After years of campaigning, we have the chance to pass defamation laws that are fit for the 21st century. We cannot miss this opportunity, says Jo Glanville
A critical autumn for freedom of speech
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CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia
Dozens of Kurdish journalists face terrorism trial in Turkey
The biggest media trial in Turkey's history has begun, 44 journalists appeared in an Istanbul court on Monday (10 September). Of those, 36 have been in pre-trial detention since December. The reporters face a variety of terrorism charges including...
Pussy Riot father: “Putin is a symbol of a sick system”
Stanislav Samutsevich, 73, is the father of the imprisoned Pussy Riot member, Ekaterina Samutsevich. She, together with Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, was sentenced to two years in the women's prison colony on charges of hooliganism...
Default web filtering is not the way forward
Index on Censorship joins rights groups calling on British Prime Minister David Cameron to resist plans for internet blocking
The attack on knowledge
MAGAZINE Academic freedom is in danger. Thomas Docherty explains how cuts are damaging universities across the UK
Putin’s grip on the internet
Vladimir Putin says [Ru] he doesn’t use the internet very much. But he has definitely recognised its power. The biggest protest rallies in post-Soviet Russia, against Putin and his party United Russia, were organised online. No wonder that...
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
Russia: Pussy Riot found guilty
Index on Censorship condemns the sentencing of feminist punk group Pussy Riot to two years in prison.
PLUS: Pussy Riot versus the Religarchy
Ambassador expelled as Belarus teddy bear row escalates (really)
This week Belarus asked the Swedish diplomatic mission to leave the country and recalled its own embassy from Stockholm. What sparked this international incident? That would be teddy bears. Small, cuddly soft toys. Alexander Lukashenko, Europe’s...
We need to talk about Islam
Fearing extremists reacting violently to the publication of books deemed to be offensive to Islam, many publishers have thought twice about what they release about the religion. Alom Shaha says it’s time to discuss faith properly