Iran warns Charlie Hebdo magazine of similar fate to Salman Rushdie

Iran warns Charlie Hebdo magazine of similar fate to Salman Rushdie
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has warned France and Charlie Hebdo magazine’s editors that they may face the same fate as Salman Rushdie after publishing cartoons mocking Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (AFP/File)
Short Url
Updated 11 January 2023

Iran warns Charlie Hebdo magazine of similar fate to Salman Rushdie

Iran warns Charlie Hebdo magazine of similar fate to Salman Rushdie
  • ‘Do not play with Muslims,’ says military chief
  • The publication of the cartoons has resulted in increased animosity between Iran and France

DUBAI: The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has warned France and the editors of Charlie Hebdo magazine that they may face the same fate as Salman Rushdie after the magazine published more cartoons mocking Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Rushdie has received death threats since the 1980s when he published his controversial book “The Satanic Verses.”
He spent nearly 10 years in hiding as the book sparked outrage in Islamic countries, and in 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, then supreme leader of Iran, issued a fatwa — an Islamic ruling — ordering Muslims to kill the author.
Rushdie was stabbed last year at a literary festival in New York, where he sustained severe injuries.
“I advise the French and directors of the Charlie Hebdo magazine to take a look at the fate of Salman Rushdie,” said Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, according to Iran’s Mehr News Agency on Tuesday.
“Do not play with Muslims. Salman Rushdie insulted the Qur’an and the Holy Prophet of Islam 30 years ago and hid in dangerous places.”
Charlie Hebdo last week published the winning cartoons in a competition that called for people around the world to draw the most offensive caricatures of the ayatollah as an act of support toward the protest movement in Iran.
The publication of the cartoons has resulted in increased animosity between Iran and France, with the former closing down the French Institute for Research.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the closure of the institute a “first step” in response to the cartoons, and said it would “seriously pursue the case and take the required measures” to hold France accountable.
In the face of these threats, the satirical magazine doubled down and published a magazine cover that mocks Iran again this week. The cover depicts mullahs entering and exiting a naked woman’s womb while her legs are splayed. “It took us a week to find the exit,” reads the caption.
An editorial inside described the cyberattack on Charlie Hebdo’s website after the publication of the special edition last week, which the magazine is investigating but said was “highly likely” to have been carried out by Iran.
The editorial read: “A computer attack does not cause deaths, but it sets the tone.
“The mullahs’ regime would feel so in danger that it would consider it vital for its existence to hack the site of a French newspaper.
“It is an honor but above all proof that their power feels very fragile.”


Nobel-winning Russian editor: “I know Gershkovich, he’s no spy“

Nobel-winning Russian editor: “I know Gershkovich, he’s no spy“
Updated 31 March 2023

Nobel-winning Russian editor: “I know Gershkovich, he’s no spy“

Nobel-winning Russian editor: “I know Gershkovich, he’s no spy“
  • Dmitry Muratov told Reuters the case against Gershkovich was part of a wider trend to make journalism a "dangerous profession" in Russia
  • More than 260 publications have been closed, blocked or de-registered since then, he said

MOSCOW: A Nobel prize-winning Russian journalist said on Friday he did not believe that arrested American reporter Evan Gershkovich was a spy, and that he hoped diplomacy could bring about his quick release.
Dmitry Muratov told Reuters the case against Gershkovich — a Wall Street Journal reporter facing espionage charges that carry up to 20 years in jail — was part of a wider trend to make journalism a “dangerous profession” in Russia.
“I know Gershkovich. I’ve met him two or three times over the last year. I know the practice exists of using journalists as spies, intelligence officers and ‘illegals’ (undeclared spies) — this is not that kind of case,” Muratov said.
“He was no kind of so-called deep-cover operative — using being a journalist and his journalist’s accreditation as a cover for espionage ... Gershkovich was not a spy,” said Muratov, a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his efforts to defend press freedom in Russia.
He was speaking outside a closed court hearing in Moscow on Friday in the case of Vladimir Kara-Murza, an opposition politician facing charges including state treason and spreading false information about the armed forces.
Muratov also cited the case of Ivan Safronov, a former journalist sentenced to 22 years in jail for treason last year.
“At every turn, we’re being charged with espionage and treason. It’s a trend — to show that journalism is a dangerous profession ... both for Russian and other journalists.”
Muratov was editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which has seen several of its reporters killed in the last two decades, and had its registration revoked last year after Russia went to war in Ukraine. More than 260 publications have been closed, blocked or de-registered since then, he said.
“I don’t really understand how, given that trend and the lack of media competition, you can hold the elections that President Vladimir Putin announced for 2024,” he said.
“Does it mean they’ll go ahead without difficult topics, discussions, candidate programs? I’m starting not to understand how that can work.”
Muratov said he was aware of the “popular theory” that Gershkovich had been seized as a bargaining chip for Moscow to use in a prisoner exchange with the United States, though he did not say if he believed that himself.
He said he very much hoped that “through back-channel diplomacy,” Gershkovich would soon be freed.


Meta rolls out long-sought tools to separate ads from harmful content

Meta rolls out long-sought tools to separate ads from harmful content
Updated 31 March 2023

Meta rolls out long-sought tools to separate ads from harmful content

Meta rolls out long-sought tools to separate ads from harmful content
  • System offers advertisers three risk levels they can select for their ad placements

LONDON: Meta Platforms Inc. said on Thursday it is now rolling out a long-promised system for advertisers to determine where their ads are shown, responding to their demands to distance their marketing from controversial posts on Facebook and Instagram.
The system offers advertisers three risk levels they can select for their ad placements, with the most conservative option excluding placements above or below posts with sensitive content like weapons depictions, sexual innuendo and political debates.
Meta also will provide a report via advertising measurement firm Zefr showing Facebook advertisers the precise content that appeared near their ads and how it was categorized.
Marketers have long advocated for greater control over where their ads appear online, complaining that big social media companies do too little to prevent ads from showing alongside hate speech, fake news and other offensive content.
The issue came to a head in July 2020, when thousands of brands joined a boycott of Facebook amid anti-racism protests in the United States.
Under a deal brokered several months later, the company, now called Meta, agreed to develop tools to “better manage advertising adjacency,” among other concessions.
Samantha Stetson, Meta’s vice president for Client Council and Industry Trade Relations, said she expected Meta to introduce more granular controls over time so advertisers could specify their preferences around different social issues.
Stetson also said early tests showed no significant change in performance or price for ads placed using more restrictive settings, adding that those involved in the tests were “pleasantly surprised.”
However, she cautioned that the pricing dynamic could change, given the auction-based nature of Meta’s ads system and the reduction in inventory associated with any restrictions.
The controls will be available initially in English- and Spanish-speaking markets, with plans to expand them to other regions — and to the company’s Reels, Stories and video ad formats — later this year.


Italy data protection agency opens ChatGPT probe on privacy concerns

Italy data protection agency opens ChatGPT probe on privacy concerns
Updated 31 March 2023

Italy data protection agency opens ChatGPT probe on privacy concerns

Italy data protection agency opens ChatGPT probe on privacy concerns
  • ChatGPT is accused of failing to verify user age

MILAN: Italy's data protection agency said on Friday it had opened a probe into OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot over a suspected breach of data collection rules.
The agency also accused ChatGPT of failing to check the age of its users, which should be reserved to people aged 13 and above.
It said it had provisionally restricted chatbot's use of Italian users' personal data.


Kremlin: Foreign journalists can carry on working in Russia

Kremlin: Foreign journalists can carry on working in Russia
Updated 31 March 2023

Kremlin: Foreign journalists can carry on working in Russia

Kremlin: Foreign journalists can carry on working in Russia
  • FSB recently arrested a WSJ reporter on espionage charges

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Friday that all accredited foreign journalists could continue to work in Russia, a day after the country's FSB security service said it had arrested a Wall Street Journal reporter on espionage charges.
The Kremlin said reporter Evan Gershkovich had been carrying out espionage "under the cover" of journalism. Russia has presented no evidence to support the charges - the first such case against an American reporter since the end of the Cold War - which have been denied by the WSJ.


Pepsi rebrands with new logo ahead of 125th anniversary

Pepsi rebrands with new logo ahead of 125th anniversary
Updated 31 March 2023

Pepsi rebrands with new logo ahead of 125th anniversary

Pepsi rebrands with new logo ahead of 125th anniversary
  • The new visual identity debuts in North America this fall, globally in 2024

LONDON: Pepsi unveiled a new logo and visual identity this week — the brand’s first branding update in 14 years.

The new logo, which retains its most recognizable features, has the Pepsi name in bold, capital letters inside a circle filled with the brand’s iconic red, white and blue stripes.

Pepsi said that the new logo “pays homage to the brand’s rich heritage while taking a big leap toward the future” and reflects its “most unapologetic and enjoyable qualities.”

The rebrand will be rolled out in North America in fall, ahead of Pepsi’s 125th anniversary, and internationally in 2024. It will include all physical and digital forms, from packaging and cooler equipment to dining and fashion.

“Pepsi is a shining example of a brand that has consistently reinvented itself over 125 years to remain a part of pop culture and a part of people’s lives,” said Mauro Porcini, SVP and chief design officer of PepsiCo.

“We designed the new brand identity to connect future generations with our brand’s heritage, marrying distinction from our history with contemporary elements to signal our bold vision for what’s to come,” he said.

While borrowing equity from its 125-year history, the new Pepsi logo features modern elements to “create a look that is unapologetically current and undeniably Pepsi,” the company’s press statement read.

These elements include the Pepsi globe and wordmark, a color palette incorporating electric blue and black, an updated can silhouette, a custom typeface, and the signature Pepsi pulse to evoke the “ripple, pop and fizz” of Pepsi-Cola.

“Pepsi is an iconic brand that is constantly evolving with the times, as it has been a staple in pop culture and disrupted the category for the past 125 years,” said Todd Kaplan, Pepsi’s head of marketing.

“This new visual system brings out the best of the Pepsi brand’s rich heritage, while taking a giant leap forward to set it up for success in an increasingly digital world,” he said.