Category Archives: News

News

Hong Kong pro-democracy anthem now officially banned in the city

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The ban has raised serious concerns about the future of freedom of speech in the autonomous region.

Composed in 2019 by a young musician using the pseudonym “Thomas dgx yhl”, the song was initially written to ‘boost protester’s morale and unite people’. It then rapidly went viral and was often sung during the 2019 anti-government protests that rocked the autonomous region.

The Hong Kong government has since demanded that Google and other online search engines delete the song from their system and so far, more than 30 videos have been blocked and replaced with the message: “This content is not available on this country domain due to a court order.”

The pro-democracy anthem is still available and obviously it can never be fully deleted. Songs will always live on and it only takes one person with the spirit of freedom pumping through their veins to play the song and upload it. Again, and again, and again.

Banning a song is a futile act of a desperate, weak and fearful government.

Please enjoy Glory to Hong Kong below and spread the word of freedom of expression and solidarity with artists and activists everywhere.

News

Over 100 bands withdraw from Great Escape music festival in solidarity with Palestine

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The campaign against the festival’s sponsor, Barclays Bank, has received support from such bands as Massive Attack, Brian Eno and Idles.

The reason why over 100 acts are pulling out from performing at the popular UK festival is that Barclays has substantial financial ties to arms companies that provide Israel with weapons.

According to The Guardian, a spokesperson for Bands Boycott Barclays said “Barclays is bankrolling the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and then laundering its reputation by partnering with music festivals like the Great Escape. As musicians, we think that’s despicable.”

Other artists, such as Tom Yhorke and Nick Cave have defended their stance on performing in Israel and not participating in ‘open letters’ and boycotts as they are a way of silencing artists.

Whether you are participating in the Great Escape or not, if you are a musician or if you represent an organisation within the music industry and you’d like to add your name to an open letter calling for the festival to drop Barclays as a sponsor – then you can do so here.

News

Dissident artist Toomaj Salehi sentenced to death for using his voice

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The well known rapper has regularly used his creative talents to voice his concerns about his oppressive government

Pro-democracy demonstrators marching for Iran in Washington, DC demand Toomaj Salehi’s release, Nov. 12, 2022. (Joe Flood/Creative Commons)

Salehi was essentially convicted of “corruption on Earth” after speaking publicly about the death of Mahsa Amini, his government’s oppression of his people and his song lyrics about poverty, executions and killing of protesters.

The Isfahan Revolutionary Court added further penalties to Salehi’s case which included forbidding him pursuing artistic activities.

Read also: ” Iranian Rapper Toomaj Salehi, Known For His Anti-Government Protest Songs, Has Been Arrested”

In a post by Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of the UN Watch, he shares a statement by human rights ambassadors from all across Europe in which they wrote: “Toomaj Salehi is one of the many powerful voices supporting the peaceful protests following Zhina Mahsa Amini’s death and demanding freedom and rights for women and girls in Iran.”

Via Amnesty International’s page you can sign your name and send a letter to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, urging the Iranian government “that his execution sentence, his prison sentence, and his artist ban all be voided, and that he be immediately and unconditionally released, as he is detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his human rights including his right to freedom of expression.”