Why Leveson’s recommendations are more worrying than you think

Marta Cooper:

High threshold set for social media prosecutions

Guidelines issued today on when criminal charges should be brought against people posting offensive or abusive comments on social media sites could boost free speech Plus: Read the guidelines here Index Press Release: Social media guidelines recognise there is no right not to be offended

Maria Miller Leveson threat raises fears of politicians interfering in press regulation

Worrying news from Buckingham Palace Road this morning: the Telegraph is reporting that Culture Secretary Maria Miller’s special adviser Joanna Hindley warned its reporters of Miller’s connection to the Leveson report before the newspaper published details of her expenses, notably that Miller’s parents lived in her taxpayer-funded second home. The paper took the rare step of […]

Leveson: What's on the line?

Marta Cooper on the Leveson Inquiry

Europe has a duty to speak out on Vaxevanis

Index on Censorship and other freedom of expression groups urge the European Union to defend free speech

Index tells policy makers to keep the internet free

As Index launches a policy note ahead of the Internet Governance Forum, Marta Cooper asks if can we keep the internet free Policy Note: The Growing Threats to Digital Freedom

UK: Man sentenced to 100 hours of community service for shouting at Prime Minister

A man who shouted “no ifs, not buts, no public sector cuts” at Prime Minister David Cameron during a speech in Glasgow in July has been sentenced to 100 hours of community service, it was reported today. Activist Stuart Rodger, 23, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by violating a security cordon; shouting and failing to desist; […]

Greece: Investigative journalist acquitted

Investigative journalist Kostas Vaxevanis, whose Hot Doc magazine published a leaked list (nicknamed the “Lagarde list”) of over 2,000 names of Greeks with Swiss bank accounts, has been acquitted of breaking data privacy laws. In a video uploaded the night before his arrest earlier this week, Vaxevanis said: “They are after me instead of the truth.” His […]

INDEX Q&A: Talking to Europe’s most wired politician

In a world where digital policy is written by politicians who barely know how to send an email, Marietje Schaake is a breath of fresh air. Marta Cooper meets the pioneering Dutch MEP

Greece: Another journalist arrested as crackdown continues

Greek journalist Spiros Karatzaferis was arrested today (31 October) for after threatening to publish damaging allegations about the country’s struggling economy. Karatzaferis said he had obtained information from hacking collective Anonymous, allegedly containing classified documents and email exchanges relating to Greece’s financial bailout from international funders. According to the Greek Reporer, Karatzaferis said authorities had used an […]

Ai Weiwei does Gangnam Style (really)

Update 26/10: The clip below has now been blocked in China.  While Korean pop sensation Psy was teaching UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon how to do the Gangnam Style dance, Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei was at work in his Beijing studio mastering the moves himself. But Ai being Ai — China’s most noted dissident — […]

Event Recap: Index debates the UK's "Snooper's Charter"

Marta Cooper: Debating whether we need a "snooper's charter" to safeguard our security