Breathless narratives do not take full account of African realities, says Nick Young
Uganda: Museveni crackdown shows limits of Twitter revolutions
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Index on Censorship
Belarus: Irina Khalip sentenced to two years
Journalist Irina Khalip has been given a two-year suspended sentence for participation in “mass disturbance” after December’s disputed Belarusian presidential elections.
Novaya Gazeta correspondent Khalip, 43, is married to presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, who was sentenced to five years in a labour camp on Saturday (14 May). The couple have a four-year-old son, Danil.
Ai Weiwei keeps his beard
Last Friday, a newspaper editorial musing on the missing artist Ai Weiwei was blocked online. The editorial, which was appeared in the Southern Metropolis Daily, marked the third anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake, an event that Ai investigated....
“Freedom to express yourself is what it means to be an artist”
Artist Ai Weiwei has been missing for 40 days, Leah Borromeo reports from the opening of his new show
Tate Modern director Chris Dercon introduces Ai Weiwei’s work
Belarus: Protesters sentenced to three years labour in penal colony
Six people convicted of taking part in a political rally protesting the reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko were sentenced today. Vladimir Loban, Evgueniy Sekret and Serguey Kazakov were sentenced to three years in a labour camp and Andrey...
Max Mosley loses “prior notification” bid
Former motorsport chief Max Mosley has failed in his bid to to impose a legal duty of “prior notification” on the press. Mosley brought a case in front of the European Court of Human Rights after UK newspaper the News of the World published details...
Should we scrap superinjunctions?
Ahead of tomorrow’s crucial European judgment on privacy and prior notification, we recap Max Mosley and John Kampfner’s recent privacy debate. Are court gagging orders on newspaper exposés an abuse of privacy laws by the rich, or a safeguard against tabloid intrusion into family life?
Testing academic freedom
Three years later, the Nottingham University “terrorism” row rumbles on —- first reading was made a crime, now internal criticism. Jane Fae reports
China creates new body to oversee internet
China has set up a new office wielding the whip of internet censorship, as if current levels of online control weren’t enough. China’s State Council Information Office (the government’s propaganda arm) said was creating a new agency, the State...
Death on film
After an inquest finding that Ian Tomlinson was unlawfully killed, solicitors Sarah McSherry and Louise Christian examine the barriers to justice in cases involving the police
Illegal tactics
Last month, the high court ruled that the Metropolitan police broke the law when they kettled protesters at the G20 demonstrations in 2009. Josh Moos, one of the activists involved in the landmark case, considers the lessons to be learnt
PAST EVENT: Liu Xiaobo documentary and Q&A: I Have No Enemies
9 May: Liu Xiaobo documentary: I Have No Enemies