A bill would blur the boundaries of discrimination in the United Kingdom, so that it no longer refers only to who you are, but what you do. This would be a massive legal change. Ian Dunt reports
CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia
UK’s web filtering seems to be blocking common sense
Connoisseurs of a good political bust-up may have noticed a subtle change in tempo to the online filtering debate over the Christmas period. Jane Fae brings you up to date
Online privacy as an active pursuit
The age of mass surveillance has brought with it a need for individuals to manage their online privacy — and human dignity, Scott Ainslie writes
“Blasphemous” play cancelled in UK after protests by religious fundamentalists
Renowned theatre group has Bible show cancelled after complaints. Padraig Reidy reports
Ukraine: “It is all about the right to live in a free country”
As the conflict in Kiev continues to unfold, Ukrainian civil society activists tell Index negotiations and urgent reaction of the international community are vital to resolve the crisis, Andrei Aliaksandrau writes
Greece: When satire cannot be tolerated
A satirical Facebook page created by a blogger to mock a well-known Greek Orthodox monk has resulted in a prison sentence and opened a debate on Greece’s blasphemy laws. Christos Syllas reports
Gagging bill defeat: Britain’s democracy just got worse
The parliamentary struggle over the UK government’s gagging bill, which has overshadowed Westminster in recent months, is all but over. And the end result is bad news for British democracy. Alex Stevenson reports
Meltem Arikan on Gezi Park: “What had happened to turn all this into a war zone?”
Turkish author and playwright Meltem Arikan was amongst a small group of people who was accused by senior Turkish politicians and government sponsored media of being the architects of the Gezi Park demonstrations. Arikan shares her personal account of the events
Atheist Union of Greece protests outdated blasphemy laws
Greece’s Penal Code has been criticised after a court ruled a man guilty of blasphemy for portraying a monk as a pasta-based dish on his Facebook page
Belarus: Political prisoner Ales Bialiatski could walk free
The political prisoner can be “pardoned” if “it is proved the damage he caused with the tax fraud has been repaid.”