The Kuwaiti satellite channel Mubasher and newspaper Al-Mustaqbal, both owned by Shaikh Fahd Salem Al Ali have been banned by the country's ministry of commerce on a request by the ministry of information. The ministry of commerce...
CATEGORY: News and features
Ban Ki-Moon calls for release of Belarus journalists
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has expressed concern for political prisoners being held in Belarus in the aftermath of December's presidential elections. A UN spokesman told reporters: "[Ban is] concerned about the continued detention of...

Strasbourg Court must reject prior notification
Peter Noorlander of the Media Legal Defence Initiative warns that today’s action by Max Mosley at the European Court of Human Rights could have grave consequences for free media

Libel reform victory
Index on Censorship celebrates Nick Clegg’s commitment to overhaul England’s much-criticised libel laws

Pakistan: The death of free speech
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have long been a tool of political intimidation, says Salil Tripathi
Our campaign isn’t a “big media” proxy
John Kampfner defends the libel reform campaign and explains why England’s defamation laws are not fit for purpose
Plus, So you think we’ve got free speech in Britain? Think again

Phone hacking: The role of the phone companies
The latest revelations in the phone-hacking scandal have prompted the suspension of a News of the World executive, but they also raise serious concerns about security — and possible corruption — at mobile phone companies, Brian Cathcart writes

So you think we’ve got free speech in Britain? Think again
Nobody sensible wants to abolish libel law, to allow a free-for-all in which reputations are impugned without a right to redress. It’s about balance and proportion, says
John Kampfner

Tunisia: The Middle East’s first cyberwar
Conventional wisdom suggests that the web’s power to drive social revolution is over-rated, but the Tunisian government still isn’t taking any chances. Its agents are hacking its opponents’ networks and sabotaging them, even as foreign hackers retaliate against the state. Rohan Jayasekera reports

India’s information ministry reaches adolescence
The introduction of a de facto broadcast watershed may signal progress a more mature attitude, says Leo Mirani