P hotographer Spencer Tunick and the National Coalition Against Censorship organise a nude art action outside the Facebook's New York headquarters on June 2, when some 125 people posed naked in front of Facebook's building as Tunick
photographed them as part of the NCAC's #WeTheNipple campaign.
In response Facebook agreed to convene a group--including artists, art educators, museum curators, activists, and employees--to consider new nudity guidelines for images posted to its social-media platforms.
The NCAC said it will collaborate with Facebook in selecting participants for a discussion to look into issues related to nude photographic art, ways that censorship impacts artists, and possible solutions going forward.
However before artists get their expectations up, they should know that it is standard policy that whenever Facebook get caught out censoring something, they always throw their arms up in feigned horror, apologise profusely and say they will do
better next time.
An artist who redesigns President Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats into recognizable symbols of hate speech says she has been banned from Facebook.
Kate Kretz rips apart the iconic red campaign hat and resews it to look like other symbols, such as a Nazi armband or a Ku Klux Klan hood.
It all seems a bit hateful and inflammatory though, sneering at the people who choose to wear the caps. Hopefully the cap wearers will recall that free speech is part of what once made America great.
The artist said Facebook took down an image of the reimagined Nazi paraphernalia for violating community standards.
She appealed the decision and labeled another image with text clarifying that the photo was of a piece of art, but her entire account was later disabled. Kretz said:
I understand doing things for the greater good. However, I think artists are a big part of Facebook's content providers, and they owe us a fair hearing.
US Senator Josh Hawley formally filed the Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act (PCAGA) on May 23 2019. His proposal aims to ban what he considered manipulative video game features aimed at children. Hawley tweeted:
It's pretty simple. Video game companies shouldn't put casinos targeted at kids in their games.
Through the PCAGA, Hawley targets games that are aimed at minors and feature loot boxes and pay-to-win mechanics. He views these features as harmful to children--a way for game companies to monetize the addiction minors already experience by
playing video games, he claims.
The bill states that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will enforce these rules, if passed. Companies that violate the rules would be financially penalized. Additionally, the bill calls upon the FTC to submit a report to the Senate on the
psychological effects of pay-to-win mechanics and loot boxes on users and if such features induce compulsive purchasing behavior by minors.
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has already responded to the bill with its concerns , as CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis called the bill flawed and riddled with inaccuracies. He claims the impact is far-reaching and may negatively affect
the more than 220,000 Americans employed by the video game industry. He believes that control of any in-game purchases made by minors should be left up to parents, rather than the federal government.
This bill still has a long way to go to become law.
The Texas State Legislature has passed a bill criminalizing the electronic transmission of unrequested erotic material, including images of any person engaging in sexual conduct or with the person's intimate parts exposed or covered genitals of a
male person that are in a discernibly turgid state.
The bill, H.B. 2789 , was unanimously passed 31-0 by state senators from both parties. It is to take effect, after the governor signs it, on September 1, 2019.
The unprecedented legislation, called An act relating to the creation of the criminal offense of unlawful electronic transmission of sexually explicit visual material creates an offence:
if a person knowingly transmits by electronic means visual material that:
(1) depicts:
(a) any person engaging in sexual conduct or with the person's intimate parts exposed; or
(b) covered genitals of a male person that are in a discernibly turgid state; and
(2) is not sent at the request of or with the express consent of the recipient.
The bill classifies the offense as a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500.
When Bruce Lee was handed his first pair of nunchucks in the mid-1960s, he called the weapon a piece of junk, his training partner, Dan Inosanto, recalled recently.
Lee said the nunchucks were not as effective as sticks -- too fancy and too showy. Then he goes, This might be good for the movies.
And indeed they were good for the movies. But their popularity alarmed the authorities, in what many now see as a hysteria that echoed other racist fears of Asians. The police began arresting people for carrying what some called deadly weapons.
In four states, lawmakers banned them.
This month, after more than 40 years on the books, Arizona's ban, which one lawmaker called antiquated, was repealed. In December, a federal judge struck down New York's decades-long ban , saying it violated the Second Amendment, despite
arguments from officials that the weapons were dangerous and unusual.
The remaining state bans are in Massachusetts and California.
Alabama Public Television (APT) has banned a TV cartoon which shows a same-sex wedding.
The first episode of the 22nd series of children's programme Arthur features the character Mr Ratburn marrying his aardvark partner, Patrick.
But APT instead ran an old episode, and announced it had no plans to show the premiere. Programming director Mike McKenzie claimed that broadcasting it would break parents' trust in the network. He said in a statement:
Parents trust that their children can watch APT without their supervision, and that children younger than the 'target' audience might watch without parental knowledge.
Show creator WGBH and broadcaster PBS reportedly alerted local stations in April about the episode, and McKenzie said this was when they decided not to air the show.
APT previously refused to broadcast a 2005 episode of the series which depicted Buster, a rabbit, visiting a girl who had two mothers.
P 
An artist who redesigns President Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats into recognizable symbols of hate speech says she has been banned from Facebook.
US Senator Josh Hawley formally filed the Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act (PCAGA) on May 23 2019. His proposal aims to ban what he considered manipulative video game features aimed at children. Hawley tweeted:
The Texas State Legislature has passed a bill criminalizing the electronic transmission of unrequested erotic material, including images of any person engaging in sexual conduct or with the person's intimate parts exposed or covered genitals of a
male person that are in a discernibly turgid state.
Alabama Public Television (APT) has banned a TV cartoon which shows a same-sex wedding.
