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...
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...
Evening Standard and Novaya Gazeta owner Alexander Lebedev is to sue Forbes magazine for libel after it claimed he had lost $2.5 billlion in the financial crisis. Read more here
As UK citizens prepare to exercise their freedom of expression at demonstrations during the upcoming week of the G20 summit, the media continues to warn of imminent riots, while most protest groups assert that violence will not be used. Fears of...
Britain's libel laws are a malign force far beyond just celebrity journalism. Radical reform is overdue, writes Jo Glanville This article originally appeared in the Guardian Libel laws remain the most significant daily chill on free speech in the...
The UK government has said that communications over social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace could be monitored in an effort to tackle crime and terrorism. Read more here
Index on Censorship today announces the shortlist for the 2009 Freedom of Expression Awards. The awards, presented in association with the Economist, the Guardian, Bindmans and the Robert Gavron Trust, honour those who have furthered the cause of...
In February 1989, five months after the publication of The Satanic Verses, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against its author Salman Rushdie. It is often seen as a pivotal moment in shaping the landscape of contemporary Western society. So, 20...
A new book attempts to cast the crisis in civil liberties as a left/right issue. But ultimately it is the timid, compliant climate of UK politics that is to blame, says John Kampfner The 12 years of New Labour have seen an erosion of civil...
Sky News has informed the Disasters Emergency Committee that it will not be broadcasting an appeal for humanitarian aid for Gaza. John Ryley, the head of Sky News, said: 'The absolute impartiality of our output is fundamental to Sky News and its...