17 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Afghanistan has watered down plans to ban the media from reporting on live attacks. Authorities had claimed such reports would embolden militants, but an outcry resulted in a new resolution being hammered over three days. The new resolution bars the press from showing the faces of security personal or broadcasting “disturbing” images, but allows media to report on live attacks. The law does not define “disturbing”. Afghan journalists’ groups said they remained suspicious of the motives behind the new guidelines, which they believed could be used to cover up government failings.
17 Mar 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
A recent report by the OpenNet Initiative has revealed that search terms in both Arabic and English relating to homosexuality are censored in some Middle Eastern countries. The study showed that the level of censorship on Microsoft’s Bing ranged from ‘substantial’ to ‘pervasive’ and ‘selective’ in Algeria, Syria, Jordan and United Arab Emirates. Other sexually explicit search terms were also found to be censored.
16 Mar 2010 | News
Silvio Berlusconi’s schemes to gag dissenting voices seem to have been revealed in a series of intercepted phone calls. But it may be too late to redress the balance, says Giulio D’Eramo
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16 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Reports are reaching Index on Censorship that the office of Charter 97, the Belarusian democracy campaigning organisation, has been raided by authorities. Computers and other equipment have been seized and Head of Press Natalia Radzina is believed to have been beaten.
Meanwhile the home of Andrey Sannikov (International Coordinator of Charter’97, who has announced his intention to run for president of Belarus this year) and his wife, journalist Irina Khalip, was searched for three hours by police.
Charter 97 has been nominated for the 2010 Index on Censorship/Bindmans Law and Campaigning Award.
Read more here
