26 Nov 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Kazakhstan’s parliament passed a new privacy bill on 19 November which threatens the ability of journalists to carry out investigative work. The bill forbids the publication of information relating to private lives, including those of public persons. It also gives the authorities the power to shut down publications and imprison journalists who violate standards of privacy. The bill now only needs President Nazarbayev’s approval to be adopted as law. It is thought that the new bill may be in reaction to the publication of a series of wire-tapped conversations between Nazarbayev and his aides in 2007.
Read more here
26 Nov 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan have been released after being held captive by militants for 15 months. Reports state that the pair were freed after a ransom of $1m was paid. The two journalists were held in solitary confinement after being kidnapped on 23 August 2008 and were subject to beatings and torture.
Read more here
26 Nov 2009 | Uncategorized
A leader in today’s Times lends its support to Index on Censorship and English PEN‘s libel reform campaign:
Libel law reflects a balance between the right of the public to information and the right to legal redress against damage to a person’s reputation. That balance has been badly skewed by the idiosyncrasies of the English system. Index on Censorship, the free-speech pressure group, and English PEN, the writers’ organisation, recently called for reforms of libel law, including a ban on cases being heard in London unless at least 10 per cent of the offending publication’s circulation is in the UK.
That is a simple, costless and urgent reform. It would remove a deterrent to free speech and encourage a culture of inquiry. Most important, it would restore the reputation of British justice in the eyes of a sceptical world. It is about time.
The paper also carries a story today on Peter Wilmshurst, the latest scientific writer to become a victim of libel tourism. Wilmshurt’s solicitor, Mark Lewis, who spoke eloquently at the launch of the campaign, says this:
Mr Lewis said: “There is a reason not to settle, which is that this case is of wider interest for all scientists, and for the public who relies on them to assess medical research.”
Libel law, Mr Lewis said, was having “not so much a chilling effect as a killing effect” on scientific debate, by making researchers think twice before challenging findings with which they disagreed.
26 Nov 2009 | Uncategorized
Index’s John Kampfner appeared on the BBC Six o’clock news last night, discussing the controversy over doctored images of Michelle Obama appearing prominently in Google image searches.
You can watch it here (item begins at 14m 30s)
