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: News and features
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...
Ethiopia pardons jailed Swedish journalists
Ethiopia has pardoned two Swedish journalists charged with supporting terrorism and will release them soon, a government source said on Monday. Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye were sentenced to 11 years in prison in October 2011, after illegally...
Pakistani girl accused of blasphemy is released on bail
A Pakistani Christian girl accused of desecrating a copy of the Qur'an was freed from a jail in Rawalpindi on Saturday. Rimisha Masih, who is 14 years old and has Down's syndrome, was released after her village's Muslim cleric was arrested,...
Indian cartoonist arrested on sedition charges
The arrest of an anti-corruption cartoonist in India on sedition charges has sparked outrage. Marta Cooper reports
Obama’s free speech record
As Barack Obama gets ready to rally his troops at the Democratic National Convention, Mark Rumold says his administration has cast free speech aside in its pursuit of file sharers and whistleblowers
Vietnam: free expression in free fall
Freedom of expression has suffered a crackdown in Vietnam in recent years, with bloggers being the main target. Geoffrey Cain asks what has prompted this intense backlash against free speech
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
Five bizarre blasphemy cases
Sara Yasin looks at some disturbing cases of censorship in the name of religious offence
Julian Assange granted political asylum in Ecuador
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been granted political asylum in Ecuador. The Australian national, who has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for two months after breaching his bail conditions in the UK, is wanted in Sweden, where...