Suspects being made to “confess” to crimes live on air, is making even the most influential scared to speak out, writes Alastair Sloan
China: The unsettling and bizarre spectacle of televised confessions
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CATEGORY: Asia and Pacific
Burma: The art of transition
The Art of Transition Symposium in Yangon was a significant event in the unfolding drive towards democracy in Burma, providing a public platform to discuss how changing political and social conditions are affecting artistic freedoms.
Pakistan’s media targets women in pursuit of ratings
TARGET - Episode No.190 by aajnews Pakistan's media has become increasingly powerful in the decade and a half since then-president Pervez Musharraf...
India: Parliament TV blacks out during debate over controversial bill
For the first time in its history, the lower house of Indian parliament passed a law as important as creating a new state – by reorganising Andhra Pradesh into two states; Andhra Pradesh and Telangana – away from the media glare and the public eye. Mahima Kaul reports
Internet repression in Vietnam continues as 30-month prison sentence for blogger is upheld
The case of Le Quoc Quan is just the latest move in the Vietnamese authorities’ ongoing attack on dissent, free speech, free press and a free internet. Helen Clark reports
Australia: Authorities want ISPs to police the web
The government will consider various legal means to provide a “legal incentive” for internet service providers to collaborate with copyright owners to combat infringements, Binoy Kampmar writes
India enters the sousveillance age
Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi’s erstwhile chief minister, gained popularity among ordinary citizens because of his tough anti-corruption stand. His antics and strategies to grab media attention didn’t disappoint either. Mahima Kaul reports
Delhi High Court champions a SLAPP suit
Court’s gag order in sexual harassment case is an assault on freedom of the press, says Saurav Datta
Penguin’s disappointing surrender over Hindus book
Penguin India has agreed to withdraw Wendy Doniger’s award-winning book The Hindus: An Alternative History, and to destroy remaining copies within six months, writes Salil Tripathi
South Koreans prosecuted for “praising North Korea”
Last year saw 103 people — the highest number in a decade — charged under the controversial National Security Law, labelled “seriously problematic for the exercise of freedom of expression”. Steven Borowiec reports
India’s courts caught in pornophobia
The Indian Supreme Court’s observations while hearing a petition in which online pornography is blamed for of the “epidemic” of rape and sexual violence is redolent of the pornophobia which had gripped the puritanical English legal system in the Victorian era, writes Saurav Datta
Australia’s “Auntie” pummelled over Indonesia coverage
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has been called unAustralian by prime minister Tony Abbott, who has also called for a review of its funding. Helen Clark reports
