In India, folks with brittle egos and skeletons stacked up in their closets, can and will wield the law to clam your mouth shut, and even have you put in jail, writes Saurav Datta.
Hush — slander is a criminal offence in India
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CATEGORY: Politics and Society
Perfection as the enemy of the good: Weakening surveillance reform
The US Congress has made it clear by passing the USA Freedom Act that compromise is one way of doing nothing, a form of sanctified inertia. Binoy Kampmark writes
EU project to explore media freedom and pluralism
Media freedom has always been on European Union’s agenda. With funding from the EU, four organisations, including Index on Censorship, will tackle problems currently facing journalists and media personnel across Europe. Alice Kirkland reports
Ukraine: Poroshenko win a sign of national unity but not a final remedy
Ukrainians have a long way to go to ensure the Maidan protests change more than just the name of the president and faces of the governmental officials, writes Andrei Aliaksandrau
Singapore: Blogger removes posts under threat from prime minister
A Singaporean blogger has had to take down another four blog posts and a YouTube video after receiving another letter from the lawyer of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Kirsten Han reports
Azerbaijan: Journalist jailed for critical Facebook posts
An Azerbaijani journalist, who spoke critically of the authorities on social media, has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison.
India’s Supreme Court breaks police stranglehold on theatre
Dramatic performances cannot be policed and subjected to pre-censorship, writes Saurav Datta
Pakistan: “The end of pluralism and choice”
Militant group Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) in Pakistan’s Khyber agency has asked residents to enrol at least one of their sons to madrassas run by LI or pay large fines. Zofeen T. Ebrahim reports
Ukraine: Showing solidarity for a country in crisis
On the eve of the Ukrainian election, intellectuals gathered in Kiev to discuss the country’s ongoing crisis
Singapore: Blogger targeted by prime minister
Singaporean blogger Roy Ngerng has become the latest critic of the government to receive a lawyer’s letter, writes Kirsten Han
Leaked document reveals how EU cut commitment to greater official openness
You can find support for the public’s right to access official information in the strangest places. Like a private EU policy paper draft. As leaked to and published by the whistle-blowers’ website Wikileaks. Rohan Jayasekara writes
India obsessed with social media role in elections
Indians, ever a chatty lot, are obsessed with the idea of being obsessed with social media. Mahima Kaul reports
