As the Communist Party Congress approaches, Dinah Gardner looks at the prospects for free speech in the People’s Republic
China will change leaders, but keep censorship
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CATEGORY: Asia and Pacific
China will change leaders, but keep censorship
Sometime before the end of the year, China Communist party will hold its 18th Congress, when the old batch of leaders will step aside for a new crop. Rumours are flying about what will happen then, from the almost certainty that Xi Jinping will...
Indian cartoonist arrested on sedition charges
The arrest of an anti-corruption cartoonist in India on sedition charges has sparked outrage. Marta Cooper reports
Vietnam: free expression in free fall
Freedom of expression has suffered a crackdown in Vietnam in recent years, with bloggers being the main target. Geoffrey Cain asks what has prompted this intense backlash against free speech
The case for open access
MAGAZINE In many parts of the world, malaria continues to kill millions — yet experts are still denied access to vital research. Bart Knols reports
Web 2.0: Don’t shoot the messenger
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
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...