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  • Canadian cops admit to monitoring six journalists' phones

    by 
    Mariella Moon
    Mariella Moon
    11.03.2016

    Authorities in Quebec, Canada have admitted that Patrick Lagace wasn't the only journalist they spied on in recent years, according to The Star. Capt. Guy Lapointe, the spokesperson for the province's national police, has revealed that warrants were taken out to monitor the incoming and outgoing call and text log info of six local French-language journalists in 2013. While he didn't mention any names, five of the six found out through their own sources and came forward to identify themselves. One of them is Denis Lessard, the National Assembly bureau chief for La Presse, the same French-language newspaper that Lagace writes for.

  • Turkish PM blames riots on 'scourge' of social media, prefers the calm of state TV

    by 
    Sharif Sakr
    Sharif Sakr
    06.03.2013

    The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, has condemned social media as a "the worst menace to society" following a weekend of anti-government demonstrations across his country. He singled out the "scourge" of Twitter in particular, since protestors have been using that platform to share information and vent anger at the government. Small-scale riots started over plans to build a shopping mall or mosque (depending on who you believe) on the grounds of a popular park in central Istanbul, but they quickly spread to other areas and to a broader set of grievances about Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian stance. None of these disturbances were especially visible on national TV stations, however, as there have recently been heavy crackdowns on press freedom within Turkey. From the sound of it, Erdogan would prefer a more tightly controlled internet too -- or perhaps none at all. [Image courtesy of Adem Altan/Getty Images]