A Pakistani human rights organisation has called for an investigation into allegations that Facebook has a special “arrangement” with Pakistan, allowing the country’s government to interfere in content removal. Sara Yasin reports
In October 2012, the Taliban shot Pakistani schoolgirl and activist Malala Yousafzai, in an attempt to silence her work fighting for girls’ education. The brave activist and Index award winner addresses the United Nations today
The controversial Iranian president leaves office in August. Sara Yasin looks back at how he has restricted freedom of expression during his presidency
Chen Guangcheng will leave his position at New York University at the end of this month, and has claimed that his departure is tied to pressure from Chinese authorities on the university. Sara Yasin reports
What are some of the specific challenges faced by Muslim women in the arts? Sara Yasin looks into some of the cultural barriers to artistic expression
Attempts to harvest Iranian users web details may be politically motivated, says the Internet giant. Sara Yasin reports
In a bid to gain control of Taksim Square, Turkish security forces last night clashed with antigovernment protesters camped out in Istanbul’s centre. Sara Yasin reports
The recent arrest of Ilkin Rustamzadeh highlights how Azerbaijan’s authorities use trumped up charges to silence messages they are not comfortable with, blogger Ali Novruzov writes from Baku.
Software engineer and open-source advocate Bassel Khartabil spent his second birthday in prison yesterday. Index calls on the Syrian government to release Khartabil.
• Bassel’s second birthday in prison
Syria appears to be cut off from internet access, according to reports from web monitoring groups. Google's transparency report shows that access to its services has been cut off in the country since 22:00 local time on Tuesday. Similarly, web...
Moroccan atheist Imad Eddin Habib is now on the run, after police began searching for him last week. Habib told Irshad Manji‘s Moral Courage TV that officers confronted his father, asking him to bring an end to his son’s activism. Habib is the founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims in Morocco, which aims for the “application of a secular constitution.” The 22-year-old student has gained a reputation for his activism and controversial posts online, including a photograph of himself eating ice cream during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. Shortly before he went into hiding, Habib was featured in an article on a high profile Moroccan news site, and police were searching for him hours after it was published. Atheism is […]
South Africa's parliament yesterday approved a controversial bill aimed at protecting state secrets. Dubbed the "secrecy bill" by its critics, the Protection of State Information bill was passed by 189 votes to 74. Campaigners against the...