In 1791, in an attempt to stop the publication of the first part of Thomas Paine’s seminal work, The Rights of Man, the British government tried to buy up the copyright.
The publisher refused to sell.
The following year, after the second part of the work was published, the government tried a more direct tactic, charging Paine with seditious libel and treason.
Outraged, Paine listed the things his book had done—exposing fraud, ending war and promoting universal peace—stating “if these things be libellous … let the name of libeller be engraved on my tomb.”
More than 200 years on, governments around the world still endeavour to suppress damning information, violating the right to freedom of expression and targeting those responsible for exposing it.
Today, the US government is attempting to overturn an earlier ruling blocking Julian Assange’s extradition. The appeal of the extradition hearing, scheduled to last two days, is
— source aljazeera.com | Stefan Simanowitz |