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BOA in policy 180 after public outcry

« H E News and Politics :: Sino-British :: Human rights and personal freedoms :: News and Perspectives :: email
posted Tuesday, 12 February 2008
It would appear that the British Olympic Association has seen sense, or has at least seen a heap of bad press coming its way, and has as such performed a policy 180, reversing its earlier decision to impose a mandatory censorship clause on British athletes participating the Beijing 2008 Olympic game, and instead opting to allow each athlete to speak based on their own individual views.

The BOA's policy 180 comes after a storm of protest from Western media, human rights interests and China watchers. Some of whom expressed disappointment that the BOA was attempting to stifle the free speech rights of its athletes, and others of whom accused the BOA of pandering to Beijing and of doing its dirty work for them.

"It's up to each individual to decide what they think and what they say about China's human rights record and that goes for athletes too. What is disappointing is the suppression of such legitimate views by the BOA."

Tim Hancock, Campaign Director (UK), Amnesty International

The BOA's move also comes as British civil rights groups questioned the legality of the censorship clause placed on athletes, voicing that it risked putting  the organization in breech of  conventions to which the UK has previously signed up to.

"We have no doubt that Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, which protects free speech, would have rendered the clause unenforceable."

Chakrabarti Shami, Director, Liberty

Regardless of the reasons, be they legal or PR, news of the policy 180 has been welcomed by China watcher as a step forward for freedom of speech and a step backwards for those who would stifle it on grounds of face or politics.

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View Comments/Add a Comment (5)


1. Peter left...
Tuesday, 12 February 2008 6:44 pm :: http://www.civicchina.com

Nice post! Good to see how much the BOA is really committed to free speech...

In my view, BOA policy 180 is just another incident that shows how it is collaborating with China in creating a convenient image and narrative that have nothing to do with reality.

Both the BOA and China seem to be committed to free speech -- in theory, while trying to stifle it -- in praxi. I guess that explains why the BOA and China getting along so well with each other.


2. ACB left...
Wednesday, 13 February 2008 4:39 am

I've got a much simpler explanation. The BOA just had a dumb moment. The UK a huge bureaucracy filled with mini-fiefdom bureaucracies. Every one of which is far to interested in lining its own nest and trumpeting its own views to actually collaborate with a foreign power. The can barely collaborate with each other. This is one of the reasons why the UK is such a ginormos mess right now.


3. Peter left...
Wednesday, 13 February 2008 10:33 am :: http://www.civicchina.com

ACB, I think you're right. It's not necessarily intentional collaboration, it's more the favoring of a similar approach -- I guess in the UK they call it "muddling through" -- of dealing with things that makes it seem as if they collaborated. The BOA (and China's government) know that muddling through works best if applied to a populace that is concomitantly spoon-fed and kept in ignorance. This similarity was what I mis-interpreted for deliberate collaboration.


4. ACB left...
Saturday, 16 February 2008 5:00 pm

I always thought that "Muddling through" meant to go through life aiming in a general direction but having no specific plan.


5. Sonagi left...
Sunday, 17 February 2008 2:50 am

Olympic athletes are sports ambassadors representing their countries when they participate in the Olympics; thus, it is not unreasonable to place restrictions on free speech during the Games. The only problem I see is that these gag clauses seem particular to Beijing Olympics. If there is a policy, it ought to be consistent regardless of the host country.