David Cecil was jailed in Uganda after he produced a play perceived to be ‘pro gay’ by the country’s authorities. His trial brought global media attention to the homophobic laws of the African nation
Alice Kirkland
Article 19 publishes guidelines on hate speech and LGBTI people
A policy paper published by Article 19 has provided guidelines to help establish the difference between hate speech and freedom of expression
Index speaks to Liverpool John Moores’ future journalists
Index’s editorial intern and recent graduate, Alice Kirkland, returned to her old university to speak to journalism students about the real world of work and how to stand out and get noticed in a fast-paced and changing media industry
Drawing the Line: “promoting” same-sex relationships?
Homosexuality and LGBT rights have has been making headlines. Index hosted a Google Hangout to debate young people’s views on same-sex relationships
Five things banned from university campuses
The banning of a poster depicting the Flying Spaghetti Monster as God is the latest attempt by UK student unions to crack-down on the free speech of students
Israel tells Palestinian TV station to stop broadcasting
Israeli authorities have told a Palestinian TV station to stop broadcasting amid claims it was disrupting Israeli television broadcasting.
10 countries where Facebook has been banned
Today Facebook turns 10. But over the past decade a wave of politicians around the world have clamped down on the social media site, banning access to it in their countries
Authordoxy: Faith and free speech
With a special report on religion in the winter edition of the Index on Censorship magazine, Index, along with the Three Faiths Forum, brought together a panel of different religions (and one non-religious) to discuss and debate why their world view is the truly liberating one.
LGBT panel attacks global homophobia
A historical discussion by LGBT activists occurred at the recent World Economic Forum but who they picked to scrutinise was unexpected. Alice Kirkland reports
Azerbaijan blocks screening of documentary on artistic freedom
A power outage prior to the screening of an arts documentary in Azerbaijan has raised concerns as to the government’s involvement in censoring artistic freedom of expression
Atheist Union of Greece protests outdated blasphemy laws
Greece’s Penal Code has been criticised after a court ruled a man guilty of blasphemy for portraying a monk as a pasta-based dish on his Facebook page
Four places where social media could land you in jail
Facebook has nearly 1.2 billion monthly active users –that’s nearly 20% of the total global population. Yet, in some countries harsh sanctions and time in jail can be imposed on those who comment on social media, in the majority of cases for speaking out against their government.