Pakistani political cartoonist Sabir Nazar is lucky. He’s currently in Washington, DC for a six-month fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy, just as extremist attacks against journalists are ramping up in his home country. A few days ago he…
Tag: asia
What Does Japan’s New Child Porn Law Mean for Manga and Anime?
Although production and distribution of underage pornography have been illegal in Japan for (only) 15 years, possession of it currently is not. That will change later this month, when a law passed last week by the country’s House of Representatives…
Twitter Complies With Pakistan Censorship Requests
Not so long ago, Twitter stood out among social media companies for its defense of free speech. Unlike Facebook, which has a habit of blocking content first and asking questions never, Twitter and its chief lawyer Alexander Macgillivray tended to…
Fukushima Residents, Government Criticize Manga’s Depiction of Health Effects From Radiation (Maybe)
Over the past few weeks, the popular Japanese cooking manga Oishinbo has come under fire from residents and government officials of Fukushima Prefecture, who say that it inaccurately depicts the effect of radiation exposure on visitors to the nuclear plant…
Barefoot Gen Reportedly Returned to Izumisano School Libraries
We’re slowly getting more details on last week’s news that Keiji Nakazawa’s manga Barefoot Gen had been banned from yet another Japanese school district. According to major sources including Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun, Izumisano City officials planned to return…
Anime Series Changes Timeslots After Complaints to Japanese Watchdog Group
An anime series featuring erotically charged scenes between stepsiblings will be moved from 10:30 p.m. to the early morning hours on Japanese TV after the non-governmental Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization (BPO) launched an investigation into complaints about “heavy…
When Creative Expression Has Consequences, Is Censorship Far Behind?
The climate of the video gaming industry has long been riddled with controversy on the content of various titles: Are they too violent? Are they capitalizing on war as a form of entertainment? Are they objectifying women? While these may…
Explore Comics Censored in China
We’ve told you before about a few examples of memes, cartoons, and other images being censored on China’s Twitter-like microblogging site Sina Weibo. An army of 150 censors police Weibo’s 500 million users, deleting anything they find that might displease…
Censorship 2013: Comics Editors Convicted of Obscenity
Earlier this month, CBLDF received word that editors of the popular Japanese comics publication Core Magazine pleaded guilty to charges of obscenity. The conviction marks an escalation in the assault on free expression in the Japanese manga industry by Tokyo…
Core Magazine Pleads Guilty in Japanese Obscenity Case
In July, three people, including Akira Ōta, who heads the editorial department at Core Magazine, were arrested in Japan amid accusations of obscenity. According to CBLDF’s source in Japan, the Core Magazine case went to court, and despite predictions of a…