Freedom of expression
“Times are Changing” But Little has Changed for Ordinary Cubans
Whilst institutional changes in Cuban foreign relations make headlines in global media, the daily-lives of ordinary people on the island are yet to see huge improvements.
Yallah!: Underground Music in the Middle East
By Ratha Lehall On Monday 16 November, the Frontline Club hosted a screening of the documentary Yallah! Underground, a vibrant look at a diverse groups of Arab artists and musicians using culture to challenge the status quo. The film is set in the years prior to and during the Arab spring, and focuses on artists from […]
Screening: Yallah! Underground + Q&A
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Farid Eslam via Skype.
From the early days of the Arab Spring that sparked hopes for change to the years of instability and political tension that followed, this enthralling documentary follows the stories of young prominent underground artists from across the Middle East during the period of 2009 to 2013.
The New Censorship and the Global Battle for Press Freedom
By Josie Leblond What are journalists worth in an age where anyone can tell their own story online? Has their diminishing value led to the growing violence against journalists across the world? This is the argument that executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Joel Simon, put forward at the Frontline Club on Tuesday 17 March. […]
Charlie Hebdo attacks: “Blasphemy is a fundamental prerequisite of revolution”
By Richard Nield In a debate at the Frontline Club on 16 January 2015, in the aftermath of the attacks on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo on 7 January, a panel of expert commentators strongly backed the continued promotion of free speech and warned against responding to the attacks with a curtailment of rights and liberties. Members of the […]
Terror in France
France is in mourning after three days of violence that saw 17 of its citizens killed. Violent events began on Wednesday 7 January with the brutal attack on the offices of satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo and ended two days later with sieges on two hostage sites.
As the country begins to come to terms with what has happened, we will be joined by a panel to take a view of events and to discuss the repercussions for society and security in France. We will also be tackling the arguments around the use of freedom of expression.
Summer Screening: The Internet’s Own Boy – The Story of Aaron Swartz
As a teenager, programming prodigy Aaron Swartz took the Internet community by storm. His intellect and understanding matched its most seasoned members. Today, his fingerprints are all over the Internet, from his help in the development of the basic Internet protocol RSS to his co-founding of Reddit. But Swartz’s groundbreaking work in social justice combined with his aggressive approach to information access ensnared him in a two-year legal nightmare, with fatal consequences.
Screening: The Lost Signal of Democracy + Q&A
On the evening of 11 June 2013, the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras pulled the plug on ERT, Greece’s public broadcaster, after 75 years of continuous operation. The silencing of public television resulted in a political conflict and provoked protests in a country already divided. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Yorgos Avgeropoulos.
Screening: Shadows of Liberty + panel debate
Shadows of Liberty is an in-depth examination of the American media crisis and the decline of independent journalism as a result of the influence of corporate interests and government.
Screening: Shadows of Liberty + panel debate
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Jean-Philippe Tremblay. What impact has the decline of the newspaper industry and the growing influence of a few corporate giants had on objective news reporting? Shadows of Liberty is an in-depth examination of the media crisis in the United States, where 166 newspapers have folded […]
#FCBBCA with Timothy Garton Ash: Is it time for a global conversation on free speech?
As westerners face greater surveillance in the name of security, including threats of increased controls in the wake of the August 2011 riots, we will be joined by Timothy Garton Ash and a respected panel of experts to discuss what the historian and commentator has set out as the first principle of free speech: That all human beings must be free and able to express themselves, and to receive and impart information and ideas, regardless of frontiers.
Is it time to create a new global code that governs freedom of speech? We will be discussing this vital issue and examining what such a code would include.