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Protests at the UN climate talks see ‘shocking’ levels of censorship
Activists protest against fossil fuels at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

WHILE activists designated Saturday a day of protest at the 28th United Nations Conference of the Parties (Cop28) summit in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai, authorities sharply restricted what protesters could say, where they could walk and what their signs could portray.

At times, the controls bordered on the absurd.

A small group of demonstrators protesting against the detention of two pro-democracy activists, Emirati Ahmed Mansoor and Egyptian Alaa Abdel-Fattah, were not allowed to hold up signs bearing their names. 

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