Indians calling for the banning of hit film Slumdog Millionaire are displaying a very skewed sense of priority, says Salil Tripathi It was only a matter of time before someone in India rained - or dumped garbage --- on the parade of Danny Boyle's...
This is a guest post by Simon Long, The Economist's Asia editor The dangers Thailand’s lèse-majesté laws pose for the country’s own citizens have been reported in an earlier post on Index on Censorship's website (23 January). They are also having a...
The celebrated photographer and Pulitzer prize-winner Kaveh Golestan was one of the great defenders of free speech in Iran. He reflects in this essay, first published in 1994, on the fallout of the revolution My childhood was spent among the...
This is a guest post by Martin Bright The 30-year-rule is dead in the water and has been for some time. The combined effect of the Freedom of Information Act and an increasing willingness on the part of government departments to release...
When Ayatollah Khomeini arrived in Tehran on 1 February 1979, a brief period of freedom for Iranians came to an end. Yassamine Mather looks at the development of the Islamic Republic's suppression of dissent During the last few weeks of the Shah’s...
London's 2012 Olympic Games have already been entangled in one censorship controversy. But measures that will be in force during the game themselves pose a far greater threat to free expression, says Aileen McColgan In October 2005 the Sunday Times...
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has said he will not grant interviews to the BBC following its refusal to broadcast an appeal for aid for the Gaza Strip. Mr ElBaradei said he believed the BBC's decision broke 'the...
Russia's President Medvedev has said he will seek to revise a new treason bill backed by Prime Minister Putin. Responding to public criticisms of the bill, Vladislav Y. Surkov, the first deputy presidential chief of staff, said: 'Possibly there is...
This is a guest post by Chris Ames Yesterday’s ruling that pre-Iraq war cabinet minutes must be released is a vindication for Labour’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, although whether the government will see it that way is another matter. It...
Amnesty award winning Yemeni journalist Abdul Kareem al Khaiwani has been sentenced to six years imprisonment for 'disseminating pro-rebel propaganda', despite receiving a pardon from the president in September last year. Read more here
We, the undersigned, oppose the use of lese majeste in Thailand in order to prevent freedom of speech and academic freedom. We demand that the government cease all proceedings in lese majeste cases. The 19th September 2006 military coup in Thailand...
As if there weren’t already enough BBC-haters in the world, the Corporation’s refusal to screen the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal for Gaza threatens to recruit legions more. From MPs to celebrities and from archbishops to street...