German chancellor Angela Merkel has called for more stringent EU data protection rules, after allegations that US surveillance programmes have also impacted EU citizens. Sara Yasin reports
Global action is needed to counter Putin’s crackdown on civil society, says Yuri Dzhibladze, president of the Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights
Related: In war on free expression, Putin approves restrictive legislation
From the Magazine: Freedom of expression is a universal, fundamental human right. But who actually has access to free expression? Index CEO Kirsty Hughes looks at the evidence.
Following reports that some European countries have prevented a plane carrying the Bolivian President Evo Morales into their airspace, Index on Censorship calls on EU members to honour their commitments to freedom of expression.
A Bahraini teenager has been given jail time for a tweet. Sara Yasin looks at how the country has pursued users of the popular social networking site
Tunisian rapper Weld El 15 (real name Alaa Yaacoubi) walked free from Tunis’s Court of Appeal today after his jail sentence for “insulting” police was reduced from two years to a six month suspended sentence, Padraig Reidy writes
The European Union Foreign Affairs Council last week released its guidelines on promoting and protecting religious freedom. The guidelines, designed to set standards for the EU’s external dealings, make, for the most part, encouraging reading, Padraig Reidy writes
Index’s Padraig Reidy speaks to two members of the Russian feminist punk group on a secret trip to the UK
Keir Starmer’s new guidelines aim to minimise controversial criminal cases against Twitter and Facebook users. But will they work, asks Padraig Reidy
The third annual Freedom Online Conference is taking place in Tunis. Government and business representatives, civil society, academics and net activists are discussing how freedom of expression on the Internet is helping to promote social, cultural and economic development worldwide. Mike Harris collects the highlights