CANADA Free speech doesn’t cover libel or slander, in any language It was back in 2006 that Vancouver lawyer Roger McConchie warned in a CanWest News Service interview that libel cases were on the increase in Canada and that the Internet was “the...


The multipolar challenge to free expression
Our special report explores dramatic shifts in the landscape of freedom of expression in recent years.
Free expression in the news
GLOBAL Q&A: “Media Concentration Is an Attack on Democracy” "We have to understand that information, above all else, is a social service. If we lose sight of that dimension we begin to regulate it as merchandise, but the state has many other...
Free expression in the news
AUSTRALIA WA premier denies censorship over PM event THE West Australian government scuppered the venue booking for a Labor fundraiser featuring Prime Minister Julia Gillard, but claims it was not political censorship. (Herald Sun) BELARUS The...

Greeks protest public broadcast closure
Antonis Samaras, prime minister and leader of the Greek coalition government, announced that the state TV channel ERT, the equivalent of the BBC, would be shut down from midnight on 11 June. Dawn Foster reports. Plus: Index condemns ERT move
Free expression in the news
AUSTRALIA Art gallery raid threatens city's image as creative enclave, says MP A Victorian legislator says a rising tide of cultural conservatism in Melbourne is jeopardising artistic freedom (The Guardian) BRAZIL Brazil's natives step protests...
Free expression in the news
CANADA Rob Ford wins partial costs in wake of failed libel suit Boardwalk Pub restaurateur George Foulidis must pay mayor and Bruce Baker $137,000, judge ruled Monday. (Toronto Star) CHINA Beyond the Great Firewall: How and What China Censors...
National security should not be used by governments to justify mass surveillance
Index on Censorship, English PEN, Privacy International, Open Rights Group and Article 19 are calling on the Foreign Secretary’s speech to the House of Commons on the GCHQ links to the Prism scandal, we the undersigned condemn the collection and surveillance of British citizens’ online communications and activities through the US Prism programme.

Index condemns mass surveillance
Index calls upon the UK, the EU and the US to protect the privacy and free speech rights of their citizens and end the mass online surveillance of individuals around the world.

Jordan: On the brink between censorship and freedom
Buffeted by internal and external forces, the Jordanian government’s recent move against hundreds of websites underscores the fragile nature of free expression in the country. Ramsey George reports
PAST EVENT: 12 June: The Defamation Act and next steps for Libel Reform
PAST EVENT: 12 June: The Defamation Act and next steps for Libel Reform
Free expression in the news
GLOBAL UN report slams government surveillance The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Frank La Rue delivered a report to the Human Rights Council outlining how state and corporate surveillance undermine freedom of expression and...