The fight for freedom begins with freedom of speech, says Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia
What Russia censored in January
January saw a dramatic escalation of internet filtering in Russia. The League for Internet Safety, an organisation backed by the Kremlin, launched an experiment in the Kostroma region in central Russia in which 29 local internet service providers signed new contracts with users, giving them access only to a sanitised internet – in other words, websites included on a “white list”. Those wishing to surf beyond the confines of the white list are required to notify their provider explicitly. At the start of the experiment the white list included about 500,000 sites; by the end of the experiment, scheduled for April, it is expected to include up to 1 million. The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media has stated that it […]
Belarus media law offers no defence
Europe’s last dictatorship uses violence, repressive legislation and economic discrimination to silence independent journalists. Yanina Melnikava reports
Iran’s attacks on the BBC
Staff at the BBC’s Persian Service face satellite jamming as well as smear campaigns and intimidation, says World Service Director Peter Horrocks
Index on Censorship’s response to the Leveson report
The Leveson Report will become a benchmark for press regulation in modern democracies. Index has urged a serious, considered debate about Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations rather than their full adoption. The free speech organisation opposes the statutory underpinning of press regulation as proposed by Lord Justice Leveson.
Mexico City topples statue of a former Azerbaijani dictator
Until a couple of months ago, few in Mexico City knew who Heydar Aliyev was, and even fewer of those were aware that a marble and bronze statue erected in his honour sat smack in the middle of Reforma Avenue, one of Mexico’s most recognised streets. A plaque standing before the statue detailed the former president of Azerbaijan’s “loyalty to the universal ideals of world peace”. But the presence of the dead dictator sparked controversy in Mexico City. The conflict over how Mexico City accepted $5 million dollars from Azerbaijan to build the statue, as well as a park, has been brewing since November. The agreement to build the statue was reached by the leftist government of the Partido de la Revolucion […]
Index on Censorship response to Conservatives’ Royal Charter press proposal
Index on Censorship today responded to proposals put forward by the Conservative party to establish a press regulator via Royal Charter
Turkey: Number of “insulting Turkishness” cases drops as parliament discusses changing definition of citizenship
There has been a significant decrease in the number of cases brought under Turkey’s infamous Article 301, a recent news investigation has shown. But the law continues to be rigorously implemented. The original version of Article 301 made it illegal...
Putin’s Russia at war with civil society
Russian authorities not only have narrowed the rules regarding NGOs’ activities, but they also subject civil society activists to direct repression, Andrei Aliaksandrau reports
“Human rights are not an impediment to effective policing”
Index on Censorship’s Kirsty Hughes talks to Sir Hugh Orde, one of the UK’s most senior police officers, about protest, public order and politics