Americas Censorship News

Supervisory inspectors

Cuba has passed a new law that gives the government Inspectorate the power to close down any exhibition or performances that are considered a violation of the socialist revolutionary values of the country.

The law, known as decree 349, published in July, allows so-called 'Supervisory inspectors' to censor cultural events ranging from art exhibitions to concerts, and to immediately close any of them if they saw it as denigrating the value of the country. They also have the right to confiscate a license for business of any restaurant or bar host an 'undesirable' event.

The decree applies to obscene speech, vulgarity, sexism, excessive use of force and more.

Despite the claim that the authorities are trying to reduce the degree of resentment in society, cultural representatives still cal the law fascist.

Canada has several province based film censors but Manitoba is now set to close down its own film censor and use the ratings from another province instead.

Culture Minister Cathy Cox said that she's started the dismantling of the Manitoba Film Classification Board and replacing it with the classifications designated by Consumer Protection British Columbia.

Cox told reporters she saw no problem accepting the standards of another province, especially one with an NDP government. She that this was not about cost to the state but was concerned with censorship costs borne by distributors. She said:

This is not about cost. The distributors pay the costs of classifying films shown and sold, and video games sold in stores in Manitoba. This is making it easier for distributors. This is an opportunity to reduce our footprint and to reduce red tape.

Her staff later supplied figures that the state censors had classified 377 films in Manitoba in 2016-2017.

Film festivals would be permitted under Cox's changes to classify their own films or use classifications provided by other jurisdictions