for free expression

Cuban government denies journalists visas - On 12 November, Cuban authorities refused to issue visas for 15 international journalists hoping to report on... More →
Obama's "town hall" meeting blocked in China - On 16 November, US President Barack Obama’s first serious engagement with the Chinese people ran afoul of... More →
Turkey: Journalist detained whilst reporting on dummy soldiers - Bariş Sözal, a journalist at Sabah newspaper, and his driver Ali Kocatepe were detained for 8 hours after... More →
Morocco newspaper banned for articles about king’s health - Moroccan newspaper Al-Michaal was banned on 13 November after editor in chief Driss Chahtan was sentenced to... More →
Matthew Parris and Brian Eno join Index - Matthew Parris, one of Britain’s most renowned newspaper columnists, has been appointed a trustee of Index... More →

News and Comment

Straw commits to libel reform

The Justice Secretary is reported to have pledged to make English defamation laws fairer. Index on Censorship reports

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Digital bankruptcy

Lord Mandelson seems hellbent on stifling online creativity, says Bill Thompson

Libel Report

News and Comment: Latest

The Velvet Revolutionary

On 17 November 1989, the police crushed a peaceful student demonstration in Prague. The crackdown led to national protests, culminating in a general strike. Within 11 days, the mass demonstrations had overthrown the communist regime. Václav Havel was elected president on 29 December. Jan Bubeník became the youngest politician in the new government. He spoke to Jo Glanville

Libel reform: Carter-Ruck defends defamation rules

Carter-Ruck partner Nigel Tait has responded to English PEN and Index on Censorship’s libel reform report. By Padraig Reidy

No thank you, Mr Straw

Secret inquiries seriously undermine the principle of open justice, says
Daniel Machover

Libel reform: The laws that stain Britain’s good name

As Index on Censorship and English Pen launch “Free Speech is Not For Sale”, a damning report on English libel laws, John Kampfner highlights the pressing need for reform

The Libel Report: The silence of the arts, the press, science, charities…

A new report by English PEN Index on Censorship argues that fear of libel action means that freedom of expression is under threat as never before, John Kampfner tells the Independent’s Ian Burrell

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Blog

An Iranian Odyssey

Jenni Hulse:Index on Censorship hosts an exclusive screening of Maziar Bahari's important documentary

More from the blog

Jenni Hulse:Index on Censorship hosts an exclusive screening of Maziar Bahari's important documentary

Sophie Lewis: Despite fears, literary translation is thriving

Felix Colchester: The "Kurdish question" requires debate, but it is almost impossibe to discuss it openly

Padraig Reidy: Judges have again thwarted the Foreign Secretary's attempts to conceal evidence

Allen Green: A recent judgment could be a significant strike against libel tourism

Miklos Haraszti on Britain's decriminalisation of seditious libel

Matt Malone: in the country's simmering civil conflicts, reporters are under pressure from all sides

Simon Singh speaks at Index on Censorship and English PEN's libel reform campaign launch

Padraig Reidy: Tom Watson's backlash against the anti-gamer backlash

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Out now: 17Sep09

Current Issue

Time for a revolution?

Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall

Timothy Garton Ash: Lessons from a revolution

Lydia Cacho: Terror on the highway

Geoffrey Robertson: In the balance

Ingo Schulze: Triumph of the West

Brian Klug: The meaning of Zion

Floriana Fossato: Web captives

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