WeChat was the darling of the Chinese start-up scene, the sexy competitor to Weibo domestically, and Twitter and WhatsApp, on the global stage. That was until China cracked down, Alastair Sloan reports
Many media workers believe that the recent stabbing of a newspaper editor is message for Hong Kong-based journalists to beware criticising Beijing, Jemimah Steinfeld reports.
There are 14 individuals known to be on death row while 19 others are serving life sentences on charges of committing blasphemy, according to new report. Zofeen Ebrahim writes
Free Weibo is an uncensored version of China’s biggest social network, SinaWeibo.
The Hindu fundamentalists’ falsehood is malicious, not Wendy Doniger’s interpretation. Saurav Datta writes
The move has been slammed by a coalition of over a hundred Islamabad-based civili society organisations, who have labelled it a violation of Pakistani women’s and girls’ fundamental human rights. Zofeen Ebrahim reports
Improbable as it may seem, but 67 Kashmiri university students were briefly charged with sedition for cheering for Pakistan, and celebrating its win over India, during an Asia Cup cricket match in early March. Mahima Kaul reports
Callum Macrae, in collaboration with Channel 4 News, has made three films uncovering the truth about Sri Lanka’s human rights abuses in the final months of its decades-long civil war in 2009.
In India, the state and private petitioners have equally exploited India’s penal code to harass, censor or silence individuals. Ram Mashru reports
Indian authors and columnists have condemned Penguin India’s decision to pulp all remaining copies of American author Wendy Doniger’s controversial book. Mahima Kaul reports
Shahzad Ahmad is one of the leading voices in the fight against online censorship in Pakistan. The country faces a deteriorating state of cyber freedom, as the government uses draconian censorship laws and increasing surveillance to police the internet.
Generation Wave has been at the forefront of promoting democratic engagement in Burma, using hip hop, graffiti, film and street art to challenge authoritarianism since 2007 – with a strict policy of non-violence.
