In recent days a series of controversial public service announcements aired on state-owned TV channels in Egypt, angering Egyptians and foreigners alike. The advertisements, which warn Egyptians against talking to foreigners "because they might be...
CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa

Ultra-conservative Islamists vandalise artworks at Tunis art fair
The Tunis Printemps des Arts (Spring of Arts), a modern contemporary art fair, ended on 10 June after 10 days of exhibitions and competition. The closing ceremony, which was supposed to be a celebration of art, was characterised by controversy,...
Iran to crackdown on usage of VPNs
Iran's cyber police will carry out a new crackdown on software used to circumvent the country's strict censorship media according to reports by local news agencies. The head of the specialised police unit examining security issues, claimed...
Yemeni journalist jailed for Facebook posts
A Yemeni court on Monday sentenced journalist Majed Karoot to one year in prison and fined him YR 200,000 for criticising local government officials on the popular social networking site Facebook. The director of corporate communications for the...
Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab re-arrested
Index on Censorship award winner Nabeel Rajab was re-arrested yesterday for allegedly insulting citizens of a predominantly Sunni village on the popular social networking site, Twitter. According to prosecutors, Rajab was taken into custody to...

Political activist Fathi Tlili behind bars
13 days after police arrested him, Fathi Tlili, a coordinator for the Leftist Socialist Party (Le Parti socialiste de gauche in French), is still behind bars. The arrest followed Tlili’s participation in protests which swept Sakiet Sidi...
Kuwait: 10-year sentence for Twitter blasphemer
A Kuwaiti man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday after being convicted of endangering state security as a result of messages he sent on Twitter. The judge found Hamad al-Naqi guilty of insulting the prophet Muhammad and Islam, and...

Graffiti artist claims censorship at Tunis Arts Spring
Tunisian graffiti artist Elektro Jaye was recently censored at the Tunis Pintemps des Arts (Spring of Arts), a modern contemporary art fair which exhibited more than 500 art works this year. “One of the fair's organisers Luca Luccattini literally...
New Arab Debates suspend activities in Tunisia
On 31 May, the New Arab Debates (NAD), a political discussion forum which takes place in MENA region countries, decided to suspend all of its operations in Tunisia after security forces disrupted the programme earlier this week. On 29 May, two...
Egyptian activists in shock over election results
Egyptians reacted in shock and despair after official results of the first round of Egypt’s first multi-candidate presidential elections were announced on Monday afternoon on Egyptian State TV’s main Arabic news channel. Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim...