A mother in North Tyneside, UK set off a bit of a British media frenzy last week with her request to remove a version of Sleeping Beauty from her six-year-old son’s school curriculum because the story might suggest to “children…
Tag: uk
London Cartoon Censorship Exhibit Ends Friday
Persecuted cartoonists from around the world are in the spotlight this month at London’s Westminster Reference Library, which is hosting the exhibition “Gagged,” featuring “cartoons about censorship and repression of cartoonists from around the world.” The free exhibit is on…
Daughter of Detained Bookseller Asks Foreign Governments to Pressure China
The daughter of Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai, who has been held in an undisclosed location on the Chinese mainland since October 2015 on suspicion of trafficking in banned books, pleaded once again this week for the governments of Sweden…
Sedition Laws a Legacy of Colonialism Worldwide
For many Americans, the criminal offense of sedition–that is, criticism of the government–probably conjures up the notorious but short-lived Sedition Act of 1798, which played an important role in the election of 1800 but was allowed to expire the following…
Horror Comics Blamed for 1950s Scottish Vampire Panic
The year was 1954. The location: Glasgow, Scotland’s Southern Necropolis, a massive graveyard harboring over 250,000 sets of mortal remains. Over a span of three nights that September hundreds of children under the age of 14 reportedly assembled there with…
British Satire Comic Bewildered by Facebook Block
The satirical British comic Viz is back on Facebook after the social networking giant blocked its page and threatened it with a permanent ban for unspecified violations of “Facebook Terms and Community Standards.” The page was apparently restored on appeal, even…
Suppressed 1978 Judge Dredd Stories to be Republished Next Year
Two legendary Judge Dredd storylines that were suppressed by their original publisher in 1978 amid concerns about copyright infringement will finally see the light of day again, after a recent change in UK law provided firmer protections for parody and…
Zunar to Tour Europe Ahead of Sedition Trial
In the final weeks before his trial on nine counts of sedition is set to begin in Malaysia, cartoonist Zunar will embark on a whirlwind European tour with several speaking engagements from Oct. 26 to Nov. 4. Although the events…
London Gallery Removes Toy Dioramas from Free Speech Exhibit Amid Terrorism Fears
A London gallery hosting an annual freedom of expression exhibit last week pulled a series of satirical photo dioramas after police raised concerns about “potentially inflammatory content” that could anger Islamic State or other extremists. The photos by pseudonymous…
Spiegelman New Statesman Cover Pulled Amid Dispute Over Mohammed Comic
The most recent issue of the UK’s New Statesman magazine, on the theme of “Saying the Unsayable,” was originally slated to feature a cover by Art Spiegelman. But the legendary creator of Maus pulled the cover “at the very last…