Abstract

This paper analyzes the inquisitorial prohibition of Lope de Vega’s The fianza satisfecha at the end of the eighteenth century. Criticism has judged very negatively this comedia, whose authorship is uncertain. The fianza satisfecha was denounced to the Inquisition (Logroño, 1781; Barcelona, 1798) and included in the Index librorum prohibitorum (1801) after a long and rough discussion among the censors. The details of this discussion are set out in an almost unknown document (Archivo Histórico Nacional, Madrid) whose transcription is also carried out in this paper.

Abstract

The future development of the web largely depends on net neutrality, that is, ensuring that all content, sites and platforms are treated equally. This article assesses the origins and motivations that exist in the debate about network neutrality. Then it focuses on the two distinct views regarding net neutrality: the Openists, supporters of an open net without restrictions, on one side and Deregulationists, naturally suspicious of any government regulation, on the other. Finally, this article describes the net neutrality regulatory framework within the European Union.

Abstract

Whilst science and religion are arguably compatible as two methods to identify truth, in practice they are divergent in their effects. This has serious implications for the theory and practice of library and information work. By starting with the human right of freedom of expression (which contains the right of freedom of access to information) it is possible to compare religion and science and their tendency towards mystery or transparency. The scientific method is inherently sceptical, testing hypotheses with openly exposed methods and results. Although the purity of science is sometimes reduced by its paymasters (governments, corporations and foundations) and by the scientific establishment itself, it offers a model of transparency. Religion is based on faith in some form of revelation, often encapsulated in a book or books, against which knowledge is tested. In practice this preference for authority and mystery encourages the forceful rejection of ideas and fosters secrecy both intellectual and organisational. It is suggested here that libraries are institutionsthat expose ideas for public use and that they are therefore part of the scientific project. The censorship and suppression of ideas associated with religion needs to be resisted by library and information professionals in whatever form, such as a resurgent emphasis on protection of religion through blasphemy laws, that this tendency manifests itself.

Abstract

This study analyses the media coverage of immigration in Melilla, the land frontier between Spain and Morocco andone of the access points where immigrants enter the European Union, and the role that journalists and other agents play in spreading news on immigration. By means of a field study we analyse the type of news professionals and media that are present near the border, the logics followed by institutional press offices when providing information, and the particular conditions in which journalism is practiced in a space of juridical exceptionality. Amongst the results obtained we underscore: the predominance of a media market that, while apparently diverse, is highly dependent on institutional advertising; the relevance of figures like activists or freelance journalists in providing differentiated news on immigration; and the difficulties in working that journalists face due to arbitrariness and obscurantism when accessing images and data.

Abstract

This study analyses the media coverage of immigration in Melilla, the land frontier between Spain and Morocco andone of the access points where immigrants enter the European Union, and the role that journalists and other agents play in spreading news on immigration. By means of a field study we analyse the type of news professionals and media that are present near the border, the logics followed by institutional press offices when providing information, and the particular conditions in which journalism is practiced in a space of juridical exceptionality. Amongst the results obtained we underscore: the predominance of a media market that, while apparently diverse, is highly dependent on institutional advertising; the relevance of figures like activists or freelance journalists in providing differentiated news on immigration; and the difficulties in working that journalists face due to arbitrariness and obscurantism when accessing images and data.

Abstract

Disinformation poses a very important and growing risk to our society, either alone or in association with other hybrid threats, which is being addressed at both the international and European Union (EU) as well as national level. Within the EU, a multidisciplinary and cooperative approach has been advocated between all the actors involved, in contrast to the strong regulatory perspective traditionally adopted in the history of European integration within the EU framework. For this reason, together with the inherent limitations imposed by the nature of the right to freedom of expression and information on any possible administrative censorship or criminal punishment, Spain has adopted only one recent regulation (Decree PCM/1030/2020) to establish the Spanish procedure to combat disinformation as required by European directive. Moreover, although fake news cannot be prosecuted directly in Spain outside the scope of crimes against the market and consumers, fake news can include very different types of criminal offence depending on the content and the intention with which it is disseminated. We illustrate these possibilities through some recent judicial decisions on this matter and declarations by the Office of the Attorney-General. It remains to be seen whether this soft approach to combating disinformation will be sufficient to combat this new plague on our contemporary society effectively. 

Abstract

This paper challenges certain modern readings of Golden Age plays about kings and rulers. Placed in their historical, ideological, social and theatrical contexts, that is, imperial policy, censorship, social status of both playwrights and actors, the reality of playhouses —is it possible to conclude that some of these plays were a sort of drama à clef designed to criticise and denounce the regime of the Spanish Habsburgs?