“So many people genuinely believe in the freedom of the press”

Suzanne Breen describes her battle to protect her sources from police in Northern Ireland

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Another victim of an archaic law

Darryn Walker has suffered unemployment and vilification for writing a pornographic story. The censorious obscenity law that allows this to happen must be scrapped, say John Ozimek and Julian Petley

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Azerbaijan: new law will leave NGOs in limbo

An oppressive new set of rules on the free expression of civil society groups will put Azerbaijan on a par with its totalitarian neighbours, says Vugar Gojayev

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Anna Politkovskaya: retrial must hear new evidence

The family of the slain journalist has called for the retrial of those accused of involvement in her murder to include a comprehensive new investigation. Maria Eismont reports

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Azerbaijan: Reading about God is dangerous

Azerbaijan has a new, harsher religion law and new penalties for producing, selling, circulating, importing and exporting religious literature without state permission, reports Felix Corley of Forum 18

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Venezuela: Chávez’s war on independent media

Steps taken by the government to remove Globovisión’s free-to-air licence poses a fresh threat to the country’s independent media. Daniel Duquenal reports

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Sri Lanka: Rajapaksa rules the media

The reintroduction of the government-run press council is another marker of the decline of Sri Lanka’s democracy, says Uvindu Kurukulasuriya

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Expenses scandal is a watershed for freedom of information

Transparency is no longer just an obsession for journalists and campaigners, writes Chris Ames

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Vietnam: arrest of a pragmatist

Lawyer Le Cong Dinh (right) has always worked to change the system from within - which is exactly why his arrest is troubling, says Roby Alampay

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Iran: free to tweet?

It’s time to confront technology companies in the West on the role they play in censorship worldwide, says Claire Ulrich

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Tyranny’s shield

The ruling against blogger NightJack suggests that anonymous speech is bad for society, says David Banisar

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Iran: “I will continue to report, but I fear that I may be arrested”

Reporter Saeed Kamali Dehghan describes the struggle to get information in and out of Tehran

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Iraq: “A secret inquiry is storing up trouble”

A private investigation into the Iraq war will only backfire on Gordon Brown, writes Chris Ames

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Through the looking glass

English libel law turns US protection for free speech on its head. Floyd Abrams considers how the UK became an international libel tribunal

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Iran: elections free up the media

Fiery television debates, and the tactics of Ahmadinejad’s own supporters, have emboldened Iran’s newspapers, says Meir Javedanfar

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Keeping it secret

Tamsin Allen asks why a former intelligence agent is being denied the right to a fair hearing

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Weighing up the evidence

The House of Lords ruling on secret evidence raises the need for the admission of intercept intelligence in terror trials, says Roger Smith

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Shoot the messenger

Attacks on human rights representatives at the UN Human Rights Council are part of a campaign to undermine freedom of expression, says Roy W Brown

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Secrecy of jury system can hinder justice

We need more transparency on jury trial deliberations, says Frances Gibb

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Tiananmen 20: Qian Gang

The 4 June massacre signalled an end to 1980s press reform in China

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Censorship is the wrong way to combat BNP

The illiberal obsession with silencing Nick Griffin and the British National Party in the run up to elections has won the party undeserved publicity, says Claire Fox

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Tiananmen 20: Liu Hongbin

Poet Liu Hongbin fled China after taking part in the Tiananmen Square protests. Here, he describes his experience of returning to China as a persona non grata in 1997

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Police shelve review on Kingsnorth protest

The failure to publish the long awaited report on policing tactics last summer is leading to accusations of a cover-up. Chris Ames reports

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The right to protest: the “Twitter revolutionary”

The unprecedented mass protests in Moldova last month would not have happened without Twitter. Natalia Morar should know: she was one of the activists who made it happen

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The orthodoxy of offence

In an extract from the series Manifestos for the 21st Century, New Humanist editor Caspar Melville explores the impact of identity politics on free speech

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The tyranny of the take-down notice

The closure of Nadine Dorries’s blog simply on suspicion of defamation emphasises the need for reform of libel legislation says Padraig Reidy

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“You’re an idiot and I am a coward”

Comedy is too often constrained by preconceptions of audience reaction and the comic’s own self-censoring streak, says Robin Ince

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Australia’s impotent censors

The Australian government’s ignorance about the Internet is impeding attempts to ban online content, says John Ozimek

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Kamila Shamsie: Islam and offence

In an extract from her new book in the Manifestos for the 21st Century series, author Kamila Shamsie explores the reasons why Islam has become synonymous with offence

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The right to protest: Technology turns the camera on surveillance state

In the first of a series of articles on protest and free speech, Guardian reporter Paul Lewis assesses the fallout from the death of Ian Tomlinson

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Sherry Jones: “We must speak out for free speech”

Why are UK distributors refusing to handle The Jewel of Medina? It’s time to raise an outcry says its author

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Burma’s media blackout

The Burmese authorities are keeping tight control on coverage of Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial, reports Nem Davies

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Stryker McGuire: “Lousy economics are constricting information”

With the media in decline, we shouldn’t assume that news journalism will survive

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Peter Hitchens: bring back arguments

As the divide narrows between left and right in Britain, so too does the space for adversarial dialogue and free expression

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Pakistan: journalism is first casualty

As reporters flee fighting in the Swat valley, Zubeida Mustafa reports on the conflict’s effect on Pakistan’s press

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Orlando Figes: a victory for Russian history

A St Petersburg court has confirmed that the police raid on Gulag archive Memorial was illegal

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Dimbleby: fearful BBC risks losing its way

The BBC Trust’s condemnation of Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen has the potential to cause serious damage to the corporation’s international standing, says Jonathan Dimbleby

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Lebedev’s standards

Is the Evening Standard headed for the same fate as Alexander Lebedev’s under-resourced Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta? Andrei Soldatov reports

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AC Grayling: “It’s a surprise to learn how universal censorship is”

While even the most tyrannical regime will pay lip service to free speech, it is a right that is constantly denied

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Suzanne Breen: give them absolutely nothing

Police threats to use anti-terror powers, forcing Irish reporter Suzanne Breen to hand over materials relating to dissident republican groups are an affront to journalistic ethics and free expression, says Anthony McIntyre

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This ‘banned list’ has no place in UK law

To stop people entering Britain because of what they may say while here is based on the concept of pre-emptive sanction says Padraig Reidy

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Cuba: changes? What changes?

The Obama regime may be reaching out to Raúl Castro, but it is unlikely any real reform will emerge for ordinary Cubans, writes
Ena Lucía Portela

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Ireland: religion doesn’t need protection

The Irish government’s plan to introduce blasphemy legislation may seem a retrograde step, but it is part of a broader global trend, writes Padraig Reidy

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Privacy laws are just image control for celebs

Only the powerful benefit from a muzzled media. A free, sometimes scurrilous press is what keeps the spirit of inquiry alive says Sir Ken Macdonald QC

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Setting the censorship standard

Thirty years on, the Williams Committee Report still provides a better framework for film classification than the lamentable Obscene Publications Act, says
Julian Petley

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‘We know where you surf’

Advertising software company Phorm’s legality is being questioned by the European Commission. Bill Thompson explains.

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Pakistan: reporting the student ‘terror trail’

Zubeida Mustafa examines the Pakistani media’s response to the arrests of eleven Pakistani students now facing deportation from the UK

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Thai government moves to suppress media

Following the anti-government protests, the Thai government has begun to crack down on the opposition media. Sinfah Tunsarawuth asks if the heavy-handed tactics will incite further chaos.

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‘We expect a bias for freedom’

In a stirring and provocative speech at the Freedom of Expression awards, Sir David Hare presented a challenge for Index on Censorship, and all free speech advocates

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‘A government more concerned with silencing critics than addressing its own failures’

News that anti-terror officers trawled Damian Green MP’s personal emails for information, including details of Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti, has further highlighted the government’s worrying attitude to civil liberties, says
Chris Huhne MP

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