Daily Lessons from Life 20 August 2014 - Images, videos of beheaded journalist removed from Twitter

CHC Trial Updates - more Chew vs. Kong confrontation. OMG. Someone please called a halt. It is so mind-boggling! Still the faithful stand fast. Yes? Or maybe?

"Images, videos of beheaded journalist removed from Twitter - AFP 20 August 2014

WASHINGTON: Twitter on Wednesday (Aug 20) removed from its service photos and video of the beheading of a US journalist that had been posted online by jihadists.

The gruesome, almost five-minute-long video titled "A Message to America" surfaced Tuesday, confronting Twitter and other online platforms with a quandry over whether to allow their sites, normally committed to free expression, to be used to propagate graphic material like that in the video.

The video shows the execution of journalist James Foley by a masked militant and a warning that the group intends to kill a second captive journalist unless the United States halts air strikes in Iraq.

"We have been and are actively suspending accounts as we discover them related to this graphic imagery. Thank you," Twitter CEO Dick Costolo posted.

YouTube also removed the video from its site in accordance with its policy against "violent or gory content that's primarily intended to be shocking, sensational or disrespectful.""

Freedom of expression is the normal battle cry of the 'Western press and media' against the sometimes restrictive authorities in the Eastern world. Of course some authorities in the Western world as well as they practice the philosophy of 'responsible freedom of expression' like the Easter world authorities.

Lessons for me are:

1. with the spread of social media of all sorts like wild fire, unless those companies that control the channels put their feet firmly down on 'irresponsible freedom of expression', there is no way to stop it unless the government of the countries where these commercial enterprises operate banned them!;

2. the trouble is these 'dictatorial or authoritative governments' tend to use 'responsible freedom of expression' to stifle and suppress their local political opponents instead of being really interested in 'promoting and enforcing responsible freedom of expression'!;

3. it is good that these companies in the USA acted like they did. Bending a bit of the 'freedom of expression' on a case-by-case basis. As long as each case gets MORE positive than negative feedback, it must have met basic human decency and common-sense test. If not, the 'self-appointed censors' had probably gone overboard!

In Singapore, I like it that it is very clear on the out-of-bound marker (OB) of race, religion and language. What are not so clear is: those with political messages though non-Singaporeans participating in domestic political issues is a CLEAR CUT NO-NO.

Rest in peace Mr James Foley. You have chosen to be a free lance war reporter and you probably know that you can die on the job though not this 'beheading death'. Condolences to the family too.