Saudi Arabia censors Twitter

Saudi Arabia has begun blocking the Twitter pages of activists in the country. Human rights lawyer Waleed Abulkhair and businessman Khaled al Nasser said their Twitter pages have been blocked since about Monday by the official government Internet censor.  This is apparently the first move against known Twitter users inside the kingdom. The men involved […]

Saudi Arabia shuts TV station over sex row

Saudi authorities have closed an office of an Arab TV station after it broadcast an interview with a man speaking frankly about sex and showing off erotic toys, a government official said today. Abdul-Rahman al-Hazza, spokesman for the ministry of culture and information, said the office of LBC, a Lebanese-based satellite TV station was closed […]

Saudi film festival cancelled

Saudi Arabia’s only film festival was cancelled at the last hour after apparent religious pressure within the highly conservative Islamic kingdom. The Jeddah film festival, which was scheduled to open on Saturday had planned to be a rare showcase for movie-makers in Saudi Arabia, a country where cinemas were banned for almost three decades. Read […]

Jaroslav Seifert

In this issue, Index takes a look at how the Czechoslovak media pretend that Jaroslav Seifert, Nobel Prize winner, has never been out of favour with the Prague regime.

Writers in China

In this issue, Index examines the background of the Chinese "Spiritual Pollution" campaign and explores the future of Chinese literature.

Dangerous writers

In this issue, Index publishes the work of forbidden and persecuted writers and poets as well as their experiences under censorship.