The Iranian government began censoring SMS discussions of its plummeting local currency on 10 September, following an exchange rate fall of almost eight per cent against the dollar. Iran’s mobile networks explicitly blocked messages containing the...
Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was today acquitted of insulting the Sunni citizens of the island of Muharraq on Twitter. Rajab was sentenced to three months in prison on 9 July for his remarks on the site. However, the...
An 11-year-old girl with Down’s Syndrome was last week arrested in Pakistan, after an angry mob demanded that the girl be punished for allegedly desecrating the Qur’an --- the Islamic holy book. The young girl is a resident of a Christian...
A controversial fatwa issued by a prominent Muslim cleric sanctioning violence against anti-Muslim Brotherhood activists planning demonstrations in Cairo on 24 August, has sent shockwaves throughout Egyptian society, triggering public outcry and...
Index on Censorship condemns the sentencing of human rights defender and Index award winner Nabeel Rajab to three years in prison
Tunisia's data protection authority is in the process of amending the country's 2004 privacy law, which will regulate the use of personal data. Hacking into activists’ emails, tapping into dissidents’ phone calls, or installing surveillance...
The month-long suspension of a privately-owned Egyptian TV channel for "defamation and incitement to violence" has triggered an outcry in Egyptian media circles amid fears of regression in freedom of expression gained after the country's January...
Tunisia's ruling party, the Islamist Ennahdha movement, seek to criminalise blasphemy. The Ennahdha party filed a blasphemy bill on 1 August in response to what their leaders describe as “a continuous increase in number of offences against the...
Since March, Emirati authorities have arrested over 50 activists and human rights defenders in a widespread crackdown on dissent. Index joins a group of international rights groups in calling on UK Foreign Minister William Hague and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to push for the prisoners’ release
In an unexpected move on 4 July, the National Authority for Information and Communication Reform (INRIC) held a press conference announcing the end of its activities after disagreements with Tunisian PM Hamdai Jebali's government. The media reform...