet, by use the some software programs which designed to filter inappropriate material ,parents can allow their children to use the internet and enjoy of this without any damage .and they don’t be worry about the viewing inappropriate images or movie and also ideas.

The history of freeedom of speech ,part 2:

1859 On the Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin, expounds the theory of natural selection. TH Huxley publicly defends Darwin against religious fundamentalists.



1929 Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, of the US Supreme Court, outlines his belief in free speech: 'The principle of free thought is not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought we hate.'



1948 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is adopted virtually unanimously by the UN General Assembly. It urges member nations to promote human, civil, economic and social rights, including freedom of expression and religion.



1958 Two Concepts of Liberty, by Isaiah Berlin, identifies negative liberty as an absence or lack of impediments, obstacles or coercion, as distinct from positive liberty (self-mastery and the presence of conditions for freedom).



1960 After a trial at Old Bailey, Penguin wins the right to publish D H Lawrence's sexually explicit novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover.



1962 One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn describes life in a labour camp during Stalin's era. Solzhenitsyn is exiled in 1974.



1989 Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issues a fatwa against Salman Rushdie over the 'blasphemous' content of his novel, The Satanic Verses. The fatwa is lifted in 1998.



1992 In Manufacturing Consent, Noam Chomsky points out: 'Goebbels was in favour of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you're in favour of free speech, then you're in favour of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise.'



2001 In the wake of 9/11, the Patriot Act gives the US government new powers to investigate individuals suspected of being a threat, raising fears for civil liberties.



2002 Nigerian journalist Isioma Daniel incenses Muslims by writing about the Prophet Mohammed and Miss World, provoking riots which leave more than 200 dead.



2004 Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh is killed after release of his movie about violence against women in Islamic societies.



2005 The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act bans protest without permit within 1km of the British Parliament.

media censorship in U.S.

We debated over is the right to censor media ? programs of radio and television are controlled by government in order to keep programs doesn’t be harmful and offensive for American public .is this disobey on the right to freedom of speech ? according to the American Library Association ,censorship is the change in the access status of material ,made by a governing authority .such changes include :exclusion ,restriction ,removal or age grade level.censorship has limited newspapers ,television ,radio ,etc, not allowing them the right to free speech .this discussion is not only about media ,we want to know by these advanced technologies such as internet and its programs and day to day forward movement of it ,new problems has evolved .should the internet be restricted and regulated by government in order to protect today’s children ,or does this limited an individual’s right to free speech ?

Government may regulate or censor speech if it has a binding interest ,is a public concern ,or threatens national safety. William Turner writes that” Government may not restrict or penalize speech because of its content or its viewpoint .It must be remain neutral in the market place of ideas”

later I will explain more about the internet censorship in this country .:))

the history of freedom of speech ,part 1:

For the first time,in 399BC Socrates speaks to jury at his trial: 'If you offered to let me off this time on condition I am not any longer to speak my mind... I should say to you, "Men of Athens, I shall obey the Gods rather than you."'



1215 Magna Carta, wrung from the unwilling King John by his rebellious barons, is signed. It will later be regarded as the cornerstone of liberty in England.



1516 The Education of a Christian Prince by Erasmus. 'In a free state, tongues too should be free.



1633 Galileo Galilei hauled before the Inquisition after claiming the sun does not revolve around the earth.



1644 'Areopagitica', a pamphlet by the poet John Milton, argues against restrictions of freedom of the press. 'He who destroys a good book, kills reason itself.



1689 Bill of Rights grants 'freedom of speech in Parliament' after James II is overthrown and William and Mary installed as co-rulers.



1770 Voltaire writes in a letter: 'Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.



1789 'The Declaration of the Rights of Man', a fundamental document of the French Revolution, provides for freedom of speech .



1791 The First Amend-ment of the US Bill of Rights guarantees four freedoms: of religion, speech, the press and the right to assemble



1859 'On Liberty', an essay by the philosopher John Stuart Mill, argues for toleration and individuality. 'If any opinion is compelled to silence, that opinion may, for aught we can certainly know, be true. To deny this is to assume our own infallibility.'

Censorship in Australia

responsibility for censorship in Australia is divided between the states and the federal government .As we know Australia is federation .censorship of vidio ,games and internet sites in Australia are considerd to be rigid in the western world .In Australia the Federal Parliment has the power under the Australian constitution to make laws relating to communications and customs.under the communications power the federal government can regulate the broadcast media such as television and radio ,online services (internet)and under the customs power the import and export of printed matter ,audiovisual recording and computer games.
A collection of both federal and state laws apply, but the most important is the federal legislation which came into effect on January 1, 2000.If a complaint is issued about material on the Internet, the ACMA( Australian Communication and Media Authority) is empowered to examine the material under the guidelines for film and video. If it is found that a) the material would be classified R18+ or X18+, and the site does not have an adult verification system, or b) the material would be refused classification:


 If the site is hosted in Australia, the ACMA is empowered to issue a “takedown notice” under which the material must be removed from the site.

 If the site is hosted outside Australia, the site is added to a list of illegal sites.

 This list of illegal sites is then added to filtering software, which must be offered to all consumers by Internet Service Providers and Australian Government.

Definition

As Wikipedia adequately puts:"Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship or limitation, or both."


Nevertheless in practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute.

This bring few other terms such as "symbolic speech", "hate speech" and "protected speech".

In fact Symbolic speech is a legal term in United States law used to describe actions that purposefully and discernibly convey a particular message or statement to those viewing it, but Hate speech is a general term which occurs outside the law, any communication which disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race or sexual orientation.

The freedom of speech right is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) it stands in this particular definition:"The right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression."

By looking through history the Conception of freedom of speech can be found in early human rights documents.

The European Enlightenment,(the era in Western philosophy and intellectual, scientific and cultural life, centered upon the eighteenth century in which reason was advocated as the primary source for legitimacy and authority) was a crucial turnpoint in gradual emerging of the right to freedom of speech and expression.

In England’s Bill of Rights 1689,and French Revolution in 1789 it was adopted and specifically affirmed .In French Revolution it was called an inalienable right.

And UN had adopted it in 1948 as this statement :

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

" LET ME TALK ,LET ME TALK ABOUT MY OPINION "

freedom of speech is freedom to speak and sharing your idea without any censorship and limitation .