A 28-year-old middle school teacher at a private school in Mexico City has been fired after showing her students the 2008 film Milk, which tells the story of gay rights activist Harvey Milk, who was murdered in San Francisco in the 1970s. Mexico's...
CATEGORY: Americas

Brazilian paper censored for 1,200 days and counting
One of Brazil's largest daily newspapers claims that it has now faced censorship for 1,200 days, due to a court ruling prohibiting it from publishing news about a police operation that could incriminate a media tycoon --- who is also the son of a...

Google sees “intimidating effects” in top exec’s detention
Tech giant Google is in the middle of a censorship debate in Brazil after its top executive in the country was temporarily detained during the latest mayoral election. Fabio Coelho was detained in September by order of a judge from the state of...

Argentina: President Kirchner law set to punish critical media group
Attempts to push through a media law in Argentina could end up destroying one of the country's most critical broadcast outlets. Ed Stocker reports A bitter battle between Argentina’s largest media empire, Grupo Clarín, and the government shows no...

Violent Mexican inauguration protests spark right to protest debate
Violent confrontations in Mexico City on 1 December between police and thousands of demonstrators protesting the swearing in of President Enrique Peña Nieto continue to reverberate, as human rights and media protection organisations grapple with...

Brazilian Congress and lobbyists kill world first internet Bill of Rights
The Brazilian Congress’ lower house has killed a draft bill that would have pioneered the world's first “Internet Bill of Rights." Feted by free-speech activists and negotiated over several years, the bill used a civil rights framework to guarantee...

Mexican press: Self preservation becomes self censorship
In Mexico drug cartels continue to dictate news agenda — fear of retaliation influences news outlets’ decisions on what to publish. Ana Arana and Daniela Guazo reveal the results of a new study that exposes the depth to which the public are kept in the dark

Questions remain as governor names Regina Martinez “killer”
On 30 October, the state government of Veracruz announced it had solved the murder of Proceso magazine reporter Regina Martinez, who was killed in April this year. In her 10 years as a Proseco journalist, Martinez had frequently reported on drug...

INDEX Q&A: It’s not easy being Green for US third party candidate
Coverage of the US presidential race has been dominated by Republican and Democratic candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Sara Yasin speaks to Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who says minority parties are censored

Ban on public affection in Mexico’s kissing capital
Last August, Manuel Berumen, a university professor, received the shock of his life after kissing his wife as they strolled with their four-year-old son in a public plaza in Leon, Guanajuato. A woman complained about the "indecency" and he ended up...