Clearcast, the company that regulates television advertising on behalf of Ofcom, has requested that violent scenes be removed from an anti-domestic violence advert featuring actress Keira Knightley. Read more here
CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia
UK government rules out central database
The British government has said it will not now go ahead with plans to create a cenrtal communications database. Read more here
Pakistan: reporting the student ‘terror trail’
Zubeida Mustafa examines the Pakistani media's response to the arrests of eleven Pakistani students now facing deportation from the UK At a time when the media in Pakistan has its hands full with a heated controversy raging on the government’s...
Information Commissioner: Google Street View should not be stopped
The UK's Information Commissioner has said there will be no move to censor Google Street View, despite admitting it carries a small risk of privacy invasion. Read more here
‘We expect a bias for freedom’
In a stirring and provocative speech at the Freedom of Expression awards, Sir David Hare presented a challenge for Index on Censorship, and all free speech advocates Everyone's in favour of freedom of speech, aren't they? All right, to my shame I...
‘A government more concerned with silencing critics than addressing its own failures’
News that anti-terror officers trawled Damian Green MP’s personal emails for information, including details of Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti, has further highlighted the government's worrying attitude to civil liberties, says Chris Huhne MP...
Green will not face charges
Conservative MP Damian Green and civil servant Christopher Galley will not face charges relating to leaks of government documents after Director of Public Prosecutions Kier Starmer QC found that the leaks did not endanger security. Read more here
Freedom of information when it suits
Why is British government trying to censor documents relating to the Iraq war it has already published, asks Chris Ames A new twist in the tale of Tony Blair’s Iraq dossier has exposed the blatant double standard that the government applies to...
BBC fined £150,000 for ‘Sachsgate’
Ofcom has fined the BBC £150,000 for breaches of the broadcasting code on Russell Brand's Radio 2 show in October. An Ofcom statement said: 'The scale of the fine reflects the extraordinary nature and seriousness of the BBC's failures and the...
Seditious libel law is a travesty of justice
The UK government’s retention of this archaic legislation only serves to justify oppression in other countries, writes Evan Harris In 1763, journalist John Wilkes and 49 of his publishers were arrested for seditious libel. Their crime was to have...