There has been a lot of bans in China recently, including what's alleged to be a list of banned SMS words. The register first circulated by Shanghaiist can be grouped into six major categories including: 1. National security and political terms,...
The studio of acclaimed artist Ai Weiwei has been demolished, a move the artist believes is due to his political activism. Ai Weiwei was one of the artists who helped in the construction of the "bird's nest" in Beijing Olympics and has been a vocal...
Minsk-based radio station Autoradio, has been shut down after its licence was cancelled. The reason outlined by the supervisory commission was the station's "failure to stick to its declared programming concept and the dissemination of information...
The sad death of jailed writer Zhang Jianhong went by with hardly a blip from the foreign media. Zhang, 52, died 31 December in hospital while on medical parole from a rare neurological disease. He leaves behind a wife and daughter. A few months...
Saudi Arabia's already restricted cyberspace is now subject to new regulation that allows the state to directly supervise and control internet material. The law passed on 1 January 2011 requires anyone wishing to post material on-line to obtain a...
According to opposition website rahesabz a think tank close to the Iranian security apparatus has published a leaflet containing a list of publishers, writers and translators deemed as "usurpers" intent on overthrowing the regime. The publishers...
A court in Punjab has sentenced a father and his son to lifetime imprisonment for allegedly tearing down a poster in a gathering to mark the birthday of Prophet Mohammad. Mohammad Shafi, the 45-year-old father is himself a mosque prayer leader....
Calls to outlaw violent political rhetoric in the wake of the Tucson shootings are misguided, says Aryeh Neier. The solution is not to ban political vitriol but to speak out against it
The Kuwaiti satellite channel Mubasher and newspaper Al-Mustaqbal, both owned by Shaikh Fahd Salem Al Ali have been banned by the country's ministry of commerce on a request by the ministry of information. The ministry of commerce...
Brazilian author Paulo Coelho has published a message on his blog claiming his books have been banned in Iran. The Brazilian author has not been given the specific reasons for this action. However he has said that he has been using social networks...
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has expressed concern for political prisoners being held in Belarus in the aftermath of December's presidential elections. A UN spokesman told reporters: "[Ban is] concerned about the continued detention of...
Peter Noorlander of the Media Legal Defence Initiative warns that today’s action by Max Mosley at the European Court of Human Rights could have grave consequences for free media