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
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have long been a tool of political intimidation, says Salil Tripathi
The introduction of a de facto broadcast watershed may signal progress a more mature attitude, says Leo Mirani
Contempt of court laws have always been toothless, but the Internet and the smartphone have made it clear they are not fit for purpose, as demonstrated in the current “monstering” of murder suspect Chris Jefferies, says Brian Cathcart
Has Lukashenko given up flirting with the west, asks Olga Birukova