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La libertà di espressione
negli Usa dopo l'11 Settembre 2001 / Decine di casi di limitazione
ecensura documentati on line
Per aggiornamenti vai a: http://www.ncac.org/issues/freeex911.html  Per fortuna gli USA non sono solo Bush |
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Free
Expression After September 11th - An Online Index
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"There are reminders to all Americans that
they need to watch what they say, watch what they do, and that this is not
a time for remarks like that. … It never is"
- White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer
Following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, the National Coalition Against Censorship received repeated calls and e-mails from supporters, media, students and others concerned with free speech asking about censorship incidents arising from the attacks. Those who took the time to contact us are concerned that the events of 9/11 will result in incidents of government censorship and suppression of speech by private entities, as is often the case during times of crisis.
Because we share their concern, the National Coalition Against Censorship, in cooperation with other free speech organizatons, created this index so that those concerned with free expression will have one location that catalogs the various incidents of censorship and suppression of speech that are a direct result of the events of September 11th.
While we make no claim that the index contains all of the incidents of censorship and supression of speech from across the country we trust you will find our index helpful. And, if you'd like to make us aware of an incident in your community that you think we might not be aware of, I urge you to e-mail us.
Don't forget to bookmark this site because we'll be continually adding incidents.
INDEX OF INCIDENTS:
To view a list of incidents
involving colleges and universities please visit FIRE and
the Aftermath of September 11 compiled by the the Foundation for
Individual Rights in Education
American Civil Liberties Union
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Freedom Forum
Free Expression Network
National Coalition Against Censorship
People for the American Way
Student Press Law Center
Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection
of Free Expression
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In September
2001, officials at the Baltimore Museum of Art removed
a painting, acquired in 1990, titled "Terrorist" from the contemporary wing
"out of respect to visitors' sensitivities." The painting, an acrylic and
aliminum piece measuring 96 by 64 inches, featured three fragmented lines
- "TER," ROR" and "IST" in large black stenciled letters. An official from
the BMA later said that the work would be reinstalled with an accompanying
placard describing the artist's motive for the work.
Source - "BMA Pulls Art Bearing Word 'Terrorist'" - Baltimore Sun - 9/17/01, "Sensitivity Led to Removal of 'Terrorist' Art, BMA Says" - Baltimore Sun - 9/18/01
The Boston
Symphony Orchestra announced the cancellation of performances featuring
"The Death of Klinghoffer" in November and December 2001. "The Death of
Klinghoffer" is an opera by John Adams about Palestinian hijackers killing
a passenger on an American cruise ship in 1895. The Orchestra explained
that the reason for the decision was due to the events of September 11th
and concern by some that the opera was sympathetic to the hijackers.
Source - "Massachusetts: Symphony Cancels 'Klinghoffer'" - New York Times - 11/2/01
Within days
of the attacks, Clear Channel Communications circulated a list of songs
to its 1,200 channels across the country suggesting that they use good judgment
in playing any of the 150 songs on the list. Included on the list are obvious
songs such as "Jet Airliner" by the Steve Miller Band and "My City Was Gone"
by the Pretenders. The list also included such songs as "America" by Neil
Diamond and "Ruby Tuesday" by the Rolling Stones and many songs with a political
message such as all songs by the band Rage Against the Machine and "Imagine"
by John Lennon.
Source - Numerous sources
On the 9/17/01
edition of the TV show Politically Incorrect, host Bill Maher and
conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza discuss the events of September
11th. D'Souza refers to the attackers as "warriors" while Maher states that,
in comparison, the U.S. government has acted like cowards because it had
previously launched missles at targets thousands of miles away in contrast
to those who flew airplanes into buildings. Following news of the exchange,
such companies as Federal Express, Sears-Roebuck and Quizno's pull advertising
from Politically Incorrect and some local TV stations refuse to air
the show.
Source - Numerous sources
In October
2001, Newsday reported that it pulled the comic strip "The Boondocks" from
its paper because it criticized U.S. support of Osama bin Laden during the
Soviet/Afghanistan war. Newsday maintains that it took the action so as
to not offend New Yorkers. At the time the article was written, The Boondocks
was still not running in Newsday.
Source - "Drawing on the Headlines" - Newsday - 10/9/01
Washington
University in St. Louis refused to allow a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
on campus to provide coverage of a 9/20/01 student rally supporting restraint
and an international solution as a response to the events of September 11th.
Campus police refused the reporter entrance because she did not fulfill
University guidelines mandating that all media personnel be escorted by
a public affairs staff member and requesting of access to the campus through
the public affairs office.
Source - "Wash U Hampers Press Freedom" - St. Louis Journalism Review - October 2001
Tom Gutting,
city editor for the Texas City Sun was fired in September 2001 after writing
a column in which referred to President Bush as a "scared child seeking
refuge in his mother's bed after having a nightmare" for not returning to
Washington DC immediately after hearing about the attacks on September 11th.
Source - "Columnists Fired After Criticizing Bush" - Editor & Publisher - 9/27/01
In September
2001, Dan Guthrie, a columnist for the Grants Pass Daily Courier in Oregon
was fired after he wrote a column criticizing Bush for not being more visible
following news of the September 11th attacks
Source - "Columnists Fired After Criticizing Bush" - Editor & Publisher - 9/27/01
The National
Review and Denham Springs News (Louisiana) dropped conservative commentator
Ann Coulter's syndicated column from its website and terminated her as a
contributing editor. Her dismissal came after penning two consecutive columns
soon after the attacks. One recommended invading countries, killing their
leaders and converting them to Christianity. The other discussed "suspicious-looking
swarthy males" and a policy to require passports for domestic flights. The
National Review Online posted the first column but not the second. After
hearing of the decision to not run the second column, Coulter roudly criticized
the editors and was then dismissed.
Source - "National Review Cans Columnist Ann Coulter" - Washington Post - 10/2/01
In September
2001, the U.S. Department of State asked Voice of America, a U.S. government-funded
radio network, to refrain from running an interview with Mullah Mohammad
Omar, leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban saying that airing the interview
would be providing a means for terrorists to communicate their messages
and that it wasn't "newsworthy". After staffers protested, the State Department
relented and the interview aired on 9/25/01.
Sources - Numerous sources
In October
2001, National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice contacted the five networks
to caution them against running interviews of Osama bin Laden out of fear
that his televised addresses may contain hidden messages for his followers,
inspire his followers and frighten Americans.
Sources - "The Networks, Giving Aid to the Enemy?" - Washington Post - 10/12/01, "TV Networks to Limit Use Of Tapes From Bin Laden" - Washington Post - 10/11/01
Syndicated
radio host Peter Werbe's talk-radio show was dropped by radio station KOMY-AM
in Santa Cruz, California in early October 2001 after questioning U.S. military
actions in Afghanistan.
Source - "Uncivil Liberty" - Metro Santa Cruz Newspaper - 10/26/01
In September
2001, a freelance reporter from Oregon was told he could not interview a
researcher from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention because the
Department of Health & Human Services forbids all interviews having
to do with terrorism or disasters.
Source - "Panelists Tell Editors: Congressional Efforts to Protect Freedom
May Thwart It" - www.freedomforum.org - 10/15/01
A poll taken
by Pew Research Center for People & the Press in mid-October 2001 revealed
that 6 out of 10 Americans felt that the military - not news organizations
- should have more control over the news regarding the U.S. bombings in
Afghanistan and 50% believed that news organizations should not air speeches
by Osama bin Laden.
Source - Poll: Public Not Rattled by Anthrax Reports; Six in 10 Say Military Should Exert Control Over War News - Associated Press - 10/16/01
Someone claiming
to be a federal agent phoned Hypervine, an Internet service provider, to
inform them that they may be in violation of anti-terrorism laws and could
have their assets seized for allowing Cosmic Entertainment to air three
radio shows over the Internet. The three shows are IRA Radio, about Irish
news and politics, Al Lewis Live, a radio show hosted by ex-"Munster" Al
Lewis and Our Americas, a spanish-language show about rebels in Latin America.
After receiving the call, Hypervine shut down all three shows. The FBI has
declined to comment.
Source - "'Radical" Radio Shows Forced From the Net" - USA Today - 10/16/01
In October
2001, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency entered into an exclusive
agreement with Space Imaging, Inc. to purchase all of the rights of the
satellite photos that the company is taking of Afghanistan and surrounding
areas. The National Imagery and Mapping Agency is part of the U.S. Defense
Department and Space Imaging, Inc. is regarded as the best source in the
world for such high resolution satellite photos. While the Pentagon claims
that the agreement is meant to supplement the government's own satellite
images, some observers have pointed out that the agreement means that the
news media will no longer have access to such images and will, as a result,
be hampered from reporting on various basic aspects of military actions
in Afghanistan and will not be able to independently verify Pentagon claims.
Source - "Pentagon Corners Output of Special Afghan Images - New York Times - 10/19/01
In October
2001, NBC News White House correspondent, Campbell Brown, was contacted
by phone by a senior administration official who "gently chided' her for
tough questioning of Tom Ridge, the head of the Office of Homeland Security,
during a press briefing.
Source - "Bush Plans Speech With Coherent, Unified Message" - New York Times - 11/2/01
Patricia
Bowes, an art teacher at Addison Minzer Elementary School in Palm Beach
County, Florida was suspended for encouraging her students to express their
feelings about the events through their artwork. School officials later
say that the suspension had more to do with Bowes demonstrating to students
how a hijacker could take over a plane using a knife-like object after students
inquired.
Sources - "Boca Art Teacher Suspended Over Pupils' Sketches of Terror" - South Florida Sun-Sentinel - 9/19/01, "Suspended Teacher Demonstrated Hijacker's Possible Tactics" - Palm Beach Post - 9/21/01
On 9/18/01,
the Daily Californian, a student-run campus newspaper at UC Berkeley, ran
an editorial cartoon by syndicated cartoonist Darrin Bell. The cartoon featured
two Muslim Arabs in the hand of a demon and surrounded by flames discussing
their having made it to paradise. After the cartoon appeared in the paper,
student protestors declared a sit-in at the Daily Californian offices and
presented the paper with a list of demands including a printed apology.
When the paper refused to meet the protestors's demands the student senate
drafted a bill to raise the rent of the paper and subject all staffers to
mandatory sensitivity training.
Sources - "University of Censorship's Fall Semester" - San Francisco Chronicle - 10/11/01
In October
2001, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill, by a 200-1
vote, that would mandate that students recite the Pledge of Allegiance or
sing the national anthem during each school day unless the school had written
permission from a parent exempting their child.
Source - "Bill Would Compel Pledge or Anthem in Pa. Schools" - Philadelphia Inquirer/AP - 10/17/01
A substitute
teacher with the Pittsburgh Public Schools is suspended on 9/20/01 for writing
"Osama bin Laden did us a favor. He vulcanized us, awakened us and strengthened
our resolve" in the margins of a newspaper that he later threw away. The
teacher later had a chance to explain that he wrote the lines after hearing
them on a newscast and was using them for a book he's writing about making
the best of horrible situations. After further investigation, the teacher
was reinstated.
Sources - "Sub Teacher Fired Over bin Laden Note" - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - 9/21/01, "Substitute Teacher Gets His Job Back Pronto After Suspension for bin laden Writing" - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - 9/22/01
In September
2001, A fifth-grade student from Jefferson County, Missouri (near St. Louis)
was suspended for three days for drawing a picture of the World Trade Center
on fire and taping it to his study cubicle. When asked why he drew it, the
student allegedly did not answer but grinned. A spokesperson for the school
district said that the student was suspended for the grinning and not the
drawing itself.
Source - "School Suspends Buy Who Drew Picture of Attack, Then Grinned While Showing It" - St. Louis Post Dispatch - 10/4/01
In October
2001, A high school student from Fairview Park, Ohio was suspended for 10
days for displaying posters on his locker. The posters featured an eagle
with a tear drop and several had bombers drawn on them with messages such
as "May God have mercy, because we will not." School officials suspended
the student, Aaron Pettit, because they viewed the posters as threats against
Arab-American students. Pettit sued the school in federal court and was
reinstated.
Source - "Fairview Student Was Disciplined for Hanging Patriotic Posters" - 10/10/01 - Cleveland Plain Dealer
In Topeka,
Kansas, McCarter Elementary School officials implemented a policy whereby
students were forbidden to wear traditional Halloween costumes to school
and, instead, will only be allowed to wear costumes with patriotic themes.
Source - "School Nixes Traditional Costumes" - 10/24/01 - Topeka Capital-Journal
Jonnie Hargis,
an employee at the Young Research Library at UCLA, received an e-mail from
co-worker Michelle Torre that was sent to other employees at the library.
The e-mail contains "America: The Good Neighbor," a speech written by Canadian
Gordon Sinclair in the early 1970's. Hargis responded to the e-mail by calling
into question U.S. support of policies by Israel against Palestinians. Hargis
was subsequently suspended without pay for 5 days for violating a policy
that forbids sending unsolicited e-mails containing political, religious
or patriotic messages to library department lists. That policy was created
the same day that Hargis was suspended and Torre received no disciplinary
action. Hargis' union has since filed a grievance with the University
Source - "YRL Employee Punished for Political Mass E-Mail" - (UCLA) Daily Bruin - 10/4/01
In September
2001, the library staff at Florida Gulf Coast University were told to not
wear their "I'm Proud to be an American Stickers" because they might offend
foreign students at the school.
Source - "College's Librarians Barred From Wearing American Pride Stickers" - www.freedomforum.org - 9/19/01
In October
2001, a 22-year-old man was kicked off of two different flights, on the
same day, by United Airlines at Philadelphia International Airport because
airport security thought he might be a safety risk. The controversy began
when the man, Neil Godfrey, had his luggage randomly searched and it was
discovered that he had a copy of Hayduke Lives! a novel about a radical
environmentalist who destroys property. The book's front cover features
an illustration of a hand holding dynamite. After being questioned several
times by a variety of airport security, law enforcement officials and even
a National Guardsman, Godfrey was denied the opportunity to board his flight.
After returning home and contacting an United Airlines official, Godfrey was told he would be able to travel on a later flight. For the second flight, he chose a Harry Potter book. Upon returning to the airport, Godfrey's luggage was again searched, he was again questioned by airport security, law enforcement and a National Guardsman, his book again examined, and he was patted down. Ultimately, Godfrey was also denied the opportunity to fly on the second flight.
Source - "Novel Security Measures" - Philadelphia City Paper - October 18-25, 2001
When President
Bush visited Sacramento, California, approximately 30 anti-war protesters
attempted to move into a space where others were standing to view the president's
motorcade they were prevented from doing so by Sacramento police. A Secret
Service spokesman blamed the action on "miscommunication" between the Secret
Service and the local police.
