The Turkish playwright and author has finished the script of a new play, “Sheep Republic”, about oppression and how easily it is accepted
Index Awards 2014: Catching up with arts nominee Meltem Arikan
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CATEGORY: News and features
Germany: Are online user comments protected by press freedom laws?
A local newspaper in the western German city of Darmstadt is at the centre of a legal case that will measure whether readers’ comments are protected by Germany’s press freedom laws. Catherine Stupp reports
Has Ireland reintroduced criminal libel?
An Irish court has created a precedent where damage to a person’s reputation could lead to criminal sanction — and no one seems to have noticed, writes Padraig Reidy
Facebook’s online shaming mobs
When social media users group together to participate in online vigilantism, what implications are there for freedom of expression? Katie Dancey writes
Did culture and arts prepare Egypt for revolution?
Some believe the stage for Egypt’s 2011 mass uprising was already being set years earlier — with popular culture helping fuel the people’s anger and frustration. Shahira Amin reports
Index calls on Morocco to release rapper El Haqed
In an Open Letter to the Moroccan Minister of Justice and Liberties El Mustapha Ramid, 11 organisations committed to the defence of the rights to freedom of expression, culture and the arts have condemned the four-month sentence served against Mouad Belghouate.
Index Awards 2014: Catching up with arts nominee Lucien Bourjeily
The playwright tells Index that many Lebanese people don’t know that censorship exists in their country
Right to be forgotten: A poor ruling, clumsily implemented
In practice, the Court of Justice of the European Union’s ruling on the “right to be forgotten” was far too blunt, far too broad brush, and gave far too much power to the search engines to be effective.
A message for politicians: Don’t complain when reporters report
The narrative of evil newspaper versus innocent, naive, poor little politician is self-pitying and self-defeating, writes Padraig Reidy
Thailand: Can the junta deliver on promises to “bring back happiness”?
The junta’s message to the public is, don’t worry about the abrogation of human rights, freedom of assembly and the clampdown on the media, writes Tom McGregor