Cambridge students removed from Assange talk for alleged recording

[Robb]

Source: Journalism.co.uk

Two members of the Cambridge University union society were removed from a talk by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange yesterday due to suspicions the event may be being recorded, according to student media.

A strict ban was placed on the use of visual or audio recording equipment of Assange's appearance at the university, while journalists were also barred from attending.

Around 800 people were understood to have turned up to see Assange speak, with a queue for entry stretching more than 40 metres long.

In a report published by Varsity, the student newspaper for the University of Cambridge, it was alleged that two members of the audience were "escorted off the premises during the talk for allegedly using recording equipment."

Read more: http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/cambridge-students-removed-from-assange-talk-for-alleged-recording/s2/a543233/

[Poll_Blind]

1. Still beating that drum, Robb?

Good luck with that...

PB

[Robb]

2. I'm struck by the irony

...of you attacking the messenger, accusing him of attacking the messenger. :D

[Poll_Blind]

3. You're posting unconfirmed allegations from a student newspaper in Late Breaking News.

:shrug:

PB

[Robb]

4. Brilliant.

Attacking the messenger's messenger for attacking the messenger.

I will need a second cup of coffee. :thumbsup:

[bemildred]

5. I hope we can get a transcript of what he had to say. nt

[Bragi]

6. So how about the unsafe nuke reactor story?

I'm looking for the pro-secrecy forces at DU wanting to rush to condemn Wikileaks for releasing cables showing that Japan was warned years ago about safety problems with its reactors?

Hello? Hello?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8384059/Japan-earthquake-Japan-warned-over-nuclear-plants-WikiLeaks-cables-show.html

[MineralMan]

7. The irony is palpable here.

The champion of open information access prohibits the recording his own words. Priceless. Not surprising, but priceless irony nonetheless.

[Bragi]

11. Not really

I can see why anyone who is under attack from the MIC, the White House and other forces for repression, while being subjected to legal attack, wanting to control as best he can how his words are reported and used.

There is also a big difference between the kind of transparency that should obtain for governments versus private individuals, but that may be too real-world nuanced and serious a distinction for you.

[MineralMan]

17. Yes, really. There's nothing private about Assange. He is a

public figure by his own choice. He is Wikileaks. As such, what he has to say is public information, and should be out in the open, just as he puts other information out in the open. Sorry, but he chose his medium and his message. If he's speaking to a group, he's speaking in public, and should have no problem with public dissemination of what he has to say.

The double standard is simply ironic.

[Bragi]

18. If I had a torture state trying to detain me, I'd be careful too

Seems like a moot point anyway. As another poster pointed out, it was the group to whom he was speaking who set the ground rules, and other appearances by him have been open and in public.

[CBGLuthier]

8. Wow, Assange doesn't want people to know what he is saying?

What a fucking hypocrite.

[Bragi]

9. Please don't use "Wow" to start sentences

I say that because it's a weak over-used cliche with noi more meaning than an exclamation point.

It suggests that the person using it spends too much time reading political blogs.

Don't take this personally. I am on a one-person crusade to remove this phrase from political discourse.

[wtmusic]

10. Wow. Good luck with your crusade. nt

[Bragi]

13. Thanks. I'll bet you'll use it less from here on in. /nt

[wtmusic]

14. Not guilty of that one very often

although I am on my own crusade to challenge people who answer my "Thank yous" with "No problem."

And it drives me crazy when my wife does her nails in the car.

Other than that, I'm easy.

[Bragi]

15. Thanks for not using THAT WORD to open sentences

So what bothers you when people say "No problem" in response to someone saying "Thanks"?

[wtmusic]

16. "Thank you" is an expression of gratitude, not an apology

There is an implicit assumption the thanker has something to apologize for.

[wtmusic]

12. Some context

Speaking to another student title before the event, The Tab, president of the union society Lauren Davidson insisted that a press ban "is the norm".

"A lack of press presence is our default position, as opposed to the other way round," she is quoted as saying.

Sounds to me like it was a rule set up by the union which Assange went along with. I'm not aware of him making this demand at other speaking engagements.

[superduperfarleft]

20. Beat me to it, thanks. n/t

[superduperfarleft]

19. Wow, did you read the entire article?

"Speaking to another student title before the event, The Tab, president of the union society Lauren Davidson insisted that a press ban "is the norm".

"A lack of press presence is our default position, as opposed to the other way round," she is quoted as saying."

[Robb]

21. Yes, the Frontiers of Freedom Institute has the same policy. (nt)

[superduperfarleft]

22. So? n/t

[fascisthunter]

23. "...president of the union society Lauren Davidson insisted that a press ban "is the norm".

looks like this has little to do with Assange.... what a misleading headline.

[EFerrari]

24. And yet the breakneck rush to bash Assange.

lol

Iirc, there was a link to a stream yesterday on twitter.