Latest News Items

U.S. District Court Judge rules that bloggers and journalists do not enjoy same legal privileges
Date: 6 December 2011 "A U.S. District Court judge in Portland has drawn a line in the sand between "journalist" and "blogger." And for Crystal Cox, a woman on the latter...
 

Yale to Ensure Students in Singapore Have Freedom of Expression
Date: 7 July 2012 "Yale University will ensure its liberal arts campus in Singapore won’t impose censorship amid criticism the city-state’s laws will stifle academic freedom...
 

U.N. Affirms Internet Freedom as a Basic Right
Date: 6 June 2012 "Will Internet companies help or hinder government authorities that try to restrict their citizens from using the Web freely? And will their customers...
 

Uganda: Government should desist from infringing on freedom of expression and association
Date: 27 June 2012 "ARTICLE 19 is concerned at the recent moves by the Ugandan government to curtail freedom of expression through intimidation and threats to NGOs...
 

Ethiopia: Conviction of Government Opponents a 'Dark Day' for Freedom of Expression
Date: 27 June 2012 "More Ethiopian government opponents have been convicted on trumped up terrorism and treason charges in what Amnesty International called...
 

Ethiopia: IFJ Condemns 'Gross Miscarriage of Justice' After Terror Conviction Against Journalist in Ethiopia
27 June 2012 "The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today described a ruling by the High Court in Addis Ababa which found guilty of terrorism journalist Eskinder ...
 

Twitter joke humorous not menacing, high court judges told
27 June 2012 - "A message sent on Twitter threatening to blow up a snowbound airport unless it reopened was not "menacing" and was like a comic cracking a joke on stage, the lord chief justice was told at the high court ...
 

EU’s ambassador to Georgia supports media diversity law
Date 25 June 2012 "TBILISI, DFWatch – A legislative initiative to provide for more diverse media in Georgia continues to gather support as the EU Ambassador says he supports it...
 

Tunisia’s Setback in Freedom of Expression
Date: 24 June 2012 "Recent violence in Tunisia set off by religious radicals’ reaction to an art exhibition that they deemed offensive to Islam has revived a discussion here...
 

Julian Assange abandoned by Australia
Date: 22 June 2012 - " Wikileaks founder Julian Assange says he has sought refuge in Ecuador's London embassy because his native Australia has abandoned him...
 

Victory for the people! ACTA flatly rejected by the INTA Committee of the European Parliament
Date: 22 June 2012 - " In a key vote this morning, the INTA committee rejected ACTA by a clear majority (19/12)...
 

Kosovo's Deputy PM Quits Over Media Law Row
Date: 22 June 2012 "Kosovo's justice minister and deputy prime minister, Hajredin Kuci, resigned on Friday after parliament passed a new penal code including two articles...
 

Ecuador 'will respect freedom of expression' in Assange case
Date: 21 June 2012 - "A decision on the fate of Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be made within 24 hours, while the Ecuadorian foreign minister took to Twitter...
 

Uganda bans 38 organisations accused of 'promoting homosexuality'
Date: 20 June 2012 - "Uganda has announced a ban on 38 non-governmental organisations it accuses of undermining the national culture by promoting homosexuality...
 

Cuba Denounces Biased Reports about Freedom of Expression
Date: 20 June 2012 - "Cuba denounced here today reports by the Rapporteur to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) concerning freedom of expression, that exclusively...
 

Issue of web access raises hackles at conference
Date: 19 June 2012 "THE PUNISHMENT for breakers of the “three strikes” illegal download rule was “exceptionally disproportionate”, the vice-chairman of the UN Human...
 

Tanzania: Zanzibar Accused of Human Rights Violation
Date: 15 June 2012 - "Zanzibar — COURT case delays, misuse of government funds, and clampdown on freedom of expression are some of the incidents violating human rights in Zanzibar as recorded last year, a report says...
 

Afghanistan suspends political party sparking fears over freedom of speech
Date: 14 June 2012 - "Afghanistan has suspended a political party for the first time since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, a ban diplomats and activists say is a worrying sign freedoms in the country could suffer as western troops leave...
 

This Defamation Bill is a disaster for free speech
Date: 13 June 2012 - " Watching free-speech campaigners cheer the Defamation Bill as it glides through parliament is a bit like seeing fox-hunters celebrate the Hunting Act...
 

Journalist assaulted by police in Ivory Coast
Date: 12 June 2012 - "The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Ivorian police's assault on a journalist on June 5 and calls on authorities to ensure the officers are brought to justice...
 

Australia's news media faces regulatory crackdown by government
Date: 10 June 2012 - "The prospect of tighter regulation of the Australian media has drawn closer after it emerged last week that a TV network aired a prostitute's lurid claims against an MP despite knowing the woman wanted to retract the allegations...
 

Tories repeal part of rights act banning hate speech
Date: 8 June 2012 - "The federal Conservatives voted late Wednesday to repeal controversial sections of the Canadian Human Rights Act banning hate speech on the Internet, backing a bill they say promotes freedom of expression...
 

Tunisia: Marzouki Calls For Criminalising ‘Takfir’
Date: 07 March 2012 "Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki recently issued a call to the Constituent Assembly to adopt a law incriminating takfir, or accusations of apostasy...
 

Moscow police must investigate attacks on journalists
New York, March 7, 2012--A reporter covering a post-election protest in Moscow suffered a concussion after being assaulted by police, the most serious of at least three attacks on journalists reporting on demonstrations on Monday...
 

Togolese police assault photojournalist
New York, March 7, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Togo to investigate a report that police assaulted a photojournalist on Friday after he took photos of officers seizing a motorcycle during a protest...
 

Top Gurkha case lawyer attacks spate of complaints against councillors as threat to free speech
Date: 05 March 2012 "A LEADING human rights lawyer has condemned the system under which Welsh councillors can be barred from office for speaking their minds as a fundamental threat to freedom of speech...
 

Iranian human rights lawyer jailed for 18 years
Date: 04 March 2012 "A prominent Iranian human rights lawyer has been sentenced to 18 years in prison by a Tehran revolutionary court, his daughter said on Sunday...
 

Egypt court rejects second Mickey cartoon lawsuit
Date: 01 March 2012 "An Egyptian court on Saturday rejected the second of two lawsuits brought by ultraconservative Islamists accusing a Christian media mogul of insulting Islam when he relayed a cartoon online of Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie in a face veil...
 

Iran turns the screws on dissidents ahead of elections, report finds
Date: 28 February 2012 "Iran has escalated its crackdown on freedom of expression ahead of this week's parliamentary election, Amnesty International said in a report published today...
 

Censorship Returns to Pakistan
Date: 28 February 2012 "The Pakistan government has decided to impose fresh curbs on the country's independent broadcast media. The Pakistan Electronic Media...
 

Free media a prerequisite to development
Date: 27 February 2012 "The 7th regional African Caribbean and Pacific-European Union (ACP-EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly has affirmed free media as a prerequisite to development and critical...
 

Ecuador President Correa pardons paper in libel case
Date: 27 February 2012 "Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has pardoned the owners and a journalist at El Universo newspaper who faced jail terms and $40m (£25m) in damages for libelling him...
 

Access to Fergana.ru should be restored immediately and Internet should remain free in Kyrgyzstan
Date: 28 February 2012 "The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, called today for the block on news site Fergana.ru in Kyrgyzstan to be lifted and...
 

Firdous brushes aside media curb speculations
Date: 26 February 2012 "ISLAMABAD - Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan Saturday said, “The government des not intend to curb media freedom as democracy and media independence...
 

Firewall Looming in Pakistan: URL Filtering and Blocking
Date: 26 February 2012 "By March of 2012, The Pakistani Telecommunication Authority (PTA), may have succeeded in deployment of an Internet URL Filtering and...
 

Day laborers win Supreme Court free-speech case
Date: 22 February 2012 "Day laborers in Western states including California scored a legal victory Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower-court ruling declaring that cities violate free speech when they make it a crime to seek work from passing drivers...
 

Acta: EU court to rule on anti-piracy agreement
Date: 22 February 2012 "The European Union's highest court has been asked to rule on the legality of a controversial anti-piracy agreement...
 

Investigative journalist and family murdered
Date: 22 february 2012 "A freelance journalist who had investigated illegal mining activity, his wife and their two children were found brutally murdered in their home in India's Madhya Pradesh state on 18 February...
 

MEPs adopt resolution condemning Russian gay rights laws
Date: 21 February 2012 "MEPs have condemned Russia's legislation on gay rights which "discriminates against the freedom of expression"...
 

IN MAJOR STEP BACKWARDS, ACCESS TO FERGHANA NEWS WEBSITE BLOCKED
Date: 21 February 2012 "Reporters Without Borders very firmly condemns the semi-state owned company Kyrgyztelecom’s blocking of access to the website of Ferghana...
 

U.N. experts urge Syria to free detained activists
 

Freedom of speech, “alive and kicking in Hungary”
Date: 21 February 2012 "Alex Taylor, Euronews: “Opposition media closed down, moves to make the justice and banking systems dependent on the government...
 

Ecuador’s Assault on Free Speech
Date: 21 Feb 2012 "Ecuador’s highest court has delivered a staggering, shameful blow to the country’s democracy, siding with President Rafael Correa’s campaign to silence and bankrupt El Universo...
 

Media law may spell end to censorship
Date: 08 February 2012 "Burma is poised to adopt a new media law that could sweep away half a century of heavy-handed censorship, as an increasingly impatient press ...
 

Putin Proposes Creating a Free Speech Space in Moscow
Date: 15 February 2012 "Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Moscow should have a site similar to London's Hyde Park where people are always free to express their views...
 

The bloodlust faced by the 'blaspheming' Saudi journalist
Date: 15 February 2012 "In this country, and in the US, the judicial authorities make fools of themselves about Twitter. In Saudi and Malaysia, they may make themselves murderers...
 

Correa's defamation win exposes country's "disturbing" free expression situation
Date: 15 February 2012 "Two Ecuadoran journalists have been ordered to pay President Rafael Correa US$2 million in moral damages - the latest in a string of incidents that point to a "disturbing" and "deteriorating" free expression situation in Ecuador under President Rafael Correa...
 

Bulgaria Retracts Support for Global Anti-Piracy Agreement ACTA
Date: 14 February 2012 "Bulgaria retracted support for an international anti-piracy agreement it signed last month following protests on concerns that the Internet surveillance...
 

Judicial reform package encouraging for journalists but short-sighted
Date: 13 February 2012 "Amid ongoing debate that freedom of speech is curtailed in Turkey because of fears that some of the country’s laws may permit anybody to be put in jail, especially journalists...
 

China tells broadcasters they will be limited in number of imported TV series they can show
Date: 14 February 2012 "BEIJING — China’s television broadcasters will be limited in the number of imported series they can show, the government has announced, as China continues to try to rein in foreign influence...
 

MISA-Zimbabwe position on inclusion of media freedom
Date: 11 Ferbruary 2012 "MISA-Zimbabwe welcomes the inclusion of media freedom and the right to access to information as captured in the first constitutional draft published in The Herald on 9 February 2012...
 

Egypt: A Year of Attacks on Free Expression
Date: 11 February 2012 "(New York) – The climate for free expression in Egypt has worsened since Hosni Mubarak was ousted a year ago, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Journalist who covered corruption murdered in Brazil
"New York, February 10, 2012--The body of Brazilian journalist Mario Randolfo Marques Lopes was found on Thursday in the city of Barra do Piraí in Rio de Janeiro state...
 

IBA launches first global report examining the impact of online social networking on the legal profession.
Dte: 09 February 2012 "The International Bar Association (IBA) today published The Impact of Online Social Networking on the Legal Profession and Practice– the first comprehensive IBA report that examines the role of online social networking within the legal profession and legal practice, and also assesses whether there is a need to set principles regarding usage...
 

Nigeria's military obstructs journalists covering unrest
"New York, February 8, 2012--Nigeria's military has harassed and obstructed journalists trying to report on unrest in recent days, according to local journalists and news...
 

Euro judges back British media with key rulings
Date 07 February 2012 "The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg upheld a challenge by German newspaper Bild against a TV star's injunction banning reports...
 

Media interest in celebrities' lives is legitimate, European court rules
Date: 07 February 2012 "The private lives of celebrities are of legitimate interest to the media, the European court of human rights (ECHR) has ruled in landmark judgments...
 

Internet censorship could damage India's democracy
Date: 07 February 2012 "Twitter is seething over the news that internet giants, including Google and Facebook, have been told to remove offensive content from the web following...
 

Armenian Journalist Freed Amid Media Uproar
Date: 08 February 2012 "Facing an uproar from Armenia’s leading press freedom groups and independent media outlets, law-enforcement authorities released on Monday...
 

US free speech faces Islamic blasphemy law pressure, analyst says
"Washington D.C., Feb 4, 2012 / 07:05 am (CNA).- Paul Marshall, a religious liberty expert, says that attempts to “export” Islamic anti-blasphemy laws to the West could pose a threat to freedom of speech in the U.S...
 

BBC Persian staff face Iranian intimidation
Date: 03 February 2012 "Iran is stepping up a campaign of intimidation and smears against the BBC's Persian TV service, watched by millions of people in the Islamic...
 

Sun editor: judges don't have balance right on privacy
Date: 02 February 2012 " The editor of the Sun has told MPs and peers that judges had "not got the balance right" when it came to privacy cases involving celebrities and...
 

Facebook says censorship, restrictions pose revenue risks
Date: 02 February 2012 "NEW YORK: Social networking giant Facebook has said it faces risks of content censorship and other kinds of restrictions by the governments of...
 

UN: Philippines Journalist Defamation Conviction a Violation of Free Speech
Date: 02 February 2012 "In a landmark ruling that could have global implications, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has found that the conviction of a Philippines journalist...
 

Better self-policing, or independent media regulator? (South Africa)
Date: 01 February 2012 "Newspaper and magazine publishing companies on Tuesday proposed measures to improve the effectiveness of the current self-regulatory...
 

Burma-sponsored media workshop: A new dawn for press freedom?
Date: 01 February 2012 "Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association and Singapore-based Asia Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) jointly organized a...
 

Newspaper editor arrested for publishing "confidential information"
Date: 01 February 2012 "(RSF/IFEX) - 1 February 2012 - Reporters Without Borders calls for the immediate release of Charles Sanga, the managing editor of the daily Le...
 

Twitter policy that restricts tweets sparks outrage
Date: 01 February 2012 "Twitter announced last week that it would begin restricting tweets in specific countries if they violated local laws, setting off claims of censorship by...
 

Thailand backs Twitter censorship policy
Date: 31 January 2012 "Authorities in Thailand have become the first to welcome a controversial new censorship policy introduced by Twitter, announcing they will work with...
 

Two editors given jail terms in Central African Republic
"New York, January 31, 2012--The convictions of two journalists in the Central African Republic over their critical coverage of a top official constitute political censorship, the...
 

Tunisia Faces a Balancing Act of Democracy and Religion
Date: 30 January 2012 "TUNIS — The insults were furious. “Infidel!” and “Apostate!” the religious protesters shouted at the two men who had come to the courthouse to show...
 

Rwanda journalists jailed for genocide denial launch supreme court appeal
Date: 29 January 2012 "Two Rwandan journalists imprisoned for insulting President Paul Kagame and denying genocide will appear before the country's supreme court on...
 

Twitter Gives Itself Added Flexibility to Censor
Date: 28 Janaury 2012 "Twitter Inc., the microblogging service, gave itself extra flexibility to censor information in parts of the world that impose restrictions on self-expression...
 

South Africa rules against pornography on TV
Date: 28 Janaury 2012 "Pornography has no place on pay-TV in South Africa, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has ruled...
 

Five Ways Twitter Is Changing Media Law
Date: 28 January 2012 "While technology companies always outgrow the laws that govern them, Twitter’s 140-character message system is proving to be particularly disruptive...
 

Future or Funeral? A Guide to Public Service Media Regulation in Europe
"[...] nobody needs another paper on the future of public service media in Europe. This unique phenomenon of collectively funded electronic mass media has been subject to extensive research over the last few decades and different models have been described and analysed to the nth degree...
 

Ugandan photojournalist shot at from police van
"New York, January 25, 2012--Ugandan authorities must hold to account members of security forces who fired Tuesday on a photojournalist covering their attack on the motorcade of...
 

Judge confirms charges against Ethiopian dissident blogger
"New York, January 25, 2012--Jailed Ethiopian dissident blogger Eskinder Nega will stand trial in March for all of the terrorism accusations initially advanced by prosecutors, a federal...
 

French senate bans denial of Armenia genocide
Date: 24 January 2012 "AFP - French senators have passed a bill outlawing the denial of the Armenian genocide in 1915, with a seething Turkey slamming the move and...
 

In tiny Ecuador, populist president restrains press
Date: 24 January 2012 "Reporters are frequently assassinated in Mexico, and a populist government in Venezuela has driven some journalists into exile...
 

Press freedom suffered significant setbacks in 2011, says IFJ report
Date: 23 Janaury 2012 "A new International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) report reveals that press freedom in China suffered significant setbacks in 2011...
 

Gambia: Life sentence for distributing anti-government t-shirts violates free speech
Date: 20 January 2012 "ARTICLE 19 is appalled by the conviction and prison sentence handed to Amadou Scattred Janneh, a former Minister of Information and Communication...
 

Media law expert weighs in on SOPA and PIPA legislation
Date : 201 January 2012 "Senate and House leaders announced plans to postpone work on two controversial anti-piracy bills. The decision comes in the wake of large online protests...
 

Britain revokes Iranian TV Network’s Licence
Date: 20 Janaury 2011 "Britain’s media regulator revoked the broadcast license for the Iranian state-owned television network Press TV on Friday..."
 

Kenya: Comments on the Freedom of Information Bill
Date: 19 January 2012 - The Centre for Law and Democracy has published its analysis of the draft Kenyan Freedom of Information Bill.
 

Chile withdraws proposed law enabling police to seize images from media without court orders
Date: 19 January 2012 "Chile’s government is backing down on a plan that would have empowered police to force news media to surrender images without a court order...
 

Chinese dissident charged with subversion... for writing a poem
Date: 18 January 2012 "The Chinese authorities have indicted a veteran dissident on subversion charges for writing a poem urging people to gather to defend their...
 

This growing culture of outrage doesn't extend free speech – it limits it
Date: 18 January 2012 "I found a great image the other day, online obviously. It has a cat sitting in front of a computer screen. At the top it says: "OMG I have been offended." ...
 

Sudan confiscates, shuts down newspapers again
Date: 18 Janaury 2012 "The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Sudan's routine use of newspaper closures as a means to censor critical reporting. Over two ...
 

City wins bid to evict Occupy London protesters
Date: 18 January 2012 "The City of London Corporation has won its High Court bid to evict protesters from outside St Paul's Cathedral. The demonstrators, who are...
 

India must chose to defend free speech
Date: 18 January 2012 " India used to be the land of “gup”, which meant talk, arguments, conversations, and debates. Babble and noise, that’s what “gup” is...
 

Wikipedia joins web blackout in Sopa protest
Date: 17 January 2012 "Wikipedia plans to take its English-language site offline on Wednesday as part of protests against proposed anti-piracy laws in the US.The user...
 

Censorship laws revamp announced (Malta)
Date: 17 January 2012 "The government this afternoon announced its intention to carry out a major overhaul of the much-criticised censorship laws affecting stage performances and films...
 

Censoring social media curbs free speech, say netizens
Date: 16 January 2012 "The Indian government's decision to prosecute social networking sites like Google and Facebook has triggered public anger, with netizens saying the move is tantamount to clamping down on constitutional rights of free speech and individual liberty...
 

You can't read this book: why libel tourists love london
Date: 15 January 2012 "At their best, journalists expose the crimes of the powerful and there were plenty of powerful people worthy of examination in the Britain of the early...
 

GJA condemns police attack on Journalists
Date: 15 January 2012 "The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has strongly condemned the attack on journalists particularly, the Daily Guide photographer, Gifty Lawson...
 

White House: Anti-Piracy Legislation Must Not Curtail Innovation, Freedom of Expression
Date: 14 Janaury 2012 "In a potential problem for the movie industry, the White House has issued a warning about the anti-piracy legislation in Congress. While agreeing that...
 

Myanmar Releases Imprisoned Journalists
Date: 13 Janaury 2012 "VIENNA, 13 Jan. 2012 – At least 16 journalists were among the hundreds of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience released today by the ...
 

Babar Ahmad ruling is a victory for freedom of expression
Date: 12 Janaury 2012 "The justice secretary certainly acted unlawfully in refusing to allow the BBC to interview Babar Ahmad, a British prisoner wanted in the US on terrorism charges...
 

Israeli government to back bill banning use of Nazi symbols
10 January 2012 "The Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Monday voted to support a controversial bill that would make it a crime to call someone a "Nazi" or wear a...
 

Egypt tycoon faces trial for insulting Islam after tweeting cartoon of bearded Mickey Mouse
Date: 10 January 2012 "CAIRO — A prominent Christian Egyptian media mogul faces trial on a charge of insulting Islam, lawyers said Monday, based on his relaying a...
 

Al-Azhar sheik proposes bill of rights, aiming to balance out Islamists in Egypt constitution
Date: 10 January 2012 "The head of Al-Azhar, the pre-eminent institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world, put forward a Bill of Rights on Tuesday upholding...
 

Journalist harassed for reporting farmers' complaints
Date: 10 January 2012 "Police in Gambia are harassing a journalist for reporting farmers' complaints against a local official accused of mismanaging public resources...
 

Pakistan: CPNE expresses concern over threats to journalists
Date: 9 January 2012 "The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), on Sunday, reiterated that it will continue to strive for the protection of freedom of the press against all odds....
 

Online writer imprisoned in China
Date: 09 Jnauary 2012 "A 10-year prison term given to online critic Chen Xi last month is the latest severe sentence targeting dissenters in China, the Committee to Protect ...
 

UK: Executive 'forced out of job' over LinkedIn CV
Date: 05 January 2012 "John Flexman, 34, is thought to be the first person in the country to bring a case for constructive dismissal after a dispute with bosses over his profile on the professional networking site LinkedIn...
 

Iran clamps down on internet use
Date: 5 January 2012 "Iran is clamping down heavily on web users before parliamentary elections in March with draconian rules on cybercafes and preparations to launch a national internet...
 

China claims it has successfully curbed 'excessive entertainment' on TV
Date: 4 January 2012 "A campaign to curb "excessive entertainment" by cutting the number of racy programmes on Chinese satellite television channels has been successful...
 

'Clean up your website': Indian court orders Facebook and Google to remove 'anti-religious' content
Date: 02 January 2011 "Social websites including Google and Facebook have been ordered by an Indian court to remove all 'anti-religious' and 'anti-social' content within six weeks...
 

Sudan continues raid on media freedom
Date: 2 January 2012 "In an attempt to further paralyse its media industry and gag government critics, Sudan has shut down a newspaper linked to the country's main opposition party...
 

Middle East and North Africa: Historic Opportunity for Freedom of Expression
Date: 16 December 2011 "ARTICLE 19 has closely monitored events in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as change has swept across the region in the last twelve...
 

Imprisonments jump worldwide, and Iran is worst
Date: 08 December 2011 "The number of journalists imprisoned worldwide shot up more than 20 percent to its highest level since the mid-1990s, an increase driven largely by widespread jailings across the Middle East and North Africa...
 

Honduran journalists face 'growing threat'
Date: 7 December 2011 "Journalists in Honduras are facing growing danger, the country's human rights commissioner has warned...
 

Israel restricting freedom of expression, ACRI says
Date: 04 December 2011 "Israel is restricting the right to freedom of expression among its citizens and Palestinians, according to a report published on Sunday by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel...
 

Israelis pose nude in solidarity with Egypt blogger
Date: 20 November 2011 "Women show support for Elmahdy, who drew sharp criticism for posting naked photos in protest of Muslim country's restricted freedoms...
 

Ecuador: Press freedom fears as Ecuador president rages against the media he doesn't control
Date: 10 November 2011 "...Throughout this year there has been a rapidly growing threat to freedom of expression in the country. Now a five-day mission by the World...
 

UAE: Trial of five activists a complete sham, says coalition of rights groups
Date: 09 November 2011 "As a verdict draws near for five activists charged with "publicly insulting" United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) officials in an Internet forum, IFEX members...
 

Opposition Radio Stations Shut-Down Ahead of Liberia Elections
Date: 08 November 2011 "Following the violence which took place on Monday that saw at least three persons shot dead and many wounded, the Liberia National Police...
 

Julian Assange's options narrow as judges reject extradition appeal
Date: 02 November 2011 "Short of cash and running out of legal arguments, the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, felt the net tighten around him on Wednesday as the...
 

Argentina: "Dirty War" generals sentenced, multiple radio stations attacked
Date: 02 November 2011 "Over the past two months, numerous radio stations have been violently attacked in separate incidents and through various means - from arson, to...
 

TAKE ACTION! Sign a petition to free prisoners of opinion
Date: 01 November 2011 "After a professor and well-known publisher were arrested as part of a series of unjust arrests, IFEX members are asking supporters to put...
 

Tunisia Testing Newfound Freedom of Expression
 

Nigerian Journalist Shot Dead
 

Egypt: Military officials jail critical blogger
Date: 31 October 2011 "Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd el-Fattah, jailed Sunday after he objected to interrogation by military prosecutors, should be released immediately and...
 

Untruth must be repudiated, not punished
Date: 29 October 2011 "Freedom of expression, freedom of speech is vital for democracy, for unimpaired scholarly research and for rational risk management that keeps...
 

Malta: Acquitted of slandering PL Whip
Date: 29 October 2011 "Alleanza Liberali chairman John Zammit was yesterday cleared of slandering Labour Party Whip Joe Mizzi in articles written back in 2010, when an...
 

The Ten Rules Of Terrorism: Art That Tests The First Amendment
Date: 28 October 2011 "Peter Reynosa has unveiled a painting called The Ten Rules of Terrorism that definitely tests the idea of freedom of expression in America...
 

Academy calls for release of Iranian film-makers
Date: 20 October 2011 "The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has led Hollywood industry organisations in calling for the release of jailed Iranian film-makers...
 

Media control and intimidation a reality for 5.5 billion, says WAN-IFRA
Date: 19 October 2011 "This year, 44 journalists have already been murdered, says the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers...
 

Swedish journalists accused of terrorism face trial in Ethiopia
Date: 19 October 2011 "Two Swedish journalists charged with terrorism in Ethiopia after being arrested during a battle between government troops and rebels will go on trial...
 

Media most significant power of nation: Gilani
Date: October 2011 "Islamabad— Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Saturday urged the media to play pivotal role to dispel the false and misleading impressions, being portrayed in the...
 

Tunis crowds gather for anti-censorship march
Date: 16 October 2011 "In the latest turn in an increasingly heated debate between Islamic conservatives and secularists in Tunisia, thousands of liberal demonstrators...
 

Bahrain regime continues to target freedom of expression by taking journalists and photographers to trials
Date: 16 October 2011 "The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses concern for the continuation of the Bahraini authorities in its campaign against media...
 

Tunisian police and conservatives clash over 'blasphemous' film
Date: 16 October 2011 "TUNIS // Worshippers chanting "Allahu Akbar"; crowds on a motorway under a black flag; vans unloading riot police; young men hurling stones ...
 

MADA campaigns amidst precarious media freedom in Palestine
Date: 16 Octoebr 2011 "The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) launched two campaigns in early August demanding an end to attacks on press freedom...
 

Thai royal insult law may have been misused
Date: 14 October 2011 " Thailand on Thursday accepted its controversial royal insult laws may have been misused and could "inadvertently" have affected freedom of expression...
 

USA: Yahoo! blocked emails against Occupy Wall Street movement
Date: 14 October 2011 "september 22nd Yahoo blocked email containing the address "occupywallstreet.org". Since mid september activists have sat up a Tahrir square like camp near the New York stock exchange
 

No progress toward EU without media freedom
Date: 14 October 2011 "At the opening of the first Southeast Europe Media Conference, organized in Sarajevo by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe...
 

Pakistan and Iraq most dangerous countries for journalists
Date: 12 October 2011 "Pakistan remains the most dangerous country for journalists to work in with eight killed there so far this year. According to figures from the World ...
 

Bahrain Fines Newspaper Staff For False Reports
Date: 11 October 2011 "A court in Bahrain has fined the chief editor of one of the kingdom's leading independent newspapers and three of his colleagues for publishing false reports...
 

Venezuela: Government rejects UPR recommendations on free expression
Date: 11 October 2011 "On 11 October, the Venezuelan government rejected all requests to improve aspects of freedom of expression recommended by IFEX members and
 

USA: Virginia State Bar’s crackdown on lawyer’s blog raises questions
Date: 10 October 2011 " Virginia lawyers who blog about their cases, beware: the state bar may come after you for inappropriate advertising. At least that’s the message the...
 

UN expert urges Thailand to amend royal insult laws
Date: 11 October 2011 "GENEVA, October 10, 2011 - A UN expert on Monday urged Thailand to amend its controversial lese majeste laws, saying a recent increase in legal cases highlights the urgent need for reforms...
 

9th World day against death penalty
Date: 10 October 2011 "Vietnam’s communist leaders refuse to abolish the death penalty, despite strong international pressure.
 

Saudi Arabia: KSA Sends More Troops to Quell Unrest
Date: 10 October 2011 "Saudi Arabia has reportedly dispatched more troops and military equipment to its Eastern Province in a bid to quell anti-government protests
 

UK: David Cameron Backs Whistleblowing Site to Crack Down on Raunchy Ads
Date: 10 October 2011 "David Cameron backs whistleblowing site to crack down on raunchy ads Prime minister calls media industry summit to hear progress on tightening rules
 

Film about Utøya upsets survivors
Date: 09 October 2011 "Promotional material for a new American film based on last summer’s massacre on the Norwegian island of Utøya has upset survivors and their families...
 

Scotland: Alex Salmond's freedom of speech concession
Date: 11 October 2011 "ALEX Salmond has offered a "freedom of speech" concession to opponents of his government's anti-sectarian legislation in a bid to appease critics...
 

Burma censor chief calls for more media freedom
Date: 08 October 2011 "The head of Burma's powerful press censorship department has called for greater media freedom in his country. Tint Swe said censorship was incompatible...
 

Why was Tzipi Livni's visit to the UK accorded privileged status?
Date: 8 October 2011 "Last month, on the day that changes in universal jurisdiction law went into effect, Israel's former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said she "received a phone call"...
 

Facebook 'rape' page to stay despite charity criticism
Date: 7 October 2011 "Facebook has been criticised for not removing a controversial page which victim support charities say trivialises and jokes about rape...
 

UK: The importance of a free press
Date: 6 October 2011 "Anyone wanting to know why a free press matters could do worse than study the story of how the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World was uncovered
 

Vietnam: Amnesty for two imprisoned writers but unjust sentences for many more
Date: 5 October 2011 "In Vietnam's annual tradition of giving amnesty to prisoners in recognition of independence day, the government passed over many of those most
 

Burundi: Journalists defy media blackout on Gatumba massacre
Date: 5 October 2011 "Journalists are courageously defying a government order not to report on the Gatumba shooting massacre that left more than 35 people dead in Burundi last month
 

IFEX-ALC delegation submits recommendations on freedom of expression during Venezuela's UPR
Date: 3 October 2011 "IFEX-ALC is calling on the UN Human Rights Council members to urge the Venezuelan government to uphold the right to free expression
 

Cambodia: Judges Investigating Khmer Rouge Crimes Should Resign
Date: 3 October 2011 "The two investigating judges at the hybrid Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), created to try Khmer Rouge mass crimes and ...
 

UK: Reform options for media regulation
Date: 30 September 2011 "As many commentators have pointed out, the British press is not subject to regulation in the ordinary sense. It must, of course, operate within the civil and criminal law but ...
 

UN human rights office concerned about killing of journalists in Mexico
Date: 30 September 2011 "The United Nations human rights office today expressed concern over the increase in the number of killings of journalists in Mexico this year...
 

UK: Ferdinand loses court battle to silence newspaper
Date: 29 September 2011 "Rio Ferdinand has lost a privacy action against the Sunday Mirror. The footballer accused the paper of misusing private information after it...
 

UN expert calls on Cambodia to amend draft NGO law
Date: 28 September 2011 "The UN special rapporteur on Cambodia has called on the government to change its draft law on NGOs, which is a source of much anxiety among civil society groups...
 

OSCE warns that proposals to regulate internet could threaten freedom of expression
Date: 28 September 2011 "The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, has voiced concerns over internet regulation policies proposed by several...
 

IPI World Congress in Taipei spotlights free press
Date: 26 September 2011 "The 2011 International Press Institute World Congress, featuring discussions on press freedom, citizen journalism and social media revolutions...
 

EU - Council of Europe countries agree to protect internet freedom of expression
Date: 26 September 2011 "Governments can be prosecuted under human rights law if companies fail to protect critical infrastructure and freedom of expression
 

South Africa: Rulings leave freedom of expression in lurch
Date: 23 September 2011 "Freedom of expression has suffered two body blows in recent weeks...
 

Dowler lawyer: News Corp faces hacking lawsuit in US
Date: 23 September 2011 "American lawyers are set to launch legal action against News Corporation over the News of the World phone-hacking scandal...
 

Call for Free Press in Burma
Date: 21 September 2011 "Despite guarantees from Burmese President Thein Sein’s government of democratic reform to Burma's media and press, it has been reported
 

Zimbabwe Facebook subversion trial collapse
Date: 21 September 2011 "Zimbabwe Facebook subversion trial collapses The case against Zimbabwean Vikas Mavhudzi, accused of subversion because of an alleged post on the social media site Facebook, has collapsed...
 

UN Plan to Increase Safety of Journalists
Date: 20 September 2011 "In an official statement released on 20 September 2011, the United Nations confirmed that a draft action plan to improve safety of journalists and combat crimes against them has been prepared by representatives...
 

Turkey: Journalists Sik and Sener Detained for 200 Days
Date: 19 September 2011 " The 200th day of journalists Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener in prison was marked by a demonstration of the group "Fellow Journalists of Ahmet and Nedim"....
 

Indonesia: Honor for Daring to Speak Out
Date: 18 September 2011 " Despite efforts to protect journalists, freedom of the press sits on shaky ground in Indonesia, according to two writers honored last week for their...
 

Malaysia: Najib to Abolish Detention, Media Laws as Popularity Drops
Date: 16 September 2011 "Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he will abolish laws allowing the government to detain citizens without trial and ease media rules...
 

Ecuador: 7 Radio Stations Could be Fined due to Freedom of Expression Simulcasts
Date: 15 September 2011 "Four simulcasts made by seven radio stations in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca to talk on freedom of expression are now under an investigation by the Superintendency of Telecommunications...
 

.XXX web domain registration begins
Date: 07 September 2011 "Companies and celebrities are being given the chance to protect their names from porn hijacking ahead of the launch of the .xxx web domain.
 

China: Propaganda Bureau takes control of two Beijing newspapers
Date: 03 September 2011 "The Beijing propaganda bureau has taken control of two influential newspapers in the Chinese capital, prompting fears that they will be more strictly censored...
 

France: Sarkozy under pressure over claims French journalist was spied on
Date: 02 September 2011 "French President Nicolas Sarkozy's government came under increasing pressure Friday after Paris daily newspaper Le Monde said a judge had evidence that French secret services had illegally spied on a journalist to find out his sources...
 

UK: Ban on racist marches 'breaks free speech law'
Date: 01 September 2011 "City of London police secured an order from Home Secretary Theresa May yesterday which outlaws such protests in the Square Mile for 30 days to
 

Do we have a fundamental right to film the police in public?
Date: 31 August 2011 "As a number of recent cases have made clear, filming policing activity in public places is a vital method of holding police to account...
 

UK: Tories torn over regulating social media
Date: 24 August 2011 "In a country without a written constitution, British politicians struggle to contend with Twitter, Facebook and other social media at a time of crisis.
 

Sudan's new press laws will threaten free speech
Date: 22 August 2011 "A flawed media law already hampers the work of journalists in Sudan. But now the government is considering introducing even more restrictions. Abdelgadir Mohamed Abdelgadir reports...
 

Yemen - Attacks on Journalists Continue
Date: 22 August 2011 "Suhail TV cameraman Ahmad Firas was arrested by soldiers from Daylami airbase in Yemen on the afternoon of 12 August as he was driving towards Sanaa with his wife and children...
 

Yemen: Attacks on Journalists Continue
Date: 22 Aug 2011 "Suhail TV cameraman Ahmad Firas was arrested by soldiers from Daylami airbase in Yemen on the afternoon of 12 August as he was driving towards Sanaa with his wife and children
 

Egypt: Military Intensifies Clampdown on Free Expression
Date: 17 August 2011 "The military prosecutor's decision to prosecute the youth leader Asamaa Mahfouz for "insulting the military" is a serious escalation of efforts by military leaders to silence critical voices...
 

Spain: Archbishop - Catholics Have The Right To Freedom Of Expression
Date: 16 August 2011 "Archbishop Braulio Rodriguez of Toledo, Spain spoke out Aug. 11 in defense of World Youth Day 2011...
 

Pakistan : Journalist abducted in Pakistan tribal area
Date: 12 August 2011 "New York, August 12, 2011--Concern is mounting for the safety of journalist Rahmatullah Darpakhel, who was seized by a group of armed men in North Waziristan...
 

UK: Twitter Refuses to Close Accounts of Rioters to Protect their 'Freedom of Expression'
Date: 11 August 2011 "Twitter has refused to close the accounts of London rioters who used the service to spread unrest and insisted that Tweets must 'continue to flow'...
 

Burundi: Stop Harrassing Lawyers and Journalists
Date: 11 August 2011 "(New York) – The Burundi authorities’ arrests of lawyers and intimidation of journalists are cause for concern, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
 

Mass Killings in Norway Stir Danish Free-Speech Debate
Date: 11 August 2011 "Anders Behring Breivik's deadly attacks in Norway last month have fanned an already heated debate in neighboring Denmark about the degree to which its prized tradition of free speech should allow anti-Islamic sentiments
 

United Kingdom: London riots - Twitter says all tweets must continue to flow
Date: 09 August 2011 "Talking to The Telegraph, a Twitter spokesman stuck to the company’s line that the tweets must continue to flow...
 

China: Says It Was Targeted In 500,000 Cyberattacks
Date: 09 August 2011 "BEIJING -- Nearly 500,000 cyberattacks were aimed at computers in China last year and almost half originated overseas...
 

Vancouver: Government undermining freedom of speech - 08/08/2011
Date: 08 August 2011 "Freedom of expression and access to information are core democratic values to which Canada presumably ascribes...
 

Saudi Arabia: Stop Trial of Journalist
Date: 03/08/2011 "(Beirut) – The head of the Saudi judiciary, Salih bin Humaid, should stop all criminal proceedings against Fahd al-Juhani, a Saudi journalist charged with defaming a local official...
 

Africa: Windhoek +20 Draft Declaration Released
Date: 03 July 2011 "The African Platform on Access to Information Working Group, of which ARTICLE 19 is a member, is proud to announce that the second draft of its declaration is now available...
 

More Democracy in SE Asia, but Free Speech Doesn’t Always Follow
Date: 02/08/2011 "Free speech in Southeast Asia is under assault despite the wave of democratization that has rolled through many countries in the region, activists and UN officials said over the weekend...
 

Chechen Human Rights Lawyer Threatened
Date: 02 August 2011 "Threats by the police against a lawyer in Chechnya highlight the need for Russian authorities to end the harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders in the republic...
 

Repressive Saudi Arabian Draft Counterterrorism Law
Date: 02 August 2011 "Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah should withdraw a draft counterterrorism law from consideration by the cabinet because it would facilitate serious human rights violations...
 

Egypt: Egyptian tanks clearing out Tahrir Square
Date: 01/08/11 "The Egyptian army deployed troops in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday and fired shots in the air to disperse remaining pro-democracy protesters...
 

India’s new Internet rules criticized
Date: 01/08/2011 "NEW DELHI — New Internet rules that seek to enhance national security and limit offensive content have sparked an angry debate about free speech in the world’s largest democracy.
 

Vietnam: Ensure Fair Hearing for Legal Scholar
Date: 01/08/2011 "(Bangkok) ­– The outcome of the August 2, 2011 Appeals Court hearing on legal scholar Cu Huy Ha Vu’s conviction on national security charges will have important repercussions...
 

Egypt: Mubarak Trial Will Be Televised, Judge Says
Date: 31/07/2011 "CAIRO — The trial of former President Hosni Mubarak will be held in a large hall that can accommodate six times as many people as a regular courtroom...
 

Sri Lankan journalist attacked 'with iron bars'
Date: 30/07/2011 "An ethnic Tamil journalist in Sri Lanka’s formerly embattled north was brutally attacked with iron bars, police said on Saturday, the latest in a string of assaults on the nation’s media...
 

Gobal: UN human rights body criticizes restrictions on free expression
Date: 28/07/2011 "The United Nations Human Rights Committee has issued a commentary on freedom of expression that says anti-blasphemy laws and restrictions on criticism of governments are incompatible with existing norms...
 

China Steps Up Web Monitoring
Date: 26/07/2011 "New regulations that require bars, restaurants, hotels and bookstores to install costly Web monitoring software are prompting many businesses to cut Internet access...
 

Ecuadorian paper reacts to libel ruling with nearly-empty front page
Date: 26/07/2011 "There were no articles on the front page of Ecuador's El Universo newspaper in reaction to a judge's ruling that the publication had libeled the country's president...
 

Saudi Arabia: ANHRI condemns blocking Amnesty International website
Date: 26/0/2011 “ANHRI condemned today blocking Amnesty International website by the Saudi authorities yesterday, for criticizing the draft of the anti-terror law...
 

CIJ concerned over proposed media consultative council
Date: 26/07/2011 "The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Malaysia strongly opposes the media consultative council that the Malaysian government is planning to establish...
 

Global: Murdoch's ambitions in the Middle East
Date: 25/7/11 "Embroiled in a scandal that has global implications, Rupert Murdoch's media empire is under fire due to the ongoing fallout resulting from the News of the World scandal...
 

Saudi Arabia blocks Amnesty International Web site after anti-terror law leak
Date: 25/07/2011 "The Saudi Arabian government has long blocked access to thousands of Web sites that cover topics such as religion, women, health, drugs, sex and pop culture...
 

Ecuador Newspaper Gets Harsh Sentence
Date: 22/07/2011 'An Ecuadorian judge has ordered three executives and a former columnist from one of the country's major newspapers, each to be jailed for three years..
 

Media watchdogs condemn Ecuador libel ruling
Date: 22/07/2011 "Media watchdogs around the world have denounced an Ecuadorian court decision to send four journalists to prison and impose a $40m fine for libel against President Rafael Correa...
 

Hague hits out at Israel boycott law
Date: 20/07/2011 "Foreign Secretary William Hague has criticised Israel's new anti-boycott law, calling it an "infringement of freedom of expression"...
 

Human Rights Committee adopts general comment on the right to freedom of expression - 21 Jul 2011
Date 21/ 07/ 2011 "The Human Rights Committee this afternoon adopted a General Comment on States parties' obligations under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
 

Expert Group for Freedom of Expression on the Internet meets for first time
Date: 20/07/2011 "Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne opened the first meeting of the group, which was attended by experts from the legal, academic and media communities, NGOs and the business sector...
 

OSCE media freedom representative welcomes decriminalization of libel by Kyrgyzstan
Date:19/07/2011 "The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, today commended Kyrgyzstan for being the first Central Asian state to decriminalize libel...
 

Senior UN official deplores murder of third Mexican journalist in one month
Date: 19/07/2011 "The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has condemned the killing of a Mexican journalist...
 

Jordan - News Website Refuses to Reveal Identity of a Source - 18 Jul 2011
Date: 18/07/2011 "An online news outlet on Sunday refused to abide by the Amman prosecutor general's request to reveal the identity of a source that provided the website with classified documents...
 

Guatemalan journalist keeps secrets of drug killings for posthumous video
Date: 18/07/2011 "Carlos Jimenez's video to be aired only if he falls victim to the escalating violence against journalists in central America...
 

Syria, Syrian forces arrest leading writer Ali Abdullah, 17 Jul 2011
Date: 17/07/2011 "Syrian troops on Sunday arrested prominent writer Ali Abdullah, a fierce critic of the state's use of violence against a four-month uprising...
 

South Sudan: journalists facing intimidation
Date: 12/07/2011 "The newly formed government in Juba, South Sudan, has promised its citizens a vibrant democracy; ask Nhial Bol, and he will tell you it is something closer to a dictatorship...
 

Syrian security forces 'fire on rallies'
Date: 15/07/2011 "As many as 19 protesters have been killed across Syria after security forces reportedly shot at protesters...
 

TV Stations Multiply as Egyptian Censorship Falls
Date: 13/07/2011 "In Tahrir Square, Egypt’s revolution is playing out before the world’s cameras; but off-screen another revolution is happening that may be just as important...
 

Rights group says draft law on demonstrations would erode the rights of Iraqi citizens
Date: 14/07/2011 "Human Rights Watch called on the Iraqi government Wednesday to revise a draft law it said contained provisions that violate international law..
 

China: 1.3 million websites shut in 2010
Date: 13/07/2011 " More than one million websites closed down in China last year, a state-run think tank has said...
 

Strip Clubs claim Tax violates Freedom of Expression
Date: 14/07/2011 "When Texas lawmakers passed a $5-per-patron strip club fee in 2007, they pledged it would raise $40 million in the first year to finance programs to combat sexual assault and low-income health insurance...
 

Egypt's Reinstatement of Information Ministry is a Setback
Date: 12/07/2011 "The reinstatement of Egypt's Information Ministry that was abolished in February constitutes a substantial setback...
 

Respect and Protection of Freedom of Expression Vital for the Progress of Democracy in Turkey
Date: 12/07/2011 “Despite the progress made by Turkey in recent years regarding free and open debates on previously sensitive issues, the situation of freedom of expression and media freedom remains particularly worrying
 

To Track Militants, U.S. Has System That Never Forgets a Face
Date: 13/07/2011 "When the Taliban dug an elaborate tunnel system beneath the largest prison in southern Afghanistan this spring, they set off a scramble to catch the 475 inmates who escaped...
 

Israel passes law banning settler boycotts
Date: 12/07/2011"Bill stirs opposition from rights groups which call it 'a direct violation of freedom of expression' Israel's parliament has approved a contentious law that would allow illegal settlers in the West Bank to seek...
 

Iran's judicial killing spree
Date: 07/07/2011 "Factional infighting, paranoia, economic ineptitude and deepening confrontation with the west have characterised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's leadership of Iran...
 

Phone hacking: Police probe suspected deletion of emails by NI executive
Date: 08/07/2011 "Police are investigating evidence that a News International executive may have deleted millions of emails from an internal archive, in an apparent attempt to obstruct Scotland Yard's inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal
 

UK: Cameron Orders Two Inquiries Into Hacking Scandal as Former Aide Is Arrested
Date:07/07/2011 "British police arrested a former editor of The News of the World tabloid on Friday who had also been a senior aide to Prime Minister David Cameron, deepening the crisis...
 

US court orders halt to gay military ban
Date: 07/07/2011 "A US court has advanced the cause of gays and lesbians serving in the military by ordering the authorities to end a policy that...US court orders halt to gay military ban
 

Syria: Syrians Flee Opposition Town Of Hama Fearing Government Crackdown
Date: 07/07/2011 Dozens of families fled the Syrian city of Hama on Thursday, fearing a full-scale crackdown by security forces...
 

Malaysia: UN rights office concerned at reported crackdown ahead of planned protests
Date: 05/07/2011 "The United Nations human rights office today voiced concern about measures being taken by authorities in Malaysia...
 

Pakistan’s Spies Tied to Slaying of a Journalist
Date: 05/06/2011 "Obama administration officials believe that Pakistan’s powerful spy agency ordered the killing of a Pakistani journalist who had written scathing reports about the infiltration of militants in the country’s military, according to American officials..."
 

Belarus: Blocks Twitter, Facebook On Holiday
Date: 5/6/2011 "The authoritarian government of Belarus blocked access to Facebook, Twitter and a major Russian social networking site Sunday in an attempt to..."
 

Press Association backs phone-hack arrest reporter
Date:30/06/2011 "A Press Association journalist arrested as part of police investigations into alleged phone-hacking has received the "full support" of her editors...
 

Don't blacklist journalists: media watchdog
Date: 30/06/2011"China's top press watchdog has reiterated that no organization or individual has the right to bar journalists from reporting on them and urged government departments to...
 

China: Dark times for lawyers as repression intensifies
Date:30/06/2011 "The Chinese government has unleashed an uncompromising series of measures intended to rein in the legal profession and suppress lawyers pursuing human rights cases...
 

Phone hacking: Press Association to support Laura Elston
Date: 30/06/2011 "The Press Association said on Tuesday it was offering its full support to Laura Elston, its royal reporter arrested and bailed by police investigating allegations of phone hacking by journalists...
 

Judge rules Iris Robinson injunction application to be considered in private
Date: 30/06/2011 "A judge has ruled tonight that a bid by former MP Iris Robinson to ban surveillance of her by journalists and the publication of her medical details must be held in private because of the dangers that Twitter and other social network sites could pose to her...
 

Leading Palestinian activist arrested in London
Date: 30/06/2011 "The home secretary, Theresa May, has ordered "a full investigation" after a leading Palestinian activist in Israel entered Britain despite a travel ban...
 

United States: Kerry Urges Privacy Protections
Date: 30/06/2011 "Senator John F. Kerry called today for stronger Internet protections for consumers, saying a privacy bill of rights is needed because...
 

UK: Independent writer's admission highlights news copyright issues
"An admission by the Independent's columnist and interviewer Johann Hari that he has lifted material for his interviews may be honest, but...
 

The struggle for freedom of expression in the 'new Egypt'
"Arriving at Cairo airport earlier this week, the first time I had been to the country since the '25 January Revolution'...
 

Turkey: The Short Life of the Harakiri Magazine
Date: 29/06/2011 "After its second issue, the satiric Harakiri magazine was forced to cease publication due to a monetary fine of TL 150,000 (€ 75,000). Renowned Turkish caricaturists like Bahadir Boysal, Serhat Gürpinar, Behiç Pek or Cezmi Ersöz had contributed to the monthly magazine..
 

USA: Free speech trumps blocking kids from violent video games
Date:29/06/2011 "The Supreme Court ended its term with a vigorous defense of free speech, striking down a California law that banned sales of violent video games to minors...
 

THAILAND: Criminalization of free speech ahead of election
Date:03/06/2011 In May 2011, the government of Thailand announced that the country would go to a national election on July 3…
 

Press Release, 1 June 2011: International Mandates Call for Greater Internet Freedom
Date:01/06/2011 Press Release: International Mandates Call for Greater Internet Freedom...
 

Burundi: Journalist Acquitted of Treason Charges
Date:19/05/2011 The acquittal of a journalist on treason charges on May 13, 2011, is a positive development for Burundi, where politically motivated harassment of journalists has been on the rise...
 

Morocco: Journalist facing trial tomorrow should be released
Date:19/05/2011 A Moroccan journalist set to go on trial tomorrow, apparently for criticising Morocco's counter-terrorism law, must be released immediately and unconditionally if he is being held solely for his writing...
 

Baidu Accused of Aiding Chinese Censorship in U.S. Suit
Date:19/05/2011 BEIJING—Eight New York residents filed a lawsuit Wednesday against China and Chinese online-search provider Baidu Inc...
 

CJFE gives Harper government failing grade on access to information
Date: 18/05/2011 When it comes to access to information, Canada has received an F minus ...
 

Evangelical Alliance expresses regret, defends freedom of expression
Date:17/05/2011 The Evangelical Alliance of Malta has expressed regret at any unintentional offense caused to the Malta Gay Rights Movement through the public sharing of three members in the River of Love community, who were convicted by the Word of God and by the Holy Spirit to turn away from a homosexual lifestyle...
 

Sunday Telegraph journalist criticised by high court judge
Date:17/05/2011 A high court judge has criticised a senior Sunday Telegraph journalist over his reporting of a case heard in the family courts last year...
 

Support for Antipiracy Bill
Date:17/05/2011 The entertainment industry threw its weight behind a proposed law that would give law enforcement officials and others new authority to move against Internet sites that traffic without permission in copyrighted material...
 

Media owners criminally prosecuted, forced out of the country
Date:16/05/2011 The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Kyrgyz authorities today to drop trumped-up criminal charges against the founder and director of the largest regional television channel, Osh TV, and the founder, owner, and director of three now-defunct media outlets - the independent broadcaster Mezon TV, and newspapers Itogi Nedeli and Portfel...
 

Amnesty International warns that internet freedom is on a knife edge
Date:13/05/2011 HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP Amnesty International is concerned that governments are exerting too much control over digital communications, and on its fiftieth anniversary it has launched a campaign for greater liberty online...
 

Despite Mosley’s court defeat, press freedom remains under attack
Date:13/05/2011 A rather traditional battle between a tabloid newspaper and a rich individual seems to be concluded (unless, of course, it goes to appeal)...
 

WikiLeaks: US opens grand jury hearing
Date:12/05/2011 First session of process of deciding whether to prosecute website and founder Julian Assange for espionage...
 

Africa's cascade of Internet censorship
Date:12/05/2011 Despite much attention paid to Egypt and Libya's Internet shutdowns, Tunisia's pervasive Internet filtering, and Morocco's arrests of bloggers, little attention has been given to Internet censorship issues throughout the rest of the African continent...
 

Phone-hacking scandal threatens press freedom, says Lebedev
Date:12/05/2011 The 'dark, murky methods' of some tabloid journalists could result in restrictions on freedom of expression in Britain which would not have been out of place in the totalitarian days of Russia, a publisher warned tonight...
 

Phone-hacking scandal threatens press freedom, says Lebedev
Date:12/05/2011 'The dark, murky methods' of some tabloid journalists could result in restrictions on freedom of expression in Britain which would not have been out of place in the totalitarian days of Russia, a publisher warned tonight...
 

Despite Mosley?s court defeat, press freedom remains under attack
Date:12/05/2011 A rather traditional battle between a tabloid newspaper and a rich individual seems to be concluded (unless, of course, it goes to appeal)...
 

Court gagging orders unravel as Twitter allegations ruffle feathers of celebrities
Date:10/05/2011 The authority of Britain's civil courts appears increasingly fragile after the names of celebrities said to have obtained gagging injunctions – and their alleged misdemeanours – were circulated unimpeded on Twitter...
 

Mosley's loss is a victory for the British government
Date:10/05/2011 Strasbourg judges say pre-notification requirement would have 'chilling' effect - and media might be undeterred by fines...
 

Tony Kushner's honour restored by university board's unanimous vote
Date:10/05/2011 The trustees board of the City University of New York (CUNY) brought to an end an embarrassing row over freedom of expression by voting unanimously to award an honorary degree to the award-winning playwright Tony Kushner...
 

Who will draw the line between freedom of speech and privacy?
Date:10/05/2011 The prospect of drafting a privacy bill traditionally provokes a torrent of excuses from senior British politicians...
 

Ecuador referendum tackles judges, media and bull-fights
Date:06/05/2011 Banning bull-fighting and regulating media content are two of the controversial issues Ecuadoreans are preparing to vote on in a referendum on 7 May...
 

Government agency wants to install filtering software on every computer
Date:06/05/2011 Reporters Without Borders condemns a plan by the Information Technologies Board (BTK), an offshoot of the prime minister’s office, to force the Turkish public to submit to content filtering in order to gain access to the Internet...
 

Osama bin Laden photographs may see light of day if legal bid is successful
Date:06/05/2011 News agency lodges request under Freedom of Information Act for pictures of al-Qaida leader's body to be released...
 

U.S. senator wants Chinese companies to protect freedom of expression
Date:06/05/2011 Rumors of a possible joint venture between Facebook and Chinese search engine Baidu have a lot of people, including U...
 

Azerbaijan Facebook activist convicted on 'trumped up' drugs charge after calling for 'Arab Spring'-style protests
Date:05/05/2011 Authorities in Azerbaijan must immediately release a member of an opposition youth organisation sentenced to two and a half years in prison on fabricated drug charges...
 

CUNY Blocks Honor for Playwright Tony Kushner
Date:05/05/2011 In a rare move, the trustees of the City University of New York have voted to shelve an honorary degree that one of its campuses, John Jay College, planned to award to Tony Kushner, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of “Angels in America”...
 

President Jammeh, The 'strongman' of West Africa in focus
Date:05/05/2011 The people of Africa’s smiling Coast are given a false choice...
 

Supreme Court Upholds Freedom Of Speech In Obscenity-Filled Ruling
Date:04/05/2011 In a decisive and vulgar 7-2 ruling, the U...
 

Anarchists have civil liberties too
Date:03/05/2011 The treatment of anarchists by the police and media echoes McCarthyism in its criminalisation of a valid political philosophy...
 

Fred Goodwin's superinjunction text to be studied by MPs
Date:03/05/2011 Lib Dem MP John Hemming adds to political pressure for clearer regulation of court order system...
 

Separating Free Speech From Hate in South Africa
Date:30/04/2011 It seemed like a throwback to the days when a white minority ruled South Africa...
 

Egyptian authorities must allow peaceful protest and the right to strike
Date:30/04/2011 The Egyptian authorities must abolish a recent law criminalizing peaceful protests and strikes, Amnesty International said ahead of tomorrow’s planned protests for International Workers’ Day in Cairo’s Tahrir Square...
 

Detained activists face charges for signing petition demanding reforms
Date:29/04/2011 The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) reports that on 25 April 2011, the UAE authorities issued a resolution to imprison five human rights and internet activists pending investigation on charges of incitement to break the law, endangering the country's security, insulting the president and insulting the governor of Dubai ...
 

Government Committed to Ensure Level Playing Field for Media
Date:29/04/2011 Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Smt...
 

Thailand: Authorities Silence ‘Red Shirt’ Community Radios
Date:28/04/2011 'The Thai government has shut down community radio stations associated with the anti-government Red Shirt movement...
 

ANC accused of using Freedom Day celebrations to campaign
Date:28/04/2011 The ANC has been criticised for using Freedom Day celebrations as a campaign tool...
 

Iraq: Journalist Protection Law Needs to be Reviewed
Date:27/04/2011 A Journalist Protection Law, prepared by the Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists and endorsed by the government of Iraq, has been laid before the Iraqi Parliament for its consideration...
 

Burma's hip-hop resistance spreads message of freedom
Date:27/04/2011 Thxa Soe's music gives country's youth a focus for dissatisfaction with the junta despite strict censorship...
 

Labour candidate in Facebook 'Thatcher die' apology
Date:27/04/2011 A Labour assembly candidate has apologised after saying on Facebook he hopes the former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher will die soon...
 

Press for justice
Date:27/04/2011 The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is committed to defending and promoting a free and independent press worldwide everyday, but particularly on 3 May, World Press Freedom Day...
 

Activist Charged in Beijing
Date:22/04/2011 Authorities in Beijing have charged rights activist Wang Lihong with picking a fight, as local rights groups called for her release...
 

Authorities ban coverage of crackdown on Arab minority protests in Khuzestan
Date:22/04/2011 Reporters Without Borders condemns the use of force by the Iranian authorities to contain demonstrations a week ago in the southwestern province of Khuzestan and their ban on news coverage of the bloody clashes that took place...
 

Prosecutors in China Drop Charges Against Lawyer
Date:22/04/2011 BEIJING ; Chinese prosecutors unexpectedly dropped charges on Friday against a prominent lawyer whose case had drawn nationwide attention...
 

Ai Weiwei: A shameful silence
Date:21/04/2011 Salman Rushdie, in his comment article, maintains that China has become the world’s greatest threat to freedom of speech...
 

An inquiry into press practice will be good for free speech
Date:21/04/2011 Though the timing may be opportunistic, Ed Miliband is right...
 

Physical attacks and arrests make it impossible for journalists to work in Iraqi Kurdistan
Date:21/04/2011 Reporters Without Borders condemns the many cases of journalists being physically attacked or arrested while covering demonstrations in Kalar, Sulaymaniyah and Erbil in the past few days...
 

Media discouraged from reporting on tsunami, earthquake fallout, says CPJ
Date:20/04/2011 Freelancers in Japan says they and foreign and online media have been actively excluded from reporting on the nuclear threat and other calamities resulting from the earthquake and tsunami, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)...
 

EU decides against stricter net neutrality rules
Date:19/04/2011 The European commission has decided against introducing legislation to protect net neutrality, saying media scrutiny and giving consumers enough information about their internet service provider will be sufficient to protect an open and neutral internet...
 

New breed of gagging order could send journalists to jail, MP claims
Date:19/04/2011 An MP who is launching an inquiry into excessive and possibly unlawful court secrecy says a new type of gagging order is hampering the work of investigative journalists...
 

Right to freedom of expression vital as Algeria embarks on reforms – UN expert
Date:19/04/2011 An independent United Nations human rights expert today called on Algeria to guarantee the right to freedom of opinion and expression as part of its ongoing political reforms, noting that journalists still face a number of challenges in carrying out their work...
 

Ai Weiwei arrest protests at Chinese embassies worldwide
Date:18/04/2011 Demonstrators all over the world were sitting outside Chinese embassies on Sunday demanding the release of the detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei...
 

Referendum threatens press freedom in Ecuador
Date:18/04/2011 The vote, scheduled for May 7, will ask Ecuadorans several questions on a range of issues...
 

PRESS RELEASE: OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Date:15/04/2011 The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression express its concern over the existence and application of aggravated criminal defamation or desacato and insult laws, as well as the existence and application of civil law provisions that may lead to the imposition of disproportionate sanctions against persons who have publicly expressed criticism of the most senior government officials in Ecuador...
 

Freedom of expression at risk in Latin America
Date:15/04/2011 Freedom of expression is at risk across Latin America, with journalists being killed, kidnapped, threatened and prosecuted...
 

Egypt: Blogger’s 3-Year Sentence a Blow to Free Speech
Date:14/04/2011 The military court's sentencing of the blogger Maikel Nabil to three years in prison is a serious setback to freedom of expression in post-Mubarak Egypt, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Turkish PM Erdo?an rebuffs criticism over press freedom
Date:14/04/2011 Mounting a fierce defense of Turkey’s moves to arrest journalists and confiscate an unpublished manuscript, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an told a European body that the written words seized by police posed a serious threat...
 

IAPA urges governments to act to end impunity in murders of journalists
Date:14/04/2011 MIAMI, Florida (April 14, 2011);The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) at its meeting in San Diego, California, adopted resolutions that among other calls urged the governments of the nations of the Americas to put an end to the impunity surrounding a number of crimes against journalists...
 

In first for Canada, draft Vancouver bylaw could allow Falun Gong protest hut
Date:14/04/2011 Vancouver’s controversial draft protest bylaw has been rewritten to allow street structures, such as the Falun Gong meditation hut, outside consulates that conduct business in residential areas...
 

New Grievances Broaden Syria’s Protest Movement
Date:14/04/2011 Syria’s growing protest movement broadened on Wednesday as Aleppo, one of Syria’s largest cities, had its first demonstrations against the government of President Bashar al-Assad...
 

Bloggers take legal action over Huffinto Post Sale
Date:13/04/2011 Arianna Huffington, her website and AOL were on the receiving end of a $105m (£64...
 

Women in face veils detained as France enforces ban
Date:12/04/2011 At least two women have been briefly detained in France while wearing Islamic veils, after a law banning the garment in public came into force...
 

Chinese Christians arrested for trying to hold open-air service
Date:12/04/2011 Dozens of Christians who planned to hold an outdoor service in Beijing in protest at being made homeless from their place of worship have been arrested, in the latest Communist party crackdown on dissent and demonstrations...
 

Uganda: Arrest of opposition leaders an outrageous affront to freedom of expression
Date:12/04/2011 The opposition politicians, activists and their supporters were arrested during demonstrations calling for people to walk to work in protest at fuel price rises...
 

IFEX gravely concerned for safety of IFEX member and BCHR President Nabeel Rajab
Date:12/04/2011 The International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) is gravely concerned over the recent intensification of arrests and threats against free expression advocates in Bahrain, including the military investigation against Nabeel Rajab, president of IFEX member Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)...
 

Bahrain: Drop Charges against Editor of Independant Daily
Date:11/04/2011 (Manama) - Bahraini authorities should immediately drop politically-motivated charges against Mansoor al-Jamri, allow him to return as chief editor of Al Wasat, and cease their campaign to silence independent journalism, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

CUBA: Last journalist released
Date:08/04/2011 Du Bouchet joins 18 other writers and independent journalists and librarians freed and forced into exile between July and September 2010...
 

Eyewitness: Whispers and propaganda in Libyan capital
Date:08/04/2011 As rebel groups continue their offensive in Libya, one resident in Tripoli - who does not want to be identified for his own safety - explains what it is like to live in a city full of mistrust and whispers...
 

Draft Tunisian Press Law Falls Short
Date:08/04/2011 One of the first priorities of the new Tunisian High Commission for the Realisation of the Objectives of the Revolution and Democratic Transition has been to prepare a new press law to replace the repressive 1975 law that has been used for over 30 years as a mechanism of control...
 

Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi Named 2011 UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize Winner
Date:07/04/2011 I send my deepest congratulations to jailed Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi for being named the 2011 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom prize winner...
 

Palestinian Security Forces Abused Journalists, Report SaysBy ETHAN BRONNER
Date:07/04/2011 Palestinian journalists have been subjected to detention and abuse at the hands of Palestinian security agencies...
 

Online law curbs Saudi freedom of expression
Date:07/04/2011 In Saudi Arabia online activists fear a new electronic publication law is curtailing nascent freedom of expression...
 

Police brutality turns Bahrain into 'island of fear'
Date:07/04/2011 The BBC has obtained images of alleged police brutality against peaceful protesters in the Bahraini capital Manama, where fears of a systematic crackdown on pro-democracy activists are growing...
 

Lawyers Apply for Release of Journalist ??k
Date:06/04/2011 The lawyers of arrested journalist Ahmet ??k applied to the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court on Duty for the release of their client...
 

Vietnamese rights lawyer jailed over call for democracy
Date:05/04/2011 A dissident lawyer and son of a Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader has been sentenced to seven years in prison and a further three years' house arrest for calling for an end to Vietnam's government and its one-party system...
 

A Wiki Takes Aim at Obama
Date:05/04/2011 Steven J...
 

Ai Weiwei's detention in China causes growing global concern
Date:05/04/2011 Britain, the United States and the European Union, as well as leading figures in the art world, have joined the growing international outcry over the detention of the outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and Beijing's wider crackdown on dissidents and activists...
 

Comment on Draft Mongolian RTI Law
Date:04/04/2011 In January 2011, the Mongolian Ministry of Justice submitted to Parliament a Draft Law of Mongolia on Information Transparency and Freedom of information...
 

Freedom of Expression - Part of Daily Rotuine in Turkey
Date:04/04/2011 In his commentary published in the Guardian, Cengiz Çandar has recently accused of Western media by pursuing a dubious agenda against the AKP government in portraying the current developments in Turkey as signs of the rise of a police state...
 

The most uncounted cost of Endless War
Date:04/04/2011 …
 

Facebook drops 'intifada' page for promoting violence
Date:30/03/2011 Facebook has removed a page calling for a new Palestinian uprising against Israel after more than 350, 000 people signed up to it...
 

Jordan PM defends freedom of speech after unrest
Date:29/03/2011 AMMAN ; The prime minister of Jordan said on Monday people have the right to free speech and that the government will set aside special areas for protests, in an apparent bid to ease tensions after bloody clashes last week...
 

Moscow OKs One Freedom-Of-Assembly Protest, Bans Another
Date:29/03/2011 Moscow city authorities today officially approved a planned rally by a group of human rights and opposition activists in support of freedom of assembly, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports...
 

Egypt: Revoke Ban on Strikes, Demonstrations
Date:28/03/2011 (New York) – The Egyptian cabinet’s announcement on March 24, 2011, of a new law banning strikes and demonstrations that impede the work of public institutions violates international law protections for free assembly and should be reversed immediately, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Syria unrest: 'Protesters killed' at Omari mosque
Date:23/03/2011 At least five people have died after security forces fired on protesters outside a mosque in the Syrian city of Deraa, human rights activists say...
 

Media ban law goes to court
Date:21/03/2011 The fight against Section 46(1) of the Penal Code as amended last year has gone to court with the Malawi Human Rights Commission arguing that the provision is unconstitutional, violates fundamental human rights and is, therefore, invalid...
 

Media ban law goes to court
Date:21/03/2011 The fight against Section 46(1) of the Penal Code as amended last year has gone to court with the Malawi Human Rights Commission arguing that the provision is unconstitutional, violates fundamental human rights and is, therefore, invalid...
 

Lord Neuberger's calls for open justice are welcome
Date:18/03/2011 One of the country's most senior judges, Lord Neuberger, has given a stirring speech (pdf) on the challenges of open justice in the 21st century...
 

STRASBOURG COURT RULES ON CRUCIFIX IN ITALIAN SCHOOLS
Date:18/03/2011 The European Court for Human Rights has ruled Italy has the right to have crucifixes in the country's schools...
 

Bahrain protesters' camp stormed by troops
Date:16/03/2011 'Soldiers and riot police used tear gas and armoured vehicles to drive out hundreds of anti-government protesters occupying a landmark square in Bahrain's capital, a day after emergency rule was imposed in the violence-wracked Gulf kingdom...
 

A Gross miscarriage of justice?
Date:16/03/2011 Mr Gross, who worked for a firm called Development Alternatives Inc...
 

Bahrain declares martial law as protesters clash with troops
Date:15/03/2011 The streets of Bahrain's capital, Manama, have again erupted in violence as the kingdom's besieged monarch declared martial law and ordered troops - including Saudi forces - to take all measures to quell a festering rebellion...
 

Bahrain declares martial law as protesters clash with troops
Date:15/03/2011 The streets of Bahrain's capital, Manama, have again erupted in violence as the kingdom's besieged monarch declared martial law and ordered troops - including Saudi forces - to take all measures to quell a festering rebellion...
 

State of emergency declared in Bahrain
Date:15/03/2011 Manama: Bahrain state TV says a three-month state of emergency has been declared to try to quell political unrest threatening the monarchy...
 

Seven killed and hundreds injured in Yemen
Date:15/03/2011 Sana'a: Two more anti-regime protesters died in Yemen on Sunday, a day after police shot them in the head, raising the death toll to seven from demonstrations against President Ali Abdullah Saleh...
 

Yemen deports 4 journalists for protest coverage
Date:15/03/2011 Cairo: Armed Yemeni security forces raided an apartment shared by four Western journalists on Monday and deported them because of their coverage of a growing uprising against the country's longtime ruler, one of the reporters said...
 

Man guilty of burning poppies at Armistice Day protest
Date:15/03/2011 A Muslim extremist has been found guilty of burning poppies at a protest in west London on Armistice Day...
 

The right to burn poppies
Date:15/03/2011 THE SUN, Britain's best-selling daily newspaper, devotes its front page today to the £50 fine imposed on a Muslim extremist, Emdamur Choudhury, after he burned Remembrance Day poppies and chanted anti-military slogans during a two-minute silence on Armistice Day last November 11th...
 

Fred Goodwin gets superinjunction to stop him being called a banker
Date:11/03/2011 The controversial former bank chief Sir Fred Goodwin is the latest high profile figure to obtain a superinjunction, it has emerged...
 

Could Syria Be Next?: Protests By Arab Internet Bloggers
Date:10/03/2011 GOVERNMENTS THROUGHOUT the Arab world are consistently censoring Internet platforms such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube...
 

Gaddafi forces beat up BBC team
Date:10/03/2011 Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's security forces detained and beat up a BBC news team who were trying to reach the strife-torn western city of Zawiya...
 

US public broadcasting chief quits after sting catches Tea Party gibe
Date:10/03/2011 The future of public broadcasting in the United States, already hazy because of pressure from conservative Republicans for deep cuts in its funding, looked even more precarious last night after National Public Radio's (NPR) chief executive took the fall for one of her senior subordinates saying on a video recording that Tea Party members are racist...
 

BBC staff 'arrested and tortured in Libya by Gaddafi forces'
Date:09/03/2011 …
 

BBC staff 'arrested and tortured in Libya by Gaddafi forces'
Date:09/03/2011 Journalists working for the BBC in Libya have been arrested, tortured and subjected to a mock execution by security forces of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime...
 

Police ban MDC-T rallies for fear of Egypt-style protests
Date:08/03/2011 POLICE yesterday allegedly barred the MDC-T from holding meetings in Mashonaland East, West and Bulawayo provinces saying the security forces were on high alert...
 

Turkish Court Jails Journalists .
Date:07/03/2011 ANKARA, Turkey;A Turkish court on Sunday jailed two leading investigative journalists pending the outcome of a trial into an alleged plot to topple the Islamic-rooted government...
 

Sun and Daily Mail guilty of contempt over online photo in murder case
Date:04/03/2011 The Sun and the Daily Mail have been found guilty of contempt of court for publishing a picture of a murder trial defendant posing with a gun on their websites...
 

US court allows Westboro Baptist's anti-gay funeral pickets to go on
Date:04/03/2011 One of the most detested church groups in America can continue to picket military funerals after the supreme court ruled in favour of their right to free speech...
 

U.N. human rights chief calls for release of Zim activists
Date:03/03/2011 The top human rights official at the United Nations has added her voice to the global condemnation of the ongoing arrests and crackdown on activists in Zimbabwe...
 

Ivory Coast newspapers accuse Gbagbo supporters
Date:02/03/2011 Nine newspapers in Ivory Coast have closed down in protest over what they say is harassment by supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo...
 

Pakistan minister shot dead on way to cabinet meeting in Islamabad
Date:02/03/2011 Pakistan's minorities minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, has been assassinated by unidentified gunmen in the capital, Islamabad...
 

Pakistan minorities minister shot dead in Islamabad
Date:02/03/2011 Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti has died after gunmen opened fire on his car in the capital Islamabad, hospital officials say...
 

John Galliano sacked by fashion house Dior (over alleged anti-Semitic remarks)
Date:02/03/2011 British fashion designer John Galliano has been sacked by fashion house Dior following alleged anti-Semitic comments he made last week...
 

John Galliano to stand trial for racial outburst
Date:02/03/2011 British fashion designer John Galliano will stand trial for allegedly making anti-Semitic comments in Paris last week, French prosecutors have said...
 

US court allows Westboro Baptist's anti-gay funeral pickets to go on
Date:02/03/2011 One of the most detested church groups in America can continue to picket military funerals after the supreme court ruled in favour of their right to free speech...
 

Freedom of (extremist) speech
Date:01/03/2011 When most people hear the word “extremist, ” it makes them flinch...
 

Julian Assange to be extradited to Sweden
Date:24/02/2011 The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is to be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault...
 

Libya protests: UN Security Council condemns crackdown
Date:23/02/2011 The UN Security Council has condemned the Libyan authorities for using force against protesters, calling for those responsible to be held to account...
 

Zimbabwe arrests 46 over Egyptian-style protests
Date:22/02/2011 HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has arrested dozens of activists on charges of plotting protests against long-serving President Robert Mugabe similar to those that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia, police said on Monday...
 

Computer Crime Act 'violates freedoms'
Date:21/02/2011 The Computer Crime Act violates freedom of speech and should be changed, says the head of an online forum charged under the act with lese majeste...
 

In Iran, Internet surfers battle cyber police
Date:17/02/2011 TEHRAN ; Western sanctions have done little to stop the flow of computers and software to Iran, where the real challenge for cyber surfers is getting around local censors who block thousands of websites, including Facebook and YouTube...
 

Bahrain information authority seeks ways to improve media standards
Date:16/02/2011 King Hamad has often called for greater media freedom and has urged the parliament to enact an enlightened and advanced press code that would underpin freedom of expression...
 

Lara Logan of CBS attacked by Egyptian mob in Cairo
Date:16/02/2011 A senior CBS correspondent is recovering in hospital in the US after she was beaten and sexually assaulted by a mob while covering the Egyptian protests, the US network says...
 

Libya: Protests 'rock city of Benghazi'
Date:16/02/2011 There are reports of protests by hundreds of people in the Libyan city of Benghazi...
 

Iran unrest: MPs call for death of Mousavi and Karroubi
Date:15/02/2011 Members of Iran's parliament have called for opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi to be tried and executed...
 

Iran hinders web searches leading up to planned rally, sources say
Date:14/02/2011 Iranian authorities have blocked the word Bahman – the 11th month of the Persian calendar – from Internet searches within the country, according to an opposition website...
 

IBAHRI gravely concerned by conviction and sentence of Dr Chee Soon Juan, leader of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party
Date:14/02/2011 …
 

IBAHRI gravely concerned by conviction and sentence of Dr Chee Soon Juan, leader of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party
Date:14/02/2011 The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) is gravely concerned about the recent ruling of the Singapore High Court, in which Dr Chee Soon Juan’s conviction for speaking in public without a permit was upheld...
 

Should press law prioritise privacy or public interest?
Date:14/02/2011 Formula One boss Max Mosley won a court case after the News of the World filmed him with prostitutes...
 

MPs decide to keep blanket ban on prisoners' vote
Date:11/02/2011 MPs have voted overwhelmingly in favour of maintaining a blanket ban preventing prisoners from voting, strengthening the government's hand as it seeks to water down a ruling from the European court of human rights...
 

Provincial journalist prosecuted on dubious criminal libel charge
Date:11/02/2011 Gustavo Azócar, a journalist based in the western state of Táchira who has been prosecuted with varying degrees of success in the past, was due to appear on 7 February 2011 before a Táchira court again on a charge of libelling an army officer in 2004, when one of his jobs was correspondent for the national daily El Universal...
 

Dutch lawmaker back in court for hate speech case
Date:10/02/2011 AMSTERDAM;Lawyers for Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders said Monday that if their client's hate-speech case is not dismissed they want a retrial with new defense witnesses including the country's most notorious convicted terrorist...
 

Opposition to prisoner voting rights stems from hostility towards inmates
Date:10/02/2011 The government has already been warned it must give prisoners the right to vote in elections to the Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly on 5 May, but MPs have yet to concede the point...
 

Secret video shows house arrest Chinese lawyer
Date:10/02/2011 A Chinese grassroots lawyer and his wife have been severely beaten after secretly filming a video documenting their house arrest, human rights campaigners fear...
 

Russian minister not welcome in UK after Guardian reporter expelled – MP
Date:09/02/2011 The government has been asked to revoke an invitation to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, to visit the UK next week until Russia explains why it has expelled the Guardian journalist Luke Harding...
 

Newspaper vendors attacked as Zimbabwe’s political violence escalates
Date:09/02/2011 APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) The Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) has condemned the harassment of newspaper vendors and subsequent destruction of copies of an independent daily (NewsDay) by supporters of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party in the capital on Monday, APA learns in a statement issued Tuesday...
 

Thai webmaster on trial in free speech test case
Date:07/02/2011 Prachatai website manager faces up to 20 years' jail for failing to remove offending comments posted by readers...
 

Thai webmaster on trial in free speech test case
Date:04/02/2011 The head of a popular Thai political website went on trial today, charged with violating the country's tough internet laws in a case seen as a bellwether for freedom of expression in the politically troubled nation...
 

EGYPT: Army calls protests 'freedom of speech, ' won't use force to dispel demonstrators
Date:03/02/2011 The Egyptian army recognizes mass protests consuming the country as the people's legitimate right to freedom of expression and will not use force against the demonstrators, an army spokesman said in a statement read on Egyptian state television Monday night local time in Egypt...
 

Singapore: Hocus Pocus Hides Rights Abuses
Date:03/02/2011 (New York) - Singapore's stated goal of updating its political system in time for the 2011 elections should include revamping laws, policies, and practices that fail to comply with international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its World Report 2011...
 

Guidance issued for tweeting the twists and turns of Supreme Court cases
Date:03/02/2011 The Supreme Court has today published guidance on its practice relating to the use of “live text based communications”, in the context of ongoing public and professional debate on the issue...
 

UN insists on freedom of expression in Sri Lanka
Date:03/02/2011 Feb 01, Colombo: Freedom of expression and media is paramount, the United Nations said Monday when asked about reports concerning the treatment of the press in Sri Lanka...
 

EU-Hungary row over media law cools down
Date:02/02/2011 The threat of EU legal action against Hungary has receded after Budapest gave assurances that it would amend its controversial media law if need be...
 

Syrian protesters plan 'day of rage'
Date:02/02/2011 Syrians are organising campaigns on Facebook and Twitter that call for a day of rage in the capital Damascus this week, taking inspiration from Egypt and Tunisia in using social networking sites to rally their followers for sweeping political reforms...
 

Censors delete Chinese cartoon that takes swipes at public scandals
Date:01/02/2011 The creator says it is a fairy tale...
 

Z. Postanjyan: “Freedom of expression and personal freedom are guarantee democracy and civil society”
Date:31/01/2011 Mrs...
 

Egypt cuts off internet access
Date:28/01/2011 Egypt appears to have cut off almost all access to the internet from inside and outside the country from late on Thursday night, in a move that has concerned observers of the protests that have been building in strength through the week...
 

Two charged with gay hate crime
Date:28/01/2011 Two men have been arrested and charged with stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, in the first prosecution of its kind...
 

Top Iranian Lawyer Unjustly Sentenced to 11 years in Prison
Date:27/01/2011 UN Human Rights Council Should Act to Address Crisis (9 January 2011) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called the 11-year prison sentence of leading human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh a “gross miscarriage of justice” and said that it should be overturned by an appeals court...
 

Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato found murdered
Date:27/01/2011 One of Uganda's most prominent gay rights activists has been murdered in his home weeks after winning a court victory over a tabloid that called for homosexuals to be killed...
 

Sex, Death and the Gods - video
Date:27/01/2011 Womens's Rights Interview with filmmaker Beeban Kidron, plus exclusive clips from her new film...
 

Art Exhibit Stirs Up the Ghosts of Zimbabwe’s Past
Date:26/01/2011 BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe ; The exhibit at the National Gallery is now a crime scene, the artwork banned and the artist charged with insulting President Robert Mugabe...
 

Decision in Denmark
Date:26/01/2011 Lars Hedegaard, a Danish critic of Islam, is on trial in Denmark for remarks he made regarding dysfunctions and abuse within Islamic family culture...
 

Hearing today in activist's case
Date:25/01/2011 Kampong Chhnang provincial court is set to hand down a verdict today in a case against a local activist that rights groups have branded an attack on freedom of expression...
 

Appeal To Boycott Galle Literary Festival
Date:24/01/2011 Reporters Without Borders and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), a network of exiled Sri Lankan journalists, announced the launch of an international appeal already signed by Noam Chomsky, Arundathi Roy, Ken Loach, Antony Loewenstein and Tariq Ali, asking writers and intellectuals to endorse a campaign for more freedom of expression in Sri Lanka...
 

How to defend media freedom?
Date:24/01/2011 Starting tomorrow, I will be in Paris for a few days to engage in a media debate on two crucial topics: Freedom of expression and self-regulation in journalism...
 

Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's defiant prisoner of intolerance, vows to stay put
Date:24/01/2011 'These death threats won't make me flee', says Rehman, who supports reform of Pakistan's blasphemy laws...
 

Supreme Court to rule on lawyers' freedoms
Date:24/01/2011 When can a lawyer criticize a judge? Lawyers -as well as judges and professional orders representing lawyers across Canada -will be closely watching the outcome of a Supreme Court of Canada case that begins next Wednesday...
 

European court deals blow to no win, no fee deals in Naomi Campbell case
Date:21/01/2011 The European court of human rights today unanimously ruled that the recovery of success fees by lawyers in privacy and defamation cases represents a significant violation of freedom of expression, in a case brought by the publisher of the Daily Mirror...
 

SA Man Locked In Prison For Calling Mugabe An Idiot
Date:20/01/2011 A South African national Bonnel Robert Alan (38) who was arrested over the weekend for calling President Robert Mugabe an idiot will languish in remand prison after he was remanded in custody to February 02...
 

US pastor Terry Jones banned from entering UK
Date:20/01/2011 Controversial US pastor Terry Jones has been barred from entering the UK for the public good, the Home Office says...
 

Government resorts to hacking to stamp out coverage of unrest
Date:19/01/2011 While Tunisia continues to implode with protests against unemployment and corruption - the unrest allegedly the worst in the country in a decade - officials are doing their best to ensure the public doesn't know what's going on...
 

The Arizona shooting and the first amendment
Date:18/01/2011 In the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik condemned fiery rhetoric for playing a part in the actions of the disturbed shooter...
 

Freedom of Expression in the News: Weekly Round-up
Date:17/01/2011 Freedom of Expression in the News: Weekly Roundup Iraq: Free Speech Protests in Kurdistan Protestors in Iraq’s Kurdistan region gathered to oppose a new Iraqi law that requires all demonstrations to have a government permit...
 

OSCE media freedom representative welcomes adoption of access-to-information law in Ukraine, urges further reform
Date:17/01/2011 The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, commended today the recent adoption of a comprehensive access-to-information law by the Ukrainian parliament , calling it 'a considerable step towards government transparency'...
 

WikiLeaks turned the tables on governments, but the power relationship has not changed.
Date:17/01/2011 WikiLeaks changes everything...
 

Guardian wins appeal against Iraq libel ruling
Date:14/01/2011 The Guardian has won its appeal against an Iraqi court ruling which judged that the paper had defamed the country's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki...
 

Giant screen ‘suffocating’ Zimbabweans with propaganda
Date:12/01/2011 The presence of a giant TV screen in the centre of Harare, which broadcasts Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) programmes and ZANU PF jingles throughout, is a strong indication that Zimbabweans have no escape from one-sided views both at home and outside, a media expert has warned...
 

Life in jail for two Pakistani Muslim blasphemers
Date:12/01/2011 A court in Pakistan has sentenced a Muslim prayer leader and his son to life in jail for blasphemy...
 

New Penal Code Undercuts Free Speech
Date:11/01/2011 (Human Rights Watch/IFEX) - New York, December 22, 2010 - The Cambodian government's use of its new penal code against a man who shared web articles with his co-workers is a huge step backward for free expression in Cambodia, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Iraq: Free Speech Protests in Kurdistan
Date:10/01/2011 More than a thousand protesters took to the main street in Erbil, the Kurdish regional capital, to condemn a new law requiring all public demonstrations to have government permits...
 

US wants Twitter details of Wikileaks activists
Date:10/01/2011 The US government has subpoenaed the social networking site Twitter for personal details of people connected to Wikileaks, court documents show...
 

WikiLeaks demands Google and Facebook unseal US subpoenas
Date:08/01/2011 WikiLeaks has demanded that Google and Facebook reveal the contents of any US subpoenas they may have received after it emerged that a court in Virginia had ordered Twitter to secretly hand over details of accounts on the micro-blogging site by five figures associated with the group, including Julian Assange...
 

Death of ARTICLE 19 Founding Director: Kevin Boyle (1943- 2010)
Date:07/01/2011 The human rights community is mourning the death of Kevin Boyle, one of the greatest human rights advocates of our time...
 

Hungarian PM: EU cannot tell us 'what to do' on media law
Date:06/01/2011 Recent criticism of Hungary's new media law is an insult, the country's prime minister, Viktor Orban, has said, insisting that other EU member states do not have the right to tell his government what to do...
 

Freedom of Information could cover hundreds more bodies
Date:06/01/2011 Hundreds more organisations could be made subject to Freedom of Information laws, Deputy PM Nick Clegg is to say...
 

A Clear Danger to Free Speech
Date:05/01/2011 THE so-called Shield bill, which was recently introduced in both houses of Congress in response to the WikiLeaks disclosures, would amend the Espionage Act of 1917 to make it a crime for any person knowingly and willfully to disseminate, “in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States, ” any classified information “concerning the human intelligence activities of the United States...
 

Chewing Gum for Terrorists
Date:05/01/2011 DID former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Tom Ridge, a former homeland security secretary, and Frances Townsend, a former national security adviser, all commit a federal crime last month in Paris when they spoke in support of the Mujahedeen Khalq at a conference organized by the Iranian opposition group’s advocates? Free speech, right? Not necessarily...
 

ITV News banned from Joanna Yeates press conference
Date:05/01/2011 ITV News was today banned from a press conference by Avon & Somerset police after broadcasting a critical report on the force's investigation into the murder of Joanna Yeates...
 

Max Mosley's privacy campaign reaches Strasbourg
Date:05/01/2011 Max Mosley, the former president of motorsport's governing body the FIA and winner of a famous privacy victory over the News of the World, goes to the European court of human rights next week to seek a major restraint on press freedom...
 

Salman Taseer murder throws Pakistan into fresh crisis
Date:04/01/2011 Pakistan lurched into a fresh crisis after an outspoken secular politician was shot dead by a fanatic who opposed reform of the country's draconian blasphemy laws...
 

Sweeping new media law threatens freedom of expression in Hungary
Date:29/12/2010 Hungary’s newly adopted media law will impose potentially wide-ranging restrictions on freedom of expression, Amnesty International warned today...
 

Court ruling reaffirms spirit of democracy
Date:29/12/2010 The Constitutional Court’s ruling on the telecommunications law can be seen as a milestone in guaranteeing freedom of expression in cyberspace...
 

Kenyan journalist receives threats for investigating murder
Date:23/12/2010 A Kenyan journalist whose reporting has helped expose and publicize the unsolved 2009 murder of reporter Francis Nyaruri received two anonymous threatening phone calls on Friday warning he could share Nyaruri's fate, according to local journalists...
 

Vince Cable weakened by Murdoch row
Date:22/12/2010 Business Secretary Vince Cable told the Daily Telegraph's undercover reporters that he could use the nuclear option by leaving government - and bringing the coalition down, if pushed too far by the Conservatives...
 

Hungary passes contentious new media law
Date:22/12/2010 Hungary's parliament approved a contentious new law Tuesday that will greatly expand the state's power to monitor and penalize private media, drawing protests from opposition parties and civil society...
 

Controversial media-law changes approved in Venezuela
Date:22/12/2010 Two measures that critics say will give Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez more leeway to clamp down on opposition voices were approved by the Venezuelan National Assembly...
 

Freedom of Speech is the essence of any national democratic process
Date:22/12/2010 How can a nation progress without pointing at its weaknesses openly and fearlessly? What plants the seeds of democracy inside a nation? How could anyone overlook the importance of media in tackling and answering the mentioned questions? This is the first part of a series of reports about my participation in Danida Fellowship Course (DFC), in Copenhagen, Denmark...
 

WikiLeaks protesters gather in Sydney
Date:22/12/2010 THE fight for free speech has only just begun, a Sydney rally in support of whistleblower website WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange has been told...
 

Belarus journalist beaten by police
Date:20/12/2010 Natalia Radzina, the editor-in-chief of Charter97...
 

Assange is a 'hi-tech terrorist', says Biden
Date:20/12/2010 The US Vice-President, Joe Biden, yesterday likened Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who is currently under house arrest in a private mansion in Suffolk, to a hi-tech terrorist and confirmed that the administration is searching for ways to take legal action against him ...
 

Freedom of expression under fire
Date:20/12/2010 In June, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly voted down a bill that stipulated that manga and anime must be sold in the adult corner of stores if they recklessly and positively depict sexual activities of characters presumed to be 18 years old or younger in a manner thought to hamper children's judgment on sex...
 

Veil bans shroud freedom of expression
Date:20/12/2010 A report released on Thursday, finds general prohibitions on wearing full face veils - such as those adopted in France and Belgium - to be incompatible with states’ human rights obligations on freedom of expression, freedom of religion, the right to non-discrimination and equal treatment...
 

UN staffer jailed for ‘anti-government’ materials
Date:19/12/2010 Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday sentenced a Cambodian United Nations employee to six months jail for disseminating material critical of the government, only two days after his arrest...
 

Q&A: Wikileaks and freedom of expression
Date:16/12/2010 International controversy over the Wikileaks release of US diplomatic cables continues to rage...
 

Strike a blow for press freedom
Date:16/12/2010 TODAY, the Parliament of Jamaica will take a decisive step forward in advancing the cause of freedom of expression, without which we might as well retreat into the Dark Ages...
 

Regulate media content but don''t muzzle the press: Bhushan
Date:15/12/2010 New Delhi: Amid continuing debate over where to draw the line on freedom of expression when it comes to national security, a top Supreme Court advocate today said there was need to regulate media content but cautioned against pre-censorship and the muzzling of the press...
 

Venezuela media bills would harm freedom of expression
Date:15/12/2010 New York: The Venezuelan legislature should reject proposed legal reforms that would harm freedom of expression, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

WikiLeaks backlash: The first global cyber war has begun, claim hackers
Date:14/12/2010 He is one of the newest recruits to Operation Payback...
 

Bombs - an attack on freedom of expression
Date:14/12/2010 A Swedish artist who has faced death threats since depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a dog said on Monday that a bomb attack targetting Christmas shoppers was aimed at destroying freedom of expression...
 

Theresa May should consider freedom of speech before banning pastor
Date:14/12/2010 The home secretary must ensure that banning Pastor Terry Jones would not unduly restrict the freedom of expression rights of those who could hear him speak in the UK...
 

SA's 'flawed' legislation, proposals threaten human rights - MMA
Date:13/12/2010 South Africa's 'fragile' freedom of expression, free flow of information, and media liberties and independence - some of the cornerstones of any society's human rights - were further shaken this year by a series of what critics call 'flawed' and 'authoritarian' legislation and proposals...
 

Koran-protest pastor Terry Jones may be banned from UK
Date:12/12/2010 Home Secretary Theresa May has said she will be actively looking at whether a controversial US pastor should be banned from entering the UK...
 

ACRI: Gov't cracking down on freedom of expression
Date:12/12/2010 It was more difficult, more dangerous and more expensive to hold demonstrations in Israel this past year, according to a chapter of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel’s “2010 State of Democracy Report, ” relating to freedom of expression, which was released on Sunday...
 

Facebook Wrestles With Free Speech and Civility
Date:12/12/2010 Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and chief executive of Facebook, likes to say that his Web site brings people together, helping to make the world a better place...
 

Poets celebrate freedom of expression
Date:12/12/2010 Poetry is a literary art in which words are used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to its apparent meaning...
 

New Cambodian laws may suppress free speech: rights groups
Date:11/12/2010 Cambodia is introducing new laws which rights groups warned Friday could be used to silence critics and stifle freedom of expression...
 

After the WikiLeaks cyber war, what now for the web?
Date:11/12/2010 This week saw the unprecedented escalation of hostilities between the US government and WikiLeaks, with hackers wading in to support the whistleblowing website by targeting companies - PayPal, MasterCard, Amazon – that had co-operated with US attempts to shut it down...
 

The Free Speech Nightmare Is Going To Get Worse
Date:11/12/2010 The fallout of the September 24 FBI raid on nine Minneapolis citizens is coalescing into a toxic cloud floating over all of us...
 

Four new arrests in Tehran amid complicit silence from international community
Date:10/12/2010 Since the start of the week, coinciding with the start of talks, no fewer than five journalists have been arrested and imprisoned...
 

Free speech…for Chinese protesters in
Date:10/12/2010 About 60 Chinese gathered in the snowy square outside Oslo City Hall as the Nobel Peace Prize was presented to the empty chair where the imprisoned Liu Xiaobo should have sat...
 

Gates Laments Senate Vote on ‘Don’t Ask’
Date:10/12/2010 Defense Secretary Robert M...
 

Iranian blogger given leave from prison
Date:09/12/2010 The dissident Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan – known as Hoder – has been released on bail of $1...
 

Al Jazeera to promote freedom of expression
Date:09/12/2010 Al Jazeera and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) yesterday signed a partnership agreement to promote the value of freedom of expression, access to information and to facilitate the development of professional and ethical standards of journalism...
 

The Phil Woolas case highlights confusion in election law
Date:09/12/2010 Phil Woolas has fallen foul of section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, which provides that it is an illegal practice to make a false statement about a candidate for the purpose of affecting the return of any candidate at the election...
 

Back to Google News EU rights court rules on reporting
Date:08/12/2010 Scottish courts do not have enough safeguards to protect the media's right to report cases, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled...
 

U.S. to host World Press Freedom Day in 2011
Date:08/12/2010 Washington: In order to prove its commitment to expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age, U...
 

President Sirleaf: 'We Will Not Undermine Press Fredom'
Date:07/12/2010 Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has assured journalists in the country that her administration will neither take any measure nor will it be associated with any measure that would scale back press freedom...
 

Phil Woolas and the outcome of the judicial review
Date:07/12/2010 On Monday the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, ruled that MPs could finally discuss the issues surrounding Phil Woolas...
 

Who is Mr Justice Eady?
Date:07/12/2010 When he hands down judgment, the Hon...
 

Wikileaks defended by hacktivists
Date:07/12/2010 A group called Anonymous has hit sites that have refused to do business with the controversial whistle-blowing site with a series of distributed denial-of-service attacks...
 

Asian woman writers constantly under scrutiny’
Date:06/12/2010 Braving the innumerable hurdles of life that includes a orthodox society and the authoritative hand of the government trying to suppress the freedom of expression, the women writers of some of the Asian countries have succeeded in making their voices of protest heard...
 

Four activists on trial for holding up pictures of detainees
Date:06/12/2010 BCHR expresses concern about the continued targeting of public freedoms by the authorities, especially the limiting of freedom of opinion and expression and the criminalization of cases by attempting to brand them as security crimes or link them to terrorism...
 

Retired colonel fights Library of Congress over firing
Date:06/12/2010 Retired Air Force Col...
 

Woza leaders wrongfully arrested — Supreme Court
Date:05/12/2010 Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu had their rights and fundamental freedoms violated, when they were arrested and detained for three weeks last year, the Supreme Court has ruled...
 

Malaysia: Proposed cyber sedition law is undemocratic
Date:03/12/2010 The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) is concerned with Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein's references to a new law that will be introduced to govern sedition in cyberspace...
 

Phil Woolas loses bid to overturn election court ban
Date:03/12/2010 Phil Woolas has lost his bid to overturn an election court's ruling that stripped him of his Commons seat and barred him from politics...
 

Phil Woolas loses seat legal battle
Date:03/12/2010 Former Labour MP Phil Woolas has lost his High Court bid to overturn a decision stripping him of his Commons seat...
 

Rights groups condemn attack on journo Rayamajhi
Date:03/12/2010 …
 

Supreme Court backs internet freedom of speech
Date:02/12/2010 Lord Phillips, the president of the court, and four justices said the current law on defamation was outdated and could effectively “rob” millions of people of the right to express their opinions without fear of being sued for libel...
 

WikiLeaks Document Release Sparks Secrecy Debate
Date:02/12/2010 The diplomatic cables recently made public by WikiLeaks were not intended for wide dissemination...
 

Burma's junta pays no heed to Freedom of Expression
Date:01/12/2010 Reporters from private journals and periodicals in Burma were inadmissible to be present at a press conference of a United Nation's special envy to Burma held before his departure on 28 November evening, according to sources in Rangoon...
 

ACHPR And APRM Hold Inaugural Meeting On Freedom of Expression
Date:01/12/2010 The first ever formal meeting between the two African Union bodies charged with promotion and protection of good governance and human rights on the continent took place in Gambia on 12 November to discuss freedom of expression...
 

What are you not allowed to say?
Date:01/12/2010 Howard Flight and Lord Young have joined a long list of people who have realised that there are some things you can't say...
 

Fishermens right to freedom of expression violated
Date:30/11/2010 About 50, 000 members of the fisher folk community in the Negombo lagoon area have been protesting against a move by the government to initiate a tourism project which will require the reclamation of part of the lagoon to build a landing strip...
 

Throwing eggs a crime, not democratic right
Date:30/11/2010 A significant number of egg-throwing protests targeting jurists, politicians and civil society organizations have taken place in the past few months, but legal experts say this type of attack is overstepping the boundaries of the democratic right to protest and bordering on crime...
 

Egypt court cancels restrictions imposed on SMS news alerts
Date:29/11/2010 Cairo - An Egyptian court overruled on Saturday a decision by the telecommunications authority to impose restrictions on media companies that send out news alerts to cell phones...
 

Free speech: Oppose religious defamation laws
Date:29/11/2010 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently voiced America's opposition to religious defamation laws that can be used to restrict free speech...
 

Arundhati Roy can face prosecution
Date:29/11/2010 Patiala High court on Saturday ruled that award-winning author Arundhati Roy could face prosecution for allegedly speaking out on the disputed region of Kashmir, according to a report...
 

US embassy cables leak sparks global diplomatic crisis
Date:29/11/2010 The United States was catapulted into a worldwide diplomatic crisis today, with the leaking to the Guardian and other international media of more than 250, 000 classified cables from its embassies, many sent as recently as February this year...
 

WikiLeaks degenerates into gossip
Date:29/11/2010 SO WE have another WikiLeaks release, and this time it's secret diplomatic cables...
 

Why do editors committed to press freedom attack Wikileaks?
Date:28/11/2010 One of the more bizarre features of the soon-to-be-leaked Wikileaks revelations was the leaking of the fact that they were to be leaked...
 

Egypt: Tough Measures Used to Gag Media in Run-Up to Elections
Date:26/11/2010 Reporters Without Borders condemns an increase in measures to control news and information and suppress freedom of expression in the run-up to the parliamentary elections scheduled for 28 November...
 

Blasphemy Resolution Passes U.N. Committee
Date:26/11/2010 …
 

Hari Kunzru criticises Turkey over VS Naipaul Islam row
Date:25/11/2010 British novelist Hari Kunzru has attacked Turkey's record on free speech at the Istanbul literary event the European Writers' Parliament, describing VS Naipaul's absence from the event regrettable, and calling for the repeal of the notorious article 301 of the Turkish penal code...
 

IFEX Members Urge UN to Prevent Violence against Women Journalists
Date:25/11/2010 On 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 44 institutions as members of IFEX, the International Freedom of Expression eXchange network, drew attention to women who are being targeted due to their struggle for freedom of expression and because of their gender...
 

Freedom of speech exhibition opened
Date:24/11/2010 An exhibition to commemorate imprisoned and exiled writers has been opened at Edinburgh’s Writers' Museum...
 

Protection of journalists makes agenda of leading human rights forum
Date:24/11/2010 Journalists in Africa are the most persecuted group of human rights defenders in the continent...
 

Alan Shadrake to appeal Singapore contempt conviction
Date:23/11/2010 British author and journalist Alan Shadrake is to appeal against his conviction for contempt of Singapore's courts which last week brought a six-week jail sentence and fine of $20, 000 (£9, 600)...
 

Content Providers and UK ISPs Urge Government to Protect Internet Free Speech
Date:22/11/2010 Broadband ISPs and online content providers, including the Internet Service Providers Association ( ISPA ), Facebook, Yahoo! and AOL, have written an open letter to the UK Prime Minister (David Cameron) that calls for him to help protect open discussion (free speech) on the internet ...
 

Democracies don't ban items of free expression
Date:22/11/2010 The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd announced a ban on souvenirs and other materials considered offensive to the monarchy and pandering to disunity, which the CRES said were available at Friday's red shirt rally at Ratchaprasong...
 

Freedom of speech under attack
Date:22/11/2010 Suppressing freedom of speech is a practice most Canadians associate with Burmese generals and Robert Mugabe -not Ontario universities, provincial courts or federal cabinet ministers...
 

Government loses legal bid for secret 7/7 inquest hearings
Date:22/11/2010 The home secretary, Theresa May, has lost her attempt to force the coroner for the 7 July London terror attack inquests to hear sensitive evidence behind closed doors, in what was hailed as a milestone for justice by campaigners today...
 

Lavasa Corp wins libel against London Times
Date:22/11/2010 Lavasa Corporation has won a £30, 000 compensation from The Times Newspapers of London, after the newspaper accepted that it had carried an article with incorrect information...
 

Now the libel law sharks are going for the little guy
Date:21/11/2010 It is a sad truth about the British media that a story's chances of making the newspapers increase in proportion to an editor's ability to attach breasts to it...
 

British minister 'dismayed' by author's Singapore jail term
Date:19/11/2010 A minister has said he is dismayed by the prison sentence handed to a British author convicted by a Singapore court of insulting the city-state's judiciary...
 

Zimbabwe detains reporter on criminal defamation charges
Date:19/11/2010 Reporter Nqobani Ndlovu remained in police custody today despite expectations that he would appear in court on criminal defamation charges, local journalists told CPJ...
 

Azerbaijan: Release of One Blogger Not Enough
Date:18/11/2010 Today the Baku Court of Appeals released Hajizade 10 months early on parole...
 

Two German reporters charged with espionage in Iran
Date:18/11/2010 Iranian authorities announced on Tuesday that two German reporters for Bild am Sonntag will be charged with espionage, according to international news reports...
 

How “free” is “free speech” on Twitter?
Date:17/11/2010 Many countries have a very messy provision somewhere in their constitution that undoubtedly causes them a headache or two every year...
 

Where's the respect for free speech at universities?
Date:17/11/2010 I don’t know which is sadder: intolerant young people, including students, for shutting down speeches they don’t agree with, or universities for letting misguided activists get away with acting like fascists...
 

Macedonia: Freedom of expression threatened.
Date:16/11/2010 Reporters have been made to appear on lists of undesirable persons while the prime minister openly recommends distrust of certain media...
 

Anti-G20 protester launches constitutional challenge
Date:16/11/2010 Montreal’s Jaggi Singh, one of dozens of community organizers arrested even before last summer’s G20 protests began, has launched a constitutional challenge against his bail conditions...
 

Family leads outcry at blasphemy death penalty
Date:16/11/2010 Campaigners in Pakistan say the case of Asia Bibi – the first woman to be sentenced to death for blasphemy – highlights the need for urgent reform of laws that are routinely used to persecute minorities and settle grudges...
 

The words you read next will be your last: Because I'm going to strangle every single one of you ...
Date:15/11/2010 The moment I've finished typing this, I'm going to walk out the door and set about strangling every single person on the planet...
 

Fighting the global assault on freedom of expression
Date:15/11/2010 We must stop the practice of viewing words as crimes...
 

Azerbaijan: Court Defies European Court Instruction to Free Journalist
Date:13/11/2010 The Azerbaijan Supreme Court has refused to abide by a binding European Court of Human Rights judgment to release a wrongfully imprisoned, outspoken journalist, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Zambian Watchdog writers fear for their lives as government hunts them down
Date:13/11/2010 The entire Zambia security system is currently hunting for the editors, publishers and sources of the Zambian Watchdog...
 

Peaceful protest or direct action: where to draw the line?
Date:12/11/2010 Some twats have just decided to spoil it for the rest of us...
 

Sarkozy Draws Ire Over Media Spying Claims
Date:11/11/2010 French President Nicolas Sarkozy allegedly ordered France's domestic intelligence agency to spy on journalists who annoyed him...
 

Wounded Spanish journalist receives first Freedom of Speech Prize for Journalistic Values
Date:11/11/2010 SAN FERNANDO: Spanish photographer Emilio Morenatti, who lost a foot in a roadside bomb explosion while working in Afghanistan last year, received on Tuesday the first Freedom of Speech Prize for Journalistic Values...
 

Freedom of Speech still Fuels Concern
Date:11/11/2010 The Progress Report of the European Union Commission criticized the numerous trials opened against journalists for reporting about the Ergenekon case and warned Turkey on procedures that result in auto-censorship of the press...
 

God Save The Queen Free Speech
Date:11/11/2010 Is Free Speech for Sale? Apparently it is in England, where their antiquated and oppressive libel law is extremely hostile to writers, scientists, medical doctors and all those who dare to criticize the rich and powerful, who want nothing more than to silence sheeple their critics forever ...
 

Row over Amazon sales of paedophile advice guide
Date:10/11/2010 A self-published guide giving advice to paedophiles that is for sale through online retailer Amazon is stirring up controversy on the internet, with some threatening to boycott the website...
 

Mexico: President Calderon warns that organized crime is biggest threat to press freedoms in Mexico
Date:09/11/2010 …
 

Singapore: ‘Drop Charges Against Author Who Raised Rights Concerns’
Date:09/11/2010 The Singapore government should exonerate a British author who was convicted for contempt of court for his criticism of Singapore's justice system, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Maldives - Upholding Freedom of Expression and People’s Liberty, the Most Important Goal of the Government – President Nasheed
Date:08/11/2010 Addressing the people of Lhohi, the third stop of his tour of Noonu Atoll, President Mohamed Nasheed said upholding the principles of freedom of expression and safeguarding people’s liberty were the most important goals of the government...
 

Tunisian leader defends law accused of limiting free speech
Date:08/11/2010 Tunisia’s President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali defended Sunday a controversial law that critics say limits press freedom as he announced increased subsidies to opposition parties and their newspapers...
 

South Asian Free Media Association resolves to protect constitutional set-up
Date:08/11/2010 The South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) has resolved to safeguard the democratic and constitutional setup, including freedom of expression and an independent judiciary...
 

EU progress report criticizes pressure on Turkish press
Date:07/11/2010 Even though there is increasing open and free debate over sensitive issues such as minority rights, press freedom is still a problem in Turkey, according to an advance copy of the European Commission’s annual report about the country...
 

Alan Shadrake faces Singapore jail term for criticising use of death penalty
Date:07/11/2010 When his head hit the pillow in his Singapore hotel room in the early hours of 18 July, Alan Shadrake must have believed his gamble had paid off...
 

Corporate Civil Liberties: Do Sock-Puppets Have Freedom of Speech?
Date:05/11/2010 Glenn Greenwald gave a talk and engaged in a Q&A session the other day at University of Wisconsin...
 

Phil Woolas ejected from parliament over election slurs
Date:05/11/2010 The former immigration minister Phil Woolas was ejected from parliament today after two high court judges ruled that he lied about his Liberal Democrat opponent during the general election, in a judgment that is likely to have profound implications for all future campaigns...
 

British author faces prison sentence in Singapore
Date:04/11/2010 The British author Alan Shadrake is today facing a possible prison sentence after a court in Singapore convicted him of challenging the integrity of the city state's judiciary in a book criticising its use of the death penalty...
 

Sarkozy accused of using security service to spy on journalists
Date:04/11/2010 President Nicolas Sarkozy personally supervises a team of security agents which spies on troublesome French journalists, it was claimed yesterday...
 

Michigan Teacher Reprimanded in ‘Free Speech Flap’
Date:03/11/2010 A Michigan teacher has been accused of bullying students in an incident sparked by the teacher himself wearing a purple shirt in a gesture of support toward gay students who suffer at the hands of bullies...
 

Epoch Times Office Attack a Threat to Freedom of Speech
Date:03/11/2010 The Epoch Times offices in Queensland were attacked last week in an act of intimidation designed to suppress information about grave human rights abuses occurring in China...
 

Brazil’s future president Dilma Rousseff promises press freedom
Date:02/11/2010 In her acceptance speech in Brasília, President-elect Dilma Rousseff highlighted the role of the press and promised that her future government would guarantee freedom of expression...
 

US Supreme Court to hear videogames free speech case
Date:02/11/2010 The US Supreme Court prepared to hear arguments on Tuesday on whether a California ban on the sale or rental of violent videogames to minors is unconstitutional...
 

Vanuatu Times right of reply breach 'alarming'
Date:01/11/2010 Pacific Freedom Forum, Rarotonga COOK ISLANDS -- The refusal by the Vanuatu Times newspaper to allow the subject of a front page article right of reply is an ‘alarming’ breach of media ethics, says the Pacific Freedom Forum, PFF...
 

Venezuela organizations denounce violations of freedom of expression
Date:01/11/2010 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) was asked by organizations to monitor closely events that might represent violations of freedom of speech and other guarantees in Venezuela...
 

A call for the President of Puntland to respect the freedom of expression
Date:01/11/2010 Over 50 free expression groups and journalists’ unions wrote an open letter to President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole urging him to respect freedom of expression...
 

Christian couple barred from fostering children because of their views on homosexuality go to court
Date:01/11/2010 Gay rights laws are eroding Christianity and stifling free speech, Church of England bishops warned yesterday...
 

Press gag 1, by a South African judge
Date:01/11/2010 One of South Africa's major newspapers, the Sunday Independent, has been prohibited from publishing a story about alleged nepotism in the latest round of appointments to the country's crime intelligence division...
 

Press gag 2, by a Hong Kong judge
Date:01/11/2010 A Hong Kong judge has forbidden the press from reporting court hearings involving Nancy Kissel, who was sentenced for life imprisonment in 2005 for the murder of her husband, Robert, a millionaire banker with Merrill Lynch...
 

Study shows blasphemy laws pose extreme threat to human rights.
Date:29/10/2010 Freedom House has published a new report, Policing Belief: The Impact of Blasphemy Laws on Human Rights which examines the human rights implications of domestic blasphemy and religious insult laws using the case studies of seven countries ; Algeria, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Poland ; where such laws exist both on paper and in practice...
 

Supreme Court to hear appeal
Date:29/10/2010 Canada's highest court will hear an appeal in a case that saw a former Regina-based religious activist defending his right to free speech after distributing controversial flyers in Regina and Saskatoon...
 

ASA accused of 'sinister threat to freedom of expression'
Date:28/10/2010 The National Secular Society (NSS) has accused the advertising watchdog of “reintroducing the blasphemy law” following its decision to ban the Antonio Federici ice cream advert showing two priests about to kiss...
 

NUSOJ makes submission to UN Universal Periodic Review
Date:28/10/2010 The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) today provided a submission about widespread and routine violations of the right to freedom of expression, particularly freedom of the press, to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR)...
 

Enrile to SC: Please act with restraint
Date:27/10/2010 MANILA, Philippines;Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile has asked the Supreme Court to cleanse itself and its ranks instead of penalizing those who criticize the institution because of the plagiarism allegation against its member...
 

Human Rights Watch says Azerbaijani journalists face violence and prosecution
Date:27/10/2010 'BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (BNO NEWS) -- Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday released a report that indicates that journalists in Azerbaijan are facing violence and prosecution from their government...
 

Human Rights Watch says Azerbaijani journalists face violence and prosecution
Date:27/10/2010 'BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (BNO NEWS) -- Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday released a report that indicates that journalists in Azerbaijan are facing violence and prosecution from their government...
 

Thirty-three IFEX members call for freedom of expression during historic elections
Date:27/10/2010 (Mizzima/SEAPA/IFEX) - We, the undersigned, express our grave concern with the continued deteriorating conditions of freedom of expression and freedom of information in Burma weeks before the 7 November 2010 national elections...
 

Burma: International media consortium urges press freedom during elections
Date:26/10/2010 Thirty-three media organisations from across the globe are appealing to the Burmese government to respect the rights of Burmese citizens, and specifically the media, during next month’s general election...
 

IPI: Coup on Press Freedom
Date:26/10/2010 The Turkish news channel CNN Türk was punished by RTÜK for criticism on President Gül voiced by the Secretary General of the Labour Party...
 

Turkish publisher on trial for 'obscenity' given international award
Date:26/10/2010 'A Turkish publisher on trial for publishing a classic erotic novel by French writer Guilliame Apollinaire has been recognised with a special award by the Geneva-based International Publishers Association...
 

Elections monitor: Media restrictions; record campaign spending
Date:25/10/2010 The Egyptian government’s recent decision to shut down several satellite channels and place further restrictions on the media has raised domestic and international concern over freedom of expression in the run-up to parliamentary elections late next month ...
 

Jordan says freedom of expression guaranteed in election
Date:25/10/2010 Jordan's information minister said on Saturday that freedom of expression was guaranteed after Human Rights Watch said there had been several arrests ahead of a November 9 general election...
 

Moscow marches - but not for long
Date:25/10/2010 No sooner had the placards and protestors headed home from Pushkinskaya Ploshchad than it emerged that Moscow’s brief autumn of discontent could soon fall victim to the winter chill...
 

Swaziland prime minister threatens to censor columnists
Date:25/10/2010 The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a recent statement from Swaziland's Prime Minister, Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini, announcing his intention to create a law requiring newspaper columnists to seek permission before they write critically about the government...
 

Solicitors in Cardiff take on Facebook defamation cases
Date:25/10/2010 A legal firm says it has taken forward six defamation actions involving Facebook in the last nine months...
 

Second Quarterly Media Monitoring Report 2010 - Full Text
Date:22/10/2010 In the second quarter of 2010, the number of thought crimes has doubled compared to the same period last year...
 

Jordan: Ensure Free Election Campaign
Date:21/10/2010 Jordanian authorities should respect the right to free expression in the weeks leading up to national elections on November 9, 2010, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Gay marriage foes: NY law blocks free speech right
Date:21/10/2010 Lawyers for an anti-gay marriage group have appeared before judges in Rhode Island and New York seeking the right to run political ads without having to comply with certain donor and spending reporting requirements...
 

Don't be too cheeky
Date:21/10/2010 A MONTH ago a court in Iran sentenced Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian-Canadian, to almost 20 years in jail, the longest sentence ever handed down to a blogger...
 

Gagging to be free
Date:21/10/2010 AT A gathering of intellectuals in Beijing, Xin Ziling, an author and former defence official, posed an interesting question...
 

Radio reporter shot dead in Brazil; suspect arrested
Date:21/10/2010 Brazilian police on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of killing radio reporter Francisco Gomes de Medeiros in the city of Caicó, state of Rio Grande do Norte, local press reports said...
 

Repeated unjustified Ban on Gay-Rights Marches in Moscow
Date:21/10/2010 In today's Chamber judgment in the case Alekseyev v...
 

Mumbai university book ban sparks free speech fears
Date:20/10/2010 MUMBAI ; Writers, filmmakers and social commentators have expressed fears about freedom of speech in India after hardline Hindu activists forced an award-winning book to be taken off a university syllabus...
 

Journalists march for media freedom
Date:20/10/2010 Journalists and members of civil society marched from the University of Witwatersrand’s Senate House to Constitution Hill in the Johannesburg city centre on Tuesday against the controversial protection of information bill...
 

NGOs accuse Mexican state officials of violently closing community radio station
Date:19/10/2010 Several press freedom organizations have accused the Chiapas state government of violating human rights and freedom of expression in their violent shutdown of the Proletaria community radio station on Oct...
 

Protests continue as Bolivia discusses how anti-racism law will be enforced
Date:19/10/2010 The government has begun to plan how it will regulate the new Anti-Racism Law, in spite of protests from press groups against two articles that could punish media outlets with closure and journalists with prison if they spread racist ideas...
 

Turkish citizens find new ways to deal with regime's tyranny
Date:18/10/2010 Here's what a Turkish musician enjoys: identifying with conscientious objectors and demanding the judicial system put him on trial...
 

EU to praise amendments, criticize restrictions on free speech
Date:18/10/2010 The European Union will welcome a set of constitutional amendments passed in a referendum on Sept...
 

Berlusconi 'vendetta' takes Italy's Paxman off air again
Date:17/10/2010 His fans see him as Italy's Jeremy Paxman, an aggressive but penetrating TV anchorman...
 

We, the people of touchy India
Date:17/10/2010 Thanks to the controversies generated by the just concluded Commonwealth Games, all of us have become conscious of the potential for 'wordplay' inherent in Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit's surname...
 

Suharto's law prohibiting freedom of expression abolished
Date:16/10/2010 The Constitutional Court rules depriving the Attorney General the power to ban books and printed materials...
 

Ruling on end to book banning welcomed
Date:15/10/2010 JAKARTA: The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) called on the government Thursday to immediately take measures to implement the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which rescinds the Attorney General Office’s authority to ban books...
 

Thousands March for Freedom of Expression in Bolivia
Date:15/10/2010 Thousands marched in support of Freedom of Expression on Wednesday in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in protest against articles 16 and 23 of the new Law Against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination and in support of media members on hunger strike...
 

Democratic Republic of Congo: Provincial governor orders community radio station's closure
Date:14/10/2010 Journaliste en Danger (JED) condemns the unjustified closure of Radio Bandundu FM, a community station broadcasting in the town of Bandundu, capital of the province of the same name, located in western DR Congo...
 

Iran must disclose identities of detained Germans
Date:14/10/2010 The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to immediately disclose the names of two Germans who were arrested on Sunday and described as journalists in several news reports...
 

Human rights group faults MACRA on media freedom
Date:14/10/2010 ...
 

China must abandon censorship
Date:13/10/2010 Dear members of the standing committee of the National People's Congress: Article 35 of China's constitution as adopted in 1982 clearly states that: Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration...
 

Freedom of Speech (BBC report)
Date:13/10/2010 A consignment of a newly published books about President Yoweri Museveni's regime has been seized by officials after they were deemed to be anti-government...
 

Not expressing oneself is a free-speech right
Date:13/10/2010 Does freedom of expression include the right not to express yourself? A recent decision of the Superior Court of Ontario seems to say 'No...
 

Foreigners and campaign advertising
Date:12/10/2010 The first amendment's free-speech protection language reads as follows: 'Congress shall make no law...
 

Gay parade in Belgrade is a confirmation of freedom of expression
Date:12/10/2010 The European Commission has assessed yesterday’s homosexual parade in Belgrade as the confirmation of freedom of expression and rejection of any discrimination...
 

Bolivian newspapers stage protest
Date:11/10/2010 Several Bolivian newspapers protested last week against a proposed law that would allow the government to shut down media outlets it deems guilty of racism...
 

Claims vs. Surprise stir free speech issue
Date:11/10/2010 A controversy brewing in Surprise is raising questions about a city's liability when its employees post potentially defamatory comments online about other workers...
 

HRNJ-Uganda Reports On Shrinking Space for Free Expression And Media Freedom Ahead of 2011 General Elections
Date:08/10/2010 Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda) is concerned about the declining safety and security environment for journalists in Uganda, and the growing overall threat to freedom of expression in the country...
 

Fiji clampdown on free speech continues
Date:07/10/2010 Regional media freedom watchdog the Pacific Freedom Forum is concerned over the increasing confusion spread by Fiji’s regime over the departure from Fiji Times of its long-serving editor Netani Rika...
 

Free Speech on Trial in the Netherlands
Date:07/10/2010 The hate speech trial of Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders began in Amsterdam on October 4...
 

Man jailed for facebook insults
Date:07/10/2010 A man has been jailed for three months for insulting gendarmes on Facebook, in what is believed to be the first conviction of its kind in France...
 

Westboro Baptist's funeral protests put free speech to test
Date:07/10/2010 The most vexing free speech fight in years confronts the Supreme Court on Wednesday, pitting a loud-mouthed, anti-gay Kansas church against a grieving Pennsylvania father...
 

Media freedom and safety of journalists on priority list for Lithuania's upcoming OSCE chairmanship
Date:06/10/2010 According to Lithuania's Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Renatas Norkus, Lithuania will encourage the governments of the OSCE participating states to take more pro-active measures to ensure the safety journalists and to put more effort into investigating cases of violence against journalists, and will emphasize the importance of media self-regulation, reported BC the press service of the Foreign Ministry...
 

Press freedom groups warn of rising trend as another journalist killed in Iraq
Date:06/10/2010 Press freedom and safety groups have voiced concerns over escalating dangers to the media in Iraq following the killing of a journalist this week...
 

Dutch politician on trial for hate speech
Date:05/10/2010 Dutch politician Geert Wilders appealed for freedom of expression Monday as he went on trial for alleged hate speech...
 

Flag-burning case could reshape freedom of expression
Date:05/10/2010 Anti-war protester Valerie Morse asserts her right to freedom of expression, which she said included being able to burn a New Zealand flag while an Anzac Day Dawn Service was taking place nearby...
 

University rector encourages students to respect the law
Date:04/10/2010 In a clear reference to last year’s infamous university censorship debate, University of Malta rector Juanito Camilleri has urged students to respect the country’s laws and the university’s regulations...
 

The right to freedom of speech is being threatened in the courtroom
Date:03/10/2010 Andrew Bolt is getting sued...
 

Mich. worker's blog sparks debate on free speech
Date:02/10/2010 LANSING, Mich...
 

Free speech cases top Supreme Court's agenda
Date:02/10/2010 WASHINGTON ; First Amendment cases top the Supreme Court's docket as it begins a new term with a new justice and three women on the bench for the first time...
 

Carlos Celdran walks free after family posts P6, 000 bail
Date:01/10/2010 Famed Manila tour guide and Reproductive Health (RH) bill advocate Carlos Celdran walked free on Friday after his family posted a P6, 000 bail...
 

Is it free speech? Supreme Court to rule on church's anti-gay rallies at U.S. military funerals
Date:01/10/2010 The Supreme Court is to rule on whether anti-gay protests which target the funerals of U...
 

Uganda: Joint Mission Calls to Safeguard Free Speech Ahead of 2011 Elections
Date:30/09/2010 Following a joint mission to Uganda, ARTICLE 19 and four other international freedom of expression organisations are calling on the government of Uganda to respect its international and constitutional obligations to safeguard freedom of expression...
 

How Syria controls its dissidents
Date:30/09/2010 Banning travel: When the regime gets edgy, it stops its critics from going abroad RATHER than kicking troublesome figures out, some countries, especially in the Middle East, like to keep them in...
 

Major victory for press freedom, protecting journalist's sources
Date:29/09/2010 The European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on 14 September that police cannot search media premises or seize journalistic material - upholding the rights of journalists to protect their sources, report ARTICLE 19, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)...
 

The Net in Canada: a black hole in cyberspace?
Date:28/09/2010 The scope of the Freedom of Expression in Canada will be tested when the Supreme Court of Canada rules on <em>Crookes vs Newton</em>, the freedom of speech case that’s due to be heard in Ottawa on December 7...
 

Law still patchy on protection of anonymous sources
Date:28/09/2010 The principle of never revealing confidential sources is sacrosanct in the world of journalism; without it reporters and editors could not act as watchdog in the public interest...
 

El Salvador’s High Court Deals Blow to Press Freedom
Date:27/09/2010 SAN SALVADOR – El Salvador’s Supreme Court ruled that the media and television station owners, editors and managers may be brought to trial for slander, injury or defamation in a decision interpreted as a blow against press freedom ...
 

Writers urge U.N. to abondon efforts to prohibit defamation of religions, concentrate instead on respect-building initiatives
Date:25/09/2010 At a panel held in conjunction with the Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva last week, writers and free-expression advocates from around the world today warned of the potential harm of imposing legal restrictions on expression considered offensive or defamatory to religions, arguing that such restrictions not only would do little to foster mutual understanding and respect, but also could easily be used to stifle creative freedom and suppress minority views and religions ...
 

Al-Jazeera journalists arrested in Afghanisation for 'making propaganda'
Date:22/09/2010 Two journalists have been arrested by the Nato-led forces in Afghanistan on suspicion of collaborating with the Taliban...
 

Who Is the Next Molly Norris?
Date:22/09/2010 Freedom of expression in America took another step closer to a slow death last week when the Seattle Weekly announced it would no longer be publishing the work of cartoonist Molly Norris because she had gone into hiding and had changed her name at the behest of the FBI due to death threats issued against her by Anwar al-Awlaki, the American born Muslim cleric now based in Yemen...
 

Kuwait court refuses to summon top royal
Date:21/09/2010 A Kuwaiti court on Monday rejected a request by lawyers defending a writer facing charges of undermining the status of the Gulf emirate's ruler to cross-examine the leading royal who made the complaint...
 

Google exposes data 'snooping' by UK government
Date:21/09/2010 Google receives seven requests a day from British government agencies for users’ internet data, new figures show...
 

Reporters Without Borders to be co-plaintiff
Date:21/09/2010 Reporters Without Borders is going to become a joint plaintiff in the complaint which Le Monde filed yesterday alleging that presidential aides directly violated a new law protecting the secrecy of journalists’ sources by using a domestic intelligence agency to identify an official who was leaking information to the newspaper ...
 

Video Games Deserve Free Speech Protection, Groups Argue
Date:21/09/2010 In preparation for November arguments before the Supreme Court, two advocacy groups are urging the U...
 

Mexican newspaper to cartels: 'We do not want more deaths'
Date:20/09/2010 On the same day friends and family buried slain photographer Luis Carlos Santiago Orozco, the newspaper he worked for, El Diario, in an unprecedented move published an open letter to the drug cartels operating in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico...
 

Artist takes case to Supreme Court
Date:17/09/2010 Lawyers representing visual artist Owen Maseko have filed an application seeking the Supreme Court ; sitting as the Constitutional Court ; to determine whether or not criminalising of creative arts infringes on freedom of expression and freedom of conscience...
 

Reality at Court Contradicts Ministry's Announcement
Date:17/09/2010 Turkish journalists striving to reveal facts about the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink are prosecuted at special authority high criminal courts whereas officials who failed to prevent the murder are tried at magistrate courts...
 

Two journalists killed in one week
Date:15/09/2010 An angry gang of motorcycle taxi drivers beat to death journalist Paul Kiggundu on 10 September when they discovered he was filming them demolish another driver's house, report the Human Rights Journalist Network - Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF)...
 

Sarkozy accused of violating press freedom in Bettencourt leak probe
Date:14/09/2010 French daily newspaper Le Monde has accused the office of President Nicolas Sarkozy of breeching press freedom in a leak investigation...
 

Thailand blocks news conference on Vietnam's human rights record, drawing criticism
Date:14/09/2010 BANGKOK ; The Thai government blocked a planned news conference Monday on Vietnamese human rights because it feared the disclosures might insult the neighbouring country...
 

European judgment on protection of sources a 'victory for press freedom'
Date:14/09/2010 The right of journalists to protect their sources will be strengthened throughout Europe, after a judgment from the European Court of Human Rights today...
 

Pope launches defence of religious freedom in Britain
Date:14/09/2010 In a speech to political and religious leaders in Westminster Hall, the Pontiff will deliver a thinly veiled attack on the perceived liberal direction of the country...
 

Thailand blocks news conference on Vietnam's human rights record, drawing criticism
Date:13/09/2010 BANGKOK ; The Thai government blocked a planned news conference Monday on Vietnamese human rights because it feared the disclosures might insult the neighbouring country...
 

Pentagon issues new rules for Guantanamo coverage
Date:13/09/2010 Reporters Without Borders takes note of the new ground rules for journalists covering the “military commissions” at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which the US Department of Defense issued on 10 September...
 

Le Monde accuses Nicolas Sarkozy of ordering 'spying' on reporters
Date:13/09/2010 France's most respected newspaper has accused Nicolas Sarkozy of ordering the counterintelligence services to spy on one of its reporters...
 

Le Monde accuses Nicolas Sarkozy of ordering 'spying' on reporters
Date:13/09/2010 France's most respected newspaper has accused Nicolas Sarkozy of ordering the counterintelligence services to spy on one of its reporters...
 

UNESCO chief speaks out after recent wave of journalist killings
Date:11/09/2010 The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has condemned the murders of four journalists that took place over the past week and called on national authorities to do everything within their power to bring the perpetrators to justice...
 

India leads calls for action to stop Koran burning
Date:09/09/2010 India led calls on Thursday for the United States to intervene to halt a small church's plan to burn copies of the Koran in commemoration of the September 11 attacks and urged a media blackout to calm tensions...
 

Mohammed cartoonist opposes Koran burn
Date:09/09/2010 A DANISH cartoonist who sparked Muslim outrage in 2006 with a drawing of the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb for a turban said today that burning the Koran, as planned by a US church, went too far...
 

The Tokyo Two: an abuse of human rights
Date:08/09/2010 In 2008, acting on whistleblower evidence, anti-whaling activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki uncovered illegal trade in whale meat in the course of an investigation into whaling...
 

Greenpeace pair guilty; no prison
Date:08/09/2010 The Aomori District Court sentenced two Greenpeace Japan activists Monday to suspended one-year prison terms for trespassing and stealing whale meat from a transport company branch in Aomori Prefecture in April 2008...
 

Qur'an burning day to go ahead despite death threats
Date:08/09/2010 The gun-toting pastor at the centre of international outrage over his plans to stage a Qur'an burning day to mark the 9/11 attacks says he is determined to go ahead in the face of fierce condemnation from the Obama administration...
 

Report slams drug gang sway on Mexico media
Date:08/09/2010 Coverage of drug violence in Mexico, one of the deadliest countries in the world for the press, is increasingly dictated by powerful drug gangs, according to a report released Wednesday...
 

Two media workers killed in bomb attack; journalist kidnapped and tortured
Date:08/09/2010 A suicide bomber detonated explosives at a Shiite procession in Quetta, Pakistan on 3 September, triggering chaos, killing two media workers and injuring eight other journalists, report the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)...
 

Pakistan: HRCP flays delay in arrest of journalist’s abductors
Date:07/09/2010 The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Monday condemned the abduction and manhandling of journalist Umar Cheema and the delay in arresting his abductors...
 

Craigslist removes sex ads after campaign by anti-prostitution lobby
Date:06/09/2010 Campaigners against prostitution and sex trafficking appeared to have won a victory over the weekend when Craigslist, the powerful online advertising website, capitulated to mounting pressure and removed its adult services content from US servers...
 

South African journalists fear limits to press freedom
Date:03/09/2010 South African journalists are finding themselves increasingly at odds with their own government over two proposals that have the potential to limit press freedom...
 

Bundesbank sacks 'racist' board member By Tony Paterson in Berlin
Date:03/09/2010 Germany's central bank agreed to dismiss a controversial board member yesterday amid a growing public outcry over his vitriolic criticism of Muslims and Jews in a new bestselling book that has been widely condemned as racist...
 

Uganda’s commitment to democracy is encouraging
Date:03/09/2010 In any country, the foundations for free and fair elections are laid well before election day by establishing freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, an independent media, and a transparent voter registry...
 

Turkey to not defend itself at the ECtHR on freedom of expression
Date:02/09/2010 Turkey will not defend itself in cases concerning freedom of expression that have been filed against it at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)...
 

Top Gear's The Stig is unmasked
Date:02/09/2010 The High Court has refused to ban a book which reveals that Top Gear's The Stig is racing driver Ben Collins...
 

Turkey to not defend itself at the ECtHR on freedom of expression
Date:01/09/2010 Turkey will not defend itself in cases concerning freedom of expression that have been filed against it at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)...
 

Amnesty criticises Rwandan genocide law, wants review
Date:01/09/2010 KIGALI (Reuters) - Human rights watchdog Amnesty International asked Rwanda on Tuesday to review its laws on 'genocide ideology' saying they are being used as a guise to suppress political opposition and freedom of speech...
 

Germany's Merkel voices concerns over media freedom in Ukraine at president Yanukovych's visit
Date:31/08/2010 Germany's chancellor urged Ukraine's president Monday to strengthen media freedoms in his country, while stressing the potential for further co-operation between the two nations on energy issues...
 

Phillipene Supreme Court SC backs GSIS employees’ right to rally
Date:31/08/2010 The Supreme Court affirmed the exercise of freedom of expression and speech of employees of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) when in 2005, they wore red shirt and appeared at a hearing to show support to their union leader...
 

Turkey set to end defenses in freedom of speech cases
Date:31/08/2010 Under fire for its controversial defense in a high-profile freedom of speech case at the European Court of Human Rights, Turkey will reportedly stop trying to defend itself in such cases and seek friendly settlements instead...
 

Amnesty: the chilling effect of Rwanda's laws on 'genocide ideology' and 'sectarianism'
Date:31/08/2010 Amnesty report published today criticises Rwanda's laws on genocide ideology and sectarianism, more commonly known as divisionism, introduced in the decade following the 1994 Rwandan genocide...
 

Mindanao reporters oppose media blackout
Date:31/08/2010 COTABATO City: Majority of the journalists in Mindanao are going to oppose whatever form of restriction that the government would apply as guideline in their news coverage...
 

Strasbourg court to consider Russian opposition claim against Moscow government
Date:31/08/2010 The European Court of Human Rights has begun looking into a claim made by three Russian activists on violations made by the Moscow authorities on the right to freedom of assembly, lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky said on Tuesday...
 

Two Ukrainian TV Stations Have Licences Revoked, Could Face Criminal Charges
Date:30/08/2010 The International Press Institute (IPI) today expressed grave concern for the state of media freedom in Ukraine after a court ruling forced one TV station off the air and limited the licences of another...
 

German press freedom award for Mexican journalist and Iranian activist
Date:27/08/2010 Pedro Matias Arrazola and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh win award for their extraordinary efforts to defend freedom of expression and freedom of the press</p> The 2010 Johann Philipp Palm Prize for freedom of expression and the press will go to Mexican journalist Pedro Matias Arrazola and Iranian human rights activist Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, reports the Latin American Herald Tribune, citing Spanish news agency EFE...
 

German press freedom award for Mexican journalist and Iranian activist
Date:27/08/2010 …
 

First child defamation case heard
Date:27/08/2010 Johannesburg - The Constitutional Court on Thursday debated whether children could be held liable for defamation for doing something which they thought was a joke...
 

UN, OAS Rips Mexico Over Freedom of Expression
Date:26/08/2010 MEXICO CITY – The U...
 

Gordimer: free expression threatened in S.Africa
Date:25/08/2010 Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer is leading South African writers in speaking out against proposals she fears will muzzle freedom of speech in her homeland...
 

Iran bans mention of opposition leaders in press
Date:25/08/2010 Iranian newspapers have been banned from publishing the names or photos of the leaders of Iran's green movement, according to a confidential governmental ruling revealed by an opposition website...
 

Crackdown on rights defenders speaking out about torture and discrimination
Date:25/08/2010 Four Bahraini human rights defenders are among those recently jailed incommunicado, charged with inciting violence and terrorism, report the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and other IFEX members...
 

Journalism is not about freedom of expression – White
Date:24/08/2010 The Secretary General of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Aidan White, has stated that journalism is not about freedom of expression, but rather about constrained expression...
 

Thloloe joins media freedom debate
Date:24/08/2010 The media should review their own work, rather than have the ANC put a gun to our temple and force the industry to co-operate in its own rape, Press Ombudsman Joe Thloloe said on Monday night...
 

Argentine government clamps down on country's largest media organisation
Date:21/08/2010 ARGENTINA’S GOVERNMENT ordered the country’s largest media organisation and a leading critic of its policies to shut down its internet service provider on Thursday...
 

Azerbaijan: Supreme Court rejects bloggers' appeal: lawyer
Date:21/08/2010 BAKU ; Azerbaijan's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by two jailed bloggers whose case has sparked international concern over freedom of speech in the ex-Soviet republic, their lawyer said Friday...
 

Jordanian journalists furious over new cyber crimes law
Date:20/08/2010 AMMAN ; Jordanian journalists are up in arms after the government on August 3 passed a temporary law on cyber crimes seen by many as a way of controlling local news websites...
 

Venezuelan judge says newspapers can print violent pictures
Date:20/08/2010 (CNN) -- A judge has lifted an order banning Venezuelan media from printing violent photographs, an official said on state-owned VTV...
 

Amended 'gag law' removes publishers' liability - but leaves journalists still facing huge penalties
Date:20/08/2010 Following a firestorm of criticism from civil society groups in Italy and abroad, and a slap on the wrist by the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, the Italian government's draft gag law has been amended...
 

Iceland aiming to be a global press freedom haven
Date:19/08/2010 REYKJAVIK ; After Iceland's near-economic collapse laid bare deep-seated corruption, the country aims to become a safe haven for journalists and whistleblowers from around the globe by creating the world's most far-reaching freedom of information legislation...
 

Journalist evacuated from city after receiving serious death threats
Date:19/08/2010 On 17 August 2010, Michel Tshiyoyo, a journalist with Radio Télévision Amazone (RTA), a privately-owned broadcaster based in Kananga, capital of West Kasai Kasaï province in central DR Congo, was evacuated from Kanange by the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) after receiving multiple anonymous death threats...
 

Cry freedom ... of expression: SA media under attack
Date:18/08/2010 A month after South Africa scored a victory over pessimists by staging a successful World Cup, the ruling African National Congress risks squandering the tournament's legacy by trying to muzzle the media and step up state secrecy...
 

Venezuela bans papers from printing violent photos
Date:18/08/2010 CARACAS, Aug 18 (Reuters) - A Venezuelan court has ordered two opposition newspapers not to print violent images and asked the rest to follow suit, in a move that it said was to protect children but which critics denounced as censorship...
 

Privacy law to stop rise in gagging orders by judges
Date:18/08/2010 In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Lord McNally suggested that the right to privacy could be enshrined in law after a number of celebrities were awarded so-called “super-injunctions” to gag the press...
 

Privacy law to stop rise in gagging orders by judges
Date:17/08/2010 Britain could get its first ever privacy law to stop judges creating one by stealth through the courts, a justice minister said...
 

Indonesian president calls for religious tolerance
Date:16/08/2010 Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday stressed the need for religious tolerance amid growing calls for him to act against Islamic radicals who regularly attack minorities...
 

Opposition group slams Venezuela for opening probe against newspaper
Date:16/08/2010 Members of Venezuela's opposition lashed out Sunday against the government's decision to investigate a newspaper that published an explicit photograph of bodies at a morgue...
 

Under threat from Mexican drug cartels, reporters go silent
Date:16/08/2010 It's when reporters and editors, out of fear or caution, are forced to write what the traffickers want them to write, or to simply refrain from publishing the whole truth in a country where members of the press have been intimidated, kidnapped and killed...
 

Under threat from Mexican drug cartels, reporters go silent
Date:16/08/2010 Journalists know drug traffickers can easily kidnap or kill them ; and get away with it...
 

Ukrainian journalists threaten strike - paper
Date:15/08/2010 In case Ukraine authorities continue to neglect recommendations of international journalistic organizations, Ukrainian press freedom group Stop the Censorship will call on journalists across the country to take part in a mass strike, the Ukrainskaya Pravda paper reported on Sunday...
 

Shackling media a sign of political crisis - NCHR (Jordan)
Date:12/08/2010 AMMAN - The National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) on Wednesday said that restrictions on the circulation of information and attempts to shackle media outlets are signs that a country is in a political crisis...
 

Obama approves US 'libel tourist' laws
Date:12/08/2010 The Speech Act, recently passed by Congress, makes foreign libel rulings virtually unenforceable in US courts...
 

Obama seals off US journalists and authors from Britain's libel laws
Date:11/08/2010 President Obama yesterday signed into US law legislation aimed at protecting American authors, journalists and academics from Britain's libel laws...
 

Two environmental reporters found dead; threats to journalists escalate
Date:11/08/2010 One journalist's body was found in a river, another died mysteriously in his home, and a third has received a death threat written in blood...
 

ANC 'must back its arguments for media tribunal'
Date:10/08/2010 The ANC should act responsibly and fairly by providing evidence to back up its arguments for a media appeals tribunal, Media Monitoring Africa said...
 

Cambodia: The Official Launch of the First Online Human Rights Portal
Date:09/08/2010 Sithi...
 

China dissident's PM book set for release amid jail threat
Date:09/08/2010 BEIJING, Thursday 5 August 2010 (AFP) - A controversial book that criticises China's Premier Wen Jiabao will be published later this month even after police warned its dissident author that he could end up in jail, the publisher said Thursday...
 

Mexican Journalists March to Denounce Violence, Intimidation
Date:09/08/2010 Hundreds of Mexican journalists marched Saturday in this capital and other cities nationwide in defense of freedom of expression and to demand an end to violence, intimidation and harassment...
 

Mexican Journalists March to Denounce Violence, Intimidation
Date:09/08/2010 Hundreds of Mexican journalists marched Saturday in this capital and other cities nationwide in defense of freedom of expression and to demand an end to violence, intimidation and harassment...
 

Venezuela Takes Aim at U.S. Ambassador Designee
Date:09/08/2010 Venezuela on Thursday lashed out at U...
 

WikiLeaks spokesperson states, we will keep publishing documents, against U.S. wishes
Date:09/08/2010 According to an interview conducted by the Associated Press, a WikiLeaks spokesperson countered U...
 

South Africa journalists fight proposed media laws
Date:08/08/2010 JOHANNESBURG ; South African journalists launched a campaign Sunday to fight what they say is an attempt to curtail media freedoms in a nation known for one of Africa's freest and most open constitutions...
 

Israel: Withdraw Legislation Punishing Human Rights Activists
Date:06/08/2010 (Jerusalem) - Israel's Knesset should reject proposed legislation that would weaken the country's vibrant civil society, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Fidesz steps up media control - sort of
Date:06/08/2010 It was a big misunderstanding...
 

Gang torches Sri Lanka broadcaster's office
Date:06/08/2010 An unidentified gang set fire to a Sri Lankan broadcaster owned by a businessman who had backed the opposition in a presidential election, destroying its main control room, police said on Friday...
 

Liberia sets the pace for Ghana by passing RTI Bill
Date:03/08/2010 Accra, Aug...
 

Attacks on media on the rise in India
Date:03/08/2010 A growing number of incidents of violence against, and restrictions on, journalists in several parts of India over the past few months has caused concern at the national and international level...
 

Chinese censors take notice of Twitter-style blogs
Date:02/08/2010 Chinese censors blocked access to Facebook and Twitter a year ago for fear the foreign sites could be used to sow political unrest...
 

Italy: draft wiretapping law should be scrapped or revised, says UN expert on freedom of expression
Date:02/08/2010 GENEVA (13 July 2010) – The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, Frank La Rue, urged the Italian Government to “either abolish or revise draft law 1415* on surveillance and eavesdropping for criminal investigations...
 

Use of words were a 'gross intrusion' to right to privacy, high court hears
Date:02/08/2010 It cannot be permissible under the Constitution to photograph a mother and her young son and then use words suggesting she is a whore and the child a bastard, the High Court was told yesterday by counsel for the woman who claims she was defamed and her family’s privacy invaded by a newspaper...
 

Human rights outcry as African journalist who fled to Glasgow faces deportation
Date:01/08/2010 ‘For me, ” says Charles Atangana over the phone from the Immigration Detention Centre at Colnbrook near Heathrow, where he is being held, “going back to Cameroon is a death sentence...
 

Mexico Journalists Kidnapped as Drug Cartels Threaten Freedom of Speech
Date:30/07/2010 Mexican gang members took at least three journalists hostage this week in Durango state after the reporters investigated alleged links between prison officials and drug groups, the state attorney general’s office said...
 

Russian Court Blocks YouTube
Date:30/07/2010 …
 

Groups Condemn UCI Ban of Muslim Union
Date:30/07/2010 IRVINE – A coalition of civil rights groups and professional bar associations have condemned UCI's recent decision to ban the Muslim Student Union after students disrupted an Israeli ambassador's speech on campus earlier this year...
 

How ECFA threatens Taiwan news freedom
Date:30/07/2010 Taiwan will face greater challenges in defending existing hard-won levels of news freedom in the wake of the signing of the controversial Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with the authoritarian People's Republic of China...
 

Mexico Journalists Kidnapped as Drug Cartels Threaten Freedom of Speech
Date:29/07/2010 Mexican gang members took at least three journalists hostage this week in Durango state after the reporters investigated alleged links between prison officials and drug groups, the state attorney general’s office said...
 

Russian court blocks YouTube
Date:29/07/2010 A court in Russia has blocked access to YouTube after the website was accused of hosting extremist propaganda...
 

Man arrested for 'insulting Lebanese president on Facebook'
Date:29/07/2010 A Lebanese national has been arrested for allegedly insulting the republic's president, Michel Sleiman, on Facebook...
 

Murder attempts against three journalists, a fourth beaten unconscious
Date:29/07/2010 Reporters Without Borders condemns an escalation in violence against journalists in the past few weeks including three murder attempts (two in Bajaur, in the Tribal Areas, and one in Hyderabad) and a severe beating in Hyderabad...
 

US libel tourism bill to be passed into law
Date:29/07/2010 The US Congress has given final approval by voice vote to a libel tourism bill, which will now be passed to President Obama to be signed into law...
 

Al Arabiya channel loses 15 employees since Iraq war began
Date:27/07/2010 Dubai: Monday's bombing of Al Arabiya's Baghdad office brought the death toll of the channel's employees to 15 since the start of the war in Iraq in 2003...
 

Border guards stop hundreds of 'obscene' items
Date:27/07/2010 OTTAWA ; Canada’s border agency has seized anti-Semitic books, smutty DVDs and sexually explicit comics as it classes what material is welcome into the country and what is banned because it breaches the “community standard of tolerance...
 

Defending Genocide is Freedom of Speech
Date:27/07/2010 The Ministry of Justice did not issue permission for a further prosecution of Sarkis Seropyan, concessionaire of the Armenian Agos newspaper, and Arat Dink, editorial manager of the Armenian daily regarding a trial due to Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink's recognizing the events in 1915 as genocide...
 

Libel law must be changed to protect free speech, Supreme Court hears
Date:27/07/2010 …
 

Libel law must be changed to protect free speech, Supreme Court hears
Date:27/07/2010 Britain’s highest court is considering what should qualify as “fair comment” for the first time in 20 years after a Motown band brought a libel action against Jason Spiller, its former agent, for remarks made on his website...
 

Coalition vows to soften muzzle law
Date:26/07/2010 Prague, July 23 (CTK) - The Czech coalition government will soften the muzzle law so that journalists can publish information on participants in criminal proceedings relating to politicians' or other state officials' corruption, Marek Benda, drafter of the legislation, told CTK Friday...
 

Journalist who covered environmental issues found dead
Date:26/07/2010 Reporters Without Borders urges national police chief Gen...
 

China jails writer for 15 years for 'endangering state security'
Date:25/07/2010 Human rights groups have attacked the heavy sentence a Chinese court has imposed on a Uighur writer who posted critical articles online and spoke to foreign journalists after last year's riots in Xinjiang...
 

Gambia: Disappeared journalist should be released on 'Freedom Day'
Date:23/07/2010 As Gambia celebrates ‘Freedom Day’ today (22 July), Amnesty International is calling on the Gambian authorities to release journalist Ebrima Manneh...
 

Manchester reviews campus extremism rules
Date:23/07/2010 Manchester University has reviewed its code of practice following a series of appearances from hate preachers...
 

Operation Roll Back of Freedom of Expression
Date:23/07/2010 In a region where reprisals against journalists who fail to toe the government line may include imprisonment and torture, Kuwait has been a welcome exception...
 

US Rams Through UN Approval of Homosexual Group that Opposes Religious Freedom
Date:23/07/2010 NEW YORK, July 22 (C-FAM) The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted this week on a US-led initiative to accredit the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)...
 

Human rights defender held since mid-June on charge of “annoying others”
Date:22/07/2010 Reporters Without Borders calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Sheikh Mekhlef bin Dahham al-Shammari, a writer, human rights activist and social reformer who was arrested on 15 June and who has yet to be taken before a judge...
 

Ghana's Ashanti NPP says primaries will be free and open
Date:20/07/2010 Kumasi, July 16, GNA - The Ashanti Regional Executive of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has calmed any nagging anxiety about the fairness of the party's up-coming presidential primaries in the region, saying, adequate measures had been put in place to make the poll transparent and credible...
 

Singapore releases UK author in defamation case
Date:20/07/2010 SINGAPORE ; Singapore released on bail Tuesday a British author arrested two days earlier as part of a criminal defamation investigation related to his book on the city-state's death penalty policy...
 

Gaunt is no pal of mine, but court has compromised his freedom of expression
Date:20/07/2010 I have to say that I'm less than delighted with the high court's judgment in the Jon Gaunt case...
 

PepsiCo and the shame of the bloggerati
Date:20/07/2010 This month Seed magazine decided to introduce a new blog to its Scienceblog department, called Food Frontiers...
 

Senate Unanimously Passes Leahy-Sessions Bill To Prevent Enforcement Of Foreign Defamation Judgments
Date:20/07/2010 WASHINGTON (Monday, July 19, 2010) - The Senate Monday unanimously approved bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt...
 

Burundian online journalist faces life in prison for treason
Date:19/07/2010 Burundian authorities’ arrest on Saturday of journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu on treason charges over commentary critical of the country’s security forces is alarming, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Sudan: Government critics brutally suppressed by security service
Date:19/07/2010 Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) is carrying out a brutal campaign of arbitrary detentions, torture, and mental and physical intimidation against government opponents and critics, according to a new Amnesty International report published today (19 July)...
 

Authorities ban two books deemed critical of government
Date:19/07/2010 Two books which the Cambodian government claimed contained unsuitable political content were banned, even as the police purchased copies of the said books in bulk and warned bookstores against selling them in the near future, media reports said...
 

Burundi holds journalist for rapping govt on Somalia
Date:18/07/2010 Burundi authorities have arrested a journalist over an article questioning security forces' ability to respond to attacks by Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents, his relatives said on Sunday...
 

Facebook 'breached own terms and conditions' by not taking down Raoul Moat tribute page, says MP
Date:16/07/2010 …
 

Head of Venezuela's Globovision Considering Asylum in US
Date:16/07/2010 …
 

Syrian human rights record unchanged under Assad, report says
Date:16/07/2010 …
 

Raoul Moat: Prime minister criticises public sympathy
Date:14/07/2010 …
 

French MPs vote to ban Islamic full veil in public
Date:14/07/2010 France's lower house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public...
 

Journalists barred from reporting on demonstrations; journalist slain
Date:14/07/2010 Weeks of anti-India street protests have left 15 people dead in Indian-controlled Kashmir and authorities are striking hard with a complete lockdown on local coverage of the unrest...
 

US Senate committee moves to curb libel tourism
Date:14/07/2010 The US Senate is moving closer to passing legislation that would make it harder for plaintiffs to sue Americans in overseas jurisdictions, such as Britain, where laws governing free speech are weaker...
 

'French MPs vote to ban Islamic full veil in public
Date:13/07/2010 France's lower house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public...
 

First of 52 Cuban political prisoners leave Cuba
Date:13/07/2010 (Reuters) - The first six of 52 political prisoners to be freed in a deal with the Catholic Church left Cuba on Monday, bound for a new life as Cuban exiles in Spain...
 

Jon Gaunt loses high court case over 'gratuitous' interview
Date:13/07/2010 Radio presenter Jon Gaunt today lost his high court freedom of expression challenge against media regulator Ofcom...
 

UN Expert Recommends Italy ‘Abolish or Revise’ Wiretap Bill
Date:13/07/2010 A United Nations human-rights expert called on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government to “abolish or revise” a bill that would limit news coverage of criminal probes that involve police wiretaps...
 

Britain's 'draconian' libel laws to be reformed
Date:12/07/2010 A consultation will take place over the summer before legislation is put before Parliament early in the New Year...
 

Russia convicts art experts over exhibition
Date:12/07/2010 MOSCOW ; A Russian court on Monday convicted the organisers of a provocative 2007 art exhibition of inciting hatred, fining them up to 6, 500 dollars in a case fiercely criticised by rights activists...
 

Flag-burning yeshiva student claims freedom of expression
Date:12/07/2010 An ultra-Orthodox yeshiva student indicted for flag-burning has asked that the charges be dropped as protected freedom of expression...
 

Libel law reform to protect free expression
Date:12/07/2010 The government has signalled its intention to stem the flow of libel tourists and grant greater protection to investigative journalists and to academics who cannot publish their work for fear of litigation...
 

Italy's News Blackout
Date:09/07/2010 Media strikes over Silvio Berlusconi’s ‘gag law’ ; Italian journalists fall silent to protest PM’s wiretap bill...
 

Journalists urge u-turn on convicted Zambian editor
Date:09/07/2010 VIENNA ; Journalists have urged Zambia's authorities to overturn the conviction of a newspaper editor in a case linked to a pornography trial for a photo of childbirth, media watchdog IPI said Friday...
 

New press law gives sweeping powers to military regime
Date:07/07/2010 New media legislation in Fiji permits government-appointed officials to arbitrarily seize media equipment and documents, force journalists to reveal their sources and fine media organisations up to $100, 000 Fiji Dollars (around US $53, 000), report the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and other IFEX members...
 

US soldier charged for leaking video showing US army war crime
Date:07/07/2010 Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old US army intelligence analyst, was charged yesterday with leaking a video of a US army helicopter attack in Baghdad in July 2007 in which two employees of the Reuters news agency were killed...
 

'Rights Activists Say Thai Media Liberties Slipping as State of Emergency Extended'
Date:06/07/2010 Thailand's extension of emergency rule allows the government, among other measures, to continue shutting down any media outlets it considers a threat to national security...
 

'Imprisoned Venezuelan journalist declares hunger strike'
Date:05/07/2010 (CNN) -- A Venezuelan journalist who has been held for two years without a trial reported that he has gone on a hunger strike, saying he wants the judge in his case to recuse himself...
 

Unfair sentencing of Syrian lawyer and human rights activist
Date:05/07/2010 Amnesty International today condemned the sentencing to three years in prison of veteran 78-year old Syrian lawyer and human rights activist, Haytham al-Maleh...
 

Washington insists on Ukrainian regime’s guarantees for freedom of speech
Date:04/07/2010 Speaking in a live TV talk show July 3 night, US State Secretary Hilary Clinton requested the Ukrainian regime to respect the freedom of the press...
 

Lebanon takes worrying steps on online freedom
Date:03/07/2010 Lebanon's president, Michel Sleiman, may have more than 60, 000 Facebook fans, but it took the opinions of just three people for things to get unfriendly...
 

U.S. media union to monitor restrictions on spill coverage
Date:03/07/2010 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A major U...
 

Azerbaijan should urgently improve the protection of freedom of expression, says Commissioner Hammarberg
Date:01/07/2010 Strasbourg...
 

Cuba: 'Climate of fear' created by restrictions on free expression
Date:01/07/2010 In my opinion, the blogger movement in Cuba has become an excellent alternative form of free communication...
 

TEMPO Takes Its Tempo to be Sold out
Date:01/07/2010 JAKARTA, KOMPAS...
 

Iceland leads the world in giving journalists freedom to report
Date:28/06/2010 Iceland is on the verge of giving investigative journalists greater protection from legal interference than exists almost anywhere in the world...
 

3 Journalist killed within in a week in Philippines
Date:23/06/2010 On the 16th June 2010, Camangyan, 52, anchorman of Sunrise FM radio based in Mati, Davao Oriental was shot dead while hosting an amateur singing contest in Barangay Macopa in Manay, Davao Oriental...
 

Defence Lawyers Quit in Sudanese Journalists Trials
Date:22/06/2010 On Wednesday, the defence team of four Sudanese journalists quit as they described the conditions in court to be ‘impossible’...
 

Icelandic Law creates Press Freedom Haven
Date:18/06/2010 June 17, 2010, a new legislation was passed in Iceland that brings with the hope of better protection for the freedom of the press around the world...
 

9th Journalist killed in Honduras this year
Date:18/06/2010 June 2009 was the infamous date of the cop d’état in Honduras, this has led to many violent murders of lawyers, politicians, businessmen, journalists...
 

Press Freedom is demanded by the UN General Secretary
Date:18/06/2010 United Nations Secretary General, Mr...
 

French Journalist facing five year imprisonment
Date:14/06/2010 A French journalist Augustin Scalbert, who works for the news website Rue89...
 

Rwanda Newspaper Website is blocked before upcoming Presidential elections.
Date:14/06/2010 A private run Rwandan newspaper known as the Umuvugizi has had its website blocked by the government...
 

33 Journalists granted amnesty by a welcome decision by Yemeni Court
Date:14/06/2010 On June 8, 2010, 33 Journalists had all there charges dropped by the Yemeni Court specialising in press offences...
 

Press Freedom promoter honoured with 2010 Titus Brandsma Award
Date:14/06/2010 Journalist Professor Andres Canizales, who has worked to promote human rights especially freedom of expression has been named as the next Laureate, of the 2010 Titus Brandsma Award by the International Catholic Union of the Press...
 

Radio Host Jailed for defamation in Peru
Date:14/06/2010 On June 9, 2010, local news reported that Peruvian Radio Host Oswaldo Pereyra Moreno was jailed for one year on the charge of defamation in Northern Peru...
 

Iranian journalist gets 30 Year writing ban
Date:09/06/2010 The Daily Shargh, Iran’s leading moderate newspaper (which was banned for three years) reported on June 9, 2010, that an award-winning woman journalist Jila Baniyaghoob (39) was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment and banned from writing or reporting for 30 years...
 

Iranian court sentences a journalist to 13 years and 74 lashes in absentia
Date:13/05/2010 An Iranian court has sentenced Maziar Bahari a journalist to 13 years and 74 lashes in absentia...
 

IBA Media Law Committee Welcomes the 'Declaration of Brisbane' - FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: THE RIGHT TO KNOW
Date:11/05/2010 ‘Declaration of Brisbane’ was issued by the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day 2010 Conference on 3 May 2010 in Brisbane Australia...
 

Ethiopia: Information Without Interference
Date:30/04/2010 Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets, ' fretted Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France, as he summed up the informative powers of an independent press...
 

Belgian lawmakers pass burka ban
Date:30/04/2010 Belgium's lower house of parliament has voted for a law that would ban women from wearing the full Islamic face veil in public...
 

I'm back but the Internet still sucks
Date:30/04/2010 Nothing can be more enjoyable than a vacation from blogging: my experience was just great! But now that the book is nearly done, I am beginning to slowly rediscover the Interwebs...
 

More court rulings violating freedom of expression
Date:30/04/2010 Reporters Without Borders condemns a 21 April ruling by a court in the western city of Ural ordering a local newspaper, Uralskaya Nedela (Ural Week), and one of its reporters, Lukpan Akhmedyarov, to pay 20 million tenges (136, 000 dollars) in damages to an oil industry company, especially as the size of the award could force the weekly to close...
 

Repressing the Media
Date:30/04/2010 President Hugo Chávez has put the assault on Venezuela's already-beleaguered media into overdrive...
 

Slovak Constitutional Court Upholds Freedom of Expression
Date:21/04/2010 The International Press Institute welcomes a Slovakian Constitutional Court ruling that the judiciary violated the rights of a Slovakian weekly magazine and failed to take into account the principle of freedom of expression when it directed the magazine to pay SKK 250, 000 (EUR 8, 300) to a judge for defamation of his character...
 

Our challenge: Keeping the Internet open
Date:21/04/2010 The Internet is one of the world's most important means of free expression...
 

Human Rights Watch Criticizes Media Repression in Zimbabwe
Date:21/04/2010 A leading international human-rights group says Zimbabwe's unity government still has not implemented promised media reforms and that President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party still controls most levers of government despite a 14-month-old power-sharing accord...
 

UNESCO chief condemns sixth murder of journalist in Honduras in 2010
Date:21/04/2010 21 April 2010 – The head of the United Nations agency tasked with upholding press freedom today condemned the murder of a journalist in Honduras, the sixth media professional slain in the Central American nation so far this year...
 

Indonesia under fire for upholding scripture over rights
Date:20/04/2010 Human rights groups pilloried Indonesia's constitutional court Tuesday after it upheld a 1965 blasphemy law, ruling in favour of orthodox religions over basic freedoms...
 

Before Kyrgyz Uprising, Dose of Russian Soft Power
Date:19/04/2010 BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan ; Shortly before the uprising in Kyrgyzstan two weeks ago, online news sites posted a series of hard-hitting exposés accusing the family of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of skimming money from the public coffers, an allegation that touched a nerve in this poor country and galvanized opposition to his government...
 

Can Asia, Europe agree on freedom of faith?
Date:19/04/2010 The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) has organized a series of meetings on interfaith dialog to build mutual understanding between the two regions...
 

Freedom of speech makes for strange bedfellows
Date:19/04/2010 The arrest last week of two men paid to hang posters for an Im Tirtzu PR campaign against the New Israel Fund infringes on freedom of expression, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said in a press release on Sunday...
 

Freedom's Just Another Word
Date:19/04/2010 The police in Chhattisgarh are reportedly considering action against author Arundhati Roy under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005...
 

Press Freedom Day to Focus on Threats to Journos
Date:19/04/2010 These words, spoken quietly over the telephone, were just one recent attempt to prevent a Southern Europe-based editor from printing a certain story, according to sources at the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)...
 

Egyptian Security Forces Arrest and Beat Peaceful Protestors
Date:07/04/2010 Amnesty International has condemned arrests, detentions and violence meted out against peaceful protesters in Egypt, after more than 90 people were detained in Cairo for taking part in demonstrations calling for political reform on Tuesday...
 

A Ludicrous Ban That Will Only Comfort Bigots
Date:07/04/2010 Not great theatregoers, you might think, the members of the BNP, any more than our prime minister, who advertises a preference for the work of Simon Cowell...
 

Free speech, press freedom crucial for democracy, Ban tells Kyrgyz leaders
Date:07/04/2010 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon continued his visit to Central Asia on Saturday with a stop in Kyrgyzstan, where he stressed the need to protect all human rights, including free speech and press freedom...
 

The Unknown Promise of Internet Freedom
Date:07/04/2010 Google has withdrawn from China, arguing that it is no longer willing to design its search engine to block information that the Chinese government does not wish its citizens to have...
 

Freedom of expression for all
Date:03/04/2010 The Tokyo High Court on March 29 acquitted a former worker of the now-defunct Social Insurance Agency who was indicted on allegations that he distributed copies of a Japanese Communist Party newspaper...
 

Laws should protect against hate, not against being offended
Date:02/04/2010 Dean Steacy is an investigator charged with upholding the Canadian Human Rights Act, drafted 30 years ago to ensure everyone can live free from discrimination...
 

Burma's Press Censored on NLD Decision
Date:01/04/2010 Outside Burma the reactions of the press and observers to the National League for Democracy's (NLD's) decision not to contest this year's election have been numerous and varied, but inside Burma the military government's Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) is forcing newspapers and other publications to publish the official line on the NLD decision, if they publish at all...
 

Author Sarah Malini Perera held ‘for offending Buddhists’ in Sri Lanka
Date:01/04/2010 An expatriate Sri Lankan woman who wrote two books about her conversion from Buddhism to Islam has been arrested while on holiday in Sri Lanka, apparently for causing offence to Buddhists...
 

Author Sarah Malini Perera held ‘for offending Buddhists’ in Sri Lanka
Date:01/04/2010 An expatriate Sri Lankan woman who wrote two books about her conversion from Buddhism to Islam has been arrested while on holiday in Sri Lanka, apparently for causing offence to Buddhists...
 

Hawk’s eye on literary and academic talk show
Date:01/04/2010 Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The literary and academic talk show to be held in Rangoon is under the hawk’s eye of the junta and will be monitored and tightly controlled by the Rangoon Division Peace and Development Council...
 

Simon Singh libel ruling demonstrates fine line between fact and comment
Date:01/04/2010 The court of appeal's ruling saw three of the country's most senior judges weigh in to the highly political debate over freedom of expression...
 

IACHR CONCERNED ABOUT THE USE OF THE PUNITIVE POWER OF THE STATE
Date:30/03/2010 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expresses its deep concern over the use of the punitive power of the State to criminalize human rights defenders, judicialize peaceful social protests, and persecute through the criminal system persons the authorities consider political opponents in Venezuela...
 

Title Too Long
Date:15/03/2010 Forty seven international, regional and national civil society organisations – including ARTICLE 19, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights – have written to Member States of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) expressing their opposition to draft resolutions on “combating defamation of religions” and on complementary standards to the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)...
 

Freedom of speech should not be abused, says King
Date:15/03/2010 The Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin said today that freedom of speech should not be exploited to distort the truth at the expense of “flaming conflict and inciting racial sentiments...
 

English libel laws threatening freedom of speech, says Swedish scientist
Date:12/03/2010 Francisco Lacerda, Professor of Phonetics at Stockholm University, questioned the effectiveness of the voice risk analysis (VRA) system that is being trialled by the Government as part of a crackdown on welfare fraud...
 

Battle for human rights increasingly fought on Internet: US
Date:12/03/2010 The United States said Thursday that the battle for human rights is increasingly being fought on the Internet as China, Iran and other states try to block access by political activists and others...
 

U.S. Human Rights Report on Georgia
Date:12/03/2010 New criminal procedure code and amended election code, allowing for direct election of Tbilisi mayor are named as significant human rights achievements of 2009 in the U...
 

North Caucasus: Editor’s Killer is Released, as Conditions for Journalists’ Safety Deteriorate
Date:11/03/2010 ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned about recent developments in the case of the killing of website editor Magomed Yevloyev in Ingushetia, and about the impact this will have for the already dire situation for media freedom in the North Caucasus region...
 

Uganda: ARTICLE 19 Lauds Whistleblowers Bill
Date:08/03/2010 ARTICLE 19 welcomes the recent bold move by the Uganda Parliament to pass the Whistleblowers Bill, a critical milestone in the country’s efforts to stem corruption and embrace transparency and accountability...
 

Minister’s attitude irks FXI
Date:08/03/2010 The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) has expressed deep disappointment with Minister of Arts and Culture Lulu Xingwana’s attitude to freedom of expression...
 

Rwanda: ARTICLE 19 Calls on Authorities to Uphold Free Expression Ahead of Presidential Elections
Date:05/03/2010 ARTICLE 19 expresses grave concerns that press freedom in Rwanda is deteriorating and that criminal charges being brought against journalists in Rwanda will contribute to the silencing of independent media voices ahead of the presidential elections later this year...
 

International special rapporteurs for free expression highlight 10 critical challenges
Date:05/03/2010 The four international special rapporteurs on freedom of expression have released their tenth annual Joint Declaration on Ten Key Challenges to Freedom of Expression in the Next Decade...
 

Freedom of Speech corrosion, a Concern at Morocco - EU Summit
Date:04/03/2010 As the Moroccan delegation gets ready to land in Granada, Spain, for an unprecedented summit meeting with the European Union, several European critics are questioning Morocco’s commitments to implementing a new Press Code and reforming its judicial system...
 

Taliban demand freedom of speech, condemn ban on attack cover
Date:04/03/2010 Afghanistan’s Taliban have condemned a government plan to ban live coverage of their attacks, saying the measure was a violation of free speech...
 

Hart launch The Journal of Media Law
Date:03/03/2010 The only platform for focused, rigorous analysis of global developments in media law, this new peer-reviewed journal is:</p> · essential for teaching and research</p> · essential for practice</p> · essential for policy-making...
 

Venezuela: Government violating basic human rights: report
Date:26/02/2010 The Venezuelan government is continuously violating basic human rights [press release], particularly freedom of expression, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for the Organization of American States (OAS) [official website] said in a report [text] released Wednesday...
 

Chávez furious as OAS rights watchdog accuses him of endangering democracy
Date:26/02/2010 President Hugo Chávez vowed to withdraw Venezuela from the top human rights body in the western hemisphere last night after it accused him of endangering democracy and intimidating opponents...
 

Front Kontra c-Censura call for ‘freedom of expression’
Date:25/02/2010 The call was for freedom of expression, as the varied crowd which gathered to join the Front Kontra c-Censura in their protest against the outdated censorship laws made its way towards the parliament building...
 

Human Rights Conference Brings Advocates Together
Date:25/02/2010 The rights of individuals to associate with whom they wish and to express their opinions in media, on the Internet and at meetings are under assault in many countries in the world, according to human rights organizations...
 

UN human rights office condemns threats to journalists after killing
Date:16/02/2010 United Nations human rights officials in Nepal voiced alarm today over the threats made against journalists reporting on the recent murder of the media entrepreneur Jamim Shah, stressing that freedom of expression must be upheld in the Asian nation...
 

Brazil: Arson Attack Destroys Radio’s Broadcasting Studio
Date:15/02/2010 The studio of radio broadcaster Nova Coari, based in Coari, Amazonas state, was completely destroyed by an arson attack on 8 February 2010...
 

Iran: UN Human Rights Council Reviews Situation for Free Expression
Date:15/02/2010 As the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) meets today in Geneva to engage in its Universal Periodic Review of Iran, ARTICLE 19 again raises serious concerns about the failure of the Islamic Republic to respect and promote freedom of expression...
 

Switzerland Asked to Help Asylum Seeker Journalist
Date:15/02/2010 A group of Georgian journalists has requested the Swiss authorities “to provide all possible assistance” to an investigative reporter, Vakhtang Komakhidze, who last week asked for asylum in Switzerland, citing threats against him and his family...
 

Plan for global freedom of speech centre
Date:15/02/2010 Iceland intends to become a bastion for global press freedom under a package of laws proposed by opposition MPs to defend freedom of speech, protect sources and fight libel tourism...
 

Free Press and Free Expression Organizations to Iran: Release Jailed Journalists, Writers
Date:12/02/2010 A coalition of leading international journalists', writers', and publishers' organizations today launched a campaign to press the government of Iran to release their colleagues imprisoned in the wake of last year's disputed presidential election in the Islamic Republic of Iran...
 

Sudan should lift Darfur security constraints - UN
Date:12/02/2010 Sudan should amend security legislation to protect freedom of speech and assembly in its conflict-torn Darfur region ahead of a nationwide election in April, a senior U...
 

Promoters of free speech introduce new manifesto
Date:12/02/2010 A group of 19 important members of the media, press and law circles have joined forces to battle what they fear is a growing censorship on freedom of expression, reports Berlingske Tidende newspaper...
 

Canada Slams Door in Chicago Reporter's Face
Date:11/02/2010 Canada is rarely mentioned as an oppressive country that limits freedom of expression and press...
 

China Upholds Dissident Liu's Sentence
Date:11/02/2010 A Chinese court upheld an 11-year prison sentence for writer Liu Xiaobo on subversion charges, prompting swift rebukes from the U...
 

Myanmar's Suu Kyi undecided on junta's elections
Date:11/02/2010 Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says that the military-run country's upcoming elections cannot be credible unless the government allows freedom of information, her party said Wednesday...
 

Report: Mideast, North African countries censor, control media
Date:11/02/2010 Despite the rise of the Web and its freewheeling second-by-second ferment, government efforts at control and censorship remain rife across the Middle East and North Africa, a new report said Thursday...
 

Artist convicted of slander in Uzbekistan
Date:11/02/2010 Amnesty International has called on the Uzbekistani authorities to quash the conviction of slander and insult of a prominent photographer and documentary filmmaker who has been recording people's lives in Uzbekistan...
 

Bluffton councilman says proposal to regulate gatherings violates free speech
Date:11/02/2010 A proposed new ordinance to give the town of Bluffton tighter control over public events violates freedom of speech guarantees and should be rewritten, a town councilman said earlier this week...
 

Man Sues California Mall After Guard Arrests Him for Having Conversation About God
Date:11/02/2010 Imagine getting arrested for just striking up a conversation about religion in public...
 

Right to Free Speech Collides With Fight Against Terror
Date:11/02/2010 Ralph D...
 

US and EU call for release of well-known Chinese dissident
Date:11/02/2010 The US and European Union today renewed calls for the immediate release of high profile dissident Liu Xiaobo, as a Chinese court upheld his 11-year-sentence...
 

US and EU call for release of well-known Chinese dissident
Date:11/02/2010 The US and European Union today renewed calls for the immediate release of high profile dissident Liu Xiaobo, as a Chinese court upheld his 11-year-sentence...
 

British students demonstrate for free speech, others protest against inciting racism
Date:10/02/2010 Students at Durham University in England held a demonstration on 9 February after the British National Union of Students intervened with the students’ plan to invite two representatives of the British National Party (BNP), Chris Beverly and Andrew Brons, to speak at a debate...
 

Rights Groups Condemn China's Jailing of Quake Activist
Date:10/02/2010 Beijing - International rights groups on Wednesday condemned China's jailing of an activist who investigated the deaths of thousands of schoolchildren in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake...
 

Artist Alert
Date:05/02/2010 Art, in any form, constitutes a key medium through which information and ideas are imparted and received...
 

Mexico: Three Journalists Murdered in First Weeks of 2010
Date:04/02/2010 For immediate release – 3 February 2010 Mexico: Three Journalists Murdered in First Weeks of 2010 ARTICLE 19 calls on the Mexican authorities to fully and immediately investigate the killings of another three journalists in recent weeks...
 

European Union condemns decree on Internet censorship in Belarus
Date:04/02/2010 The European Union thinks the decree puts more restrictions on freedom of speech in Belarus...
 

Press Seizure Underscores Concerns about Kazakh Government's Commitment
Date:04/02/2010 Freedom House condemns the Kazakh government's failure to live up to its commitment to protect fundamental freedom of expression following the seizure of print runs from five independent newspapers...
 

Russia arrests deal a blow to free speech: U.S.
Date:02/02/2010 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U...
 

FXI wants Ginwala document made public
Date:02/02/2010 CAPE TOWN - The Freedom of Expression Institute on Tuesday called for the release of the state’s submission to the Ginwala Commission which probed the fitness for office of former national prosecutions chief Vusi Pikoli...
 

Media Freedom at 2010 World Cup Under Question in South Africa
Date:02/02/2010 FIFA are under fire for their press accreditation rules at the 2010 World Cup, with the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) at loggerheads over numerous restrictions the governing body is putting in place, most of which follow on similar tight controls from previous World Cups, which have been criticised before...
 

Media personnel harassed at airport
Date:02/02/2010 Media personnel covering the airport alleged that they are being harassed by an official of the airport, who is reportedly demanding that they go through undue lengths to get into the airport premises...
 

Pope Benedict XVI attacks Labour's equality push
Date:02/02/2010 The Pope has made an unprecedented attack on the human rights policies of Gordon Brown’s Government, claiming that they threaten religious freedom and urging Catholic bishops to fight back with “missionary zeal”...
 

Venezuela - Six tv channels suspended over Chávez “cadenas”
Date:01/02/2010 Reporters Without Borders today condemned the government's ‘allergic reaction' to dissident voices in the media as six cable TV channels were suspended yesterday for declining to give airtime to interminable presidential speeches known as “cadenas”...
 

Vietnam jails democracy activists for subversion
Date:01/02/2010 A court in Vietnam has convicted four activists, including prominent human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh, of trying to overthrow the Communist government...
 

UK: Supreme Court Reaffirms Open Justice Principle and Orders Identification of Terror Suspects
Date:28/01/2010 UK: Supreme Court Reaffirms Open Justice Principle and Orders Identification of Terror Suspects ARTICLE 19 welcomes today’s unanimous decision of the Supreme Court ordering the identification of five persons who had their assets frozen by the Treasury for suspicion of supporting terrorist activities...
 

Agency Advocates Online Freedom of Expression
Date:27/01/2010 The state human rights agency recommended Tuesday that the government withdraw a bill that would mandate Web sites that receive more than 100, 000 hits daily to identify the authors of postings made on their bulletin boards, arguing it suppresses freedom of expression...
 

Face-Veil Issue in France Shifts to Parliament for Debate
Date:27/01/2010 A fractured panel of French legislators on Tuesday endorsed the idea of a ban on full facial veils in government offices, public hospitals and mass transit, but Parliament remains deeply divided over the effectiveness and constitutionality of such a law...
 

Iraq: IFJ and ARTICLE 19 Pledge Support for UK Guardian Newspaper in Defamation Case
Date:26/01/2010 ARTICLE 19, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the affiliated Iraqi journalists’ union today called on the Iraqi authorities to drop charges of defamation against the British Guardian newspaper and its journalist, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad...
 

Judgment on US campaign donations ‘strikes at democracy itself’
Date:26/01/2010 Even as President Obama prepares to salvage his party’s prospects in his State of the Union address tomorrow he has been dealt a fresh blow from the Supreme Court...
 

Vietnam: ARTICLE 19 Condemns Convictions of Pro-Democracy Activists
Date:21/01/2010 ARTICLE 19 condemns the conviction today of four Vietnamese pro-democracy activists, including leading human rights lawyer, Le Cong Dinh...
 

Armenian Watchdog Deplores ‘Lack Of Media Freedom’
Date:20/01/2010 Armenia continues to suffer from a grave lack of media freedom, with the government continuing to effectively control domestic broadcasters and more journalists subjected to physical attacks in the past year, a Yerevan-based watchdog said on Tuesday...
 

Israel deports US journalist
Date:20/01/2010 Israeli authorities today deported an American journalist who was working as an editor for a Palestinian news agency...
 

Vietnam Jails 4 Activists for Subversion
Date:20/01/2010 Four pro-democracy campaigners in Vietnam were convicted in a high-profile trial Wednesday of trying to overthrow the state, the latest targets of a campaign against dissent that has led to dozens of arrests in recent months...
 

Eleven cases of physical violence against journalists registered in 2009
Date:20/01/2010 The Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression issued its 2009 report on “Violated rights of journalists and media in Armenia...
 

UKIP chief Nigel Farage calls for burka ban
Date:19/01/2010 The burka and other face-covering veils worn by Muslim women should be banned, the UK Independence Party says...
 

Yemen: Controversial Special Court sentences journalists to jail and bans them from writing
Date:19/01/2010 ARTICLE 19 expresses grave concern over prison sentences handed to two Yemeni journalists by the Special Court this week for expressing their opinion in print...
 

Court releases 17 Sheikh Jarrah protesters without charges
Date:19/01/2010 The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Sunday released 17 protesters without charges, following their arrest two days earlier during a demonstration in east Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood...
 

Libel laws making mockery of justice, say Lib Dems
Date:19/01/2010 Libel laws are making a mockery of the justice system and stifling scientific debate, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said...
 

German FM raises human rights and Tibet issues during China visit
Date:18/01/2010 The Tibet Post International-German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle arrived in Beijing on Friday...
 

Iraq: ARTICLE 19 Comments on Draft Access to Information Law
Date:18/01/2010 ARTICLE 19 has analysed the Access to Information Draft Law proposed in late 2009 by the Temkin, a group of independent experts which includes journalists and academics, in Iraq...
 

MISA-Zimbabwe statement on Zimbabwe Media Commission appointments
Date:18/01/2010 MISA-Zimbabwe cautiously welcomes the final appointment by the President of commissioners that will serve on the statutory Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC)...
 

Banning Islamist opinion endangers free speech for us all
Date:18/01/2010 The National Secular Society is joining the growing chorus of voices that have criticised Home Secretary Alan Johnson for banning the Islamist group Islam4UK...
 

U.S. to rebuke Chinese government over Google incident
Date:18/01/2010 The United States will issue an official protest to the Chinese government over a major espionage attack targeting Google's computer systems and rights activists' e-mail accounts that the search-engine giant said originated in China...
 

Amnesty International Says China's Censorship of the Internet Must Stop
Date:15/01/2010 Amnesty International has again urged the Chinese authorities to end censorship of the internet after online firm Google raised concern about the hacking of human rights activists’ email accounts...
 

UK bans Muslim group over war march
Date:14/01/2010 Britain has decided to outlaw a Muslim group that planned but dropped an anti-war march through a town symbolizing Britain's commitment to its war dead, a move slammed by the group as a failure to tolerate freedom of expression...
 

Jordan: Courts Extend Law to Curb Internet Freedoms
Date:14/01/2010 ARTICLE 19 notes with concern that the Kingdom of Jordan’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, has amended the country’s Press and Publications Law to extend government control over online content...
 

Thailand: Reverse backward slide in freedom of expression
Date:14/01/2010 Thailand should reverse its recent backward slide in respect for freedom of expression, as illustrated by the sharp increase over the past ten months in cases under the lese majeste law...
 

Asia still struggles with freedom of expression, says report
Date:14/01/2010 The US-based human rights monitoring group, Freedom House says Asia still struggles with the basic issues of rule of law and freedom of expression...
 

Introduction of student free speech bill follows implementation of Calif. school's limiting publication policy
Date:14/01/2010 The high school that inspired a new Senate bill ensuring student free press rights for charter schools is now facing a stricter publication policy, leaving student journalists in a legal limbo, the paper's adviser said...
 

Ma'an editor denied entry into Israel
Date:14/01/2010 An American Jewish journalist who works as a senior English-language editor at the Ma'an Palestinian news agency was denied entry into Israel on Tuesday and is scheduled to be deported on Thursday...
 

S. Tissanayagam released on bail
Date:14/01/2010 Tamil journalist J...
 

US editor at Palestinian agency fights Israel entry ban
Date:14/01/2010 A US citizen working as an editor for a the Palestinian news agency Maan is appealing against Israel's refusal to allow him entry at Tel Aviv airport...
 

Google stops its censorship in China: Amnesty response
Date:13/01/2010 Reacting to media reports today that Google is to stop censoring Internet search results for users of its Google...
 

Thai royal laws hurting freedom of speech: Amnesty
Date:13/01/2010 Thailand must halt a backward slide on freedom of expression after a sharp rise in cases of people accused of insulting the revered monarchy, a leading rights group said Wednesday...
 

Freedom House Report: Asia Sees Some Significant Progress
Date:13/01/2010 The U...
 

Google May Shut Down Chinese Operations On Concerns Of Freedom Of Speech, Surveillance
Date:13/01/2010 Following the recent hacking into some of its G-mail accounts in China, Google Inc...
 

The Asia Foundation: Media in Timor-Leste: Freedom Under Challenges
Date:12/01/2010 Jose Belo, founder and editor of Timor-Leste’s local weekly newspaper Tempo Semanal, is familiar with uncertain terms...
 

2009 Was a Terrible Year for Free Speech Online
Date:12/01/2010 2009 was an unprecedented year for online repression...
 

The Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression expresses concern over the attack against a radio station in Honduras
Date:12/01/2010 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ ( IACHR ) Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression expresses concern over the attack against community radio station Faluma Bimetu ( Coco Dulce ), which belongs to the Garifuna community in the Triunfo de la Cruz area of Atlántida department, Honduras...
 

Sri Lanka: After Lasantha
Date:11/01/2010 When the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Velupillai Prabhakaran, shut the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru reservoir in July 2006, depriving many of the people in the eastern province of Sri Lanka access to water, a provoked President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed to wipe out the rebel group...
 

Mexican Editor Detained, Interrogated
Date:11/01/2010 As Mexico prepared to mark the twin anniversary of its 1810 War of Independence and 1910 Revolution -events ushered in with cries of freedom and justice- a prominent newsman was detained and interrogated because of an article he wrote...
 

Closure of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression
Date:11/01/2010 The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), express their deep concern following the closure of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)...
 

Government tightens grip on Internet
Date:11/01/2010 Reporters Without Borders is worried about the government's plans to tighten control of the Internet in a country where free expression is already restricted...
 

Protection of freedom of expression and information Media outfits want declarations from Presidential candidates
Date:11/01/2010 Eight media organizations have called on all candidates contesting this month’s Presidential Election to declare their strong and unequivocal commitment to the protection of freedom of expression and information...
 

Stop Harassing Newspaper Vendors, Group Urges FCTA
Date:11/01/2010 Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Adamu Aliero, has been called upon to stop the ongoing arbitrary arrest, intimidation, harassment and illegal detention of newspaper vendors in Abuja by the Federal Capital Environmental Task Force...
 

UNESCO chief condemns killing of Bulgarian journalist
Date:11/01/2010 The head of the United Nations agency mandated with protecting press freedom today condemned the killing of Bobi Tsankov, a journalist who had taken on organized crime in Bulgaria, and called on authorities to bring the perpetrators – who committed the act in the centre of the capital in broad daylight – to justice...
 

Seven Muslim protesters who shouted insults at homecoming troops were 'exercising their right to freedom of speech'
Date:08/01/2010 Seven Muslim protesters who screamed insults at soldiers during an Iraq homecoming parade were simply exercising their freedom of speech, a court heard today...
 

Ban on 'Allah' word worries Malaysian Sikhs
Date:08/01/2010 Like Christians, the Sikhs too heaved a sigh of relief at the judgement of the Kuala Lumpur High Court on December 31, 2009 which has overturned a ban on the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslim organisation imposed by the government of Malayisa in 2007 and asked the Catholic magazine ‘The Herald’ could continue to use the word...
 

Free speech 'irony' in parade protest trial
Date:08/01/2010 It is ironic that a group of Muslims are on trial for exercising their right to free speech about a war fought in the name of freedom, a lawyer said today...
 

Freedom of Expression at Risk
Date:08/01/2010 Giant media companies reflect the specific business interests of their owners and their advertisers...
 

S.Lanka presidential challenger vows press freedom
Date:07/01/2010 Sri Lanka's former army chief on Thursday launched his manifesto for the January 26 presidential elections, promising greater press freedom and a battle against rampant corruption...
 

China, Palm Springs Film Festival clash over Tibet doc
Date:07/01/2010 Chinese authorities have pulled two films from the Palm Springs International Film Festival ahead of screenings later this week of The Sun Behind The Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle For Freedom...
 

Chinese Censorship Equals Protectionism
Date:07/01/2010 Beijing's methods to censor the Internet are becoming ever more repressive...
 

Liu Xiaobo's case shows harsh Chinese sentencing trend for freedom of expression
Date:07/01/2010 When Chinese democracy activist and author Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week, many around the world appeared stunned by the length of his sentence and absence of due process rights...
 

Liu Xiaobo's case shows harsh Chinese sentencing trend for freedom of expression
Date:07/01/2010 When Chinese democracy activist and author Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week, many around the world appeared stunned by the length of his sentence and absence of due process rights...
 

Liu Xiaobo's case shows harsh Chinese sentencing trend for freedom of expression
Date:07/01/2010 When Chinese democracy activist and author Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week, many around the world appeared stunned by the length of his sentence and absence of due process rights...
 

Liu Xiaobo's case shows harsh Chinese sentencing trend for freedom of expression
Date:07/01/2010 When Chinese democracy activist and author Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week, many around the world appeared stunned by the length of his sentence and absence of due process rights...
 

Ireland's new blasphemy law is a disgraceful inhibition of free speech
Date:07/01/2010 Reading Monday's Irish Times, I came across a surprising story tucked away at the bottom of a news page, Atheists rally over blasphemy law...
 

Release gay couple: Amnesty
Date:07/01/2010 Johannesburg - Amnesty International on Wednesday called on Malawian authorities to immediately release two men who were arrested for being gay...
 

Mexican journalists create group against attacks
Date:07/01/2010 Mexican journalists have formed an advocacy group in response to attacks on reporters...
 

Confusing politics and prejudice in the fight against anti-semitism
Date:07/01/2010 Is the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA) playing a dangerous game? According to its website, the CPCCA's mission is to confront and combat the global resurgence of anti-semitism, which includes the new fears [that] have arisen especially for those who support the State of Israel...
 

Eleven-year jail sentence for free speech activist Liu Xiaobo, court sneakily issues verdict on Christmas Day
Date:07/01/2010 Reporters Without Borders is profoundly shocked by this unbelievable and outrageous sentence...
 

Freedom from censorship
Date:07/01/2010 If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place...
 

How Canada protects free speech
Date:07/01/2010 Canada’s highest court recently updated the country’s libel laws with a pair of decisions that will strengthen freedom of speech...
 

Photographer Loses Bid to Refuse Same-Sex Wedding Jobs
Date:07/01/2010 A New Mexico wedding photographer who refused on freedom of speech and religion grounds to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony in 2006 has lost her anti-discrimination appeal...
 

ARTICLE 19 Welcomes the Formation of a National Committee for the Adoption of a Law on Access to Information in Senegal
Date:06/01/2010 A two-day seminar in Dakar, Senegal, with government officials, parliamentarians and civil society organisations, agreed to establish a committee to review a draft Access to Information Law and work for its adoption by parliament...
 

CPJ’s annual prison census 2009: In Sub-Saharan Africa, 9 out of 10 detained without charge
Date:08/12/2009 On December 1, a total of 25 journalists were imprisoned in Sub-Saharan Africa in retaliation for their journalism, and nearly 90 percent of these journalists were detained without charges in secret detention facilities, according to an annual census of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)...
 

Masuku is found guilty of hate speech
Date:07/12/2009 THE SA Human Rights Commission has ruled that statements by a Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) official are hate speech, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) said on Friday...
 

Ethiopian Newspaper Shuts Down, Editors Flee
Date:06/12/2009 One of Ethiopia's leading weekly newspapers has shut down and its senior staff left the country in the face of what they say is a government campaign of intimidation and black propaganda...
 

Turkey: Court Ruled: Freedom of Speech Instead of Forbidden Propaganda
Date:04/12/2009 The Diyarbakir Metropolitan Mayor Osman Baydemir was acquitted by the Diyarbakir 6th High Criminal Court...
 

Alberta judge rules anti-gay letter not hate speech
Date:04/12/2009 EDMONTON ; A Court of Queen's Bench judge has ruled an anti-gay letter written by a former Alberta pastor in 2002 was not a hate crime and is allowed under freedom of speech...
 

Title Too Long
Date:03/12/2009 The Nigerian Press and Practice of Journalism Council Bill 2009 is too fundamentally flawed and cannot be rescued even with the most diligent effort and best will in the world...
 

88 journalists died in 2009 — Report
Date:30/11/2009 No fewer than 88 journalists have been killed this year worldwide, according to a report by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers...
 

Swiss voters back ban on minarets
Date:29/11/2009 Swiss voters have supported a referendum proposal to ban the building of minarets, official results show...
 

Iraq: Shooting of human rights defender and journalist Mr Imad Abadi
Date:27/11/2009 On 23 November 2009, journalist and human rights defender Mr Imad Abadi was shot in Baghdad...
 

Tunisia jails dissident reporter Taoufik Ben Brik
Date:26/11/2009 A prominent critic of Tunisian leader President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been jailed for six months after a trial criticised by rights groups...
 

Philippines: Brutal Killing Undermines Freedom of Expression
Date:24/11/2009 At least 39 people were viciously killed when a convoy they were travelling in was attacked in the Philippines on 23 November...
 

36 hostages killed in Philippines' Maguindanao
Date:24/11/2009 Thirty-six persons of a group of local politicians and journalists abducted Monday in a pre-election related incident in Maguindanao, southern Philippines have been found dead, local media reported...
 

China: Sham Trial of Veteran Human Rights Activist
Date:23/11/2009 The conviction of veteran human rights activist Huang Qi on state secrets charges on November 23, 2009, demonstrates the Chinese government's intent to use the judicial apparatus to crush whistleblowers without regard to minimum standards of fairness, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Zimbabwe: Persecution of Zinasu Leadership an Attack on Academic Freedom
Synopsis Too Long
 

Zimbabwe: Persecution of Zinasu Leadership an Attack on Academic Freedom
Synopsis Too Long
 

Zimbabwe: Persecution of Zinasu Leadership an Attack on Academic Freedom
Synopsis Too Long
 

Zimbabwe: Persecution of Zinasu Leadership an Attack on Academic Freedom
Synopsis Too Long
 

Zimbabwe: Persecution of Zinasu Leadership an Attack on Academic Freedom
Synopsis Too Long
 

36 hostages killed in Philippines' Maguindanao
Date:23/11/2009 Thirty-six persons of a group of local politicians and journalists abducted Monday in a pre-election related incident in Maguindanao, southern Philippines have been found dead, local media reported...
 

Officials: Vietnam not blocking Facebook
Date:21/11/2009 HANOI, Vietnam, Nov...
 

Fiji strips licences from broadcasters
Date:20/11/2009 THE military-installed Fiji government has removed all broadcasting licences and given Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum the absolute power to renew or redistribute them without any compensation to those whose licences are stripped...
 

Gambia: UN Declares 'Chief Manneh's Detention Illegal'
Date:20/11/2009 The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that The Gambia's arrest and continued detention of Chief Ebrima Manneh is unlawful under international law...
 

Google, Yahoo zero in on Internet 'freedom' bill
Date:20/11/2009 Google Inc...
 

Amnesty: Singapore defamation ruling attacks press
Date:19/11/2009 Human rights group Amnesty International urged Singapore on Thursday to protect freedom of expression after an Asian magazine paid 405, 000 Singapore dollars ($290, 000) to settle a defamation suit by the country's prime minister and his father...
 

Canada Supreme Court hears media appeal
Date:16/11/2009 News blackouts unjustifiably prevented the public from learning why charges were dropped or suspended for some terror suspects, media lawyers told Canada's Supreme Court on Monday...
 

Group: Founder of Tibetan Web site gets 15 years
Date:16/11/2009 The founder of a Tibetan literary Web site was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of disclosing state secrets, an overseas monitoring group said Tuesday...
 

Iran moves to silence opposition with internet crime unit
Date:15/11/2009 Iran has moved to block the last remaining outlet of expression for the country's political opposition with the launch of a special force to police the internet...
 

Iran policing Net in new attack on opposition
Date:14/11/2009 Iran has deployed a special police unit to sweep websites for political material and prosecute those deemed to be spreading lies, Iranian media reported Saturday, in a step clearly aimed at choking off the embattled opposition’s last real means of keeping its campaign alive...
 

New Act further strengthens justice for victims and witnesses (defamation decriminalization)
Date:13/11/2009 Better protection for witnesses during criminal investigations, more consistency in sentencing and modernisation of the coroners system are part of a raft of new measures that became law today...
 

Azerbaijan: Imprisonment of Bloggers Politically Motivated
Date:12/11/2009 ARTICLE 19 condemns the prison sentences handed down to two internet journalists and youth activists, Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade, on 11 November 2009 on politically motivated “hooliganism” charges...
 

Ecuador rejects media warnings on freedom of speech
Date:11/11/2009 The Ecuadorian government on Tuesday rejected warnings by the Inter-American Press Society (SIP) of aggressions against the freedom of speech in the country...
 

Editor who led independent journalism in China resigns
Date:10/11/2009 Independent journalism in China, never a robust phenomenon, has taken a body blow with the resignation from the country’s top investigative business magazine of its pioneering editor...
 

Iraqi court rules Guardian defamed Nouri al-Maliki
Date:10/11/2009 An Iraqi court has ordered the Guardian to pay Nouri al-Maliki damages of 100m dinar (£52, 000) after supporting a complaint by the Iraqi prime minister's intelligence service that he had been defamed by a Guardian story in April describing him as increasingly autocratic...
 

IFJ denounces the adoption of a new law threatening freedom of expression in Togo
Date:05/11/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) denounced today the vote on Friday October 30, 2009 by the National Assembly of a legislation reinforcing the powers of the High Authority of Audio-visual and Communication (HAAC) and which seriously threatens press freedom and freedom of expression in Togo...
 

Rights Groups Criticize Gambia Hosting AU Rights Conference
Date:05/11/2009 The third conference of African National Human Rights Institutions is scheduled to take place in The Gambian capital Banjul from this Sunday November 8 to the 10th...
 

Mexican crime reporter abducted and slain in Durango State
Date:03/11/2009 New York, November 3, 2009;Crime reporter Bladimir Antuna García was found murdered Monday night, according local news reports, after reportedly being abducted from a street in the Mexican city of Durango that morning...
 

Georgia: Free-Speech Debate Swirls in Tbilisi over Patriarch Parody
Date:02/11/2009 The Georgian government is conducting an investigation into a series of video clips posted on Facebook that insult the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II...
 

Russia: Drop Criminal Libel Charges Against Activist
Date:28/10/2009 Russian authorities should immediately drop criminal libel charges against Oleg Orlov, the prominent activist who heads Memorial Human Rights Center, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Honduras radio journalists dealt further blow to freedom of expression
Date:27/10/2009 Amnesty International has denounced an attack on the freedom of the press in Honduras, following the cancellation of three radio programmes by a popular radio station’s managers who cited a controversial presidential decree to justify their action...
 

Honduras radio journalists dealt further blow to freedom of expression
Date:27/10/2009 Amnesty International has denounced an attack on the freedom of the press in Honduras, following the cancellation of three radio programmes by a popular radio station’s managers who cited a controversial presidential decree to justify their action...
 

Honduras radio journalists dealt further blow to freedom of expression
Date:27/10/2009 Amnesty International has denounced an attack on the freedom of the press in Honduras, following the cancellation of three radio programmes by a popular radio station’s managers who cited a controversial presidential decree to justify their action...
 

Honduras radio journalists dealt further blow to freedom of expression
Date:27/10/2009 Amnesty International has denounced an attack on the freedom of the press in Honduras, following the cancellation of three radio programmes by a popular radio station’s managers who cited a controversial presidential decree to justify their action...
 

Royal pardon for Saudi journalist sentenced to lashes
Date:27/10/2009 Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has been called The King of Hearts by many of his countrymen, referring to what they believe are his compassionate attempts to reform his ultra-conservative kingdom...
 

Singapore Ratchets Down Freedom Before Hosting APEC
Date:27/10/2009 Increasing pressure is being put on Falun Gong practitioners to stay away from certain public areas during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, set to be held in Singapore next month...
 

Turkey: Inflammatory article seen as freedom of speech by Appeals court
Date:26/10/2009 To the dismay of many in Turkey, the Supreme Court of Appeals has upheld a decision by a lower court finding that a provocative article that appeared in a local daily, targeting pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) members, was within the scope of freedom of expression...
 

Freedom of speech vanishing in Sri Lanka
Date:26/10/2009 Fears over declining media freedoms in Sri Lanka have intensified after a newspaper editor was held by police and questioned about a report alleging tension between military officials and the Government...
 

US hits out at bid to bar religious defamation
Date:26/10/2009 The Obama administration on Monday came out strongly against efforts by Islamic nations to bar the defamation of religions, saying the moves would restrict free speech...
 

Saudi woman journalist sentenced to 60 lashes
Date:25/10/2009 A Saudi woman journalist has been sentenced to 60 lashes for her involvement in the LBC program “Bold Red Line” aired in mid-July, Suleiman Al-Jumaie, the lawyer representing Mazen Abdul Jawad, the prime offender in the case, told Arab News on Saturday...
 

France approves broadside to digital pirates
Date:23/10/2009 France will send out the first warnings to digital pirates early next year after passing tough legislation allowing for Internet access to be cut for those who illegally download movies and music, a minister said...
 

Nigeria: Country, OIC, Move Against Religious Defamation
Date:23/10/2009 Nigeria amongst other African countries and Organisation of Islamic Countries, OIC, is proposing what human rights organisations have described as a potentially dangerous bill to the United Nations on defamation of religion ...
 

HONDURAS: Zelaya's Delegates Urge OAS to Unblock Talks
Date:20/10/2009 The talks in Honduras have stalled over the question of reinstating ousted President Manuel Zelaya, whose delegates have called on the Organisation of American States (OAS) to take steps to keep the negotiations from failing...
 

Vietnam: Sharp Backsliding on Religious Freedom
Date:18/10/2009 The violent forced expulsion of more than 300 followers of the world-renowned Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh from Bat Nha monastery in late September highlights the Vietnamese government's suppression of religious freedom, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Group: Chinese democracy activist gets 10 years
Date:17/10/2009 The founder of a Chinese group that challenged Communist rule with a call for multiparty democracy has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, a human rights group said Saturday...
 

Rights group calls for release of Syrian activist
Date:17/10/2009 DAMASCUS, Syria ; An international rights group called on the Syrian government Saturday to reveal the fate of a prominent lawyer and rights activist who disappeared this week...
 

United Kingdom: Government Begins Decriminalisation of Defamation, Concerns Remain for Northern Ireland
Date:16/10/2009 ARTICLE 19, English PEN and Index on Censorship welcome the UK government’s drive to decriminalise defamation...
 

Monopoly Slayers and Freedom Fighters (Argentina)
Date:16/10/2009 The approval of new media legislation in Argentina is the latest in a series of head-on clashes between Latin American governments and big media...
 

Cameroon journalist expelled for bogus reasons
Date:15/10/2009 Innocent Ebodé, editor of the privately-owned weekly La Voix published in the capital N’Djamena was expelled from Chad yesterday after the authorities accused the Cameroon national of “staying illegally” in Chad...
 

Battle over media freedom in Italy shifts to European stage
Date:15/10/2009 Fears of a growing threat to freedom of expression in Italy brought journalists and their supporters onto the streets in different parts of Europe last week, as pressure grew on embattled Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi...
 

EU body warns Turkey over €1.7bn tax bill for media group
Date:14/10/2009 THE EUROPEAN Commission will warn Turkey today that its record €1...
 

The Twitter storm that saved freedom of speech
Date:14/10/2009 So was it Twitter what won it? Yesterday, in the wake of a flurry of Twitter and blogosphere outrage, the 'super-injunction' banning the Guardian (and, we should note, everybody else) from reporting details of a parliamentary question effectively collapsed...
 

Assembly OKs final articles of crime law [Cambodia]
Date:13/10/2009 THE National Assembly has approved the final articles of the new draft Penal Code by an overwhelming majority, bringing an end to the formal deliberations on the specifics of the law...
 

Prosecutors violate online free expression to protect copyright
Date:12/10/2009 Reporters Without Borders welcomes the unblocking of the social-networking website MySpace and the video-sharing website Akilli...
 

Argentina passes controversial media reform
Date:11/10/2009 Argentina’s largest media groups will be required to sell off various radio and television channels in the wake of a controversial media law rushed through on Saturday...
 

New media measures take effect in Honduras
Date:11/10/2009 TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras ; Honduras' interim leaders put in place new rules Saturday that threaten broadasters with closure for airing reports that attack national security, further restricting media freedom following the closure of two opposition stations...
 

Vietnamese Democracy Activists On Trial For Patriotism
Date:07/10/2009 Nine democracy activists will be tried in Vietnam this week for “propaganda against the socialist state...
 

FTC Sets Endorsement Rules for Blogs
Date:06/10/2009 Bloggers who offer endorsements must disclose any payments they have received from the subjects of their reviews or face penalties of up to $11, 000 per violation, the Federal Trade Commission said Monday...
 

Stakeholders agree framework to secure freedom of expression for citizens
Date:05/10/2009 Accra, Oct...
 

Stakeholders agree framework to secure freedom of expression for citizens
Date:05/10/2009 …
 

Thousands to march on Rome in protest at Berlusconi’s press clampdown
Date:03/10/2009 …
 

Thousands to march on Rome in protest at Berlusconi’s press clampdown
Date:03/10/2009 Thousands of protesters are expected to march through Rome today to defend press freedom and demand answers from Silvio Berlusconi about his conduct...
 

UN rights body approves US-Egypt free speech text
Date:03/10/2009 …
 

UN rights body approves US-Egypt free speech text
Date:02/10/2009 GENEVA ; The U...
 

Honduras: censored Radio Globo quadruples listeners by going online
Date:01/10/2009 It seemed like a typical day at Radio Globo in Tegucigalpa, which supports ousted Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya...
 

Honduras: censored Radio Globo quadruples listeners by going online
Date:01/10/2009 …
 

Vatican says no to protecting free expression when it incites hatred
Date:01/10/2009 VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While the freedom of expression is a right, states are not obliged to protect expression that incites hatred and tramples upon other people's rights, a Vatican official said...
 

Vatican says no to protecting free expression when it incites hatred
Date:01/10/2009 …
 

The Honduras Crisis, Three Months Out: Is Micheletti's Support Unraveling?
Date:29/09/2009 …
 

The Honduras Crisis, Three Months Out: Is Micheletti's Support Unraveling?
Date:29/09/2009 It appears that Roberto Micheletti, the de facto president of Honduras, overplayed his hand on Sunday when he announced a decree that closed down two media outlets (Radio Globo and Canal 36), dissolved the right of assembly and permitted police to detain suspects without warrents...
 

Title Too Long
Date:29/09/2009 …
 

Title Too Long
Date:29/09/2009 Amnesty International today urged the government of Swaziland to institute a judicially-led public inquiry into the violent attack, on 21 September, by Correctional Services security officers on journalists and political activists at Matsapha Central Correctional Institute...
 

Right to Know Day 2009: a Global Snapshot
Date:29/09/2009 The right to know has changed lives...
 

Azerbaijan: Journalist denied release for refusing to play volley-ball
Date:24/09/2009 On the prison system’s recommendation, a judge has rejected a request for the early release of Ganimat Zahidov, the editor of the opposition daily Azadlig, on the grounds that he refused to take part in a volley-ball game in prison...
 

Cambodia Criticized for Curtailing Freedom of Expression
Date:24/09/2009 Cambodia has been accused of silencing critics with lawsuits, jail time, and assassinations...
 

Egypt: Egypt bitter about UNESCO vote
Date:24/09/2009 Reporting from Cairo - Conspiracy theories hummed through Egypt's media and political elite Wednesday as Culture Minister Farouk Hosni returned home from Paris after facing accusations of anti-Semitism and losing a bitter fight to become the first Arab to lead the United Nations' cultural organization...
 

Honduras: New wave of censorship in response to deposed president’s return
Date:24/09/2009 Ousted President Manuel Zelaya’s reappearance in Tegucigalpa has prompted a new wave of censorship of the national and international press...
 

Honduras: No End in Sight for Crisis
Date:24/09/2009 Ousted President Zelaya’s return to Honduras supported by the Brazilian government signals a growing regional crisis and a worsening human rights situation...
 

Philippines: Supreme Court moves trial in Philippine attack
Date:24/09/2009 'The Committee to Protect Journalists applauds a Philippine Supreme Court decision to grant a change of venue in the trial of a defendant in the attempted murder of radio journalist Nilo Labares, who was shot and injured in Cagayan de Oro City in March...
 

Somalia: IFJ Concerned by Degradation of Freedom of Expression in Somaliland
Date:24/09/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today expressed its concern over the continuous degradation of freedom of expression in Somaliland, following the publication of a new report by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), an IFJ affiliate, on the state of freedom of expression and cases of violations of media freedom in Somaliland...
 

Yemen must reveal whereabouts of detained journalist
Date:24/09/2009 The Yemeni authorities must clarify the whereabouts of journalist Muhammad al-Maqalih, who was seized by plain-clothed assailants in the capital Sana'a late on Thursday...
 

UN Human Rights Council: Beginning of the End for Defamation of Religions?
Date:24/09/2009 ARTICLE 19 welcomes the draft Resolution on the Right to Freedom of Expression proposed by Egypt and the United States at the twelfth session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), and calls for its adoption following some amendments...
 

CPJ to honor five international journalists
Date:24/09/2009 'The Committee to Protect Journalists will honor courageous journalists from Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Azerbaijan with its 2009 International Press Freedom Awards at a ceremony in November...
 

Moving the net out of the Victorian age
Date:24/09/2009 <strong>Article by Mark Stephens, Chair of the IBA's Media Law Committee...
 

China: National Day triggers censorship, cyber attacks in China
Date:23/09/2009 The Chinese government should stop censoring Web sites and protect Internet users from cyber attacks in advance of upcoming National Day celebrations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Iran: CPJ asks Iran to release imprisoned journalists
Date:23/09/2009 'Dear Mr...
 

Iran: Government still targeting journalists employed by foreign media
Date:23/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is outraged that the Iranian judicial authorities are continuing to hold journalists employed by foreign news media including, Maziar Bahari, the correspondent of the US news magazine Newsweek, arrested exactly three months ago, and Fariba Pajooh, a stringer for Radio France Internationale and other media, who today begins her second month in detention...
 

Burma: Two journalists released, 12 still languish in Burma’s jails
Date:23/09/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of two journalists as part of a mass amnesty in Burma, but calls upon the military-run government to release the other 12 reporters it still holds in detention...
 

Nigeria: Police urged to consider all possibilities in newspaper editor’s murder
Date:23/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is deeply shocked by the murder of Bayo Ohu, the assistant news editor of the Lagos-based daily The Guardian...
 

Turkey: Prosecutors violate online free expression to protect copyright
Date:23/09/2009 The social networking website MySpace has been blocked in Turkey since 19 September over a copyright dispute...
 

Peru: Government maintains ban on Amazonian radio station silenced since June
Date:22/09/2009 The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) has maintained its arbitrary ban on Radio La Voz de Bagua, a station based in Peru’s northern Amazonas region, refusing on 15 September to allow it to resume broadcasting...
 

France: Government pushes through “spruced-up” version of draconian Internet piracy bill
Date:21/09/2009 The repressive mentality that imbues France’s anti-piracy bill, even its new version, could jeopardise access to information when alternative ways exist to protect literary and artistic creation, Reporters Without Borders said today...
 

Cambodia: ARTICLE 19 Analyses Draft Penal Code
Date:21/09/2009 ARTICLE 19 has produced a Comment analysing the draft Cambodian Penal Code provisions affecting freedom of expression...
 

China: Is China imposing more powerful version of Green Dam, called Blue Shield?
Date:21/09/2009 'Reporters Without Borders is very worried about reports that Internet Service Providers in the southern province of Guangdong have installed a new filtering software called Landun (Blue Shield or Blue Dam in English) that is more powerful that its problematic predecessor Green Dam...
 

Cuba: Authorities block websites, detain 26th journalist
Date:21/09/2009 Two bloggers, Luis Felipe González Rojas and Yosvany Anzardo Hernández, were arrested and beaten by police in the eastern city of Holguín on 10 September and their computers were confiscated...
 

Eritrea: September 18, 2001, in Eritrea: A memory that never fades
Date:21/09/2009 It feels like it happened just yesterday...
 

Eritrea: World’s biggest prison for journalists eight years after September 2001 round-ups
Date:21/09/2009 Eritrea now has at least 30 journalists and two media workers behind bars, which means that, exactly eight years after the round-ups of 18 September 2001 that put an end to free expression, it has achieved parity with China and Iran in terms of the number of journalists detained...
 

Georgia: Russian journalist faces forgery charges in Georgia
Date:21/09/2009 'New York, September 18, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Georgian authorities to drop criminal charges against the Tbilisi bureau chief for the Russian news agency RIA Novosti and allow him to work without fear of harassment...
 

Iran: Act V of Tehran judicial travesty
Date:21/09/2009 'The prosecution again put the media at the centre of its case during the fifth hearing before a Tehran revolutionary court on 14 September in the mass trial of opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection, this time going so far as to accuse Facebook and YouTube of waging a psychological war against Iran...
 

Iran: Bloggers demonised and persecuted
Date:21/09/2009 In addition to the political trials and arrests of hundreds of government opponents, repression in Iran is concentrating on Internet users...
 

Kazakhstan: Daily singled out in new attack on independent press
Date:21/09/2009 The entire print run of Kazakhstan’s leading opposition daily, Respublika, was seized today in Almaty while a court froze the bank accounts of its owner and editor in execution of a 9 September court ruling ordering the newspaper to pay 60 million tenge (275, 500 euros) in libel damages to the state-controlled bank BTA...
 

Kazakhstan: Kazakh authorities seize embattled weekly’s print run
Date:21/09/2009 'New York, September 18, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the seizure of the print run of one of the few remaining independent newspapers in Kazakhstan, which is set to take control of a leading security and human rights organization...
 

Burma: Three journalists released under junta’s amnesty
Date:21/09/2009 “I am happy to be free and I am going to continue working as a journalist, ” Eint Khaing Oo said as she was freed today from Insein prison, near Rangoon under an amnesty announced by the military government for nearly 7, 000 detainees...
 

Pakistan: Afghan journalist’s murder in Pakistan must not go unpunished
Date:21/09/2009 Afghan journalist Jaah Hashimzada’s murder on 24 August in Jamrud, in northwestern Pakistan, has sown terror and disarray...
 

Pakistan: Afghan journalist’s murder in Pakistan must not go unpunished
Date:21/09/2009 Afghan journalist Jaah Hashimzada’s murder on 24 August in Jamrud, in northwestern Pakistan, has sown terror and disarray...
 

South Korea: Secretary General of World Uighur Congress denied entry to South Korea
Date:21/09/2009 The South Korean authorities should immediately release Dolkun Isa, Secretary General of the World Uighur Congress, unless he is to be charged with an internationally recognized criminal offence, Amnesty International said on Thursday...
 

South Korea: South Korea releases Secretary General of the World Uighur Congress
Date:21/09/2009 'Amnesty International on Friday welcomed the release of the Secretary General of the World Uighur Congress, following his detention at Incheon International airport in Seoul, South Korea but said the authorities should not have denied him entry to the country...
 

Tunisia: Rights Activist Arrested, Threatened
Date:21/09/2009 'New York) - The Tunisian government should end the harassment of the human rights activist and journalist Abdallah Zouari immediately, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Artist Alert
Date:18/09/2009 'Against the backdrop of Burmese democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi’s renewed house arrest, and 21 years after the popular protests of 8 August 1988, ARTICLE 19 publishes Simmering Under Ashes, a collection of Burmese poems, testimonies and art works...
 

Asian Launch of ARTICLE 19’s Camden Principles on Freedom of Expression and Equality
Date:18/09/2009 'ARTICLE 19 and Allansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI) jointly hosted a regional launch of the Camden Principles on Freedom of Expression and Equality in Jakarta, Indonesia today...
 

Colombia: Risky return by TV current affairs programme after eight-month interruption
Date:17/09/2009 'Contravía, a TV current affairs programme that was forced off the air by threats eight months ago, will resume broadcasting on the Canal Uno public TV channel tomorrow...
 

Iran: Act V of Tehran judicial travesty
Date:17/09/2009 'The prosecution again put the media at the centre of its case during the fifth hearing before a Tehran revolutionary court on 14 September in the mass trial of opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection, this time going so far as to accuse Facebook and YouTube of waging a psychological war against Iran...
 

Serbia: Human rights activists under threat in Serbia
Date:17/09/2009 'Human rights defenders are under attack in Serbia and the authorities are failing to protect them, Amnesty International said on Monday...
 

Turkmenistan: Gas contracts but no press freedom
Date:17/09/2009 'Ogulsapar Muradova, the Turkmenistan correspondent of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, died three years ago, on 12 September 2006, after being severely beaten by guards in Ovodan Depe high security prison, to the north of the capital Ashgabat...
 

We must defend journalists who expose attacks on the envrironment
Date:17/09/2009 'In many countries, journalists who specialise in covering environmental issues are on the front line of a new war...
 

Afghanistan: ARTICLE 19 Calls for Investigation into Journalist’s Death
Date:16/09/2009 ARTICLE 19 calls for an immediate investigation into the death of Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi...
 

Azerbaijan: Sham trial of two bloggers on trumped-up hooliganism charges
Date:16/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders urges Judge Araz Huseynov to heed the calls by human rights organisations and governments for the release of bloggers Adnan Hadji Zadeh and Emin Milli when they appear in court tomorrow for the second hearing in their trial on charges of hooliganism and “deliberate physical violence...
 

Eritrea: “Refugee at last” – Eritrean journalist Tedros Abraham’s tale of how he got to Norway
Date:16/09/2009 'After two years in exile and journeying thousands of miles, Eritrean journalist and academic Tedros Abraham has posted an account of his odyssey online...
 

Thailand: Radio host forced to resign for interviewing exiled former premier
Date:16/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is today publishing Thai radio show host Jom Petpradab’s account of the harassment to which he was subjected after interviewing former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in exile in Dubai...
 

Afghanistan: Afghan journalists call for justice in Munadi's death
Date:15/09/2009 A large group of Afghan journalists met on Sunday in Kabul...
 

Brazil: Proposed Electoral Law Restricts Internet Freedom
Date:15/09/2009 Proposed reform of the Brazilian electoral rules, part of broader reforms in this area being debated by the Senate, would subject internet media to the same rules as traditional broadcasters during electoral campaigns...
 

Lithuania: Lithuanian parliament moves to criminalize homosexuality
Date:15/09/2009 Any move by the Lithuanian parliament to criminalize the promotion of homosexuality would violate the country's international obligations to uphold freedom of expression and fight discrimination, Amnesty International warned on Wednesday...
 

Netherlands: By convicting former journalist, international court tries to muzzle coverage of its activities
Date:15/09/2009 'Reporters Without Borders deplores yesterday’s decision by the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to find former journalist Florence Hartmann guilty of contempt for revealing an agreement which the tribunal secretly reached with the Serbian government in connection with the trial of former President Slobodan Milosevic...
 

Russia: Anatomy of Injustice
Date:15/09/2009 'It is a sad irony: While the world celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Russia itself is relapsing to some of its Soviet ways...
 

Saudi Arabia: Countering Terrorism with Repression
Date:15/09/2009 'Since the September 11 attacks in the USA eight years ago, the Saudi Arabian authorities have launched a sustained assault on human rights in the name of countering terrorism...
 

Syria: Senior officials organise systematic suppression of dissenting voices
Date:15/09/2009 What is happening to press freedom in Syria? It is hard to know because many journalists refuse to speak either on the record or anonymously for fear of being identified by the intelligence services...
 

Argentina: CPJ seeks comprehensive inquiry in Clarín tax raid
Date:14/09/2009 Two hundred tax agents raided the offices of Argentina’s largest daily, Clarín, on Wednesday after the paper ran a cover story alleging that a government agency improperly granted a farm subsidy, the local press said...
 

DRC: Death threats sent to three women journalists in Bukavu
Date:14/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders today voiced deep concern about anonymous death threats sent by text to three women journalists in crime-ridden Bukavu, capital of Sud-Kivu province in the east of the country...
 

Egypt: Egyptian censorship advocate is candidate to be UNESCO director general
Date:14/09/2009 Negotiations are getting under way in Paris to select a new director general for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to replace Koichiro Matsuura of Japan, who has held the position for 10 years...
 

Montenegro: ARTICLE 19 Provides Analysis of Broadcasting Law
Date:14/09/2009 ARTICLE 19 has produced a Note analysing the Montenegrin draft Law on Electronic Media...
 

Russia: Report on seven Russian regions: as many reasons for hope as for concern
Date:14/09/2009 'Reporters without Borders releases a report today on the freedom of the press and media in seven of the Russian Federation’s regions...
 

Uganda: Four radio stations closed and a talk-show host detained for inciting riots
Date:14/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the government’s closure of four radio stations and its ban on live debate programmes in response to the protests that have shaken Kampala in recent days...
 

Uganda: Ugandan radio stations shut; debate programs banned
Date:14/09/2009 The government-run Uganda Broadcasting Council effectively shut down four radio stations today and Thursday, and ordered all radio stations to halt political debate programming in the wake of violent clashes in the capital, Kampala...
 

China: CPJ testifies on China's media controls
Date:11/09/2009 Madeline Earp...
 

Cuba: Chronicling Cuba, bloggers offer fresh hope
Date:11/09/2009 'A vibrant, independent blogging culture is emerging in Cuba, of all places...
 

El Salvador: UNESCO head speaks out against killing of journalist in El Salvador
Date:11/09/2009 The head of the United Nations agency tasked with upholding press freedom today condemned the killing of a Franco-Spanish journalist and documentary film-maker in El Salvador...
 

Ethiopia: Ethiopia opposition says its members being jailed
Date:11/09/2009 A coalition of opposition parties accused the Ethiopian authorities on Thursday of arresting some of its members on trumped up charges to stop them running in an election scheduled for next May...
 

Iran: CPJ calls for humanitarian release as Ramadan ends
Date:11/09/2009 As the end of Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches, Maziar Bahari, a Canadian-Iranian national, continues to be held in an Iranian jail under deplorable conditions...
 

Rwanda: Rwandan minister: ‘It’s OK to be anti-government’
Date:11/09/2009 'CPJ sat down recently with the Rwandan minister of information, Louise Mushikiwabo, who spoke of several media developments, including a new press law...
 

Slovenia: Courts urged to stop persecuting Ljubljana daily
Date:11/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is appalled by Ljubljana judge Katarina Novsak Kaplandu’s decision on appeal on 4 September to uphold the month-old injunction forbidding the daily Dnevnik to print any negative comment about Italian businessman Pierpaolo Cerani or his business activities...
 

Afghanistan: Amid woes, Kambakhsh release a moment to celebrate
Date:09/09/2009 'We received great news that Parwez Kambakhsh, a 24-year-old Afghan journalist and student who was unjustly convicted of blasphemy and serving a 20-year term, was released from prison...
 

Afghanistan: Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh is freed and goes abroad
Date:09/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is deeply relieved to learn that Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, the young journalist who was sentenced to death and then to 20 years in prison for downloading an article about the rights of women in Islam, was secretly pardoned and released several weeks ago and left the country for fear of reprisals...
 

China: Crackdown on lawyers and legal activists
Date:09/09/2009 'In a report released today, Amnesty documents an alarming escalation of the crackdown on lawyers and legal activists who have accepted the risk of human rights cases in China...
 

China: Physical attacks and harassment of journalists in Xinjiang and Guangdong
Date:09/09/2009 At least four journalists have been physically attacked by security guards or police in the past eight days in China...
 

Gambia: Newly freed, Gambian columnist describes jail
Date:09/09/2009 'On an ordinary Friday, Sarata Jabbi-Dibba, a reporter in the West African nation of Gambia, publishes her weekly column on women’s issues, “She She She, ” in the only independent daily newspaper here, The Point...
 

Iran: Iranian journalist arrested, others summoned
Date:09/09/2009 'Iranian authorities arrested one journalist today while security forces summoned at least 15 who were among the signatories of a recent petition demanding the release of detained journalists, local press reported...
 

Tunisia: In Tunisia, court orders transfer of syndicate board
Date:09/09/2009 'The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Tunisian court’s decision to recognize a pro-government board of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (NSTJ)...
 

Afghanistan: Amid concerns of fraud, UN envoy calls for ensuring integrity of Afghan polls
Date:08/09/2009 'The top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan today called on national election authorities to ensure the integrity of last month’s presidential and provincial council elections, in light of concerns that have arisen over irregularities in voting...
 

Afghanistan: Amid concerns of fraud, UN envoy calls for ensuring integrity of Afghan polls
Date:08/09/2009 The top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan today called on national election authorities to ensure the integrity of last month’s presidential and provincial council elections, in light of concerns that have arisen over irregularities in voting...
 

Afghanistan: Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh is freed and goes abroad
Date:08/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is deeply relieved to learn that Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, the young journalist who was sentenced to death and then to 20 years in prison for downloading an article about the rights of women in Islam, was secretly pardoned and released several weeks ago and left the country for fear of reprisals...
 

Brazil: 1st National Conference on Communication to Go Ahead
Date:08/09/2009 On 1 September 2009, after much uncertainty, the national preparatory commission for the first Brazilian Conference on Communication has finally been made official...
 

Iran: One blogger arrested, another made to confess in blog from prison
Date:08/09/2009 'Reporters Without Borders calls for the release Ali Asguar Jamali, a blogger and doctor based in the northern city of Qasvin who has been arrested along with other activists for “inciting actions against national security including protests and insults against government officials by means of publications and meeting, ” the news agency Fars reported on 2 September...
 

Venezuela: Authorities Threaten to Close another 29 Radio Stations
Date:08/09/2009 On 5 September 2009, Minister Diosdado Cabello, Director of Venezuelan´s National Commission on Telecommunications (Conatel), announced that 29 unidentified radio stations will soon be forced to cease operations...
 

Azerbaijan: Letter regarding Emin Milli and Adan Hajizade
Date:04/09/2009 Dear President Aliyev, ARTICLE 19, Global Campaign for Free Expression, Human Rights Watch and International PEN wish to express our profound concern regarding the arrest and pre-trial detention of Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade, two Azerbaijani youth activists...
 

El Salvador: Filmmaker who documented Salvadoran gangs is slain
Date:04/09/2009 The bullet-ridden body of journalist Christian Poveda, whose new documentary on a violent Salvadoran street gang was scheduled for wide release this month, was discovered Wednesday afternoon just north of the capital, San Salvador, according to local and international press reports...
 

Gabon: Gabonese media under attack since election
Date:04/09/2009 Five journalists and a TV station covering Gabon's disputed presidential election, which has already been marred by media censorship, have been attacked since Wednesday, according to local journalists and news reports...
 

Iran:ARTICLE 19 Urges Human Rights Council to Address Free Expression
Date:04/09/2009 ARTICLE 19 has provided a Submission to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) raising serious concerns about the failure of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respect and promote freedom of expression in that country...
 

Uzbekistan: Uzbek appeals court should overturn harsh sentence
Date:04/09/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Samarkand Regional Court in central Uzbekistan to overturn on appeal a 12 and a half year jail sentence given to independent journalist Dilmurod Saiid...
 

Vietnam: Vietnam cracks down on bloggers and online journalists
Date:04/09/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the recent harassment and arrests of online journalists and political bloggers in Vietnam...
 

Gaza: Rescind Religious Dress Code for Girls
Date:04/09/2009 Hamas authorities in Gaza should suspend all orders that violate personal freedoms, including imposition of an Islamic dress code for female students, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Latin America: Drug Trade, Violent Gangs Pose Grave Danger
Date:04/09/2009 As criminal organizations have expanded their power over the last decade, the spread of violence has undermined political stability and threatened democracy in Latin America...
 

Niger: Ailing editor taken to remote prison in Niger
Date:03/09/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the health of imprisoned editor Abdoulaye Tiémogo after his transfer from a hospital in Niger's capital, Niamey, to a prison in a remote town on Monday...
 

North Korea: Lee and Ling: 'Instinctively, we ran.'
Date:03/09/2009 Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested by North Korean police on March 17 for allegedly entering the country illegally and carrying out hostile acts...
 

Russia: Extradited Chechen Terrorism Suspect Freed
Date:03/09/2009 Murat Gasayev, an ethnic Chechen accused of participation in an attack on government buildings in Ingushetia in June 2004, was released by Russian authorities without charge on August 28, 2009, after 10 months in pretrial detention...
 

US: CPJ calls U.S. detention of Ibrahim Jassam unjust
Date:03/09/2009 CPJ called on U...
 

Gabon election marred by media censorship
Date:02/09/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Gabonese government censorship and restrictions on media coverage of Sunday's presidential elections, including denials of accreditation to at least four international journalists...
 

Kuwait: Ban on satirical TV programme damages Kuwait’s image
Date:02/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the decision by Kuwaiti information minister Al-Sheikh Ahmad Abdallah al-Sabah to suspend privately-owned Scope TV’s political satire programme Sawtak Wasal on 25 August after only three of an initially-scheduled series of 15 programmes had been broadcast...
 

Libya: Mark Anniversary by Restoring Rights
Date:02/09/2009 Colonel Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi should mark his 40th anniversary in power by wiping repressive laws off the books and freeing political prisoners, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Burma: Military censors close Rangoon-based weekly for good
Date:02/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association condemn the indefinite closure of the Rangoon-based weekly Phoenix by the military government’s censorship board on 21 August...
 

Turkey: Government urged to include press freedom in its opening to Kurdish minority
Date:02/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the one-month bans that Istanbul courts have imposed in the past 10 days on two newspapers that defend the rights of Turkey’s Kurds – the daily Günlük and the weekly Özgür Ortam – for allegedly promoting the cause of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)...
 

Sri Lanka: CPJ award goes to jailed Sri Lankan journalist
Date:01/09/2009 'New York, August 31, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists announced today that it will honor imprisoned Sri Lankan journalist J...
 

Sri Lanka: Tamil journalist gets “shameful” 20-year sentence on terrorism charges
Date:01/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the “shameful” 20-year jail sentence which a Colombo high court passed today on journalist J...
 

Gabon: Media coverage of presidential election likely to be heavily restricted
Date:01/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the array of restrictions that the Gabonese authorities have imposed on journalists in the run-up to the 30 August presidential election...
 

Libya: Anniversary a reminder of Qaddafi's media repression
Date:01/09/2009 As Col...
 

Philippines: Philippine murder case granted change of venue
Date:01/09/2009 A Supreme Court decision to allow a change of venue in the trial of three suspects accused of murdering journalist Dennis Cuesta, at left, in August 2008 sets a hopeful precedent in the fight against impunity in media killings in the Philippines...
 

Senegal: Radio and television group blacked out for payment default
Date:01/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders today voiced dismay at brutal methods used yesterday by police in Dakar who mounted a dawn raid to shut down the broadcast group Walfadjri...
 

Vietnam: Newspaper dismisses reporter over blog entry critical of Soviet Union
Date:01/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns reporter Huy Duc’s dismissal by the governmental daily Sai Gon Tiep Thi on 25 August for posting criticism of the Cold War-era Soviet Union on his personal blog...
 

Argentina: Argentine president sends media reform to Congress
Date:28/08/2009 Argentina's president sent a media reform bill to Congress on Thursday, saying it would strengthen democracy by reducing the control of a handful of companies that dominate broadcasting...
 

Iraq: Protecting journalists in Iraq
Date:28/08/2009 Iraq remains the most dangerous country in the world to be a journalist and nearly 200 journalists and other media workers have been killed there since the US-led invasion in 2003...
 

Thailand: Thai court jails Thaksin supporter for royal insult
Date:28/08/2009 A Thai court on Friday sentenced a political campaigner to 18 years in prison for insulting the monarchy, the latest in a slew of lese-majeste cases critics say are stifling dissent and freedom of speech...
 

Palace of The End wins Amnesty Freedom of expression award at Edinburgh Festival
Date:28/08/2009 Amnesty International today announced that Palace of the End by Judith Thompson has won its prestigious Freedom of Expression Award...
 

Iran: Iran charges journalists with 'lying'
Date:27/08/2009 The fourth session of the mass trial of more than 100 opposition figures, including journalists, took place in Tehran today...
 

Iraq: Internal security threats suddenly off-limits for news media
Date:27/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders is disturbed by the way the Iraqi authorities prevented the news media from covering bombings in Baghdad and the southern province of Babil on 19 and 20 August and an ensuing emergency parliamentary debate, in what appears to have been deliberate security policy...
 

Israel: West Bank radio station’s arbitrary closure by Israeli soldiers
Date:27/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the arbitrary closure of Radio Bethlehem 2000, a radio station located near the West Bank city of Bethlehem...
 

Morocco: Egyptian human rights activist refused visa to visit Morocco
Date:27/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the Moroccan government’s surprising decision to deny a visa to Gamal Eid, an Egyptian human rights activist...
 

Nepal: Increase in physical attacks on journalists and news media in August
Date:27/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by a recent increase in press freedom violations, including the torching of thousands of newspapers and physical attacks on journalists by demonstrators, officials and police...
 

Pakistan: “Extreme military pressure” forces closure of daily
Date:27/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders said today it was shocked by the closure of Pakistani Urdu-languge daily Asaap...
 

India: A Major Indian Artist Offends Hindus, and Galleries Turn Fearfu
Date:26/08/2009 In the heady celebration of the boom in India's contemporary art market in recent years, an iconic artist has been conspicuous by his absence...
 

Sri Lanka: ARTICLE 19 Strongly Condemns Death Threat Against Human Rights Activist
Date:26/08/2009 'On 20 August 2009, Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, a human rights activist and Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a leading Sri Lankan think-tank and democracy NGO, as well as a long-standing ARTICLE 19 partner, received an anonymous death threat by post at his residence in Colombo...
 

Afghanistan: Afghan journalist killed in Pakistan
Date:26/08/2009 New York, August 24, 2009--Authorities in Pakistan's northwest tribal regions must immediately investigate today's murder of Afghan journalist Jaah Hashimzada, the Committee to Protect Journalists said...
 

Afghanistan: Afghan journalist killed in Pakistan
Date:26/08/2009 Authorities in Pakistan's northwest tribal regions must immediately investigate today's murder of Afghan journalist Jaah Hashimzada, the Committee to Protect Journalists said...
 

Afghanistan: Afghanistan's Sham Vote
Date:26/08/2009 'The dust had barely settled on the Afghan elections before the U...
 

Afghanistan: Wide Fraud Is Charged as Afghans Tally Votes
Date:26/08/2009 KABUL, Afghanistan ; The preliminary results from Afghanistan’s election gave both President Hamid Karzai and his chief rival, Abdullah Abdullah, nearly 40 percent of the vote on Tuesday as accumulating charges of widespread fraud cast new doubts on the credibility of the election...
 

England: Politics stage Fringe comeback
Date:26/08/2009 The largest arts festival in the world may be known primarily for its comedy or its big spectacle productions, but increasingly the Edinburgh Fringe is building a reputation as a place to put politics on the stage...
 

Guatemala: ARTICLE 19 calls on President to Annul Resolution Which Violates Access to Public Information Law
Date:26/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 is concerned about the publication of a recent resolution by President Álvaro Colom that classifies as confidential, for a period of five years, files related to the communication of the Presidency, and between other public and private bodies...
 

Honduras: Assailants force two Honduran broadcasters off the air
Date:26/08/2009 Masked assailants on Monday stormed a radio station and a television outlet critical of the country's interim government, forcing the broadcasters off the air in the latest attack on the Honduran media...
 

Namibia / Ruling Party Newspaper Sued For Defamation
Date:26/08/2009 The Executive Director of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), Phil ya Nangoloh, threatened to sue the ruling South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO)’s mouthpiece, “Namibia Today”, for N$250 000 (U$31 250) in defamation after the paper called him a “pathological liar”...
 

Uganda: Four from Uganda's Monitor face criminal charges
Date:26/08/2009 Four journalists from Uganda's largest independent newspaper are facing criminal prosecutions, joining four others already charged since 2007, according to local journalists and news reports...
 

Human rights proclaimed a major theme of the festival as Amnesty International announces Freedom of Expression Award shortlist
Date:26/08/2009 Amnesty International (today) announced that four plays have been short listed for its prestigious Freedom of Expression Award...
 

Sri Lanka: ARTICLE 19 Strongly Condemns Death Threat Against Human Rights Activist
Date:25/08/2009 On 20 August 2009, Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, a human rights activist and Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a leading Sri Lankan think-tank and democracy NGO, as well as a long-standing ARTICLE 19 partner, received an anonymous death threat by post at his residence in Colombo...
 

Zimbabwe / Public Condemns State Newspaper Editor
Date:25/08/2009 Caesar Zvayi, Deputy Editor with “The Herald”, a state owned newspaper received heavy criticism from members of the public during a hearing on the state of public media convened by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Media, Information and Communication Technology on 22 August 2009...
 

India: Opposition party bans book by dissident member
Date:24/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders is alarmed to learn that a new book that pays tribute to Pakistan’s founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, and criticises Vallabhbhai Patel, a politician widely regarded as the architect of modern India, has been banned in the western state of Gujarat, which is governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s main opposition party...
 

Afghanistan: Afghan journalists debate election restrictions
Date:24/08/2009 'CPJ spoke with three Kabul-based journalists to learn how they and their colleagues around the country responded to the government's request to mute coverage of violence during polling hours today...
 

Afghanistan: Afghan police beat, detain journalists during election
Date:24/08/2009 Security forces obstructed, assaulted, and detained Afghan and foreign journalists in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan today, enforcing an official gag order on news of violent incidents during the presidential election...
 

Lebanon: Article 19 Calls for Comprehensive Reform of Print Media Legislation
Date:24/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 today releases its analysis of the Press Law of Lebanon and amendments to a range of domestic media laws, as proposed by the Maharat Foundation, a civil society group promoting a free press in Lebanon...
 

Sweden: Article about organ harvesting sparks Israel-Sweden tiff
Date:24/08/2009 Reporting from Jerusalem - Israel, already on the defensive over European criticism of its policies, has picked a diplomatic fight with Sweden over an unsubstantiated newspaper expose suggesting that Israeli soldiers harvested the organs of Palestinians who died in army custody...
 

Sweden defends press freedom amid Israeli furor
Date:24/08/2009 Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has rejected Israeli calls for official condemnation of a Swedish newspaper article about organ harvesting, saying freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy...
 

Death Threat Deals New Blow to Free Expression in Sri Lanka
Date:24/08/2009 The Sri Lankan government is solely responsible for ensuring the safety of prominent human rights activist Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, who received an anonymous death threat at his home yesterday...
 

Afghanistan: Government restricts media coverage on election day
Date:21/08/2009 The instructions which the government issued to the media yesterday forbidding them to cover Taliban violence during tomorrow’s presidential election send a very bad signal, Reporters Without Borders said today...
 

China: Well-known human rights blogger placed under house arrest in Beijing
Date:21/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders was relieved to learn in a telephone interview with Mo Zhixu today that his house arrest has been lifted...
 

Honduras: In new wave of violence against media, de facto regime “reaps what it sowed”
Date:21/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the new wave of violence against the media that took place last week, while Honduras appeared to be further than ever from resolving the crisis resulting from President Manuel Zelaya’s removal in a coup on 28 June...
 

Peru: Controversial bill would restrict freedom of opinion
Date:21/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders urges legislators to reject a government bill submitted to parliament yesterday that would toughen the provisions regulating the publication of corrections and retractions in the media and would increase the penalties for violators...
 

Somalia: Harassment of journalists continues in Somaliland with two arrested and one beaten
Date:21/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders calls for the immediate release of two journalists employed by Radio Horyaal, an independent station based in Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway northwestern territory of Somaliland...
 

UK: Over 200 Community Radio Stations At Risk of Closure Due to Government Inaction
Date:18/08/2009 Community radio stations across the United Kingdom are at risk of closure due to highly restrictive funding arrangements and the failure of government to fully implement a public funding mechanism that was established in law in 2003...
 

China: China's Green Dam finally cracks
Date:18/08/2009 The Chinese government backed away on Thursday from its attempt to mandate censorship software, Green Dam and Youth Escort, on personal computers, a move that was previously delayed...
 

Iran: Reformist Newspaper Closed as Rape Allegations Reverberate through the Corridors of Power
Date:18/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 is concerned about reports that authorities have closed Etemad-e Melli, a leading reformist newspaper Iran...
 

Tunisia: In Tunisia, government allies oust syndicate board
Date:18/08/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ousting of the board of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (NSTJ) on Saturday...
 

Palestinian Territories: Journalists banned from Gaza Strip hospitals and Rafah until further notice
Date:18/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the Hamas interior ministry’s decision to deny Palestinian and foreign journalists access to the southern city of Rafah and to all hospitals in the Gaza Strip until further notice...
 

Central America: ARTICLE 19 and Partners Launch the Platform of Action for Strengthening of Freedom of Expression
Date:18/08/2009 Human Rights Defenders and media professionals from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua, meeting in Guatemala City on July 23 and 24, 2009 for the Regional Conference “Towards a Joint Action Platform to Strengthen Freedom of Expression” have adopted the first Central-American platform of action on freedom of expression...
 

Afghanistan: Afghanistan journalists caught between the government and the Taleban
Date:17/08/2009 Journalists in Afghanistan face increasing threats and attacks from both government officials and the Taleban in the run-up to the presidential elections on 20 August...
 

Afghanistan: State radio and TV broadcaster backs Hamid Karzai’s reelection campaign
Date:17/08/2009 The violence that threatens journalists working for Afghanistan’s news media has created a climate that does not favour free and impartial coverage of the 20 August crucial presidential election, now just one week away, Reporters Without Borders said today...
 

Iran: Details emerge about show trial detainees being denied their rights
Date:17/08/2009 'Reporters Without Borders reiterates its condemnation of the Stalin-style prosecutions and trials of critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinedjad’s reelection that are taking place in Tehran...
 

Iran: Lawyers protest lack of access in Iran
Date:17/08/2009 'New York, August 14, 2009--In a letter addressed to the head of the Iranian judiciary, four defense lawyers protested that they were not allowed to attend the latest hearing, on August 8, in a mass trial in which more than 100 defendants, including journalists, stand accused of anti-state activities...
 

Iraq: Unprecedented civil society demonstration in defence of press freedom
Date:17/08/2009 Hundreds of journalists, academics, performers, politicians and ordinary Iraqis staged an unprecedented demonstration today on Moutanabi Street, in Baghdad’s old quarter, in solidarity with journalist Ahmed Abd Al-Hussein of the newspaper Al-Sabah, who has been the target of death threats from a Shiite political party...
 

Russia: Russia must end impunity for murder of human rights activists
Date:17/08/2009 The bodies of human rights activist Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband, Alik (Umar) Dzhabrailov, were found in the boot of a car early Tuesday morning in the Chechen capital Grozny...
 

Rwanda: Two journalists given jail sentences in separate cases two days apart
Date:17/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders calls for the release of two journalists who have been given prison sentences in separate cases in the past few days...
 

America: U.S. officials detain Pakistani VOA journalist
Date:17/08/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by U...
 

America: U.S. officials detain Pakistani VOA journalist
Date:17/08/2009 'New York, August 14, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by U...
 

Venezuela: Protesting journalists attacked in Caracas
Date:17/08/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned a violent assault by suspected government supporters on a dozen journalists in Venezuela on Thursday...
 

Yemen: Worrying Violations of Media Freedoms
Date:17/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 expresses concern about the deteriorating situation for media freedom in Yemen, and increasing incidents of harassment and intimidation of journalists by the authorities in that country...
 

Zambia: Press freedom slips in Zambia
Date:17/08/2009 In Zambia, the coming week will mark the anniversary of the untimely death of President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa...
 

Russia: Killing of NGO Activist Silences Another Independent Voice in Chechnya
Date:12/08/2009 Less than a month after the abduction and killing of human rights defender Natalia Estemirova, another non-governmental activist and her husband have been abducted and killed in Chechnya’s capital, Grozny...
 

Afghanistan: UN: Violence hampering Afghan vote
Date:11/08/2009 Insecurity in significant portions of Afghanistan has hindered election preparations and disproportionately affected Afghan women, a report co-authored by the U...
 

Gambia: Gambia: Six journalists condemned to two years in Mile 2 prison
Date:11/08/2009 Amnesty International today expressed dismay at yesterday’s sentencing of six Gambian journalists, including three executive members of the Gambian Press Union, to terms in prison...
 

Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi Gets 1.5 Years, Regime Removes Last Obstacle to Rigging 2010 Elections
Date:11/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 joins the chorus of international voices raised in protest today as the Burmese leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to one and a half years under house arrest...
 

Nigeria: Saharawi Mothers Seek Permission for Children's Trip
Date:11/08/2009 The mothers of the six Saharawi youngsters, who were prevented from travelling to London, by Moroccan authorities at the airport in Agadir, Morocco on Wednesday, have expressed support to their sons...
 

Venezuela: UN human rights expert sounds alarm on draft media laws in Venezuela
Date:11/08/2009 Proposed media laws in Venezuela could be used as a tool for political intimidation and would seriously curtail press freedom and potentially criminalize legitimate dissent, an independent United Nations human rights expert warned today...
 

Venezuela: Venezuela draft media law: a tool to intimidate?
Date:11/08/2009 'The proposed Special Law against Media Crimes in Venezuela, presented by the Attorney-General to the National Assembly, would involve serious violations of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and would curtail press freedom in the country, if it is adopted in its current form, warned the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue...
 

Brazil: Access to Information Bill Could be Approved by the End of 2009
Date:10/08/2009 Following the launch of ARTICLE 19’s review of the new Brazilian Access to Information Bill (see below), Brazilian politicians welcomed ARTICLE 19’s concerns and recommendations on the draft legislation...
 

El Salvador: Members of a Community Radio Station and a Human Right Defender Receive Death Threats and Face Kidnapping Attempts
Date:10/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 and its national partners, the Human Rights Institute at the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (IDHUCA), the National Journalists Association of El Salvador (APES), and the Association of Radio Stations and Participatory Radio Programmes (ARPAS) condemns the recent threats against community journalists and a human rights defender in El Salvador...
 

Gambia: Gambian court convicts six journalists of sedition
Date:10/08/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the highly politicized court verdict against six independent journalists today in the capital of the Gambia, Banjul...
 

Iran: In Iran, journalist association closed down, more arrested
Date:10/08/2009 'New York, August 6, 2009--Officials shut down the office of the Association of Iranian Journalists in Tehran on Wednesday night, just after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term, according to international news reports...
 

Iraq: Governement bill seen as opening way to online censorship
Date:10/08/2009 'Reporters Without Borders is very concerned about a new culture ministry bill that aims to ban certain websites as its scope is too vague and it needs to be more clearly defined...
 

Netherlands: Royal family seeks court injunction against AP over holiday photos
Date:10/08/2009 'Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the court injunction which Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princess Maxima, have sought against the US news agency, the Associated Press, to force it to stop distributing recent photos of them and their five-year-old daughter, Princess Catharina-Amalia, at an Argentine ski resort...
 

Philippines: Filipino journalists dying for freedom of expression
Date:10/08/2009 'Philippines, August 7, 2009 (Pal Telegraph)- Filipino journalists are paying too high a price for exercising their freedom of expression, the head of the United Nations agency tasked with promoting a free press said yesterday...
 

Rwanda: Independent weekly suspended for three months
Date:10/08/2009 'Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the High Media Council’s decision on 5 August to ask the information ministry to close the independent weekly Umuseso for three months for likening the current government to the one that was in power in the run-up to the 1994 genocide...
 

Tunisia: Government wages smear campaign against Al Jazeera
Date:10/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns a smear campaign against Al Jazeera in which the Tunisian government is using both state-run and pro-government media to accuse the Qatar-based satellite TV station of acting as the mouthpiece President Ben Ali’s opponents...
 

Venezuela: SPJ Leaders Oppose Venezuelan Government's Acts Against The Press
Date:10/08/2009 'Leaders of the Society of Professional Journalists oppose the Venezuelan government's proposed Special Law Against Media Crimes, which regulates the media's freedom of expression...
 

El Salvador: Members of a Community Radio Station and a Human Right Defender Receive and Face Kidnapping Attempts
Date:07/08/2009 'ARTICLE 19 and its national partners, the Human Rights Institute at the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (IDHUCA), the National Journalists Association of El Salvador (APES), and the Association of Radio Stations and Participatory Radio Programmes (ARPAS) condemns the recent threats against community journalists and a human rights defender in El Salvador...
 

Burma: Launch of Simmering Under Ashes
Date:07/08/2009 'ARTICLE 19 is marking tomorrow’s anniversary of 8888 – the date that marks the violent suppression of demonstrators in Burma – by launching Simmering Under Ashes, a collection of essays, poems, stories and articles written by Burmese journalists, writers and ordinary people' To continue reading the article follow the above link...
 

Venezuela: Venezuela: A Dark Month for Media Freedom
Date:07/08/2009 'The past week has witnessed criminal charges against opposition blogger, Alexis Marrero, attacks against Globovision, the cancelation of broadcasting licenses of at least 34 radio stations and the submission of a bill on media crimes...
 

Niger: Niger president tightens grip on media with amendment
Date:06/08/2009 In Niger today, the government is holding a public referendum on a constitutional amendment that would pave the way for President Mamadou Tandja to run for office indefinitely...
 

Azerbaijan: Professors Protest Detention of Bloggers in Azerbaijan
Date:06/08/2009 An Azerbaijan blogger who studied political science in the United States is sitting in a prison cell in his home country for what family and professors say was an act of free speech...
 

Brazil: ARTICLE 19 Launches Analysis on Draft Access to Information Bill
Date:06/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 has published its analysis on the long-awaited draft Access to Information Bill was sent by President Lula to Brazilian National Congress in May 2009...
 

Honduras: Media in coup storm
Date:06/08/2009 Police attacked Honduran and foreign journalists in Tegucigalpa on 30 July while dispersing demonstrators protesting against the 28 June coup d’état, the Honduras Committee for Free Expression (C-Libre) has reported...
 

Russia: New delay in Politkovskaya case
Date:06/08/2009 A retrial over the killing of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya has been adjourned, following a complaint by her relatives...
 

Sudan: ARTICLE 19 Pledges Solidarity with Journalist Over “Trouser Trial”
Date:06/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 castigates the Government of the Republic of Sudan for its continued suppression of fundamental human rights, as demonstrated most recently by the arrest and prosecution of Lubna Ahmed Hussein for “indecent dressing”...
 

Venezuela: IACHR voices concern over freedom of expression in Venezuela
Date:06/08/2009 Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Rapporteur for Venezuela of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and Catalina Botero Marino, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, IACHR, sent a communiqué to Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicolás Maduro, voicing the IACHR's concern over the worsening of the right to freedom of expression...
 

Zambia reporter in 'porn' trial
Date:06/08/2009 The news editor of Zambia's largest independent newspaper has gone on trial accused of distributing obscene images...
 

Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe's glimmer of hope for press freedom
Date:06/08/2009 Some Zimbabwean journalists say 2003 was the most repressive year for independent journalists...
 

Turkey: Beatings still method preferred by local officials for silencing journalists
Date:06/08/2009 Two physical attacks on journalists in the past month and two ongoing trials have again highlighted the aversion that local authorities in Turkey display towards reporters who try to cover local government corruption...
 

Title Too Long
Date:05/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 welcomes the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s recommendations as outlined in its concluding observations on Azerbaijan’s implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the Covenant)...
 

Tibet: Four Tibetan writers jailed for criticising Chinese government
Date:05/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders is shocked to learn of the imprisonment of four Tibetan writers, which was reported yesterday by the Tibetan blogger Woeser and has been confirmed by other local blogs that have all subsequently been blocked (Aryatara, Ganglin, Sangge, Lmgo)...
 

Honduras: Gag on media getting steadily tighter in month since coup
Date:05/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the de facto government’s selective censorship of news since the 28 June coup d’état...
 

North Korea: In Release of Journalists, Both Clintons Had Key Roles
Date:05/08/2009 Former President Bill Clinton left North Korea on Wednesday morning after a dramatic 20-hour visit, in which he won the freedom of two American journalists, opened a diplomatic channel to North Korea’s reclusive government and dined with the North’s ailing leader, Kim Jong-il...
 

Russia: What can be expected from retrial of those accused in Politkovskaya murder?
Date:05/08/2009 The retrial of three men who allegedly helped murder Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya opens before a military court tomorrow in Moscow...
 

Zimbabwe: Zim lifts reporting restrictions on BBC
Date:05/08/2009 The Zimbabwean government has lifted a ban on the BBC reporting freely from the former British colony, ending restrictions in place for eight years, the broadcaster said Thursday...
 

Niger: In Niger, two journalists detained ahead of referendum
Date:04/08/2009 Two Nigerien editors whose weekly newspapers reported on corruption charges involving the national human rights commission have been in police custody since Saturday, according to local journalists and news reports...
 

Congo: For RFI, static in Kinshasa
Date:04/08/2009 Like many radio listeners in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, I tune to Radio France Internationale (RFI) on 93...
 

Iraq: Iraq Censorship Laws Move Ahead
Date:04/08/2009 'BAGHDAD — The doors of the communications revolution were thrown open in Iraq after the American-led invasion in 2003: In rushed a wave of music videos featuring scantily clad Turkish singers, Web sites recruiting suicide bombers, racy Egyptian soap operas, pornography, romance novels, and American and Israeli news and entertainment sites that had long been blocked under Saddam Hussein’s rule...
 

Iraq: Iraq Censorship Laws Move Ahead
Date:04/08/2009 The doors of the communications revolution were thrown open in Iraq after the American-led invasion in 2003: In rushed a wave of music videos featuring scantily clad Turkish singers, Web sites recruiting suicide bombers, racy Egyptian soap operas, pornography, romance novels, and American and Israeli news and entertainment sites that had long been blocked under Saddam Hussein’s rule...
 

North Korea: Bill Clinton in North Korea to Seek Release of U.S. Reporters
Date:04/08/2009 Former President Bill Clinton landed in North Korea on Tuesday to negotiate the release of two American television journalists sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korean territory, according to a person briefed on the mission...
 

Venezuela: Pro-government militants attack Venezuela's Globovisión
Date:04/08/2009 A group of more than 30 armed pro-government militants riding motorcycles stormed the premises of private broadcaster Globovisión today and set off tear gas, local press reports said...
 

Africa: Ray of light among media freedom gloom
Date:04/08/2009 The media continues to be under siege in Africa, and a number of high-profile issues in recent weeks have once again highlighted the depressing state of press freedom across the continent...
 

Commonwealth says media censorship in Fiji is deplorable
Date:04/08/2009 The Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, has described the continuing media censorship in Fiji as deplorable...
 

Afghanistan: Letter asks presidential candidates to pledge to advance press freedom
Date:03/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders wrote today to Afghanistan’s leading presidential candidates – including Hamid Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah, Ashraf Ghani, Ramazan Bashardost and Sayed Jalal Karim – urging them to give a clear undertaking to ensure that press freedom becomes firmly rooted in the everyday life of Afghans...
 

Gambia: Only the Gambian president has press freedom
Date:03/08/2009 On July 22, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh once again went after journalists in an interview on the country's only state-run television station...
 

Iran: Journalists face trial in Iran as arrests continue
Date:03/08/2009 After more than a month of detention, several journalists may face trial beginning on Saturday on charges of sending pictures to enemy media...
 

Venezuela: 34 broadcast media shut down at government’s behest
Date:03/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders vigorously condemns the massive closure of broadcast media on allegedly “administrative grounds...
 

Venezuela: Chavez Government Claims Venezuela Clamoring for Media Crackdown
Date:03/08/2009 Infrastructure and Public Works Minister Diosdado Cabello, who oversees the government’s broadcasting policy, claimed Friday that the country was clamoring for the government to regulate freedom of expression – which in any case, he argued “isn’t the most sacred liberty in existence...
 

Venezuela: Repeal Measures Aimed at Critics
Date:03/08/2009 The Venezuelan government has adopted and proposed measures that reduce the ability of government critics to voice their opinions and will seriously limit freedom of expression in Venezuela, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Zimbabwe: In encouraging move, leading international broadcasters allowed to return to Zimbabwe
Date:03/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders welcomes the Zimbabwean government’s decision to allow the British Broadcasting Corporation and the US television news channel CNN to work in Zimbabwe again...
 

Zimbabwe: In historic move for press freedom, government lifts ban on The Daily News
Date:03/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders is delighted to learn that Zimbabwe’s leading privately-owned daily, which was always ready to criticise President Robert Mugabe, has received permission to resume publishing after being banned for six years...
 

Thailand: Report on Defamation Law
Date:31/07/2009 ARTICLE 19 and the National Press Council of Thailand (NPCT) have jointly launched a Report, the Impact of Defamation Law on Freedom of Expression in Thailand...
 

Venezuela: 'Freedom of expression must be limited'
Date:31/07/2009 Venezuela's top prosecutor insisted Thursday that freedom of expression in Venezuela must be limited, and proposed legislation that would slap additional restrictions on the country's news media...
 

Honduras: Early Warning Signs of Impending Crisis
Date:30/07/2009 An ARTICLE 19 delegation, recently returned from Honduras, reports serious abuses of human rights and freedom of expression in that country since the political coup which occurred on 28 June 2009...
 

Russian billionaire drops libel case against Economist
Date:30/07/2009 A secretive Russian billionaire has abandoned his libel case against the Economist magazine after it suggested he had benefited from his close relationship with Vladimir Putin, Russia's former president turned prime minister...
 

IPFM writes to President Rajapakse on Media Freedom in Sri Lanka
Date:30/07/2009 The International Press Freedom Mission to Sri Lanka (IPFM) has sent an open letter President Mahinda Rajapaksa on media freedom in Sri Lanka...
 

Gambia: President’s threats leave journalists no room for free expression
Date:29/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders is very concerned about the seven journalists, all members of the Gambia Press Union, who are being tried for criticising President Yahya Jammeh...
 

Lawyers in South Korea demand a public inquiry into media legislation
Date:29/07/2009 As controversy over the legality of the Broadcasting Law revision bill that passed on July 22 continues to rage over irregularities in voting, lawyers and legal scholars joined the fray on Tuesday and publicly released a statement entitled, “The passage of the Broadcasting Law revision bill is legally invalid...
 

DRC: Minister carries out threat to shut down French station’s broadcasts throughout country
Date:28/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders and Journalist in Danger (JED), its partner organisation in Democratic Republic of Congo, strongly condemn the government’s shutdown of local FM retransmission of the French public radio station Radio France Internationale (RFI) throughout the country since 26 July...
 

Philippines: Radio journalist shot dead in Surigao del Sur
Date:28/07/2009 A radio broadcaster was shot dead early dawn today in the town of Barobo in Surigao del Sur...
 

Serbia:Uncertainty over fate of media law
Date:28/07/2009 Parliament Speaker Slavica Dukic-Dejanovic said that it is very uncertain whether draft changes to the law on media will pass in parliament...
 

South Korea: Opposition takes media law confrontation to streets ahead of court ruling
Date:28/07/2009 The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) was poised to take to the streets Tuesday to protest railroaded media law revisions, as their campaign to ify the legislation intensified with a legal battle...
 

ABC boss fights to end media censorship in Fiji
Date:28/07/2009 THE managing director of the ABC Mark Scott has used a speech in Vanuatu today to call for the end of media censorship in Fiji...
 

Afghanistan: At Tolo and other Afghan media, pressure from all sides
Date:27/07/2009 With elections due on August 20, pressure is mounting on Afghan journalists, and it's coming from all sides...
 

Azerbaijan: ARTICLE 19 Condemns Conviction of Journalists for Defamation
Date:27/07/2009 Two senior journalists were found guilty and sentenced to prison on defamation charges in a Baku district court on 22 July 2009...
 

China: China Considers State Secrets Law Revision
Date:27/07/2009 On June 22, 2009, a draft revision of China’s Law on Guarding State Secrets was given a first reading at the Ninth Session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC)...
 

China: China launches Arabic TV channel
Date:27/07/2009 China has launched a 24-hour Arabic-language television channel aimed at addressing distorted views of China in the Middle East and North Africa...
 

Cuba: Doctor and journalist arrested and taken to Havana jail
Date:27/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders voiced concern at the arrest and detention on 21 July of dissident Darsi Ferrer, head of a health and human rights centre, saying it feared he faced a long period behind bars...
 

Gambia: Call to drop sedition charges against journalists
Date:27/07/2009 A Paris-based media group has called on the Gambian authorities to drop charges against seven journalists charged with sedition, notes a report on the News24 site...
 

Honduras: International community urged to demand an end to news media lockdown by de facto authorities
Date:27/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders calls on the international community to press the Honduran de facto government to stop controlling news coverage and stop discriminating against media that are critical of the 28 June coup...
 

Iran: Protesters decry Iran detentions
Date:27/07/2009 Protesters have taken to the streets in several countries across the globe in support of opposition Iranian activists detained following last month's disputed presidential election...
 

Iran: Alarm at violent arrest of women's rights activist Shadi Sadr
Date:27/07/2009 Arrest fuels fear that wave of arrests is intensifying Amnesty International fears the wave of arrests of civil society activists in Iran is intensifying after the leading lawyer and women's human rights activist Shadi Sadr was violently arrested in Tehran this morning on her way to Friday prayers...
 

Iran: Iran government faces problem of 'legitimacy': EU presidency
Date:27/07/2009 Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Tuesday that the Iranian government was suffering from problems of legitimacy among voters, following the controversial presidential elections last month...
 

Iran: US Senate targets Iran censorship
Date:27/07/2009 The US Senate has approved funds for measures to help Iran's opposition defeat curbs on news and Internet social networking sites it has used to organize since a disputed presidential vote...
 

Iraq: Iraq revives rules censoring books
Date:27/07/2009 Iraq's Ministry of Culture has revived regulations forbidding the import of some books, prompting critics to accuse it of restoring Saddam-era censorship...
 

Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyzstan's Elections Betray Citizens' Hopes for Progress
Date:27/07/2009 Freedom House is deeply disappointed by the conduct of yesterday’s presidential vote in Kyrgyzstan...
 

Morocco: Advances and reverses for press freedom during King Mohammed’s first decade
Date:27/07/2009 Real progress at the start of King Mohammed’s reign has been followed by reverses and tension, especially from 2002 onwards, Reporters Without Borders said today in an evaluation of the state of press freedom in Morocco on the eve of the 10th anniversary of Mohammed VI’s accession to the throne on 23 July 1999...
 

Russia: Artists and writers support Russian exhibition organizers charged with ‘inciting hatred’
Date:27/07/2009 Yuri Samodurov, a former Moscow museum director, and the art curator Andrei Yerofeev, are due in court on Friday, facing charges of inciting hatred and offending human dignity - that could see them jailed for up to five years - after organizing a Moscow exhibition called Forbidden Art 2006...
 

Saudi Arabia - human rights abuses in the name of fighting terrorism
Date:27/07/2009 'The Saudi Arabian authorities have launched a sustained assault on human rights under the façade of countering terrorism, Amnesty International said in a new report on Wednesday...
 

Somalia: Somaliland government increases attacks on press
Date:27/07/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalist condemns the government's growing crackdown on the independent press in the northern breakaway republic of Somaliland as September presidential elections near...
 

Palestine: Hamas travel ban may disrupt Fatah parlay
Date:27/07/2009 'Fatah leaders were debating on Sunday whether to go ahead with plans to hold their sixth general assembly next week or postpone it, after Hamas said it wouldn't allow members of the faction to leave the Gaza Strip...
 

United Nations Unveils in Mexico Mural Advocating Freedom of Expression
Date:23/07/2009 The United Nations special rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, inaugurated here a mural advocating this right in Mexico, a country where attacks on reporters have increased in recent years...
 

Seoul Media Bills Pass After Brawl
Date:23/07/2009 The National Assembly passed three bills to modernize South Korea's media industry, including allowing companies to own both broadcast and print properties...
 

Spanish judge rules booing the King is freedom of expression
Date:23/07/2009 A National Court has thrown out a suit over incidents at the final of the King’s Cup this May</p> Booing and hissing at the monarch or the national anthem counts as freedom of expression, according to Judge Santiago Pedraz, who has thrown out a suit against incidents at the final of the King’s Cup this May...
 

Yemen: Freedom of speech in the eyes of the Yemeni youth
Date:23/07/2009 Compared to neighboring countries, Yemen has made notable achievements regarding the most important element of democracy, freedom of speech or expression...
 

European Human Rights Court rejects complaint by anti-Israel mayor
Date:23/07/2009 The European Court of Human Rights has upheld a French court ruling that it was illegal and discriminatory to boycott Israeli goods, and that making it illegal to call for a boycott of Israeli goods did not constitute a violation of the right to free speech...
 

Hugo Chavez targets Venezuela media
Date:23/07/2009 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has made moves to tighten government control over national media, say critics who warn that the Internet and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter could be his next target...
 

International community urged to demand an end to news media lockdown by de facto authorities
Date:23/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders calls on the international community to press the Honduran de facto government to stop controlling news coverage and stop discriminating against media that are critical of the 28 June coup...
 

Azerbaijan marks National Press Day
Date:22/07/2009 It is timed to the day of the first publication of the Akinchi newspaper 134 years ago by Hasanbay Zardabi...
 

Mexico criticised for weak protection of journalists.
Date:22/07/2009 The federal government attributes 78 percent of Mexico's attacks against the press to private individuals and organized crime, but freedom of expression advocates blame authorities for at least 49 percent of the incidents, Liliana Alcántara reports for El Universal...
 

Talking about a revolution: Iran
Date:22/07/2009 Following the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hundreds of thousands of protestors flocked to the streets of Tehran in a passionate bid to seek justice amidst allegations of voting irregularities...
 

Then they came for the lawyers: Sri Lanka
Date:22/07/2009 This is the latest post on the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence website:Traitors in black coats flocked together?Leader Publications (Pvt) Ltd was given time to show cause and the case was heard 9 July 2009 at the Mt...
 

France: European Court: Israel boycotts are unlawful discrimination
Date:20/07/2009 Israel finally won one last week in an international human rights court...
 

Azerbaijan: Two youth activists arrested
Date:20/07/2009 Amnesty International is deeply concerned by the latest development in the continued clampdown against civil society and media activists in Azerbaijan...
 

China: Bloggers contained by police for online content
Date:20/07/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns actions by Chinese authorities to locate and detain bloggers and delete online content and debate concerning controversial issues...
 

Indonesia: IFJ welcomes court's rejection of libel case
Date:20/07/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) welcomes a decision by the South Jakarta Supreme Court to reject a libel suit against local newspaper Koran Tempo by Islamic Troop commander Munarman...
 

Indonesia: Libel sentence ignores press law, says press council
Date:20/07/2009 Indonesia's Press Council expressed dissatisfaction with the East Jakarta District Court's decision on 15 July 2009 convicting two businessmen of defaming a property giant due to a complaint letter they posted in several newspapers...
 

Iran: Rafsanjani condemns Iranian regime's handling of post-election unrest
Date:20/07/2009 One of Iran's most powerful clerics today attacked the Iranian government for its handling of protests and unrest that followed the disputed presidential election result...
 

Iran: Seven media workers, including Franco-Iranian cameraman, arrested
Date:20/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders is very concerned about a crackdown in recent days on photographers and cameramen...
 

Malaysia: Television host reasssigned following question on prime minister's ratings
Date:20/07/2009 The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) notes with concern the action taken against a local television station host and producer for the program Point of View, Florence Looi, for having asked her guests to rate the performance of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in his 100 days in office...
 

Pakistan: HRCP hits out at penalty to curtail SMS, email
Date:20/07/2009 The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned the government’s move to use state power to prosecute certain kind of messaging through cellular phone networks and content on the websites...
 

Yemen: Journalist sentenced to 14 months in jail
Date:20/07/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Yemeni court of appeals to overturn a jail sentence it handed down on Wednesday against journalist Anis Mansour from the suspended independent daily Al-Ayyam...
 

Palestine: Al-Jazeera West Bank ban 'revoked'
Date:20/07/2009 The Palestinian Authority (PA) has revoked its decision to suspend Al Jazeera network's operations in the occupied West Bank, days after sanctioning it for 'false reporting'...
 

Palestine: Israeli forces detain, harass journalists
Date:20/07/2009 'The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns the Israeli occupation forces' detention of Watan local TV crew (reporter Nizar Habash, reporter Nadia Sarsour, cameraman Khalid Melhem, cameraman Suleiman Abu Sorour, crew assistant Ibrahim Badwan) on 14 July 2009, near Sorda village north of Ramallah city...
 

Palestine: Israeli forces detain, harass journalists
Date:20/07/2009 'The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns the Israeli occupation forces' detention of Watan local TV crew (reporter Nizar Habash, reporter Nadia Sarsour, cameraman Khalid Melhem, cameraman Suleiman Abu Sorour, crew assistant Ibrahim Badwan) on 14 July 2009, near Sorda village north of Ramallah city...
 

Palestine: Israeli forces detain, harass journalists
Date:20/07/2009 The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns the Israeli occupation forces' detention of Watan local TV crew (reporter Nizar Habash, reporter Nadia Sarsour, cameraman Khalid Melhem, cameraman Suleiman Abu Sorour, crew assistant Ibrahim Badwan) on 14 July 2009, near Sorda village north of Ramallah city...
 

Sri Lanka: Deteriorating press freedom continues post-conflict
Date:17/07/2009 Today the International Press Freedom Mission to Sri Lanka, of which ARTICLE 19 is a member, issued an open letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing extreme concern over the deterioration of press freedom despite the military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam...
 

Bahrain: Journalist faces defamation charges over article on corruption
Date:17/07/2009 According to a 26 June 2009 statement, the Public Prosecution (PP) has referred the case of journalist Husain Sabt, who is accused of defamation, to court after reviewing the evidence against him...
 

Bangladesh: Right to Information Act comes into force
Date:17/07/2009 The International Press Institute welcomes the enactment on 1 July of Bangladesh's long-awaited Right to Information Act (2009), and the appointment, under Article 15(1) of the Act, of a three-member Information Commission, as an important step towards acknowledgment of the people's right to access information...
 

Brazil: Supreme Court allows publications of civil servants' salaries
Date:17/07/2009 On 8 July 2009, the Supreme Court of Brazil held that the mayor of the Municipality of Sao Paulo could order the salary of all municipal civil servants to be put online...
 

Cambodia: Harshest crackdown in years, says Human Rights Watch
Date:17/07/2009 The Cambodian government of Prime Minister Hun Sen should end its campaign of harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action aimed at consolidating its rule by silencing the political opposition and peaceful critics, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Congo: Suspension lifted for independent television station
Date:17/07/2009 Canal Plus Bénédiction (CB Plus), a faith-based television station broadcast from Brazzaville, was reauthorised to broadcast on 3 July 2009 following a five-month suspension...
 

Egypt: Police harass journalist and his family
Date:17/07/2009 The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) condemns the organized attacks led by police officers against Alaa Al Gamel, a reporter for the weekly Sout Al Ouma...
 

The Gambia: Amnesty International demands freedom for Gambians
Date:17/07/2009 Freedom Day, which takes place on 22 July 2009, is a national holiday in Gambia...
 

Honduras: Constraints on press freedom must be lifted in Honduras, says UNESCO chief
Date:17/07/2009 The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today called for restrictions on press freedom to be lifted in Honduras, where President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales was ousted by the military last month...
 

Iran: One hundred prominent journalists call for release of Maziar Bahari
Date:17/07/2009 More than 100 prominent journalists from 47 countries sent a petition to the Iranian government today calling for the immediate release of Maziar Bahari, Newsweek's Tehran correspondent, who has been held without charge in an Iranian jail since June 21...
 

Kazakhstan: Human Rights Watch urges government to rescind new Internet law
Date:17/07/2009 The government of Kazakhstan should rescind a new law that significantly restricts media freedoms, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Kazakhstan: Human Rights Watch urges government to rescind new Internet law
Date:17/07/2009 'The government of Kazakhstan should rescind a new law that significantly restricts media freedoms, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Kazakhstan: Human Rights Watch urges government to rescind new Internet law
Date:17/07/2009 'The government of Kazakhstan should rescind a new law that significantly restricts media freedoms, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Kazakhstan: Human Rights Watch urges government to rescind new Internet law
Date:17/07/2009 'The government of Kazakhstan should rescind a new law that significantly restricts media freedoms, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

New Zealand: PFF urges investigation into broadcaster's suspension
Date:17/07/2009 Regional media watchdog the Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF) is encouraging the management of New Zealand's flagship Pacific Islands radio station Niu FM 531pi to launch an independent investigation into the June suspension - and then reinstatement - of veteran Fiji journalist Bulou Amalaini Ligalevu...
 

Russia: Leading Chechnya rights activist murdered
Date:17/07/2009 Natalia Estemirova, a leading human rights defender in Chechnya, was found shot dead in Ingushetia on July 15, 2009, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Serbia: ANEM protests amendments to media laws
Date:17/07/2009 Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) is disappointed by the manner of changes of media laws in Serbia...
 

Venezuela: Television station shuts down due to economic and political pressure; judge harasses journalist
Date:17/07/2009 On 10 July 2009, the Órbita TV station, which operates in the northern region of the state of Anzoátegui, ceased to operate...
 

Zambia: Bogus charges filed against
Date:17/07/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of Zambian journalist Chansa Kabwela on bogus charges of circulating obscene materials...
 

Palestine: Al-Jazeera suspended in the West Bank
Date:17/07/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Palestinian Authority's decision today to suspend the operations of Al-Jazeera in the West Bank after the satellite channel aired a controversial interview on Tuesday...
 

India: Shocking police intimidation of journalists
Date:16/07/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is disturbed by reports that two journalists based in Srinagar, the capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, have been threatened with arrest for their reporting on what is believed to be a recent case of murder...
 

Afghanistan: Jounalist kidnapped, IFJ concerned that dangers faced by journalists may escalate leading up to August elections
Date:16/07/2009 Dangers for Journalists Rise as Afghan Elections Approach The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is concerned that the dangers faced by Afghan journalists may be escalating rapidly as Afghanistan prepares for nation-wide elections on August 20...
 

Colombia: Individual accused of murdering journalist captured in Cauca department
Date:16/07/2009 The police have said that, on 8 July 2009, Arley Manquillo Rivera, alias Huracán, was captured in the department of Cauca, in southwestern Colombia...
 

Ecuador: President characterises newspaper as corrupt after it criticises the government
Date:16/07/2009 On 11 July 2009, President Rafael Correa called the El Universo newspaper a travesty of a paper, the voice of the most pernicious political mafias in the history of Ecuador...
 

Honduras: Venezuelan journalists leave Honduras after harassment
Date:16/07/2009 A group of Venezuelan journalists with the regional television network Telesur and the state-owned station Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) left Honduras on Sunday after being detained and harassed in the capital, Tegucigalpa...
 

Iran: Forty-one journalists in prison after a month of unrest
Date:16/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders has expressed great concern over the growing repression of journalists and cyber-dissidents in Iran after a month of post-election protests and called for them all to be freed at once...
 

Iran: Protests against election results or the entire establishment?
Date:16/07/2009 Particularly in the final days of campaigning, the real race was clearly one that would be a choice between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi...
 

Iraq: Amnesty International condemns attacks on Christian minority
Date:16/07/2009 Amnesty International is greatly concerned by the recent spate of attacks on Christian churches in Baghdad, which killed four civilians and injured more than 30 others...
 

Lithuania: Human Rights watch asks parliament not to revive censorship law
Date:16/07/2009 The Lithuanian parliament should not revive a proposed law that had been vetoed by the president, to ban references to gay, lesbian, and bisexual relations in public places, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the speaker of Lithuania's parliament...
 

Russia: Chechen human rights advocate murdered
Date:16/07/2009 ARTICLE 19 is shocked and deeply saddened by the killing on 15 July 2009 of Natalia Estemirova, a Chechen human rights activist and representative of the Memorial Human Rights Centre in the Chechen capital Grozny...
 

Sudan: Reporter on trial for dressing in a sensational manner
Date:16/07/2009 ANHRI expresses deep concern over the trial of opposition reporter Lubna Ahmed Al-Hussein, who has been accused of dressing in a sensational manner...
 

Yemen: Authorities threaten to close Al Jazeera office
Date:16/07/2009 The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) condemns the escalation of the Yemeni government's crackdown on independent media which has now extended to the targeting of satellite television stations...
 

Africa: Thirty-two IFEX members and partners raise concerns about proposed AU-EU Pan African Media Observatory project
Date:16/07/2009 The following statement is issued by the under-listed organizations following the invitation by the European Commission (EC) and the African Union (AU) for responses from organizations involved in media development to the Pan-African Media Observatory Project (PAMO)...
 

Sri Lanka: Website blocking condemned
Date:15/07/2009 International media watchdogs have condemned the blocking of another Sri Lankan news website by the authorities...
 

Brazil: Supreme Court OKs publication of Civil Servants saliaries'
Date:15/07/2009 On 8 July 2009, the Supreme Court of Brazil held that the Mayor of the Municipality of Sao Paulo could order the salary of all municipal civil servants to be put online...
 

Colombia: Constitutional Court finds criminal code article affecting slander and libel cases to be unconstitutional
Date:15/07/2009 Journalists and media outlets will no longer be subjected to criminal charges for libel and slander when they publicise truthful information about individuals who have been absolved of wrongdoing by the judicial system...
 

Iran: Arrests continue, one journalist released
Date:15/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrest of Mohamed Ali Dadkhah, a lawyer who represents many journalists and cyber-dissidents and who, together with Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, helped to set up the Human Rights Defenders Centre...
 

Kazakhstan: Rescind New Media Restrictions
Date:15/07/2009 The government of Kazakhstan should rescind a new law that significantly restricts media freedoms, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Mexico: Journalists media outlets come under pressure after criticising public officials
Date:15/07/2009 Edilia Contreras Álvarez and Enrique Romero Vara, hosts respectively of the Voz Informativa and Sin censura radio programmes in Palenque, Chiapas, southeastern Mexico, have said that the owners of the media outlets for which they work are being pressured by a local congressional deputy, Juan Carlos López Fernández, with the objective of censoring them and having them taken off the air...
 

Pakistan: More journalists' homes destroyed, damaged in ongoing conflict
Date:15/07/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is extremely concerned by acts of violence and intimidation targeting journalists in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, after the family homes of two journalists were bombed by militant insurgents...
 

Pakistan: Taliban militants blow up journalist's house in Buner district
Date:15/07/2009 The home of Rahman Buneri, a correspondent for Voice of America's (VOA) Pashto-language service, Deewa Radio, was blown up on 9 July 2009 by the Pakistani Taliban in the militancy plagued Buner district of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP)...
 

Syria: Press freedom situation continues to be very bad, says RSF
Date:15/07/2009 The press freedom situation in Syria continues to be very bad, Reporters Without Borders said on 10 July 2009 as French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner prepared to meet with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on the weekend of 11-12 July in Syria...
 

Venezuela: Government increases pressure on private media
Date:15/07/2009 Venezuelan Public Works Minister Diosdado Cabello confirmed on Thursday 9 July that the government is to begin proceedings against more than 200 privately owned radio stations with the aim of stripping them of their broadcasting licences...
 

Yemen: IFJ calls for end to repression of independent media
Date:15/07/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has today called on the authorities in Yemen to stop the escalating harassment of media, including the detention of journalists, court cases and harsh penalties which are threatening the survival of some of the country's independent news outlets...
 

Title Too Long
Date:15/07/2009 At 6:45PM on 14 July 2009, the judge of the Phnom Penh municipal announced the verdict for Moeung Son, Chairman of the Khmer Civilization Foundation (KCF), he is sentenced to 2-year in jail and fined 7 million riels ($1, 750) and he must also pay 8 million riels ($2, 000) to the Apsara authority...
 

Newspaper of Murdered Journalist Closes
Date:15/07/2009 A year after an opposition journalist was murdered in Phnom Penh, the paper he once wrote for is closing, even as the case goes unsolved...
 

OSCE media freedom representative says new Polish media law endangers public-service media, urges Constitutional Court review
Date:14/07/2009 Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, said today that Poland's new media law fails to secure the financial and editorial independence of public-service media and urged President Lech Kaczynski to send the law for review by the Constitutional Court...
 

UK: United Kingdom to decriminalise defamation
Date:13/07/2009 On Friday, 10 July 2009, the government of the United Kingdom formally committed to decriminalising defamation by doing away with the common law offences of sedition, seditious libel and defamatory libel...
 

Canada: Supreme Court upholds freedom of expression
Date:13/07/2009 The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled in favour of the Canadian Federation of Students-BC and the BC Teachers' Federation in their fight, for the right, to advertise on public transit...
 

China: Academic arrested following publication of online article
Date:13/07/2009 The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is seriously concerned about the detention of Uyghur writer, academic and member of the Uyghur PEN Centre, Iham Tohti, who was reportedly arrested in Beijing on 6 July 2009...
 

China: CPJ condemns harassment of journalists, censorship in Urumqi
Date:13/07/2009 China must allow free reporting and Internet in Urumqi Authorities in northwestern Xinjiang should stop the harassment of journalists reporting on ethnic rioting and restore Internet access in the regional capital, Urumqi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Egypt: Editor sentenced to six months behind bars
Date:13/07/2009 The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) reiterates its deep contempt for the arrest of Yaser Barakat, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Al-Mogaz...
 

Iran: Iranian government must allow peaceful commemorations of 18 Tir events
Date:13/07/2009 'Thursday marks the tenth anniversary of the brutal suppression of student-led protests by security forces in Iran, which resulted in the death of at least one student and the torture and ill-treatment of others...
 

Iran: Iranian government must allow peaceful commemorations of 18 Tir events
Date:13/07/2009 'Thursday marks the tenth anniversary of the brutal suppression of student-led protests by security forces in Iran, which resulted in the death of at least one student and the torture and ill-treatment of others...
 

Iran: Iranian government must allow peaceful commemorations of 18 Tir events
Date:13/07/2009 Thursday marks the tenth anniversary of the brutal suppression of student-led protests by security forces in Iran, which resulted in the death of at least one student and the torture and ill-treatment of others...
 

Mexico: Article 19 Submission to UN Human Rights Committee
Date:13/07/2009 ARTICLE 19 has called attention to key freedom of expression issues in Mexico, including the State’s failure to protect journalist and human rights defenders from attacks, and a broadcasting system that fails to promote public interest broadcasting...
 

Tanzania: Independent newspaper takes government to talk over controversial media law
Date:13/07/2009 After suffering a government ban for three months for allegedly tarnishing the name of the head of state in October 2008, and personal attacks that left its editor, Saed Kubenea, almost blind in January 2008, the Mwanahalisi newspaper, a small but vibrant publication and leading crusader against corruption in Tanzanian society has now challenged the constitutionality of the Newspapers Act...
 

Tunisia: Academic sentenced to eight months in prison for posting message on Facebook
Date:13/07/2009 On 4 July 2009, Tunis's Court of First Instance sentenced academic and rights defender Dr...
 

Ukraine: Journalist harassed by police officer and court security guard
Date:13/07/2009 Officials at the Kyiv-Svyatoshin district court have responded to a complaint filed at the office of Ukraine's prosecutor general by freelance journalist and lawyer Valentyna Prybylska regarding a 5 May 2009 incident in which Prybylska was harassed by a police officer and a court security guard for taking a picture of a sign posted on a courtroom door...
 

Jordan: Government closes bureaux of two Iranian satellite TV stations
Date:10/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the Jordanian government's closure of the Amman bureaux of two satellite TV stations that are funded by the Iranian government, the Arabic-language Al-Alam and the English-language Press TV...
 

Nigeria: Two journalists held by Kano state police released
Date:10/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders hails the release of two journalists who were arrested by the Kano state police in connection with reports about Kano's governor...
 

Venezuela: Newspapers' headquarters attacked
Date:10/07/2009 In less than a week, the headquarters of two regional newspapers were attacked by supporters of Venezuela's ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV)...
 

Venezuela: Supreme Court bench ratifies legislation that endangers freedom of expression
Date:10/07/2009 On 18 June 2009, the Supreme Court's Constitutional Bench issued a ruling that ratified the validity of articles 208, 209, 171 and 183 of the Telecommunications Law (Ley Orgánica de Telecomunicaciones, LOTEL)...
 

Turkey: Court bans access to Google sites website
Date:10/07/2009 The Second Criminal Court of Peace in Denizli, western Turkey, has banned access to Google Sites, which contains thousands of websites...
 

Afghanistan: What gains for press freedom from Hamid Karzai's seven years as President?
Date:09/07/2009 The reign of the Taliban from 1996 to 2001 was a dark period in Afghanistan’s history...
 

Brazil: Journalist Luiz Flavio Pinto Ordered to Pay US$15, 000
Date:09/07/2009 The Superior Court of the State of Para, in the north of Brazil, ordered journalist Luiz Flavio Pinto to pay approximately US$15, 000 for defaming Romulo Maionara, a deceased local businessman...
 

Brazil: Journalist Luiz Flavio Pinto ordered to pay US$15, 000 for defamation
Date:09/07/2009 The Superior Court of the State of Para, in the north of Brazil, ordered journalist Luiz Flavio Pinto to pay approximately US$15, 000 for defaming Romulo Maionara, a deceased local businessman...
 

Colombia: Journalist assaulted, threatened in Barranquilla
Date:09/07/2009 At approximately 9:00 p...
 

The Gambia: ECOWAS Court dismisses government's objections over jurisdiction in case of tortured journalist
Date:09/07/2009 On 30 June 2009, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court, hearing the case of torture brought by Gambian journalist Musa Saidykhan against operatives of the Gambia's notorious National Intelligence Agency (NIA), dismissed preliminary objections raised by the Gambian government, the defendant in the case...
 

Skewed coverage has followed Honduran coup
Date:09/07/2009 The ongoing political crisis following the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya on June 28 has damaged the press freedom climate in Honduras...
 

Iran: Correspondent's confession posted by news agency; photographer released
Date:09/07/2009 'New York, June 30, 2009 - The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Iranian authorities to immediately release all jailed journalists and to stop vilifying the foreign press...
 

Iran: Correspondent's confession posted by news agency; photographer released
Date:09/07/2009 'New York, June 30, 2009 - The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Iranian authorities to immediately release all jailed journalists and to stop vilifying the foreign press...
 

Iran: Correspondent's confession posted by news agency; photographer released
Date:09/07/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Iranian authorities to immediately release all jailed journalists and to stop vilifying the foreign press...
 

Iran: French student held because of photographs and e-mails
Date:09/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders is very worried by French graduate student Clotilde Reiss's arrest at Tehran airport as she was about to leave the country on 1 July 2009...
 

Nepal: Journalists leave their district after receiving death threats
Date:09/07/2009 Labadev Dhungana, the former district president of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) in Panchthar, and Kumar Ojha, an FNJ member, have been displaced from the Panchthar district due to death threats issued by members of the Unified CPN Maoists party...
 

Swaziland: Journalists barred from covering workshop for legislators
Date:09/07/2009 Journalists covering an HIV/AIDS workshop for Swazi parliamentarians were on 30 June 2009 kicked out of the workshop after MPs and senators expressed displeasure at their presence...
 

United Arab Emirates: Federal Court of Appeal upholds sentence against editor and newspaper
Date:09/07/2009 A ruling by the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal to suspend a local newspaper and fine its editor-in-chief further undermines press freedom in the United Arab Emirates, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Group Calls for Release of 22 Jailed Journalists in Cuba
Date:09/07/2009 The International Press Institute called Tuesday for the “immediate release” of the 22 journalists jailed in Cuba and warned of the risk of downplaying the importance of the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and the press...
 

Six Gambia Press Union journalists freed on bail
Date:08/07/2009 The six journalists who were returned to Banjul’s Mile Two prison on 3 July were released again this morning on bail of 400, 000 dalassi (10, 800 euros)...
 

France: Fashion on trial: France debates whether women can wear niqabs
Date:07/07/2009 'In the bustling farmers' market of this northern Paris suburb, the fault lines of French Islam intersect...
 

Bolivia: Journalist detained by Public Prosecutor's Office security director
Date:07/07/2009 On 24 June 2009, journalist Rogelio Peláez, the editor of the monthly Larga Vista in La Paz, reported that he was detained by the security director for the Public Prosecutor's Office, Major Octavio García, when he was covering a protest by two women who were expressing their outrage over the disappearance of their relatives during the dictatorship of the 1980s...
 

Honduras: Radio America journalist killed
Date:07/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders is appalled to learn that journalist Gabriel Fino Noriega, the local correspondent for the national radio station Radio América, was gunned down on 3 July 2009 in San Juan Pueblo, in the Caribbean coast province of Atlántida...
 

Honduras: Respect press freedom, IAPA again urges Honduras
Date:07/07/2009 The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today repeated its call to the new Honduran authorities for full respect for press freedom...
 

Mexico: Military personnel harass ''La Jornada Guerrero'' newspaper reporter
Date:07/07/2009 Jesús Rodríguez Montes, a correspondent for the daily La Jornada Guerrero, was interrogated and photographed at a military checkpoint in Huamuxtitlán, Guerrero state, southeastern Mexico...
 

Somalia: Journalist killed in Mogadishu, NUSOJ demands immediate end of hostilities
Date:07/07/2009 The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) renewed its call for the immediate end of hostilities in Mogadishu as the 6th journalist was shot dead on 4 July 2009 in the capital city...
 

Swazi lawyer challenges Act
Date:07/07/2009 A leading Swaziland lawyer launched a court bid on Monday to have charges of sedition and subversive activities against him declared unlawful, saying they are inconsistent with the constitution...
 

Ukraine: News agency website targeted by hacker attacks
Date:07/07/2009 The Malakava news agency website has systematically been the target of hackers, who edit texts or break their website, according to Olesya Tkachyk, editor-in-chief of Malakava, which operates in the western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk...
 

Venezuela: Chavez Government Threatens to Revoke Venezuela TV, Radio Licenses
Date:07/07/2009 Venezuela's Conatel regulatory agency said 285 radio and television stations will have their licenses revoked if they don't provide the entity with updated data on their operations, Public Works Minister Diosdado Cabello said Friday...
 

Zimbabwe: State concedes Mukoko's detention was illegal
Date:07/07/2009 Former news reader with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, Jestina Mukoko, on 25 June 2009 appeared before the full bench of the Supreme Court sitting as a Constitutional Court challenging the infringement of her constitutional rights to liberty, full protection of the law and right to freedom from torture...
 

Palestine: Journalists and media workers assaulted by occupation forces
Date:07/07/2009 The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns the attack on Reuters photographer Nayef Alhishlmon and several Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation forces, on the morning of 27 June 2009, in the village of Safa (Hebron)...
 

India: Gay Pride (in the name of love)
Date:06/07/2009 ' Rituparno Ghosh director: I’m a bit surprised at this sudden awakening...
 

India: India's ruling against 'Sodomy' laws is first step to equality
Date:06/07/2009 'The historic decision by the high court in Delhi on Thursday to decriminalize homosexuality, has been welcomed by Amnesty International...
 

Bolivia: Television station condemns harrassment of journalist following series of reports on public security issues
Date:06/07/2009 On 17 June 2009, the Bolivian Television Network Unitel stated in a communiqué that journalist and news presenter Jimena Antelo Telchi was harassed on 11 June by five men who said they were police officers...
 

Canada: Don't rush to ban the burka
Date:06/07/2009 The President of France, Nicholas Sarkozy, recently commented that the burka – the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women - is not welcome in France...
 

Egypt: Court of Appeal upholds acquittal of ANHRI director, two bloggers
Date:06/07/2009 The court of appeal in Dokki, Giza upheld on 30 June 2009 the decision made on 31 December 2008 acquitting bloggers Alaa and Manal and ANHRI Executive Director Gamal Eid of the charges of libel and insult...
 

Ethiopia: Proposed counterterrorism bill violates free speech
Date:06/07/2009 Ethiopia's draft counterterrorism law could punish political speech and peaceful protest as terrorist acts and encourage unfair trials if enacted, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Gambia: Seven journalists re-arrested in the Gambia
Date:06/07/2009 'We issued the following statement in response to reports that the Gambia's High Court jailed six journalists today who were charged with sedition and criminal defamation...
 

Gambia: Seven journalists re-arrested in the Gambia
Date:06/07/2009 'We issued the following statement in response to reports that the Gambia's High Court jailed six journalists today who were charged with sedition and criminal defamation...
 

Gambia: Seven journalists re-arrested in the Gambia
Date:06/07/2009 We issued the following statement in response to reports that the Gambia's High Court jailed six journalists today who were charged with sedition and criminal defamation...
 

Iran: CPJ relieved by release of journalist in Iran
Date:06/07/2009 In response to reports that Iason Athanasiadis, a journalist detained in Iran since June 17, was released today we issued the following statement...
 

Iran: UNESCO chief backs G8 call on Iran to respect human rights
Date:06/07/2009 The head of the United Nations agency tasked with upholding freedom of expression and press freedom today voiced his strong support for the recent call issued by the foreign ministers of the Group of Eight (G8) nations on Iran to respect fundamental human rights...
 

Middle Israel: Iran's upheaval in context
Date:06/07/2009 The upheaval in Iran may have ended and, conversely, it may have hardly begun, but from what we have seen so far, several mostly somber conclusions already arise...
 

Uganda: Constitutional Court blows chance to expand free speech
Date:06/07/2009 A month ago today, the Constitutional Court dismissed a petition seeking to abolish the law of criminal defamation/libel...
 

Venezuela: Venezuelan official: Radio licenses to be revoked
Date:06/07/2009 The head of Venezuela's telecommunications regulatory agency said Friday that 240 radio stations will have their licenses revoked for failing to update their registrations with the government...
 

Zimbabwe: Government backs down on accreditation policy for journalists
Date:06/07/2009 In a statement released on 24 June 2009, the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity said it had no intention of defying a provisional High Court order granted in favour of four freelance journalists but attributed delays in complying with the order in question to financial constraints...
 

A new Tiananman - but this time China's rebels are online
Date:06/07/2009 There has been a lot of talk about a dam bursting in China this week and it is being seen as a good thing...
 

Sri Lanka: Government revives harsh press law
Date:03/07/2009 Reactivation of Discredited Press Council Law a Step Backward for Sri Lanka The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate organisations in Sri Lanka - the Free Media Movement, the Sri Lanka Working Journalists' Association and the Federation of Media Employees' Trade Unions - in strongly condemning the Sri Lankan Government’s decision to revive the Press Council that was established by an act of parliament in 1973...
 

Azerbaijan: Civil society and the media out of immediate danger?
Date:03/07/2009 ARTICLE 19 welcomes a decision on 30 June by the parliament of Azerbaijan, the Milli Mejlis, not to adopt the most restrictive proposals in a package of legislative amendments governing civil society and media...
 

Cambodia: Tried in absentia, Cambodian journalist immediately arrested, sent to prison
Date:03/07/2009 The editor-in-chief of the The Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, who had been fined and sentenced to a year's imprisonment, was arrested on the same day by the police and sent to the Prey Sar prison, near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, media reports said...
 

Honduras: After Honduran coup, reporters detained, signals blocked
Date:03/07/2009 Honduran military personnel briefly detained seven journalists, temporarily shut down several local broadcasters, and intermittently blocked the broadcast signals of international news channels in the aftermath of the weekend coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya...
 

Iran: Arbitrary arrest/Fear of torture
Date:03/07/2009 At least 13 journalists are among scores of people arrested in their homes or offices since the disputed Iranian Presidential election on 12 June...
 

Kazakhstan: Parliament adopts bill curbing online freedom
Date:03/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders and the Kazakh organization “Journalist in danger” condemn the Internet bill that Kazakh legislators passed today...
 

Lithuania: Concern over law banning public references to sexual orientation
Date:03/07/2009 President Valdas Adamkus should veto a proposed law passed by Lithuania's parliament that would ban references to gay, lesbian, and bisexual relations in public places, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the president...
 

Morocco: In Quaddafi case, Moroccan court hands down harsh judgement
Date:03/07/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Moroccan court decision today to impose fines and damages on three independent dailies for publicly harming Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and injuring his dignity...
 

Burma: Make Ban's visit meaningful
Date:03/07/2009 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during his trip to Burma should press the ruling generals to publicly commit to the release of all political prisoners and to engage in a dialogue with the opposition that leads to genuine political reforms, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Nicaragua: Daniel Ortega's Media War
Date:03/07/2009 On the afternoon of April 2, a caravan of official limousines sped through the streets of Managua toward the international airport...
 

Nicaragua: Fighting back against Nicaragua's war on the media
Date:03/07/2009 'What is happening in Nicaragua when it comes to press freedom? A CPJ report found that President Daniel Ortega is waging a war against the media...
 

Nicaragua: Fighting back against Nicaragua's war on the media
Date:03/07/2009 'What is happening in Nicaragua when it comes to press freedom? A CPJ report found that President Daniel Ortega is waging a war against the media...
 

Nicaragua: Fighting back against Nicaragua's war on the media
Date:03/07/2009 'What is happening in Nicaragua when it comes to press freedom? A CPJ report found that President Daniel Ortega is waging a war against the media...
 

Nicaragua: Fighting back against Nicaragua's war on the media
Date:03/07/2009 'What is happening in Nicaragua when it comes to press freedom? A CPJ report found that President Daniel Ortega is waging a war against the media...
 

Nicaragua: Fighting back against Nicaragua's war on the media
Date:03/07/2009 'What is happening in Nicaragua when it comes to press freedom? A CPJ report found that President Daniel Ortega is waging a war against the media...
 

Nicaragua: Fighting back against Nicaragua's war on the media
Date:03/07/2009 What is happening in Nicaragua when it comes to press freedom? A CPJ report found that President Daniel Ortega is waging a war against the media...
 

Philippines: Radio broadcaster shot dead
Date:03/07/2009 The International Federation of Journalists urges immediate police investigation into the motive behind the fatal shooting of radio broadcaster Jonathan Fetalvero in Agusan del Sur province in the Philippines' troubled island of Mindanao...
 

Syria: Kurdish activist at risk of torture
Date:03/07/2009 Political activist Jakarkhon Sheikho ‘Ali, a member of Syria’s Kurdish minority, is being held incommunicado at the Military Security Branch in the city of Aleppo, north-east of the capital Damascus...
 

Honduras: Free expression in jeopardy following coup
Date:02/07/2009 Following the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya on 28 June, the new authorities have harassed and briefly detained journalists, interfered with several broadcast media outlets and imposed a 48-hour curfew, putting free expression at risk, say IFEX member in Honduras Comité por la Libre Expresíon (C-Libre), the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and other IFEX members...
 

Mexico: Reporter under threat killed on World Press Freedom Day
Date:01/07/2009 A Mexican journalist who was critical of local authorities in the northern state of Durango was assassinated on 3 May, World Press Freedom Day Carlos Ortega Samper, a reporter for the daily El Tiempo de Durango and also an attorney, was ambushed by two pickup trucks on his way home...
 

Philippines: Radio journalist murdered, fourth this year
Date:01/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the fatal shooting of radio presenter Jonathan Petalvero in a restaurant in Bayugan, in the southern province of Agusan del Sur...
 

Rwanda: New threat to ban BBC broadcasts
Date:01/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders today voiced its indignation after the information minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, made a new threat to ban Kinyarwanda-language broadcasts by the BBC if the British radio did not change its editorial line...
 

Sri Lanka: Nearly 400 journalists exiled since 2001, says CPJ
Date:30/06/2009 Sri Lankan journalist Upali Tennakoon paid a heavy price for producing critical coverage of the government offensive against Tamil rebels this year...
 

Cambodia: Newspaper editor jailed under law bequeathed by UN
Date:30/06/2009 Reporters Without Borders calls for the release of Hang Chakra, the editor of the daily Khmer Machas Srok (http:// kmsblog...
 

China: Leading free speech activist could get five years in prison
Date:30/06/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the subversion charge that was brought yesterday against Liu Xiaobo , a leading intellectual and free speech activitist who has been held without trial in an unknown location since 8 December...
 

Tenth Gambian Journalist Seized in June is Released on Bail
Date:30/06/2009 A tenth Gambian journalist arrested since the government’s June 15 crackdown on the press was released Wednesday after two days of confinement in a Banjul cell...
 

Russia: Shock at death of newspaper editor who was badly beaten two months ago
Date:30/06/2009 Reporters Without Borders is deeply saddened to learn that newspaper editor Vyacheslav Yaroshenko, who spent several days in a coma after being attacked and beaten outside his home on 29 April, died today in the southwestern city of Rostov-on-Don...
 

Azerbaijan: Proposed Amendments Threaten Media, Civil Society
Date:29/06/2009 The rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association are at serious imminent risk in Azerbaijan as the country’s parliament, the Milli Mejlis, this week deliberates on further restrictions on the media and civic organisations...
 

China: Dissident and literary scholar Liu Xiaobo formally arrested
Date:29/06/2009 Amnesty International condemns the formal arrest of prominent scholar and activist Liu Xiaobo on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” on 23 June...
 

China: Europe Asks for Software Delay
Date:29/06/2009 The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, called on China to postpone its requirement that computers be sold with Internet filters starting July 1...
 

Washington decided freedom of expression by the Honduras people was illegal
Date:29/06/2009 In Latin America and the Caribbean, the US imperialists in most instances control these institutions...
 

Title Too Long
Date:29/06/2009 In line with a joint response agreed by Member States with the EU Presidency, State Secretary and Political Director Gábor Iklódy summoned the Ambassador to Budapest of the Islamic Republic of Iran...
 

Venezuela: Thousands march for, against anti-Chavez station
Date:29/06/2009 Thousands of Venezuelans held separate protests Saturday to support and condemn an opposition-aligned TV station that President Hugo Chavez's government has threatened with closure...
 

Journalist gets jail term for exposing corruption in government
Date:29/06/2009 A Cambodian court sentenced the publisher and editor-in-chief of a local newspaper to a year of imprisonment and also fined him 9 million Riels (approx...
 

Minister outlines changes to Broadcasting Act
Date:29/06/2009 The Broadcasting Act would be amended to introduce an appropriate funding model for the SABC 'to ensure that the public broadcaster is not left to the vagaries of the markets', said Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda...
 

Civil society groups slam government's harsh suppression of freedom of expression
Date:29/06/2009 Several civil society groups in Cambodia expressed concern at what they claim is 'the perilous state of freedom of expression'; in the country...
 

United Kingdom: ARTICLE 19 Welcomes Judgment on Confidentiality of Journalistic Sources
Date:25/06/2009 ARTICLE 19 welcomes the landmark ruling of the High Court in Belfast in the case of investigative journalist, Suzanne Breen, which decided that a court order forcing her to hand over her notes would have threatened her life and the lives of her family, and compromised the protection of her sources...
 

Sri Lanka: Rajapaksa rules the media
Date:25/06/2009 The reintroduction of the government-run press council is another marker of the decline of Sri Lanka’s democracy, says Uvindu Kurukulasuriya</p> “Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets” ;Napoleon Bonaparte</p> The guns are now silent in Sri Lanka...
 

AU envoy says Gambia must release reporters
Date:25/06/2009 AFRICA’s special rapporteur on freedom of expression and access to information, Pansy Tlakula, has called on Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to release several detained journalists in line with an African Union protocol...
 

U.S. appalled and outraged by violence against Iranian protesters
Date:25/06/2009 President Obama says Iranian government actions against peaceful demonstrators since the country’s June 12 presidential election have been “unjust, ” and images of silent demonstrations and the risks being taken by Iranian protesters show a “timeless dignity...
 

Gambian journalists freed on bail in sedition case
Date:24/06/2009 Seven Gambian journalists charged with sedition last week for criticizing the president have been freed on bail, while two other detainees were released without charge, local journalists and the press union told CPJ today...
 

Uphold free expression, Gambia told
Date:24/06/2009 The African Union Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights on Tuesday urged Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to uphold the right to free expression after a recent media crackdown...
 

Iranian newspaper raided, employees detained
Date:24/06/2009 Iranian security agents arrested about 25 employees of Kalameh Sabz, the reformist newspaper owned by presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, after raiding the paper's offices on Monday evening, according to local and international news reports...
 

CIJ calls for release of Burmese refugees arrested at peaceful assembly
Date:24/06/2009 The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) condemns the police harassment and arrests of 16 Burmese refugees at a gathering to mark the 64th birthday of Burmese political icon Aung San Suu Kyi...
 

IFJ Welcomes Lifting of Ban on Newspaper in Bahrain
Date:24/06/2009 The International Federation (IFJ) has today welcomed the decision to lift the ban on the Arabic version of the Gulf News newspaper after the authorities stopped its publication on Sunday 21 June 2009...
 

NIA storms newspaper's printing offices, three journalists in hiding
Date:24/06/2009 On 19 June 2009, personnel of the notoriously feared National Intelligence Agency (NIA) stormed the printing house of the privately-owned The Point newspaper, halted the printing of the next edition and drove the workers out of the premises...
 

Equatorial Guinea journalist under arrest
Date:23/06/2009 A journalist in Equatorial Guinea, facing a criminal libel charge over a flawed story, was imprisoned on Wednesday, according to local journalists...
 

Seven Gambian journalists charged with sedition, another arrested
Date:23/06/2009 A magistrate in the Gambian capital, Banjul, today charged seven journalists with sedition for criticizing President Yahya Jammeh’s televised comments about the unsolved 2004 murder of editor Deyda Hydara, their defense lawyer said...
 

Iran: At least 13 jailed as crackdown enters second week
Date:23/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to release all journalists detained in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election and to lift the onerous press restrictions that are choking information at a time when the country and the world most need it...
 

Mexico: The Right to Freedom of Expression of Activists
Date:23/06/2009 ARTICLE 19, together with local partner organisations in Mexico, is calling on the Governor of the State of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, to investigate several sustained attacks against Agustín Estrada Negrete, a special needs school teacher, and his lawyer, Jaime Genaro López Vela...
 

IFEX members call for end to government crackdown on media following election
Date:23/06/2009 Iranian authorities have censored independent media sources, both local and foreign, as anti-government protests have raged in the country following last Friday's presidential elections, report ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and other IFEX members...
 

UK: Judge upholds journalist Suzanne Breen's right to withhold IRA details
Date:19/06/2009 Belfast journalist today won the right to withhold material relating to the Real IRA from the state, in a landmark ruling on press freedom...
 

Azerbaijan: Proposed Amendments Threaten Media, Civil Society
Date:19/06/2009 The rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association are at serious imminent risk in Azerbaijan as the country’s parliament, the Milli Mejlis, this week deliberates on further restrictions on the media and civic organisations...
 

Equatorial Guinea journalist under arrest
Date:19/06/2009 A journalist in Equatorial Guinea, facing a criminal libel charge over a flawed story, was imprisoned on Wednesday, according to local journalists...
 

The Gambia: Journalists and Gambia Press Union Executive
Date:19/06/2009 Seven journalists and members of the Gambia Press Union (GPU) Executive have been held without charge by the Gambian National Intelligence Agency (NIA) since being called for questioning on 15 June 2009...
 

Jamaica: Legislators consider defamation suits against telecom providers
Date:19/06/2009 Legislators in Jamaica are discussing whether telecommunications service providers should be open to legal suits if defamatory material is disseminated on their networks...
 

Malawi: Radio station resumes operations
Date:19/06/2009 On 9 June 2009, the Blantyre Magistrate court ordered police to leave the premises of Joy FM Radio, a privately owned radio station, consequently allowing the station to go back on air...
 

NUJP Davao: “Nograles has unmasked himself as a bully”
Date:19/06/2009 “Speaker Prospero Nograles has unmasked himself as a bully, one with no qualms about brandishing the power of his high office to threaten journalists going about their jobs with libel suits and the passage of the unconstitutional Right of Reply Bill, ” the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) Davao City chapter said...
 

Thai court dismisses Tesco libel case against former MP
Date:19/06/2009 Thai court has dismissed a law suit filed by Tesco against a former MP, Jit Siratranont, for making comments that the supermarket giant's expansion was at the expense of small retailers...
 

Zimbabwe: Journalist threatened following publication of article
Date:19/06/2009 Tatenda Chitagu, a journalist with The Mirror, Masvingo province's private paper, has taken legal action against the provincial chairperson who threatened her following the publication of an article in which she is alleged to have been involved in a criminal activity...
 

Dagestan authorities try to close independent weekly
Date:18/06/2009 Authorities in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan should immediately halt efforts to shut the Makhachkala-based independent weekly Chernovik and should drop extremism charges against editor Nadira Isayeva and four reporters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

UK: Publish and be named: Police blogger NightJack loses anonymity
Date:17/06/2009 High court says detective constable had 'no reasonable expectation of privacy' in landmark ruling for bloggers Blogging is a public activity with no right to anonymity, the high court ruled today in a decision expected to have far-reaching repercussions for thousands of bloggers who keep their identities secret...
 

Special Report: Journalists in Exile 2009
Date:17/06/2009 Sri Lankan journalists flee under severe pressure in the past year...
 

Azerbaijan: Media face threats from revised law
Date:17/06/2009 The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) is concerned about the proposed changes to the Azerbaijan Republic Law on Mass Media to be discussed in an extraordinary session of Mill Mejlis (parliament) on 19 June 2009...
 

CAMBODIA: Judicial independence is the key to reducing defamation lawsuits against critics and upholding freedom of expression
Date:17/06/2009 Prime Minister Hun Sen is utilising much of the country’s electronic media to assert his leadership of the country and send out messages to his people through his public speeches at different functions...
 

Ecuador: Third investigation launched against Teleamazonas; newspaper editor threatened
Date:17/06/2009 On 9 June 2009, the president of the National Broadcasting and Television Council (CONARTEL), Antonio García, confirmed that a third investigation has been launched against the Teleamazonas television station...
 

Seven Gambian press leaders arrested over Hydara reaction
Date:17/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for Gambia's national security agency to release seven journalists it arrested on Monday...
 

Iran bars foreign media from reporting on protests
Date:17/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Iranian government's decision to bar foreign journalists from leaving their offices to report, film, or take photographs--a restriction intended to prevent news coverage of protests over the disputed presidential election...
 

Iran's Revolutionary Guards issue warning to media
Date:17/06/2009 Iran's most powerful military force is warning online media of a crackdown over their coverage of the country's election crisis...
 

Maldives: Stop Prosecuting Criminal Defamation Cases
Date:17/06/2009 The first criminal case in many years began hearings at the Criminal Court in the Maldives yesterday...
 

Two Filipino journalists killed within a week
Date:17/06/2009 Two Filipino media practitioners were killed by unidentified gunmen in separate incidents in the southern provinces of Luzon on the second week of June 2009...
 

UK: Millions will have to wait a decade for superfast internet access
Date:16/06/2009 Millions of homes are expected to be denied superfast internet access for at least a decade because of a failure to reach agreement across the communications industry over who should pay for the upgrade...
 

Niger: Live discussions on privately-owned media banned
Date:16/06/2009 On 8 June 2009, Niger's media regulatory body, the High Communication Council (CSC), banned all live discussions on the prevailing political situation in the country by privately-owned electronic media outlets...
 

Democratic Republic of Congo: Government blocks French international radio broadcasts in Bukavu
Date:16/06/2009 Reporters Without Borders has strongly protested after the signal of Radio France International (RFI) was cut in Bukavu, capital city of Sud-Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo...
 

Iranian authorities crack down on media
Date:16/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for an end to the Iranian authorities' ongoing crackdown on media following the disputed re-election of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad...
 

Italian Draft Law Threatens to Silence Journalists
Date:16/06/2009 The International Press Institute (IPI) calls on representatives of the Italian Parliament to reject “draft law 1415”, a legislative proposal that threatens to limit journalists’ ability to provide the public with vital information...
 

Turkey: Kurdish newspaper receives two-month publication ban
Date:16/06/2009 An Istanbul court has convicted the daily newspaper Günlük of spreading PKK propaganda in two issues of the paper...
 

Palestine: Television correspondent assaulted
Date:16/06/2009 The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns the 10 June 2009 attack on Quds TV correspondent Mohammed Zuhdi Mashharawi (23 years old), by Palestinian police in Gaza City...
 

Group sues journalist on behalf of Moroccan royals
Date:16/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by defamation charges filed against a Moroccan editor by a group that represents close relatives of King Mohamed VI...
 

Two Al-Jazeera producers detained in Afghanistan
Date:16/06/2009 Intelligence officials at the National Directorate of Security (NDS) in Kabul should immediately release two Afghan journalists detained on Sunday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

US urges Vietnam to free lawyer
Date:16/06/2009 The US government has said it was deeply concerned by the arrest in Vietnam of activist lawyer Le Cong Dinh and has called for his release...
 

Sri Lanka Press Council born again
Date:15/06/2009 Sri Lanka Press Council, which was inactive for the last seven years, has reborn...
 

Sri Lankan government comments on investigations into journalists' complaints
Date:15/06/2009 The Sri Lanka government today said they have received 50 complaints from journalists over matters ranging from threats to murder...
 

Seeing red over green: China to install censorship software
Date:15/06/2009 China's announcement that personal computers sold from July 1 must carry Internet-filtering software pre-installed by the manufacturer should be a flashing red light to journalists and defenders of free expression online...
 

Eritrea: Independent radio station for Eritreans begins broadcasting from Paris
Date:15/06/2009 Radio Erena (”Our Eritrea”), a Tigrinya-language station broadcasting by satellite to Eritrea, began operating today in Paris, five days ahead of World Refugee Day...
 

Fiji: PFF warns global media conference to watch out for government interference
Date:15/06/2009 Regional media freedom organization, the Pacific Freedom Forum, has warned the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) to keep its agenda free from interference by Fiji's military regime in the lead-up to its July 2009 conference...
 

Gambian journalist under arrest over false story
Date:15/06/2009 The editor of a private newspaper in the Gambia has been in police custody since Wednesday because of a story that falsely reported the sacking of two government officials, according to local journalists...
 

Iran: Escalation of Attacks and Censorship After Elections
Date:15/06/2009 ARTICLE 19 calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran immediately to unblock Iranians’ access to international media, to lift bans on local newspapers and websites, and to stop harassing Iranian and foreign journalists in the wake of last Friday’s presidential elections...
 

Peru: Attacks to human rights and freedom of expression
Date:15/06/2009 The bloody events in the Peruvian town of Bagua began when the police removed a road blockade of indigenous people protesting against a law (DL 1090) they believe undermines their ancestral rights to their territory...
 

Vietnamese media advocate arrested for sedition, spreading propaganda against government
Date:15/06/2009 Vietnamese lawyer and media advocate Le Cong Dinh was arrested by the police in his home in Ho Chi Minh City on 13 June 2009, SEAPA sources said...
 

UK: Surreal moments as Breen says she faces death if she reveals her sources
Date:12/06/2009 There were a couple of surreal moments during today's court case in which the journalist Suzanne Breen was fighting off a demand by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) that she reveal her confidential sources...
 

Armenia: Journalists attacked at various polling stations
Date:12/06/2009 At a news conference on 2 June 2009, the Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression (CPJ) listed the instances of interference with journalists' professional activities as recorded during the latest election of the Yerevan Elders' Council (a local self-government body)...
 

Egypt: State security police force Internet café owners to report on customers visiting
Date:12/06/2009 On 10 June 2009, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) reported that State Security Police are violating the right to privacy by spying on Internet users in Egypt, searching for individuals who exercise their right to express their political views online peacefully...
 

Nepal: Television team assaulted; Maoist supporters set fire to copies of daily
Date:12/06/2009 On the morning of 11 June 2009, at approximately 9:00 a...
 

Somalia: Two broadcast journalists seriously beaten
Date:12/06/2009 The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) today expresses its alarm over aggressive attacks against two broadcast journalists in southwestern Somalia...
 

Zimbabwe: Security officials defy High Court order allowing journalists to cover summit
Date:12/06/2009 Security details and secretariat personnel at the ongoing Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Heads of State and Government summit in Victoria Falls barred four freelance journalists from covering the event despite a High Court order granting them permission to do so without producing accreditation cards issued by the defunct Media and Information Commission (MIC)...
 

CPJ hails approval of press law by Uruguayan Congress
Date:12/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists commends the Uruguayan Congress' approval on Wednesday of a bill that repeals criminal defamation on issues of public interest involving officials...
 

Repressive press law passed in Sudan
Date:12/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the passage of a Sudanese press law on Monday that falls short of international standards for freedom of expression...
 

States Attack Human Rights Experts at UN Rights Body
Date:12/06/2009 In an open letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council, thirty-five human rights organisations from every region of the world warned that recent “extraordinary attacks” by states on United Nations human rights experts at the Human Rights Council was “severely eroding the Council’s legitimacy and credibility...
 

France’s 92A equivalent declared unconstitutional
Date:11/06/2009 The proposed French law to deter online copyright infringers, known by the acronym Hadopi and couched in similar terms to New Zealand’s failed section 92A of the Copyright Act, has been struck down by France’s Constitutional Council...
 

Cambodia: Civil society groups slam Cambodian government's harsh suppression of freedom of expression
Date:11/06/2009 Several civil society groups in Cambodia expressed concern at what they claim as the perilous state of freedom of expression in the country...
 

Israel: Rightist acquitted of incitement charges
Date:11/06/2009 Far-right activist and the president of Judea state Michael Ben-Horin was acquitted Thursday by the Jerusalem Magistrate's court of incitement to violence charges...
 

United Arab Emirates: Newland gives up The National editorship
Date:11/06/2009 Martin Newland is giving up the editorship of The National, the daily paper based in Abu Dhabi that he launched in April last year...
 

Pro-opposition editor beaten in Kyrgyzstan
Date:11/06/2009 Following an attack on Friday on the deputy editor of the pro-opposition Kyrgyz-language biweekly Achyk Sayasat (Open Politics), the Committee to Protect Journalists called today on Kyrgyz authorities to ensure that their investigation is prompt and thorough...
 

Radio, video key to agricultural innovation in Africa
Date:11/06/2009 Two-thirds of rural women creatively applied ideas illustrated by videos demonstrating improved food processing techniques compared to less than 20 percent who attended training workshops Conventional media, radio and video, are powerful, accessible and relevant forces of agricultural innovation and transformation in Africa than usually considered, a study published in this week’s issue of the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability reveals...
 

Secretary-general appoints Marie-Evelyne Petrus-Barry as director of United Nations information centre in Pretoria
Date:11/06/2009 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is pleased to announce the appointment of Marie-Evelyne Petrus-Barry as Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Pretoria...
 

Cameroon: Two journalists sentenced to five years in prison following closed-door hearing
Date:10/06/2009 On 3 June 2009, a military tribunal in Yaoundé sentenced Jacques Blaise Mvié and Charles René Nwe, general manager and editor-in-chief, respectively, of La Nouvelle newspaper, to five years in prison and a 500, 000 FCFA (approx...
 

Honduras: Armed men storm online daily's offices
Date:10/06/2009 At 1:30 p...
 

Kosovo: Journalist attacked in articles written in pro-government newspaper
Date:10/06/2009 Kosovo's president and prime minister should forcefully condemn recent threats against the independent journalist Jeta Xharra in a newspaper that receives substantial advertising revenues from the government, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Mexico: Supreme Court to review case involving writer and former first lady
Date:10/06/2009 On 4 June 2009, Mexico's Supreme Court (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación, SCJN) decided to admit for examination an appeal for constitutional relief brought forward by writer Olga Wornat...
 

Philippine broadcast journalist shot dead
Date:10/06/2009 Police in Mindoro Occidental province should immediately investigate the shooting murder of Philippine radio commentator Crispin Perez for possible links to his reporting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Swiss Support Kosovo Media Freedom
Date:10/06/2009 Swiss Ambassador to Kosovo Lukas Beglinger has sent a letter of support to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, condemning the recent spate of attacks against Kosovo journalist Jeta Xharra...
 

Turkey: Reporter faces up to 28 years in prison for book about journalist's murder
Date:10/06/2009 Nedim Sener, a reporter for the daily Milliyet, who has written a book about the murder of journalist Hrant Dink, faces up to 28 years in prison after police officers filed complaints against him...
 

European press freedom charter welcomed
Date:10/06/2009 The Charter on Freedom of the Press initiated by the European journalist community is an important reaffirmation of the basic values, including media pluralism, freedom of expression and information that underpin Europe's democratic traditions and are enshrined in fundamental legal texts, Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, said on June 9 2009...
 

Somali journalists leave profession in fear as another dies
Date:10/06/2009 Somali journalists held an emotional press conference in Mogadishu today at the Sahafi Hotel after Sunday's fatal shooting of the former director of Shabelle Media Network...
 

BBC settles libel battle with IVF doctor
Date:09/06/2009 The BBC confirmed yesterday that it has agreed to settle its costly libel battle with the IVF specialist Mohamed Taranissi over a Panorama programme...
 

Afghanistan's war on books
Date:09/06/2009 The Afghan government last week threw tens of thousands of books into the Helmand river, in the south of the country...
 

Argentina: Intentionally-set fire destroys Radio Activa facilities in El Bolsón
Date:09/06/2009 An intentionally-set fire completely destroyed the facilities of FM Radio Activa, in El Bolsón, Río Negro province, located on the border with Chile...
 

TV reporter shot dead in eastern Guatemala
Date:09/06/2009 An unidentified gunman shot and killed Guatemalan television reporter Marco Antonio Estrada on Saturday night in the eastern city of Chiquimula, the local press reported...
 

North Korea sentences U.S. journalists to 12 years
Date:08/06/2009 We released this statement today after a North Korean court found U...
 

Spain media giant Prisa announces TV merger plan
Date:08/06/2009 Shares in Spanish media giant Prisa, owner of leading daily El Pais, closed sharply higher on Friday after it announced plans to merge its television operations with rival Imagina within a month...
 

Uganda: Court upholds Mwondha’s libel case
Date:08/06/2009 THE Constitutional Court has directed Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court to continue with criminal proceedings against The Daily Monitor journalists, who are accused of writing defamatory information against the Inspector General of Government, Faith Mwondha...
 

USA: Officers Can Order Removal of Veils
Date:08/06/2009 Maryland Attorney General Douglas F...
 

Court victory for Zimbabwean journalists
Date:08/06/2009 Zimbabwe's High Court rules in favor of journalists and labels a state media commission responsible for accrediting journalists as illegal...
 

Gunmen kill Somali radio director
Date:08/06/2009 Gunmen in Somalia have killed the director of influential Radio Shabelle...
 

IPI Congress Honours Russia’s Novaya Gazeta
Date:08/06/2009 The International Press Institute today presented its annual Free Media Pioneer Award to Novaya Gazeta, a Russian newspaper that has withstood mounting government efforts to control the media and has paid dearly for its intrepid reporting over the last decade...
 

Journalist murdered in Mogadishu Somalia
Date:08/06/2009 Somali Coalition for Freedom of Expression (SOCFEX) condemned the killing of the director of radio Shabelle Muqtar Mohamed Hirabe who has been murdered today in Bakare market, Mogadishu by two unknown gunmen...
 

South Africa: State broadcaster accuses newspaper of theft following broadcast of documentary
Date:05/06/2009 The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has laid a charge of stolen property after the Mail and Guardian Online posted on the web an episode of the current affairs programme Special Assignment, a documentary report on political satire...
 

CHINA: Tiananmen: It's raining censorship
Date:05/06/2009 It's hot in Beijing this time of year...
 

Ecuadoran president threatens action against critical media
Date:05/06/2009 The opening of two government investigations into private television network Teleamazonas and threats of legal action by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa against critical media outlets are an attempt by the government to stifle dissent, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Namibia: Information Communication Bill reintroduced in Parliament
Date:05/06/2009 Namibia's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology has gazetted the Information Communications Bill...
 

Philippines: Media groups oppose right of reply bill
Date:05/06/2009 Print and broadcast journalists together with other media groups on Thursday came out to air their strong opposition to the right of reply bill, which is being deliberated in Congress...
 

Venezuela: Journalist prevented from covering protest in support of RCTV; cameraman attacked, videotape stolen
Date:05/06/2009 On 27 May 2009, demonstrators who were demanding the restitution of RCTV station's open signal, prevented state-run station Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) journalist Siary Rodríguez, from covering the protest which took place in Plaza Brión de Chacaito, Caracas...
 

Zimbabwe: Journalists Sue Government Over Accreditation
Date:05/06/2009 Zimbabwean journalists have sued the government, including Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai over the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity's decision to accredit journalists wishing to cover the on-going COMESA Summit...
 

Turkish author on trial questions country's freedom of expression
Date:05/06/2009 Turkish author Nedim Gursel, presently on trial for his book The Daughters of Allah, says increasing religious conservatism in Turkey may be endangering freedom of expression in the European Union-candidate country...
 

UK: Libel, privacy, the ‘chilling effect’ and NGOs
Date:04/06/2009 In its last evidence session for its inquiry into press standards, privacy and libel, the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee today heard from not-for-profit campaign organisation Global Witness’ co-founder Charmian Gooch and Mark Stephens, a lawyer from Finers Stephens Innocent, who has represented non-profit organisations previously...
 

Azerbaijan: Azadlig journalist receives death threat
Date:04/06/2009 Azadlig newspaper employee Vidadi Mammadov reported to the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) that on 2 June 2009, he received a death threat from an unidentified person...
 

The Gambia: ARTICLE 19 Calls on the Gambian Government to Respect Freedom of Expression
Date:04/06/2009 ARTICLE 19 issued an oral statement at the recent 45th session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHR), expressing the organisation’s concern about continuing violations of freedom of expression in The Gambia...
 

Philippine journalist killed in crossfire
Date:04/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists offered condolences today to the family and colleagues of Philippine journalist Jojo Trajano, who was killed in crossfire during a police raid of an alleged organized crime den near Manila...
 

Somalia: Media Director Kidnapped
Date:04/06/2009 The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is today condemning the kidnapping of UNIVERSAL TV Director Ibrahim Mohamed Ali...
 

IPI Urges Slovak Agency to Drop Case against Newspaper
Date:04/06/2009 A Slovak government agency should immediately drop a civil complaint against the daily SME that was filed when the newspaper refused to print a response to a column under a controversial right-of-reply law, the International Press Institute said today...
 

La Russa sues Twitter
Date:04/06/2009 Tony La Russa is suing Twitter, according to Citizen Media Law Project, on the grounds of “trademark infringement and dilution, cybersquatting, and misappropriation of name and likeness...
 

Participants at IFEX General Meeting demand action
Date:04/06/2009 Free expression advocates from around the world gathered this week in Oslo, Norway for the General Meeting (GM) of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX)...
 

UN press freedom expert praise Maldives
Date:04/06/2009 The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, has praised Maldives for steps taken towards strengthen press freedom in Maldives...
 

UK: Undermining press freedom
Date:03/06/2009 Do you know who Suzanne Breen is? If you care about press freedom you should...
 

UK: Undermining press freedom
Date:03/06/2009 'The security services want to force journalists like Northern Ireland editor Suzanne Breen to gather intelligence for the state Do you know who Suzanne Breen is? If you care about press freedom you should...
 

UK: Undermining press freedom
Date:03/06/2009 'The security services want to force journalists like Northern Ireland editor Suzanne Breen to gather intelligence for the state Do you know who Suzanne Breen is? If you care about press freedom you should...
 

UK: Undermining press freedom
Date:03/06/2009 'The security services want to force journalists like Northern Ireland editor Suzanne Breen to gather intelligence for the state Do you know who Suzanne Breen is? If you care about press freedom you should...
 

SRI LANKA: More journalists harassed
Date:03/06/2009 The investigation into the assault on journalist Poddala Jayantha took a new turn when the police arrested and interrogated another journalist who provided the initial information about Mr...
 

China: High security on Tiananmen Square
Date:03/06/2009 China has boosted security in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, ahead of Thursday's anniversary of the killings in 1989...
 

China cracks down on Twitter, other social media
Date:03/06/2009 Chinese authorities shut down blogs, Internet forums, and social media sites such as Twitter in an apparent attempt to stem online political discussion ahead of Thursday's 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on 1989's Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests...
 

Ethiopia: Country Moves to Strengthen Anti-Terrorism Law Media Warner Not to Serve Terrorist Purposes
Date:03/06/2009 The Ethiopian government is working on draft law providing for a tougher punishment of individuals involved in terrorist activity...
 

Malaysia: CIJ now a member of IFEX
Date:03/06/2009 CIJ is accepted as member of the International Freedom of eXpression Exchange (IFEX), an international network of freedom of expression advocates...
 

PHILIPPINES: List of targets exposes activists to abduction, killing
Date:03/06/2009 When the 67-page PowerPoint presentation containing the list of 105 names of persons, including lawyers, union leaders, religious leaders, human rights and political activists, appeared in public after having been reportedly leaked by a military source, what immediately came to mind was that the reaction and implications were reminiscent of the recent past: victims and their organisation being exposed as targets of abductions and killings...
 

USA: Corporate Counsel Launches New “Daily Alert” E-Newsletter for In-House Attorneys
Date:03/06/2009 Incisive Media’s Corporate Counsel, the nation’s leading print and online magazine for general counsel and in-house attorneys at corporations across the country, today launched its new “Daily Alert...
 

Zimbabwe: Rule of law has yet to be restored, says Tsvangirai
Date:03/06/2009 Attempts to restore the rule of law and democratic rights in Zimbabwe have failed thus far, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai has admitted...
 

Title Too Long
Date:03/06/2009 The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Frank La Rue, has come under extraordinary attack while presenting his first annual report to the eleventh session of the Human Rights Committee in Geneva on 2 June 2009...
 

Channel 4, BBC Radio 4 and Guardian win at Amnesty International awards
Date:03/06/2009 Channel 4, BBC Radio 4 and the Guardian were among the winners at the Amnesty International Media Awards last night...
 

Title Too Long
Date:03/06/2009 Council Hears from the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights of Sri Lanka; Concludes Interactive Dialogue on Transnational Corporations, Education and Migrants...
 

Jailed Azerbaijani newspaper editor wins Amnesty International award
Date:03/06/2009 A newspaper editor from Azerbaijan who has been beaten up, threatened, and jailed for eight years on dubious charges last night received a special prize at the Amnesty International Media Awards...
 

MADA joins International Freedom of Expression Exchange
Date:03/06/2009 The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) is pleased to join the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), based in Canada, and which include more than eighty international, regional and national organizations, from different continents, engaged in the defense of freedom of opinion and expression...
 

Swaziland: Government renews intentions to pilot a new media bill
Date:02/06/2009 On 28 May 2009, the Swazi government renewed its intentions to pilot a Media Commission Bill that seeks to regulate the media by statute...
 

Yemen: Dark Days for Yemeni Media
Date:02/06/2009 ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned about the deteriorating climate for free expression in Yemen and urges the authorities to investigate the kidnapping of journalist Salah Jalal, and lift the suspensions imposed on several independent publications and websites since early May...
 

Zimbabwe Independent editors to stand trial
Date:02/06/2009 On 28 May 2009, Harare Magistrate Catherine Chimanda ruled that Vincent Kahiya and Constantine Chimakure, editors of the Zimbabwe Independent, should appear for trial on 16 June...
 

Title Too Long
Date:02/06/2009 On 28 May 2009, unidentified individuals threw a homemade bomb at the building that houses the headquarters of Teleamazonas television station...
 

Amnesty Sees S. Korea’s Human Rights Backpedaling
Date:02/06/2009 South Korea has been backpedaling on human rights regarding expression of opinion, assembly and association under the Lee Myung-bak administration, Amnesty International said Tuesday...
 

Another Sri Lankan journalist attacked
Date:02/06/2009 The general secretary of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association, Poddala Jayantha, was abducted in Sri Lanka today, beaten, and dropped by the side of a road in a Colombo suburb, according to a release by the association and two colleagues who spoke to him...
 

Press Freedom Under Attack Worldwide
Date:02/06/2009 Press freedom violations including attacks on journalists continue to mount worldwide, the World Association of Newspapers said in its half-year review of global press freedom that paints a bleak picture in much of the world...
 

Title Too Long
Date:01/06/2009 Writing on walls is not a modern phenomenon...
 

Bhutan: ‘Too early to say Bhutan has press freedom’
Date:01/06/2009 A Bhutanese journalist working with a weekly newspaper published from Thimphu said it would be too early to say that Bhutan has press freedom even after the country adopted constitution and changed its politics from absolute monarchy to parliamentary democracy last year...
 

Indonesian housewife arrested over online consumer complaint
Date:01/06/2009 An Indonesian woman was arrested on 13 May 2009 for allegedly circulating online defamatory statements against a hospital in Banten province, Indonesia...
 

Iran: Opposition Presidential Candidates Blocked from Equitable Access to the Media
Date:01/06/2009 ARTICLE 19 is concerned that opposition candidates, contesting Iran’s presidential election on 12 June 2009, are being hampered in their campaigning by the Government’s intermittent blocking of social networking sites and closure of independent newspapers...
 

Burmese censor board suspends one issue of weekly journal
Date:01/06/2009 The Ministry of Information’s censor board suspended this week’s issue of the Phoenix Journal after it published several censored news articles...
 

Nepal: New Government Must Safeguard Freedom of Expression
Date:01/06/2009 ARTICLE 19, along with the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) and Freedom Forum (FF), congratulate Madhav Kumar Nepal on his election as Prime Minister of Nepal...
 

Council of Europe: Reykjavik conference maps out future Council of Europe work on media and the Internet
Date:01/06/2009 Ministers and representatives from the 47 Council of Europe member states today adopted an Action Plan that outlines the direction of the organisation’s future work on media and the Internet...
 

In Sudan, vast censorship and a repressive press bill
Date:01/06/2009 'Sudanese media have suffered multiple blows in recent months as parliament considers a harshly repressive press bill and authorities impose an exceptional level of censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

In Sudan, vast censorship and a repressive press bill
Date:01/06/2009 Sudanese media have suffered multiple blows in recent months as parliament considers a harshly repressive press bill and authorities impose an exceptional level of censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Opposition leader's detention keeps spotlight on Myanmar
Date:01/06/2009 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's continued detention in Myanmar puts the human rights spotlight on a country that has denied both economic rights and freedom of expression to its people in the past year...
 

The National Law Journal Launches “The Choice, ” Online News Center Tracking Developments in Sotomayor Confirmation
Date:01/06/2009 Incisive Media’s The National Law Journal has launched “The Choice, ” a new online news center tracking breaking news, background, and commentary related to the nomination and confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the U...
 

Sri Lanka: IBAHRI recommends protections for a justice system, legal profession and media in peril
Date:29/05/2009 Sri Lanka’s justice system, legal profession and media are all under grave threat, concludes a report published today by the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)...
 

Sri Lanka: Journalists trying to cover fate of Tamils are threatened, obstructed
Date:29/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders is extremely worried by statements by Sri Lankan officials, including army commander Gen...
 

Egypt: Court upholds heavy fine against blogger
Date:29/05/2009 The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information and Mosawah Association for Human Rights in Port Said expressed their strong condemnation over the unjust ruling issued on 26 May 2009 by the al-Zohour Court of Appeal in Port Said, which upheld an earlier decision issued on 20 January...
 

Iraq: A step forward and a step back in prime minister’s lawsuits against news media
Date:29/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders deplores the libel suit that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has brought against the London-based Guardian newspaper...
 

Iraq: Historic day in Baghdad as IFJ launches journalism support programme
Date:29/05/2009 Leaders of journalists unions from around the world travelled to Baghdad at the weekend for a conference on support for media in Iraq - the first international meeting of any kind in the city since the war began six years ago...
 

Norwegian Freedom Award given to jailed Cuban
Date:29/05/2009 Imprisoned Independent journalist Normando Hernández has been awarded the Norwegian Writers Association’s annual “Freedom of Expression” award...
 

Sierra Leone: Analysis of Draft Information Law
Date:29/05/2009 ARTICLE 19 has prepared a Note on the draft Sierra Leonean Right to Access Information Bill 2008, prepared through a collaborative effort of local NGOs and the authorities...
 

Palestinian Territories: More journalists arrested as a result of tension between Palestinian factions
Date:29/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the renewed harassment of pro-Hamas journalists by the West Bank security services, in particular the arrests of Al-Aqsa TV cameraman Oussid Amarena and Filasteen bureau chief Mustapha Sabri in the past 11 days...
 

CPJ hails conviction in 2003 journalist murder in Brazil
Date:29/05/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Wednesday's conviction in the June 2003 murder of Brazilian journalist Nicanor Linhares but calls on the authorities to ensure that all those involved in the killing of the radio host are brought to justice...
 

In Venezuela, hundreds march for press freedom
Date:29/05/2009 Hundreds of opponents of President Hugo Chavez marched in support of press freedom in Venezuela on Wednesday, two years after his government refused to renew the concession of an opposition-aligned television station...
 

Gabon targets media over coverage of Bongo's health
Date:28/05/2009 'The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the government of Gabon's crackdown on independent media coverage of President Omar Bongo's hospitalization and potential succession issues...
 

Gabon targets media over coverage of Bongo's health
Date:28/05/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the government of Gabon's crackdown on independent media coverage of President Omar Bongo's hospitalization and potential succession issues...
 

Malawi opposition radio station still off the air
Date:28/05/2009 A magistrate in Malawi should allow an opposition radio station sealed by police during general elections on May 19 to reopen, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Mexico: Crime reporter abducted and killed in Durango state
Date:28/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders is dismayed by the murder of Eliseo Barrón Hernández, 36, a crime reporter for the daily Milenio Torreón and several regional media, whose body was found in an irrigation ditch in the northern state of Durango yesterday, a day after he was kidnapped from his home...
 

Sudan: ARTICLE 19 Submits Written Statement to 11th Session of UN Human Rights Council
Date:28/05/2009 ARTICLE 19, supported by the Khartoum Center for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED), has submitted a written statement expressing serious concern about the deteriorating human rights situation in Sudan to the 11th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, taking place from 2 to 19 June 2009...
 

USA: Blogger jailed for contempt in Smith case
Date:28/05/2009 A Houstonian who’s being sued by the mother of the late Anna Nicole Smith spent the holiday weekend in jail, making her the latest gossip blogger to pay a steep price for her hobby...
 

Zimbabwe: Foreign journalists welcome to do their job, says PM
Date:28/05/2009 Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai announced last week that foreign journalists are free to report from Zimbabwe, where many have previously been banned and others arrested and harassed, report the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and news reports...
 

Canada: Court to rule on 'tidal wave' of press-freedom cases
Date:27/05/2009 The value that Canadians place on the freedom of the press will be put to the test in five media rights cases that dominate the Supreme Court of Canada docket this year...
 

Mexican journalist who covered police is abducted and killed
Date:27/05/2009 Authorities found the body of a journalist who covered the police beat in northern Mexico this morning after he was abducted from his house on Monday night, according to Mexican news reports...
 

Philippine court denies motion for reconsideration by alleged masterminds behind Esperat slay
Date:27/05/2009 The Philippine press gained another victory in its fight against impunity after a local court in Sultan Kudarat affirmed its earlier denial of the motion to dismiss the case against the alleged masterminds in the killing of journalist Marlene Esperat...
 

Rwanda: Media Bill Amendment Welcome - Says Journalists
Date:27/05/2009 President Paul Kagame's move to re-table the media bill has received much acclaim from media practitioners and associations in the country...
 

Somalia: Kidnapped journalists in Somalia reportedly ill
Date:27/05/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is very concerned about the well-being of two captive journalists, a Canadian and an Australian, who urged their respective governments to work harder for their release in a phone call with a reporter on Sunday...
 

Somalia: Radio reporter shot by militia dies of injuries, fourth journalist to be killed this year
Date:27/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders expressed shock and deep sadness at the news of the death today of journalist Nur Muse Hussein of Radio Voice of Holy Quran as a result of a bullet wound he received on 20 April...
 

Sudanese journalists say “a free press or no press”
Date:27/05/2009 Fury has swept across the media in Sudan as a new media law threatens to further worsen conditions and heighten prerequisites for practicing journalism in the country...
 

Venezuela rejects concerns from UN, OAS on media
Date:27/05/2009 A top diplomat on Saturday defended Venezuela's investigation into a leading anti-government television station, rebuffing the concerns of U...
 

Poland: MPs vote to scrap TV and radio licence
Date:27/05/2009 Poland’s lower house of parliament, the Sejm, has voted to abolish the licence fee and replace it with direct funding from taxation...
 

Daily Mail pays out over adoption story
Date:27/05/2009 'The Daily Mail has paid £10, 000 libel damages each to three women after it ran a story alleging they rated their careers and figures more highly than having children...
 

Daily Mail pays out over adoption story
Date:27/05/2009 'The Daily Mail has paid £10, 000 libel damages each to three women after it ran a story alleging they rated their careers and figures more highly than having children...
 

Daily Mail pays out over adoption story
Date:27/05/2009 The Daily Mail has paid £10, 000 libel damages each to three women after it ran a story alleging they rated their careers and figures more highly than having children...
 

New French law on Internet piracy meets skepticism
Date:27/05/2009 A thousand French Internet users a day could be taken off-line following approval of President Nicolas Sarkozy's pet project ; an unprecedented law to cut the Internet connections of people who repeatedly pirate music and movies...
 

Finnish gov't wants broad powers to force media to name sources
Date:22/05/2009 A Finnish government working group on Wednesday proposed a number of increases police powers, including the right to force reporters to name sources during the preliminary investigation stage...
 

Gambia: Freedom Of Expression Rapporteur On The Gambia
Date:22/05/2009 The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa at the African Commission on Human and People’s Right (ACHPR), Commissioner Madam Pansy Tlakula, indicated, in her activity report, submitted to the Commission’s 45th ordinary session, the Commission’s concerns on the harassment and intimidation of the independent media in The Gambia...
 

Philippines: A journalist on army target list, another shot, possibly by soldier
Date:22/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders is alarmed to learn that a journalist and two human rights groups were on an armed forces “order of battle” list of surveillance targets in the south of Mindanao Island in 2007 because of their alleged links to the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army...
 

Tunisia: Police in Gafsa mining region harass reporter for banned newspaper
Date:22/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the way the police in Gafsa (400 km southwest of Tunis) have been harassing political activist Ammar Amroussia in recent days...
 

IPU Assembly: ARTICLE 19 Welcomes Resolution on Freedom of Expression and the Right to Information
Date:22/05/2009 ARTICLE 19 welcomes the resolution on Freedom of Expression and the Right to Information adopted by the 120th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 5-10 April 2009...
 

Bangladesh: Government’s Vision for Digital Bangladesh Must Include Community Radios
Date:20/05/2009 As part of its vision for Digital Bangladesh, the Government of Bangladesh has committed to issuing licenses for community radio stations...
 

Malawi journalists detained during presidential election
Date:20/05/2009 Authorities in Malawi should immediately release three journalists arrested today in a police raid on an opposition radio station, the Committee to Protect Journalists said...
 

Malaysia: Selangor to enact Freedom of Info law
Date:20/05/2009 Selangor will be the first state to table a Freedom of Information (FOI) Enactment bill in its legislative assembly by the end of this year...
 

Russia: Journalist convicted of defaming prison service by reporting detainee torture claims
Date:20/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns journalist Elena Maglevannaya’s conviction by a court in the southern city of Volgograd of defaming the prison service in articles about torture in Russian prisons that she wrote for the website Vestnikcivitas...
 

Syria: Proposed press law reform poses new threat to Internet
Date:20/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders’ concerns about online free expression in Syria have increased as a result of an informal meeting on 10 May of the committee tasked with drafting a new press law...
 

Iran: Pro-reform daily closed one day after bringing out first issue in five years
Date:19/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the pro-reform daily Yas-e-no’s closure on 16 May, immediately after it brought out its first issue in five years...
 

Moroccan journalists face charges of defaming Qaddafi
Date:19/05/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by the start of court proceedings today against five Moroccan journalists charged with publicly harming Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, left, and hurting his dignity...
 

African Commission to Act on Violation Reports
Date:19/05/2009 The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa Advocate Pansy Tlakula is working on reports of violations of freedom of expression by several African countries, including Zimbabwe...
 

Relax media laws - Zim journos
Date:19/05/2009 Zimbabwean journalists want the country's new unity government to scrap tough media laws which critics say President Robert Mugabe has used to muzzle his opponents...
 

Jamaica: Local experts call for reform of defamation laws
Date:18/05/2009 Recognising the need for greater press freedom and the importance of free speech to good governance, Jamaica has embarked on a serious review of its defamation laws–a move being applauded by local experts who say there is need for a similar approach here...
 

Kenya: ARTICLE 19 Calls for Expansion of Freedom of Expression Rights to be Integrated into the New Draft Constitution of Kenya
Date:18/05/2009 Today, ARTICLE 19 Kenya and East Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya, submitted its comments to the Committee of Experts for the new Constitutional Review Process currently ongoing in Kenya...
 

Burma: Growing restrictions on free flow of information
Date:18/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns a new wave of obstacles that Burma’s military government has imposed on Internet usage as well as its expulsion of two American journalism teachers on 6 May...
 

South Caucasus: Continued Violence Against Journalists Symptomatic of Ongoing Repression in the Region
Date:18/05/2009 ARTICLE 19 is becoming increasingly concerned that acts of violence against journalists in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are on the rise...
 

USA: Laws That Could Save Journalism
Date:18/05/2009 Unless Congress embarks on far-reaching change in public policy to maintain the viability of journalism as it evolves online, we will soon find ourselves with the remnants of a broken industry incapable of providing the knowledge necessary to manage life in a complex world...
 

Venezuela: CNP urges the government to honor freedom of expression
Synopsis Too Long
 

Zimbabwe media lawyer free a day after arrest
Date:18/05/2009 We welcome good news from Zimbabwe today as authorities released Alec Muchadehama, one of many lawyers working in defense of persecuted journalists in that country...
 

Global: Artist Alert
Date:18/05/2009 Art, in any form, constitutes a key medium through which information and ideas are imparted and received...
 

Defending the Right to Express Sexual and Gender Identity
Date:18/05/2009 On the occasion of 17 May, International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, ARTICLE 19 announces the launch of a new project on freedom of expression, and sexual and gender identity...
 

OAS issues joint declaration on framework for media and elections
Date:18/05/2009 The four special mandates on freedom of expression - the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative of Freedom of the Media, the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the ACHPR (African COmmission on Human and Peoples' Rights) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information - on Friday issued a Joint Statement on Media and Elections with the assistance of Article 19...
 

Armenia: Free speech under assault in Yerevan
Date:15/05/2009 Journalists in Armenia, both opposition and pro-government in orientation, indicate that they are increasingly wary of trying to fulfill the press’ traditional role of government watchdog...
 

Botswana: Deep Divisions Remain Over Media Law
Date:15/05/2009 Inter Press Services news agency reports that deep divisions still remain in Botswana over the Media Practitioners Act passed in December 2008...
 

Colombia: Former intelligence officials leak list of news media and journalists whose phones were tapped
Date:15/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for an investigation by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) following a new round of revelations about the spying on journalists and news media by the DAS, an intelligence agency that reports directly to the president’s office...
 

Kenya to dispel repressive clause in media law
Date:15/05/2009 The Kenyan government has finally conceded to repealing the repressive clause in the country's media law, but the decision is yet to be approved by parliament...
 

Mauritania: Leading journalist escapes murder attempt
Date:15/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders today voiced its outrage following a murder attempt against Mohamed Ould Zeine, editor of the independent Arab-language daily El Wattan and star presenter on Radio Mauritania...
 

Thai government wants prior restraint on community radio programs and satellite, cable TV stations
Date:15/05/2009 The Thai government announced on 14 May 2009 its plan to regulate the program content of radio stations and satellite TV stations in the country, media reports said...
 

EAST TIMOR: Journalists Hold Out For Better Media Laws
Date:15/05/2009 Journalists in East Timor are anxiously waiting for a set of media laws to be revised after a negative reaction to a draft that was circulated in March...
 

Venezuela Targets Cable Station
Date:15/05/2009 The government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has taken actions that could shutter a private television news station, part of an offensive that has led to the seizure of foreign oil firms and a congressional effort to control the financing of nongovernmental organizations critical of the state...
 

Zimbabwe media defense lawyer arrested
Date:15/05/2009 Police in Zimbabwe should immediately release Alec Muchadehama, left, a prominent human rights lawyer targeted for his work on behalf of journalist Anderson Shadreck Manyere and others, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Zimbabwe: Banned singer to attend the Global Forum on Freedom of Expression in Norway
Date:15/05/2009 Zimbabwe protest musician Viomak has been invited to participate at the Global Forum on Freedom of Expression (GFFE) lasting from 1 June through to 6 June 2009 in Oslo...
 

Cuban journalist sentenced to three years in prison
Date:15/05/2009 A Cuban independent journalist was sentenced during a summary trial on Tuesday to three years in prison on charges of disrespect, journalists in Havana told the Committee to Protect Journalists today...
 

Special Mandates Highlight Framework for Media and Elections
Date:15/05/2009 The four special mandates on freedom of expression – the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the ACHPR (African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information – today issued a Joint Statement on Media and Elections, with the assistance of ARTICLE 19...
 

Sarkozy’s Web Piracy Law Passed; Raises European Ire
Date:14/05/2009 France passed one of the world’s harshest laws against Internet piracy, giving the government the right to disconnect users who illegally download music and film...
 

Kenya: MPs urged to act fast on media law
Date:14/05/2009 Kenya media owners have asked parliament to act fast on amendments to the Communications Act that will delete the controversial clause that empowers the State to raid broadcasting stations...
 

Tunisia tries to oust head of journalist syndicate
Date:14/05/2009 Tunisian government efforts to force out the president of a critical journalists union is part of a campaign to eliminate independent media in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Zimbabwe: Three journalists arrested, held overnight then freed on bail
Date:14/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns a police raid on the Harare headquarters of the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper on 9 May and the arrests of its director, editor and news editor two days later...
 

Newspaper reporter arrested as she returns to Israel from Gaza Strip
Date:14/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns Israeli newspaper reporter Amira Hass’s arrest at the Erez border crossing yesterday as she returned to Israel after spending four months in the Gaza Strip reporting for the Tel Aviv-based daily Haaretz in violation of a military ban on Israeli citizens visiting the Palestinian Territories...
 

UK: The Times convicted of contempt of court for report on jury's disagreement
Date:13/05/2009 The Times and a jury foreman who spoke to the paper about how he disagreed with the verdict reached by jurors in a manslaughter case have been found guilty of contempt of court today...
 

Angola: In continuing harassment, newspaper editor forbidden to leave country
Date:13/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the foreign travel ban that has been placed on William Tonet, the editor of the independent Luanda-based biweekly Folha 8 (F8), whose passport was seized when he tried to cross by land into Namibia on 9 May...
 

Brazil: Lula Sends Access to Information Bill to Congress
Date:13/05/2009 Brazilian President Lula da Silva today sent the long-awaited draft Access to Information Bill to the Brazilian National Congress...
 

Indonesian central bank guard attacks TV journalist to prevent news coverage
Date:13/05/2009 A building security officer of the Bank Indonesia (BI) attacked a TV journalist in Jakarta on 13 May...
 

Title Too Long
Date:13/05/2009 The AWARE saga has demonstrated how important it is to stand up for our ideals...
 

Tunisia: Court dismiss cooking oil lawsuits against opposition daily
Date:13/05/2009 A Tunis court has dismissed the lawsuits that five Tunisian companies brought against the opposition daily Al Maoukif over an April 2008 article about an Algerian import ban on their cooking oil because it was said to be tainted...
 

Yemen: Three Injured as Newspaper Offices Attacked
Date:13/05/2009 This morning police surrounded and opened fire on the offices of independent daily Yemeni newspaper Al Ayyam's, resulting in injuries to three staff...
 

Zimbabwe minister calls for media law changes
Date:13/05/2009 A former opposition politician who joined Zimbabwes government as deputy information minister is calling for changes in the laws under which two journalists were arrested this week...
 

Zimbabwe: Arrest of Journalists Unfortunate
Date:13/05/2009 The Deputy Minister of Information and Publicity Jameson Timba, has said the arrest of Zimbabwe Independent journalists is unfortunate as it comes at a time the country is working on reforming tough media laws...
 

ZIMBABWE: Laws used to
Date:13/05/2009 A senior Zimbabwean government official has admitted that laws passed by the previous administration were still being used to criminalise journalism and needed to be changed, after two journalists more were arrested earlier this week...
 

New York legislator faces charges in attack on photographer
Date:13/05/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the prosecution of an elected New York state official for his alleged attack on a photographer who was trying to take his picture...
 

Botswana: Publishers challenge media law
Date:12/05/2009 A lawyer representing publishers in Botswana says they have taken a first legal step they hope will lead to a new media law being declared unconstitutional...
 

Fiji: Government arrests two journalists in another “warning shot” for press freedom
Date:12/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrests of two journalists, Shelvin Chand and Dionisia Turaganbeci, under emergency regulations for writing a negative article about Commodore Frank Bainimarama's military government for the FijiLive news website...
 

Israel Closes Media Center, Upsetting Palestinians
Date:12/05/2009 The Israeli police on Monday closed down an official Palestinian media center that had been set up in East Jerusalem for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, as Israel and the Palestinians competed to exercise authority in the contested part of the city...
 

Zimbabwe journalists urge media law reform
Date:12/05/2009 Zimbabwean journalists want the countrys new unity government to scrap tough media laws which critics say President Robert Mugabe has used to muzzle his opponents...
 

One year on, China stifles reporting on earthquake victims
Date:12/05/2009 After the recent harassment of several foreign journalists and the arrest of least one local writer, the Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in Sichuan province to allow journalists to report freely in the area on the one-year anniversary of the devastating May 12, 2008, earthquake...
 

Sri Lanka throws out three Channel 4 journalists
Date:11/05/2009 Asia correspondent Nick Paton Walsh deported after report on deaths, food shortages and sexual abuse at refugee camp Sri Lanka deported three journalists from Channel 4 television today, a day after they were arrested for alleged false reporting on the civil war...
 

Ireland: Eady on privacy and free speech
Date:11/05/2009 Ireland is in the throes of enacting a specific law to protect privacy plus a new defamation law...
 

Kenya: Civil Society Adopt the Machakos Declaration on Freedom of Expression in Kenya
Date:11/05/2009 ARTICLE 19 Kenya/East Africa organised a ground-breaking forum on freedom of expression in Kenya which brought together representatives from Kenyan civil society including media professionals, academics, human rights defenders, and youth and community representatives in Machakos...
 

UZBEKISTAN: ARTICLE 19 Wins Key Case at UN Human Rights Committee
Date:11/05/2009 On 19 March 2009, the UN Human Rights Committee issued its decision in the case of Mavlonov and Sa'di v...
 

Vietnam: ARTICLE 19 Assists with Drafting Freedom of Information Law
Date:11/05/2009 ARTICLE 19 has been working with the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice, which is drafting a right to information law, to help ensure that the draft is as consistent as possible with international standards and best national practice...
 

Zimbabwe: Journalists Spurn Govt Summit on Press Freedom
Date:11/05/2009 Media organisations this week dug in their heels over boycotting a national media conference in the resort town of Kariba...
 

Northern Ireland police take journalist to court over source material
Date:11/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns an attempt by the Northern Ireland police to obtain a court order in Belfast that would force Suzanne Breen, the Belfast editor of the Dublin-based Sunday Tribune newspaper, to hand over all her source material about the Real IRA, an Irish Republican Army splinter group...
 

Turkey: Özgür-Der closure case puts freedom of speech under spotlight
Date:11/05/2009 Representatives from civil society organizations have denounced a court case aiming to shut down the Freedom Association (Özgür-Der), stressing that the closure of the association, which fights for broader rights and freedoms in Turkey, would deal a serious blow to freedom of expression in the country...
 

The Americas: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Presents its 2008 Annual Report
Date:11/05/2009 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented its annual report before the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Organization of American States (OAS) today, the second volume of which is the 2008 Annual Report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression...
 

CPJ background paper describes legal issues in Saberi case
Date:11/05/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is issuing a background paper today that describes the legal issues surrounding the appeal of journalist Roxana Saberi, who is imprisoned in Iran on espionage charges...
 

Saberi release is moment for joy, concern
Date:11/05/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists has issued the following statement in response to reports that freelance journalist Roxana Saberi, who had been imprisoned in Iran, has been released this morning: We are thrilled that Roxana Saberi has been released from prison and look forward to welcoming her home, said Joel Simon, CPJ executive director...
 

Sri Lanka: Parliamentarian threatens online journalists
Date:08/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the telephone threats that have been made against reporter Santha Wijesuirya of the Lankaenews website and his editor, Bennet Rupasingha, by parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa, the leader of the National Freedom Front...
 

Botswana publishers challenge media law
Date:08/05/2009 A lawyer representing publishers in Botswana says they have taken a first legal step they hope will lead to a new media law being declared unconstitutional...
 

Kazakhstan's uneasy press freedom
Date:08/05/2009 Kazakhstans independent journalists are threatened by proposed laws to censor speech online The Republic of Kazakhstan is an unlikely setting for a battle over free speech on the internet...
 

Madagascar: Detained Radio Mada reporter is charged and transferred to prison
Date:08/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by today's decision to keep Radio Mada sports reporter Evariste Ramanantsoavina in detention and charge him with inciting revolt against the republic's institutions, defamation and disseminating false information...
 

Malaysian government's crackdown on free expression alarms media group
Date:08/05/2009 CIJ raises concern over possible clampdown on anti-government expression The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) is deeply worried that the new administration under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has begun a swoop of those publicly opposed to the takeover of the northern state of Perak by the ruling Federal government Barisan Nasional...
 

USA(Texas): Reporters' shield law faces final hurdle
Date:08/05/2009 The Texas Legislature has made it possible for the state to join 36 other states in providing a reporters shield law...
 

Turkey: Lawyers Call for Revision of Penal Code and Fewer Arrests
Date:08/05/2009 At a Freedom of Expression Conference in Istanbul, lawyers evaluated the legal basis of the protection and violation of freedom of expression in Turkey...
 

European Union Must Keep Human Rights at the Core of its Eastern Partnership
Date:08/05/2009 Following the launch of the European Union (EU)'s Eastern Partnership on 7 May, ARTICLE 19 calls on the EU to keep protection for human rights and freedom of expression at the heart of the Eastern Partnership and its dialogue with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine...
 

CPJ alarmed by press violations in Iraqi Kurdistan
Date:08/05/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists would like to bring to your attention the deterioration of press freedom in Kurdistan...
 

Online defamation still carries prison term, Indonesian High Court says
Date:08/05/2009 Today, Tuesday, 5 May 2009, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia read out its decision over the Request for a Judicial Review against Law No...
 

Press Freedom In Iran
Date:08/05/2009 Roxana Saberi spent World Press Freedom Day as she has almost every day since January 31 - in Evin prison in Tehran...
 

Pressures muzzling Iraqi journalists
Date:08/05/2009 It is safer to walk around Baghdad with an AK-47 than with a camera, says Iraqi journalist Youssef Ismail...
 

Democratic Republic of Congo: Government suspends French public radio broadcasts in northeast
Date:07/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders wrote yesterday to communication and media minister Lambert Mendé condemning the government's decision to suspend local retransmission of the French public radio station Radio France Internationale (RFI) in the northeastern city of Bunia, and voicing concern at the possibility that the measure could be extended to the rest of the country...
 

Côte d’Ivoire: French photographer freed after being held for 16 months in Abidjan
Date:07/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders hails the provisional release today of French photographer Jean-Paul Ney, who had been held in Abidjan since late December 2007 in connection with a conspiracy to overthrow the Ivorian government known as the Christmas in Abidjan affair...
 

Indonesia: Press Freedom Victim of Defamation Law’s ‘Inverted Logic, ’ Journalists Say
Date:07/05/2009 In what has been labelled a major blow to freedom of expression, the Constitutional Court on Tuesday rejected a request for judicial review filed by a group of bloggers and media rights advocates against articles in the Electronic Information and Transaction Law that allow the filing of defamation charges in cases involving electronically transmitted or distributed information...
 

Malaysia: Government Crackdown on Freedom of Expression
Date:07/05/2009 Amnesty International calls on the Malaysian authorities to release five government critics arrested in the last two days, or charge them with recognizable criminal offences...
 

Title Too Long
Date:07/05/2009 ARTICLE 19 calls on the Yemeni government to immediately lift all forms of censorship on the media and return confiscated newspapers...
 

Zimbabwe: Journalists protest re-arrests and boycott govt media conference
Date:07/05/2009 The re-arrests of political and human rights activists has sparked fury among civil society in Zimbabwe...
 

Is Internet access a 'fundamental right'?
Date:07/05/2009 We live in a world that demands entitlements for just about everything...
 

Iran court to hear U.S.-born reporter's appeal
Date:06/05/2009 An Iranian court will hold a hearing next week on the appeal of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi against her eight-year jail sentence for espionage, the judiciary said Tuesday...
 

Yemen 'curbing freedom' of press
Date:06/05/2009 Two media freedom campaign groups have criticised Yemen for what they say are attempts to suppress reporting about protests in the south of the country...
 

YouTube completes a year of being blocked in Turkey
Date:06/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the fact the video-sharing website YouTube has been inaccessible in Turkey for the past 12 months...
 

Journalists decry Afghan arrests
Date:06/05/2009 Afghan journalists have condemned the arrest of two TV reporters over material they broadcast...
 

Bangladesh: ARTICLE 19 Launches Right to Information Handbook
Date:05/05/2009 ARTICLE 19 has launched a handbook on the 2009 Right to Information Act on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2009...
 

Brazil: Supreme Court Strikes Down Press Law
Date:05/05/2009 On 30 April 2009, the Brazilian Supreme Court held that the 1967 Press Law, adopted by a military government, was void as it breached the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression...
 

Brazilian court annuls dictatorship-era press law
Date:05/05/2009 Brazils Supreme Court has struck down a press censorship law enacted during a nearly quarter-century military dictatorship...
 

Kenya: The other side of the controversial media law
Date:05/05/2009 Imagine transacting in a paperless environment...
 

Yemen: Aden-based daily’s delivery trucks intercepted
Date:05/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the repeated hijacking of trucks carrying copies of the privately-owned daily Al-Ayyam in the past few days...
 

Yemen: Yemeni authorities prevents 6 newspapers from distribution
Date:05/05/2009 Yemeni government ordered the confiscation of six national newspapers, whose copies were pulled from the news stands and markets across the country yesterday alleging their role in promoting secessionism and anti-unity rhetoric...
 

Zimbabwe: Timba calls for repeal of media laws
Date:05/05/2009 Media, Information and Publicity Deputy Minister Jameson Timba has criticised Zimbabwean media laws for limiting press freedom and freedom of expression...
 

Council of Europe: Media freedom must not fall victim to anti-terrorist laws
Date:05/05/2009 The right to freely receive and impart information is essential at any time in a democratic society, but in times of crisis, such as a terrorist attack it is even more important, said Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis today in a statement to mark the World Press Freedom Day on 3 May...
 

International: Freedom of the media declines worldwide, report says
Date:05/05/2009 Global declines in press freedom persisted last year, with setbacks highlighted in Israel, Italy, Taiwan, Hong Kong and elsewhere across the world, an annual survey said Friday...
 

Bloggers challenge traditional media
Date:05/05/2009 The lack of press freedom has defined the life of Mohammad Ali Al Abdullah...
 

Government seizes newspaper offices in Yemen
Date:05/05/2009 After confiscating thousands of copies of a critical independent newspaper, authorities laid siege today to the papers offices in Aden, Yemen...
 

Times Co. Postpones Threat to Close Boston Globe
Date:05/05/2009 After wringing concessions from all but one of The Boston Globe's labor unions, The New York Times Company on Monday postponed its threat to start the process of closing The Globe, leaving the newspaper's immediate future resting on talks with the largest union, the Boston Newspaper Guild...
 

Armenian online editor beaten, hospitalized
Date:01/05/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Armenian authorities to apprehend three assailants who attacked Argishti Kivirian, editor of the independent news Web site Armenia Today...
 

CAMBODIA: Why should an MP defamation plaintiff be sued and have her immunity suspended?
Date:01/05/2009 At a news conference on 23 April 2009, Ms Mu Sohua, Member of Parliament (MP) for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), flanked by her lawyer, announced that she was going to file a defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Hun Sen...
 

Moroccan bloggers create first association
Date:01/05/2009 Moroccan online writers formed the Association of Moroccan Bloggers early this month at a conference in Rabat...
 

Nigeria: Promoting Access to Information and the Right to Health
Date:01/05/2009 Participants at two pilot workshops organised by ARTICLE 19, in partnership with the Center for the Right to Health (CRH) and Media Rights Agenda(MRA), have adopted strategies promoting the right of access to information in health matters in two Nigerian: Enugu and Lagos...
 

Briefing: Pakistani journalists face Taliban, military threats
Date:01/05/2009 Journalists in Pakistan have come under rapidly escalating pressure as the military confronts Taliban militants in the northwest region of the country...
 

Panamanian journalist sentenced to two years in prison
Date:01/05/2009 A Panama City court has sentenced leading Panamanian journalist Jean Marcel Chéry to two years in prison on trespassing charges stemming from a years-long series of complaints filed by a Supreme Court justice...
 

South Africa: Freeze on pardons ‘a victory’
Date:30/04/2009 An interim North Gauteng High Court order freezing the granting of presidential pardons for politically motivated apartheid-era crimes was yesterday welcomed as a massive victory for freedom of expression...
 

Egypt: Local report documents violations against 43 internet users
Date:30/04/2009 The prominent Egyptian NGO Hisham Mubarak Center for Law (HMCL) issued a report, titled Egypt on the Crossroad …2008, documenting the status of freedom of expression in the country during the year 2008, including the detention and harassment of bloggers...
 

Indonesia: Rioting Indonesian soldiers attack journalists, confiscate equipment
Date:30/04/2009 Several Indonesian journalists are in danger in Jayapura in Papua province after hundreds of soldiers in the area rioted on 29 April...
 

A Newspaper ‘to Serve Society, Not the State’: Russia’s Novaya Gazeta Wins IPI Pioneer Award
Date:30/04/2009 Novaya Gazeta, the crusading Moscow newspaper that has paid a deadly price for its reporting during a period when the Kremlin has sought to rein in independent media, has been named winner of the International Press Institute's 2009 Free Media Pioneer Award...
 

10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger
Date:30/04/2009 With a military government that severely restricts Internet access and imprisons people for years for posting critical material, Burma is the worst place in the world to be a blogger, the Committee to Protect Journalists says in a new report...
 

East African Journalists Called To Apply To ICF and Thomson Reuters Foundation Training Course in Zambia
Date:30/04/2009 The Investment Climate Facility (ICF) for Africa and the Thomson Reuters Foundation have today launched a call for applications to their groundbreaking business journalism training course being held in Zambia next month...
 

Independent news agency launched in Djibouti aims to be reliable source of news about Somalia
Date:30/04/2009 The Somali Independent News Agency (SOMINA) was unveiled today in Djibouti by Omar Faruk Osman Nur, the secretary-general of the National Union of Somali journalists, and Robert Ménard, the head of the Doha Centre for Media Freedom...
 

Niger: Newspaper publisher loses appeal
Date:29/04/2009 The Niamey Court of Appeal in Niger upheld the three-month sentence handed to Boussada Ben Ali, publisher of LAction weekly newspaper, by a Magistrates Court...
 

Jordan: Court aquits well-know columnist of deafaming parliament
Date:29/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders is relieved to learn that Khaled Mahadin, a well-known columnist who writes for the government-owned Al Rai newspaper, has been acquitted of insulting parliament in an article posted on the website Khabberni on 13 February criticising the personal expenses of parliamentarians...
 

Somalia: Independent news agency launched in Djibouti aims to be reliable source of news about Somalia
Date:29/04/2009 The Somali Independent News Agency (SOMINA) was unveiled today in Djibouti by Omar Faruk Osman Nur, the secretary-general of the National Union of Somali journalists, and Robert Ménard, the head of the Doha Centre for Media Freedom...
 

Sudanese journalists angry at new media law
Date:29/04/2009 Sudanese journalists are up in arms over a move to send controversial media laws to Parliament before consultations between different players are over, writes Dennis Itumbi for journalism...
 

United Arab Emirates: Draft media law: Journalists 'will insist on changes'
Date:29/04/2009 The UAE Journalists Association reiterated their objection to some articles of the new media draft law and insisted that they would not change their stance...
 

IP Law & Business Launches New “Weekly Report” E-Newsletter
Date:29/04/2009 Incisive Media's IP Law & Business, a leading print and online information resource for attorneys responsible for protecting and managing corporate intellectual property assets, today launched its new Weekly Report...
 

Title Too Long
Synopsis Too Long
 

Colombia: Radio reporter gunned down in Cauca department, probably in connection with his work
Date:28/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders urges the authorities to shed all possible light on the murder of José Everardo Aguilar, a reporter for the privately-owned regional radio stations Radio Super and Bolívar Estéreo, who was gunned down in his home in El Bordo, a town in the southwestern department of Cauca, on 24 April...
 

Somalia: Islamist militia closes radio station, arrests three journalists
Date:28/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the raid which members of the Islamist armed group Al-Shabaab carried out yesterday on Radio Jubba in Baidoa (250 km northwest of Mogadishu), closing the station and arresting three of its journalists...
 

Thailand: Censorship lifted on some websites
Date:28/04/2009 The information and communication ministry asked Internet Service Providers on 24 April to lift the censorship on 72 news websites operated by the government's Red Shirt opponents...
 

UC Berkeley Fellowships for African Journalists
Date:28/04/2009 The Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley is pleased to invite applications for two yearlong fellowships for accomplished African journalists, beginning in August 2009...
 

UK: Google Street View cleared of breaking Data Protection Act
Date:27/04/2009 Google Street View, the controversial website that shows 360-degree street views of many of Britains cities does not breach the Data Protection Act, the information commissioner ruled today...
 

UK: Internet pirates beware: this man is out to stop you
Date:27/04/2009 For a man engaged in the political equivalent of herding cats, David Lammy seems in a remarkably good mood...
 

Sri Lanka: Reporters Without Borders welcomes release of N. Vithyatharan
Date:27/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders welcomed the release of editor of the Tamil daily Sudar Oli, N...
 

Lebanon: Newspaper under pressure because of political tension and rivalry
Date:27/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the distribution ban which the Syrian authorities have imposed on the privately-owned Lebanese daily Al-Diyar since 22 April and the threats that have been made against its editor, Charles Ayoub, a Lebanese politician with a pro-Syrian stance...
 

Mexico: ARTICLE 19 Expresses Serious Concerns over Assault
Date:27/04/2009 A prominent political cartoonist, Mario Robles, of the newspaper Noticias Voz e Imagen de Oaxaca in western Mexico was violently assaulted and subjected to death threats by members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) on 19 April...
 

Burmese junta censors story on arrest of murder suspect
Date:27/04/2009 Local weekly journals in Rangoon said they have been prohibited from publishing follow-up news on a murder case in Botahtaung Township...
 

Namibia: Concern over appointment of ruling party activist to communications board
Date:27/04/2009 Cabinet recently endorsed the appointment of the controversial Editor of the SWAPO Party newspaper, Asser Landulandje Ntinda, as board member of the Namibia Communications Commission (NCC)...
 

North Korea will try American journalists
Date:27/04/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today after North Korea announced that it would try American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee on unspecified criminal charges, according to international news reports...
 

Trinidad and Tobago: Is it over yet?
Date:27/04/2009 April 21 marked the 29th anniversary of the declaration of a state of emergency during the Black Power uprising in 1970...
 

Venezuelan Government guarantees media freedom of expression
Date:27/04/2009 The Venezuelan Government guarantees the complete freedom of expression in the media, as long as the right to speech does not represent a threat to the countrys democracy, expressed on Thursday Telesur president, Andres Izarra...
 

Zimbabwe: Police launch manhunt for freelance photojournalist
Date:27/04/2009 On 24 April 2009, Zimbabwe's Police launched a search for freelance journalist; Anderson Shadreck Manyere who was recently released on bail from Chikurubi Maximum Prison together with co-accused Movement for Democratic Change activist Gandhi Mudzingwa and Kisimusi Dhlamini...
 

Argentine president's media reform stirs suspicions
Date:24/04/2009 A drive by Argentinas president to overhaul an outdated media law is arousing suspicions she wants to punish the countrys biggest media group and hush her critics during an election campaign...
 

The Gambia: Regional group asked to intercede on behalf of missing journalist
Date:24/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders has written to Dr...
 

Germany: More German Journalists Join the Battle to Protect Confidentiality of Sources
Date:24/04/2009 A group of German journalists, lawyers and doctors today filed a complaint before the Federal Constitutional Court against a controversial law that greatly increases the power of the police to conduct secret surveillance of citizens...
 

Madagascar: Media under attack one month after new president installed
Date:24/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the return of censorship to Madagascar in the form of orders to the state-owned media not to cover opposition demonstrations...
 

Sudan: Revise Repressive Press Law / End to Censorship Necessary for Free and Fair Elections in 2010
Date:24/04/2009 Sudan's parliament should make major changes to a draft press law to ensure that it protects freedom of speech as guaranteed under the Sudanese constitution and international law, Human Rights Watch said today...
 

Thai government moves to suppress media
Date:24/04/2009 Following the anti-government protests, the Thai government has begun to crack down on the opposition media...
 

Zimbabwe: Furore Over Media Conference
Date:24/04/2009 MEDIA organisations yesterday threatened to boycott an all-stakeholders' conference in Nyanga next month to review the country's media environment and policies saying its agenda was flawed and contrary to the principles of the global political agreement (GPA)...
 

Media industries stuff up EU telecoms reform
Date:24/04/2009 MOVIE AND MUSIC industry lobbying has stymied a reform of the EUs telecoms industry...
 

Saiful files RM2 million lawsuit against blogger
Date:24/04/2009 Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan who accused Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of sodomising him, today filed a RM2 million defamation suit against a blog writer...
 

Oman: Website moderator gets 10-day suspended prison sentence
Date:23/04/2009 A court in Muscat yesterday gave website moderator Ali Al Zwaidi a 10-day suspended prison sentence and a fine of 200 rials (400 euros) for posting an allegedly confidential government document online, but dismissed a charge of defamation that had been pending against him since August 2008...
 

Ukraine: A Draft Law Fails to Fully Safeguard the Independence of National Broadcasters
Date:23/04/2009 ARTICLE 19 today releases a legal analysis of the proposed changes to the Ukrainian law 'On Television and Radio Broadcasting' (Broadcasting Law)...
 

USA: Ruling recognizes Detroit Free Press reporter’s right to protect his sources
Date:23/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders is thrilled with U...
 

Geneva – ARTICLE 19 and CIHRS Welcome Agreement on the Final Outcome Document of the Durban Review Conference
Date:23/04/2009 Delegates to the Durban Review Conference in Geneva adopted a final Outcome Document on 21 April in a move welcomed by ARTICLE 19 and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies(CIHRS)...
 

Geneva – ARTICLE 19 Launches The Camden Principles on Freedom of Expression and Equality
Date:23/04/2009 Today, at the Durban Review Conference in Geneva, ARTICLE 19 has launched The Camden Principles on Freedom of Expression and Equality (The Camden Principles), a ground-breaking document that will guide legislators, policy-makers and civil society in balancing the rights to freedom of expression and equality...
 

Polish media law moves closer
Date:23/04/2009 The new Polish media law will have its first reading in the country's parliament today (April 22)...
 

Threats to press freedom in Kurdistan
Date:23/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders reiterates its support for independent journalists in Iraq's northern autonomous region of Kurdistan, which today celebrates Press Day...
 

Afghanistan: Emroz channel presenter freed on bail after being held because of complaint by Iran
Date:22/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders welcomes TV reporter and presenter Fahim Kohdamani's release on 19 April after a four weeks of detention in Kabul and calls for the withdrawal of the defamation and insult charges still pending against him, especially as the organisation has obtained a letter ( attached) proving that his arrest was the result of a complaint by Iranian officials...
 

Title Too Long
Synopsis Too Long
 

Central African Republic: Daily suspended for two weeks
Date:22/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders voices its support for the newspaper editors who have decided to bring out no issues for two weeks from today in solidarity with the daily L'Hirondelle, which was suspended by the High Council for Communication (HCC) for two weeks from yesterday for publishing an article on 2 April allegedly calling for sedition by the armed forces...
 

Swaziland: Senators threaten media
Date:22/04/2009 Senators in the Swaziland Parliament have threatened to charge the local media with contempt of Parliament following stories about an altercation between the Senate President and a Senator Senate President, Gelane Zwane and Senator Ndileka Dlamini engaged in a verbal showdown on 30 March 2009 and almost came to blows...
 

Algeria Begins Participation in the IMF’s General Data Dissemination System (GDDS)
Date:21/04/2009 Algeria began participating in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) today, marking a major step forward in the development of its statistical system...
 

Australian jailed for insulting Kuwaiti ruler
Date:21/04/2009 An Australian woman has been sentenced to two years in a Kuwaiti jail after she was convicted of insulting the countrys ruler...
 

Brazil: National Conference on Communications Announced
Date:21/04/2009 On 16 April 2009, Brazilian President Lula da Silva signed a decree announcing the first Brazilian National Conference on Communications...
 

China defies media cuts and closures with new newspaper launch
Date:21/04/2009 These are gloomy times for the media, with cuts and closures around the world...
 

Iranian president orders review of Roxana Saberi's case
Date:21/04/2009 In response to a letter sent on Sunday by Irans president urging the public prosecutor to ensure justice for Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, the Committee to Protect Journalists called today for Saberi to be released on bail pending her appeal...
 

SOUTH KOREA: Court acquits blogger known as “Minerva”
Date:21/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders welcomes blogger Park Dae-sung's acquittal today by the Seoul central district court on charges of affecting foreign exchange markets and undermining the nation's credibility by posting false information online...
 

Togo: Broadcast media forbidden to let public express views on the air
Date:21/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns an order issued by the High Council for Broadcasting and Communication (HAAC) on 17 April banning all radio and TV programmes in which the public is allowed to express its views...
 

Zimbabwe: Freelance photojournalist released on bail
Date:21/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders today welcomed with relief the release on bail of freelance photojournalist Shadreck Anderson Manyere on 18 April but urged the authorities to drop all charges against him...
 

Prize Awarded: Internet censorship and freedom of expression
Date:21/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders has been selected, along with Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, to receive the Roland Berger Human Dignity Award 2009...
 

UNESCO concerned about media crackdown in Fiji
Date:21/04/2009 The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today voiced grave concern about the suspension of press freedom in Fiji under thirty-day Public Emergency Regulations that came into force on 10 April...
 

UK: Little change for media in family courts
Date:20/04/2009 It all seemed so promising when Jack Straw announced in December that the government was going to open up the family courts to greater media - and therefore public - scrutiny...
 

Indonesia: Local police chief files Rp 10-billion civil defamation suit against Indonesian media advocate
Date:20/04/2009 A provincial police chief in Indonesia recently filed a Rp 10-billion civil defamation suit against media activist Jupriadi Upi Asmaradhana on top of the criminal defamation charges earlier lodged against him...
 

Iran sentences Roxana Saberi to 8 years
Date:20/04/2009 An Iranian American journalist accused of spying for the U...
 

Philippine court turns down motion to dismiss murder charges against masterminds in journalist’s slay
Date:20/04/2009 A local Philippine court denied on 7 April 2009 the motion to dismiss the murder charges against the alleged masterminds in the 2005 killing of journalist Marlene Esperat...
 

Swedish File-Sharers Convicted
Date:20/04/2009 The music and movie industries celebrated a high-profile victory in their campaign to curb online piracy on Friday when a Swedish court convicted and imposed prison sentences to four men linked to the notorious Internet file-sharing service The Pirate Bay...
 

Togo: Broadcast media forbidden to let public express views on the air
Date:20/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns an order issued by the High Council for Broadcasting and Communication (HAAC) on 17 April banning all radio and TV programmes in which the public is allowed to express its views...
 

Zambia: Controversial Radio Station Manager removed from Radio Icengelo
Date:20/04/2009 On 13 April, 2009, Ndola Catholic Diocese Bishop Noel O' Regan removed Fr...
 

Geneva: Withdrawal by States from Durban Review
Date:20/04/2009 ARTICLE 19 and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) are extremely concerned by the recent decision of the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands to withdraw from the UN anti-racism conference, otherwise known as the Durban Review...
 

Hungary: Much-delayed media law reaches dead end in Parliament
Date:17/04/2009 Any hope of enacting new media legislation in Hungary faded away on Wednesday as the main opposition party Fidesz withdrew its support for a bill based on a compromise by the countrys five parliamentary parties...
 

Mexico: Reform of the Federal Penal Code Falls Short in Protecting the Right to Freedom of Expression
Date:17/04/2009 The Mexican Chamber of Deputies has approved an incomplete reform to confront the prevailing impunity for crimes against journalists in the country, after a long consultative process among legislators, journalists, academics and civil society, including ARTICLE 19...
 

Sudan: Two dailies hit by prior censorship
Date:17/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the pre-publication censorship of the privately-owned dailies Al-Midan and Ajras Alhurya...
 

USA: Journalists need a federal shield law
Date:17/04/2009 The 1st Amendment protects freedom of the press in the broad sense, not just the freedom to publish what a reporter has learned...
 

EU says media freedom worsening in Afghanistan
Date:17/04/2009 European diplomats said on Thursday they were worried about growing intimidation of journalists and a clampdown on independent media in Afghanistan that could distort presidential elections in August...
 

Human Rights Expert condemns killing of Burundian anti-corruption activist
Date:17/04/2009 The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi, Akich Okola, has expressed outrage over the killing of Mr...
 

UK: Amazon opts out of Phorm system
Date:16/04/2009 Amazon has opted out of Phorms controversial targeted-advertising technology, delivering a blow to the UK-listed company, which is already the subject of a European Commission legal action against the UK government...
 

South Africa: The Presidency introduces a new web-based media database
Date:16/04/2009 In an effort to better communicate with the media, The Presidency has developed a new Web Based Media Database which will allow journalists to personally update contact details...
 

DRC: Armed intruders threaten journalist in Nord-Kivu home
Date:16/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders wrote yesterday to the governor of the eastern province of Nord-Kivu, Julien Paluku Kahongya, voicing deep concern about an armed attack on Radiotélévision Nationale Congolaise journalist Tuver Wundi Muhindo on 12 April in Goma, the provincial capital...
 

Egypt: Court set to hear appeal in case in against Cairo News Company
Date:16/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the outcome of an appeal in the case of the Cairo News Company (CNC), which was prosecuted for broadcasting film of demonstrations on 6 April 2008...
 

Indonesia: Time magazine wins appeal in Indonesia
Date:16/04/2009 Time magazine won an appeal in Indonesias Supreme Court on Thursday against 93 million dollars in libel damages awarded to late dictator Suharto...
 

Somalia: Journalist freed after 20 days of imprisonment, journalists grieve for death of another journalist
Date:16/04/2009 The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) today welcomes with joy the release of Journalist Jama Ayanle Feyte from Bossasso jail after Puntland President pardoned...
 

Yemen: ARTICLE 19 Urges Yemeni Authorities to Investigate
Date:16/04/2009 ARTICLE 19 notes with concern that the Sana'a bureau of Al Jazeera satellite channel has recently received threats via text message, warning against correspondents' coverage of events in southern Yemen...
 

eBay to sell off Skype
Date:16/04/2009 The internet auctioneer eBay is to spin off its global online telephone business, Skype, through a stockmarket flotation which will end an unhappy four-year relat­ionship between the two companies...
 

IPI Report Uncovers Worrying Trends in Slovakia
Date:16/04/2009 Targeting of the Slovak press through civil defamation lawsuits is causing widespread concern among journalists that they cannot do their jobs without fear of reprisal, the International Press Institute warns in a report published today...
 

Journalism Online seeks to help US newspapers charge web readers
Date:16/04/2009 With Americas newspaper industry in freefall and titles closing across the country, one new company believes it can offer some respite and simultaneously cash in - by helping papers charge their online readers...
 

Time magazine wins appeal in Indonesia
Date:16/04/2009 Time magazine won an appeal in Indonesias Supreme Court on Thursday against 93 million dollars in libel damages awarded to late dictator Suharto...
 

Gambia must account for missing journalist Ebrima Manneh
Date:15/04/2009 Gambian authorities must authoritatively account for the whereabouts, health, and legal status of journalist Chief Ebrimah Manneh, left, who was taken into government custody by security agents in July 2006, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Sudan: ARTICLE 19 Voices Serious Concerns on the Draft Press Law
Date:15/04/2009 ARTICLE 19 today releases its Note on the Draft Law of Sudan on Press and Printed Press Materials...
 

Thai media caught yet again in political crossfire
Date:15/04/2009 Thai media found themselves caught in the middle of the political turmoil that has been gripping the country since last week, media reports said...
 

NMC comments on Human Rights Watch report on media law
Date:15/04/2009 The US-based organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) yesterday held a press conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to launch a document commenting on the new draft law to regulate the media in the United Arab Emirates...
 

'Twitter revolution' Moldovan activist goes into hiding
Date:15/04/2009 The woman behind the mass protests which rocked the capital of Moldova last week has gone into hiding after the so-called Twitter revolution forced a recount of the general election...
 

Mauritania: Jailed newspaper editor pardoned by junta chief
Date:14/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders hails the release of Abdel Fettah Ould Abeidna, the editor of the weekly Al Aqsa, on 8 April as a result of a pardon issued by the head of the military government, Gen...
 

Korean Cyber Defamation Law causes trouble for Google
Date:14/04/2009 New Korean law forbids netizens from making anonymous comments South Korea has began to enforce a new law limiting anonymous uploads and commentary, at the start of this month...
 

UAE Media Law Faces Human Rights Watch Scrutiny
Date:14/04/2009 The United Arab Emirates faces scrutiny from a leading human rights organization over a proposed law that the group says will crimp press freedom in the Persian Gulf state...
 

Europe starts legal action against UK over internet snooping
Date:14/04/2009 The European Commission has today started legal action against the Government over its failure to protect the privacy of British internet users...
 

President Danilo Türk on freedom of expression and dialogue between civilisations
Date:14/04/2009 The 2nd Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, one of the most important global forums for advancing intercultural dialogue, opened today in Istanbul...
 

President Danilo Türk on freedom of expression and dialogue between civilisations
Date:14/04/2009 The 2nd Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, one of the most important global forums for advancing intercultural dialogue, opened today in Istanbul...
 

Press Freedom Violations in Ethiopia.
Date:14/04/2009 A Report by the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) Freedom of expression is guaranteed in both the Ethiopian Constitution and the 1992 Press Law...
 

Somali Journalists receive bulletproof jackets and helmets
Date:14/04/2009 The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) today, Thursday, distributed some 20 bulletproof jackets and helmets to Somali journalists for a long time endangered by the unending conflict in the country...
 

SRI LANKA: Report blames an ultra-powerful authority for attacks on media freedom
Date:09/04/2009 Five media organisations in Sri Lanka issuing an investigative report entitled, The Resurgence of Terror and the paramilitary forces in Sri Lanka, stated that covert operations are carried out by paramilitary groups that have the patronage of an ultra-powerful authority in carrying out terror operations...
 

Algeria: Three French publications banned on the eve of presidential election
Date:09/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the Algerian government's decision to ban distribution of the current issues of three French publications - L'Express, Marianne and Journal du Dimanche - on the eve of tomorrow's election, in which President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is running for a third term...
 

Azerbaijan: Mirza Sakit Zahidov finally released
Date:09/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders hails the release of Mirza Sakit Zahidov, a satirical poet and journalist employed by the opposition daily Azadlig, who received a pardon today from President Ilham Aliev...
 

Côte d’Ivoire: UN Media Tour Visits Joint UN Projects in Korhogo area
Date:09/04/2009 A group of about 10 journalists participating since Monday in a Media Tour organized by the UN system in Côte d'Ivoire had an opportunity on Tuesday to take a close look at the results of joint action by UN agencies in Korhogo (663 km north of Abidjan) and elsewhere in Les Savanes region...
 

HONG KONG: Complaints filed against a local newspaper and journalists over 'super bug' report
Date:09/04/2009 The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has filed separate complaints against a local newspaper, a reporter and the newspapers editor-in-chief before the Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA) and the Hong Kong Press Council (HKPC) over its report on an infectious disease, super bug...
 

Iran charges imprisoned journalist with spying
Date:09/04/2009 Roxana Saberi, who has dual U...
 

Italy To Launch Auction For Five New Digital Channels
Date:09/04/2009 Italys telecoms regulator AGCOM said Wednesday five new digital channels will be assigned by an open auction, in a move aimed at boosting competition amid the switch-over process from analogue to digital TV...
 

PAKISTAN: Taliban partially lift ban on cable TV broadcasting in Swat valley
Date:09/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders calls on the Pakistani authorities and Taliban leaders to ensure that cable TV operators in the Swat valley are able to resume broadcasting of both Pakistani and international TV stations without delay...
 

Taiwan: Freedom of the press threatened from within
Date:09/04/2009 Although 20 years have passed, people should still remember the institutions that restricted press freedom back in the Martial Law era: The Taiwan Garrison Command, the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Cultural Affairs Department, the Government Information Office and the entire authoritarian regime that those institutions represented...
 

Thai protesters attack three broadcast journalists covering rally
Date:09/04/2009 Three Thai broadcast journalists were attacked in three separate incidents by opposition demonstrators dubbed as the Red Shirts, during a massive protest rally in Bangkok meant as a final bid to pressure the government of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the King's close aides to resign...
 

ZIMBABWE: Zim to relax media laws
Date:09/04/2009 Zimbabwes new power-sharing government will relax the countrys harsh media laws and improve prison conditions as part of reforms to be implemented within 100 days, a minister told state media Monday...
 

Indonesian media group denounces arrest of four Dutch journalists
Date:08/04/2009 The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) of Indonesia issued a call for accessibility and safety of journalists after four Dutch reporters were arrested and detained for 12 hours on 24 March 2009 in Papua province...
 

Iraq: Shoe-thrower’s jail sentence reduced from three years to one
Date:08/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders notes that a Baghdad appeal court today reduced journalist Muntazer Al-Zaidi's sentence from three years to one year in prison...
 

Thailand: Father of three gets 10-year prison term for emailing material offensive to Thai royalty
Date:08/04/2009 In a development described by media observers as having a chilling effect on the online community in Thailand, the Criminal Court sentenced a 34-year-old engineer, Suwicha Takor, to 10 years imprisonment for violating the Constitution, the Criminal Code and the Computer Related Crime Law...
 

An ancient obstacle to free speech
Date:08/04/2009 In 1848, the Duke of Brunswick sent his agent to buy an 18-year-old copy of the Weekly Dispatch from the publishers office...
 

Repeal of repressive laws will ensure free media environment, Malaysian PM told
Date:08/04/2009 Please follow the link to read a statement from the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), a SEAPA partner based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
 

SEAPA opens applications to 2009 Journalism Fellowship Program
Date:08/04/2009 The Southeast Asian Press Alliance is now accepting applications for the 8th SEAPA Journalism Fellowship Program, centered on this years theme, The Challenge for Democracy and Human Rights Under the New ASEAN Charter...
 

UNESCO gives posthumous award to Sri Lankan editor
Date:08/04/2009 UNESCO has posthumously awarded the World Press Freedom Prize to a Sri Lankan journalist gunned down execution-style while driving to work earlier this year...
 

Brazil: Government Promises to Adopt Right to Information
Date:07/04/2009 On 1 April 2009, at the opening session of the International Seminar on Access to Information, the Brazilian Minister of Internal Affairs, Dilma Rousseff, announced that a draft law on the right to information would be sent to Congress by the end of April...
 

Mexico: Congress should federalize crimes against free expression
Date:07/04/2009 The Mexican Congress must move expeditiously to approve a constitutional reform granting federal authorities jurisdiction over crimes against free expression, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Ukraine: ARTICLE 19 Calls on the Ukrainian Parliament to Adopt Progressive Law on Access to Information
Date:07/04/2009 ARTICLE 19 today releases its analyses of the draft Law of Ukraine on Access to Public Information...
 

USA: Don't pan Michigan's movie law yet
Date:07/04/2009 State lawmakers need to see the full picture before editing the tax incentives for film makers...
 

Argentina: free press, for now
Date:06/04/2009 From Raúl Alfonsín onwards, Argentina has done well to move on from the dark days of the generals...
 

Egypt: Internet : a weapon on mass revolution ?
Date:06/04/2009 Since 6 April 2008, many Egyptian Internet users have been tirelessly communicating a message that their society must change...
 

Thailand: Blogger Gets 10 Years for Insulting Monarchy
Date:06/04/2009 Suwicha Thakhor's nightmare in a Thai jail is set to continue after a court delivered a harsh verdict this week that contained an unequivocal message ? the Internet in this country is being policed with the aim of limiting free expression...
 

Vietnam’s Crackdown on Bloggers Prompts Appeal From U.S. Lawmakers
Date:06/04/2009 Five months after Internet giants Google, Microsoft and Yahoo pledged to uphold privacy and freedom of expression when operating in repressive environments, a group of U...
 

ARTICLE 19 Newsletter: Winter 2008
Date:06/04/2009 ARTICLE 19 today publishes our newsletter with a round up of news, activities, campaigns, publications and successes from over the last 6 months...
 

Free Speech Groups Call on Thailand to Repeal Repressive Legislation
Date:06/04/2009 ARTICLE 19, English PEN and Index on Censorship today expressed concern over the ten-year prison sentence given to Thai blogger Suwicha Thakhor, a 34-year-old father of three...
 

New Malaysia PM to free detainees, lift media ban
Date:06/04/2009 New Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, in his first act after talking office Friday, freed 13 people being held under a law that allows indefinite detention and lifted a ban on two opposition newspapers...
 

Title Too Long
Date:03/04/2009 A couple of years ago, I republished a 20-year-old Guardian article that shed some light on activities that blogger Paul Staines, aka Guido Fawkes, was involved in at the time...
 

UK: NUJ warns against relaxing rules on mergers of local media groups
Date:03/04/2009 National Union of Journalists says regional press will go into spiral of decline if government eases ownership restrictions The National Union of Journalists has warned that the UKs regional press will go into a spiral of decline if the government scraps rules restricting mergers among the large newspaper groups...
 

UK: Privacy groups oppose advert targeting
Date:03/04/2009 Privacy groups have strongly opposed online advert-targeting technology, but nearly half of UK consumers say they are not bothered by it, a survey has revealed...
 

BBC strike called off
Date:03/04/2009 A 24-hour strike by BBC journalists over job cuts that was scheduled to begin at midnight has been called off...
 

Niger: In latest judicial harassment of broadcasting group, director-general charged with “false news”
Date:03/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrest of Abibou Garba, the director-general of the Dounia radio and TV group, on 1 April in connection with a debate broadcast by Dounia TV in which an NGO activist criticised French President Nicolas Sarkozy's recent visit to Niamey...
 

Australia: Xenophon's push to improve shield laws
Date:03/04/2009 INDEPENDENT senator Nick Xenophon is working on a plan to force the federal Government to improve its proposed shield laws for journalists sources...
 

Privacy: the new law will freeze the lifeblood of the media
Date:03/04/2009 A person's home and family life is private...
 

Vietnam’s Crackdown on Bloggers Prompts Appeal From U.S. Lawmakers
Date:03/04/2009 Five months after Internet giants Google, Microsoft and Yahoo pledged to uphold privacy and freedom of expression when operating in repressive environments, a group of U...
 

European Newspapers Find Ways to Stay Afloat
Date:03/04/2009 As the death toll in the American newspaper industry is rising, the German publisher Axel Springer, which owns Bild, the biggest newspaper in Europe, reported the highest annual profit in its 62-year history...
 

Net traffic down on first day of Swedish antipiracy law
Date:03/04/2009 The same day a new antipiracy law went into effect in Sweden, Internet traffic took a dive and five audio book publishers went after an alleged illegal file sharer in court...
 

Cambodia: NGOs Worry Over Intent of New Law
Date:02/04/2009 A draft law to tighten control over Cambodias many non-governmental organizations is nearly completed and will soon be at the Council of Ministers for final approval before moving on to the National Assembly...
 

Tibetan writer detained, whereabouts unclear
Date:02/04/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Public Security Bureau in Chinas Gansu province to disclose the whereabouts and legal status of Kunga Tsayang, a monk from the Amdo Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery who has written online political commentary...
 

Egypt: Young blogger freed after being held and mistreated for seven weeks
Date:02/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders hails the release of cyber-dissident Dia'Eddin Gad, who was arrested at his home in the Nile delta province of Gharbiyah on 6 February because of the views he had expressed in his blog...
 

Guatemala: TV reporter shot dead in Guatemala City, cameraman badly injured
Date:02/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders is dismayed by the death of TV reporter Rolando Santis in a shooting attack yesterday in Guatemala City, in which his cameraman, Juan Antonio de León Villatoro, was seriously injured...
 

HONDURAS: Radio station correspondent gunned down in provincial city
Date:02/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders is stunned to learn of the murder of reporter Rafael Munguía on 31 March in the northwestern city of San Pedro Sula, where he was the correspondent of the national, privately-owned radio station Radio Cadena Voces (RCV)...
 

RUSSIA: As newspaper designer dies, conflicting accounts emerge
Date:02/04/2009 Police in the Moscow suburb of Khimki must conduct a thorough investigation into the sudden death of newspaper designer Sergei Protazanov, the circumstances of which are in dispute, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

Russian newspaper founder arrested, criminally charged
Date:02/04/2009 Police in the western city of Kaliningrad should drop trumped-up bribery charges against Arseny Makhlov, the founder of the independent weekly Dvornik, and allow him to work without fear of harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...
 

South Korea: Management and union reach deal at troubled TV news station
Date:02/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders is very relieved to learn that an agreement has been reached that should end a year-long dispute between the management and journalists' union at state-owned TV news station YTN...
 

“Dangerous trend” condemned after anti-crime unit questions four journalists over Sarkozy video
Date:02/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders today condemned a dangerous increase in press freedom violations in France after four journalists were questioned by an anti-crime unit, the BDRP, yesterday in Paris about a widely-circulated video of President Nicolas Sarkozy talking informally to TV studio staff without realising he was being filmed...
 

Radio journalist killed in Honduras
Date:02/04/2009 Gunmen shot and killed Honduran radio journalist Rafael Munguía Ortiz Tuesday night in the northern city of San Pedro Sula, according to local news reports...
 

Democratic Republic of Congo: Two radio stations shut down in DRC
Date:01/04/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the southeastern Congolese city of Likasi to allow two private stations to return to the air...
 

Romania: PM Boc: Government wants freedom of expression to be guaranteed
Date:01/04/2009 The Government will be a genuine advocate of the press for avoiding the economic crisis effects in this field, as well, Prime Minister Emil Boc said on Tuesday, during the meeting with the Romanian Press Club (CRP) officials, and assured that the freedom of expression would be guaranteed in Romania...
 

Somalia: Freelance journalist gets two years in prison in Puntland on defamation charge
Date:01/04/2009 A court in Bosaso, the main port city of the semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland, yesterday sentenced freelance journalist Jama Ayanle Feyte to two years in prison, Reporters Without Borders has learned from its partner organisation in Somalia, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ)...
 

Swaziland: Five radio stations apply for licenses
Date:01/04/2009 Five radio stations have filed applications for licenses with the radio broadcast regulator, the Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC), following a recent call by the regulator for applications for the licenses approved by government last year...
 

USA: Chicago Sun-Times Media Group Files for Bankrupcy Protection
Date:01/04/2009 The owner of the Chicago Sun-Times, a storied newspaper once home to legendary columnist Mike Royko and other greats, followed its hometown rival by filing for bankruptcy protection Tuesday raising questions about whether both can survive in a brutal time for newspapers...
 

Nepal: Government Adopts Regressive Film Regulation
Date:31/03/2009 Amendments to Nepal's Regulation on Film (Production, Exhibition and Distribution) 2057 (2001 AD) were published in the Official Gazette on 2 February 2009...
 

North Korea to indict US journalists: state media
Date:31/03/2009 North Korea is preparing to indict two detained US journalists after it accused them of illegally entering the communist country, state media said early Tuesday...
 

DRC: “Bukavu, murder city”: investigation report into murders of journalists in the capital of Sud-Kivu
Date:30/03/2009 Reporters Without Borders today releases an investigation report into murders of journalists in Bukavu, the capital of Sud-Kivu at the easternmost extreme of the Democratic Republic of Congo, almost four months after the latest killing, that of Didace Namujimbo...
 

Eritrea / Swedish newspapers call for release of journalist held since 2001
Date:30/03/2009 Reporters Without Borders supports the call for the release of Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaac that two Swedish dailies published on their front page today...
 

MALAYSIA: Malaysia suspends two opposition newspapers
Date:30/03/2009 The following is a statement from the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), a SEAPA partner based in Kuala Lumpur: CIJ and WAMI condemn suspension of Opposition newspapers The Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia, (CIJ) and the Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI) strongly condemn the Government's latest assault on constitutionally-enshrined freedom of expression and freedom of assembly when the country faces a change in leadership and three crucial by-elections...
 

MALTA: Libel judgement did not restrict freedom of expression
Date:30/03/2009 The First Hall in Constitutional jurisdiction, presided over by Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia, held last week that a judgement which found that a PN councillor in the Fgura local council and the editor of In-Nazzjon Taghna were guilty of libel against the Fgura local council did not restrict the freedom of expression of the PN councillor and editor...
 

PHILIPPINES: Philippine media group releases 2008 press freedom report
Date:30/03/2009 As the year 2008 ended, another radio broadcaster in Northern Samar in the Philippines was killed by unknown assailants...
 

USA: Media groups urge court to protect anonymous speech
Date:30/03/2009 Several news media organizations, including the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in an Illinois appellate court this week, urging the adoption of procedural safeguards to protect the identities of anonymous bloggers...
 

Human Rights Council: ARTICLE 19 and CIHRS Condemn
Date:30/03/2009 ARTICLE 19 and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)condemn the adoption of a resolution on combating defamation of religions by the 10th session of the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday 26 March...
 

AUSTRALIA: Unlikely trio defends freedom of speech
Date:27/03/2009 They make for a strange trio of bedfellows, Peter Jensen, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, David Marr, the journalist, and Janet Albrechtsen, the columnist - public figures whose views on politics, society and religion could not be more different...
 

Bangladesh blocking free expression
Date:27/03/2009 Freedom of expression and freedom of the media have become key issues around the world, especially with the advent of the Internet, which has broadened the opportunities for innumerable individuals, institutions and communities to express their views without restriction...
 

Nigeria / Journalist released after one week in custody
Date:27/03/2009 Reporters Without Borders today welcomed the release on 24 March of Akin Orimolade, bureau chief in the central city of Abuja for Lagos-based weekly National Life...
 

Zimbabwe / Ministry to hold consultative media conference on media law reforms in Zimbabwe
Date:27/03/2009 The Ministry of Information will from 28 March hold a two-day consultative conference to review the country's media policies and chart a new direction for the sector ahead of impending changes to statutes governing the profession...
 

NGOs Take Aim at ‘Religious Defamation, ’ Urge Competitive U.N. Council Elections
Date:27/03/2009 On the eve of yet another United Nations vote on a defamation of religion resolution Thursday, a broad range of human rights, press freedom, religious and secularist organizations urged the world body's Human Rights Council to reject the measure...
 

World Jewish Congress Blasts UN Vote Threatening Freedom of Expression
Date:27/03/2009 World Jewish Congress Blasts UN Vote Threatening Freedom of Expression </p> The World Jewish Congress (WJC) strongly condemned todays passage in the United Nation Human Rights Council of a resolution calling defamation of religion a human rights violation...
 

BULGARIA: Freedom of speech detiorates in Bulgaria - rights group
Date:26/03/2009 Freedom of expression has deteriorated in Bulgaria and state pressure on media is rising, a human rights group said on Wednesday...
 

VENEZUELA: Journalists' Association reports violation of freedom of expression at OAS court
Date:26/03/2009 William Echeverría, the President of the Venezuelan Journalist's Association (CNP), reported in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, an autonomous judicial institution of the Organization of American States, 31 cases of violations of freedom of expression carried out between October and December 2008, according to a paper from the National Commission of Journalists (Conapro)...
 

Ivory Coast / Examining judge orders release of French journalist but prosecutor appeals
Date:25/03/2009 French freelance photographer Jean-Paul Ney, who has been held in custody for 15 months in connection with an alleged plot to undermine the country's peace process, told Reporters Without Borders today that the judge handling the case ordered his release four days ago...
 

USA: 2 sides in 'shield law' fight over media near compromise
Date:25/03/2009 A compromise version of a bill that would give journalists limited protection from revealing their confidential sources was approved by a House committee on Monday, signaling an agreement between media groups and district attorneys who have sparred for several sessions over the shield law...
 

USA: Liable for Libel? Massachusetts case may have chilling potential implications for news media
Date:25/03/2009 A recent ruling by a federal appeals court reversed in part a Massachusetts District Court decision, raising considerable national concern among media organizations by calling into question the long-held principle that truth constitutes an absolute defense against charges of defamation...
 

ARTICLE 19 Applauds UN Experts’ Decision on Arbitrary
Date:25/03/2009 On 23 March 2009, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) released its opinion in the case of Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer...
 

Ivory Coast / Examining judge orders release of French journalist but prosecutor appeals
Date:24/03/2009 French freelance photographer Jean-Paul Ney, who has been held in custody for 15 months in connection with an alleged plot to undermine the country's peace process, told Reporters Without Borders today that the judge handling the case ordered his release four days ago...
 

Zimbabwe / Magistrate defers ruling on Freelance photojournalist’s application for refusal of further remand
Date:24/03/2009 A ruling on an application for refusal of further remand of detained freelance photojournalist, Anderson Shadreck Manyere was on 23 March 2009 deferred to 24 March 2009 by Harare Magistrate Gloria Takundwa...
 

EUROPE: An urgent appeal to Humanist organizations: support freedom of expression, oppose defamation of religions
Date:24/03/2009 In conjunction with Freedom House, UN Watch and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, IHEU is seeking Humanist orgnizations support for the statement below, urging all states to reject UN resolutions combating defamation of religion - a concept which has no validity in international law...
 

Latin America: Citizen Groups Organize to End Soft Censorship, Guarantee Freedom of Expression
Date:24/03/2009 Today Latin American governments rarely exercise direct censorship of the press by banning newspapers or other media outlets, reviewing material, or outright prohibiting publication...
 

Malaysia warns lawyers group on discussing Allah row
Date:23/03/2009 Malaysia warned a leading lawyers association not to use its website to discuss whether non-Muslims can use the word Allah for God, the state news agency Bernama reported on Sunday, saying it would incur the wrath of the countrys majority Muslims...
 

IFJ Condemns Jailing of Editor in Somaliland
Date:23/03/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has today condemned the five month jail term handed to Mohamed Abdi Guled, editor of the private weekly magazine Yool, by a Hargeisa court for spreading lies and publishing a newspaper that is not registered ...
 

Iran: ARTICLE 19 Calls for an Urgent Investigation into the Death of Blogger Omid Reza Mirsayafi
Date:20/03/2009 On 18 March 2009, Omid Reza Mirsayafi, a 29-year-old Iranian blogger died in prison in Tehran after he failed to receive medical assistance...
 

SINGAPORE: WSJ editor faces contempt
Date:20/03/2009 THE Government is taking a senior editor of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) to court, accusing her of being in contempt of court in three articles published last year...
 

Somalia / Editor of Somaliland weekly sentenced to five months in prison
Date:20/03/2009 A court in Hargeisa, the capital of the northern breakaway territory of Somaliland, sentenced Mohamed Abdi Guled, the editor of the Hargeisa-based weekly Yool, to five months in prison on 17 March on charges of operating an unregistered newspaper and publishing fabricated information...
 

Timor Leste: Analysis of Media Laws
Date:20/03/2009 ARTICLE 19 has prepared a Memorandum assessing the compatibility of a set of five draft laws on media regulation and the right to information - prepared on behalf of the UNDP for consideration by the authorities in Timor Leste - with international standards on freedom of expression...
 

ZIMBABWE: Top lawyer nominated for freedom of expression award
Date:20/03/2009 HARRISON Nkomo, a top Zimbabwean human rights lawyer known over the past decade for defending journalists in Zimbabwe, has been nominated for the Bindmans Law and Campaigning Award by Index on Censorship...
 

South Africa / SABC denies manipulating news
Date:19/03/2009 The SABC on 11 March 2008, denied allegations that its group head of news, Snuki Zikalala, manipulated content for political purposes...
 

BURUNDI: The United States welcomes release from prison of Burundian journalist
Date:19/03/2009 The United States welcomes yesterday's release from prison of Burundian journalist Alexis Sinduhije, after he was found not guilty of the charge of insulting the President...
 

Bolivia Questions IAPA Report
Date:19/03/2009 The Bolivian government questioned a report released by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) regarding freedom of expression here...
 

Gambia / Adjournment of trials facing editor of the daily The Point
Date:19/03/2009 Editor of the daily The Point, Pap Saine, yesterday had two trials in which he is facing charges adjourned to later in the month...
 

Polish media law edges closer
Date:19/03/2009 The Polish PO (Civic Platform)-led government and left-of-centre SLD party have reached an important agreement over the forthcoming new media law...
 

PAKISTAN: Govt believes in freedom of expression, says Kaira
Date:18/03/2009 Federal Minister for Information, Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Chaudhry Qamaruzzaman Kaira said that the government believed in the freedom of expression and neither had it banned the media in the past nor would do so in the future...