Search engines and social networking sites are at the heart of Web 2.0. To unreasonably threaten them with liability for user content misses the point, says
Marta Cooper
CATEGORY: Asia and Pacific
Five bizarre blasphemy cases
An 11-year-old girl with Down’s Syndrome was last week arrested in Pakistan, after an angry mob demanded that the girl be punished for allegedly desecrating the Qur’an --- the Islamic holy book. The young girl is a resident of a Christian...
India’s face-off with Internet freedom
The world’s largest democracy is all too willing to censor the web, says Marta Cooper
“Welcome to Myanmar, Mr BBC”
In 2007, Fergal Keane reported for Index on the near impossibility of working as a reporter in Burma. Returning in 2012, he found much had changed. But though the military is slowly loosening its grip, restrictions remain
India’s face-off with internet freedom
Although only 10 per cent of India's population is online, a divisive national debate over internet freedom has implications for the country's economic and political growth. In December 2011 journalist Vinay Rai filed a complaint under sections 200...
India: Female journalist critically injured in shooting attack
A shooting attack in the Indian city of Itanagar left Tongam Rina, associate editor of the Arunachal Times newspaper, critically injured on Sunday. It has been reported that, as Rina arrived at the paper's offices at 6:15pm, unidentified gunmen...
Indonesia: Shia cleric jailed for blasphemy
Indonesia's Sampang District Court has sentenced a Shia cleric to two years' imprisonment for blasphemy. Tajul Muluk was said to have caused "public anxiety" for his religious teachings. Witnesses said that the cleric encouraged Muslims to pray...
Happy birthday, Dalai Lama: China celebrates by cutting comms in Tibetan region
It was the Dalai Lama’s birthday last week; he turned 77. China celebrated in its own unique way by severing public communication services, with both text messaging and internet access disabled for two days in Ganzi prefecture, a Tibetan autonomous...
Sri Lanka: Defence minister tells editor “they will kill you”
Sri Lankan defence minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa reportedly verbally abused Sunday Leader editor Frederica Jansz during a telephone interview last week. Jansz had asked the minister if he was aware that an aircraft scheduled to fly to Zurich was to...
The fragile gains of Afghan journalism
This year, Massoud Hossaini became the first individual Afghan journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize. Hossaini’s photograph --- a little girl crying in a bright green dress covered in the blood of the bodies surrounding her --- also made him the first...