Evolution of Censorship Moderated by International PEN president John Ralston Saul, the panel featured speakers from Egypt, Russia, Denmark, and Brazil. American-Egyptian analyst Mona Eltahawy begins the panel by stressing the importance of free speech for all in a free society. Meanwhile, Brazilian journalist Fernão Lara Mesquita emphasizes the importance of education in creating a culture in which people can accurately judge the actions of their government. Russian online newspaper editor Gregory Shvedov talks about the role of social media in the battle for human rights. As the panel closes, Danish lawyer Jacob Mchangama discusses an important recent development in international censorship.

Moderated by:

John Ralston Saul introduces the panel with an overview of the various forms censorship can assume, using examples from today’s world to illustrate. Dictators can be overt thugs, or they can employ more sophisticated methods to silence individual voices. The new Arab governments have been using many of the old regimes’ brutal tactics, while China, for example, continues to commit human rights abuses in a more subtle way. By convincing the world that it is addressing the issues of poverty and hunger, it shifts attention away from human rights, which it claims are secondary to the public’s more pressing needs. In describing just a few examples of modern-day censorship, John Ralston Saul underscores the magnitude of the task of establishing freedom of expression.


Panelists:

Mona Eltahawy is an award-winning Egyptian-American analyst and commentator on Arab and Muslim issues. Before moving to the United States in 2000, Eltahawy reported for various media from Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Libya, Syria, Saudi Arabia and China. She used to write a weekly column for the Saudi-owned international Arab publication Asharq Al-Awsat before her articles were discontinued for being "too critical" of the Egyptian regime. In light of the current social upheaval in the Middle East, she has been featured in broadcast and print for major networks such as ABC, CBS, PBS, HBO, and The New York Times.


Jacob Mchangama is director of legal affairs in the independent think tank Center for Political Studies (CEPOS) based in Copenhagen, where he focuses on advocacy and academic research in the fields of human rights and the rule of law. He is also an external lecturer in international human rights law at the University of Copenhagen. He has published numerous articles in international newspapers such as Wall Street Journal Europe, Globe and Mail, National Review, Reason, The Australian, South China Morning Post, Jerusalem Post, Hürriet Daily News, Voice of Russia, China Post, and Daily News (Egypt). He is a a frequent commentator in Danish TV and radio.


Fernão Lara Mesquita is a Brazilian journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the field. He is a member of the board of directors of Grupo Estado, which publishes the daily newspapers O Estado de S. Paulo and Jornal da Tarde and also controls a radio network and Agência Estado, the largest news agency in Brazil. Mesquita is the former director of the opinion page of O Estado de S. Paulo, a newspaper that has repeatedly faced censorship by the Brazilian government—including during the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1964 to 1985, and during the current democratic government.

Gregory Shvedov is an editor in chief of the 24/7 Internet news agency Caucasian Knot. It is covering events in each of the 20 regions of Russia’s North Caucasus, South Federal District and the independent South Caucasus. He also serves as director of the information agency MEMO.RU, which was founded in 2002 to motivate public for active citizen stand (by means of social marketing campaigns). In addition to the Caucasian Knot and MEMO.RU Gregory serves on Board of the International Memorial Society, where he was previously responsible for interregional cooperation between 80 branches.