Lord Mandelson seems hellbent on stifling online creativity, says Bill Thompson
CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia
Libel reform: Carter-Ruck defends defamation rules
Carter-Ruck partner Nigel Tait has responded to English PEN and Index on Censorship’s libel reform report. By Padraig Reidy
Azerbaijan: donkey video bloggers sentenced
Bloggers Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli were sentenced on 11 November to two years and two-and-a-half years in prison respectively. Human rights...
No thank you, Mr Straw
Secret inquiries seriously undermine the principle of open justice, says
Daniel Machover
Libel reform: What the papers say
English PEN and Index on Censorship‘s report, Free Speech is not for sale, has attracted coverage from a broad range of media
Libel reform: The laws that stain Britain’s good name
As Index on Censorship and English Pen launch “Free Speech is Not For Sale”, a damning report on English libel laws, John Kampfner highlights the pressing need for reform
The Libel Report: The silence of the arts, the press, science, charities…
A new report by English PEN Index on Censorship argues that fear of libel action means that freedom of expression is under threat as never before, John Kampfner tells the Independent’s Ian Burrell
Iraq inquiry: silencing witnesses
Public hearings into the Iraq war are set to begin on 24 November, the panel’s chairman Sir John Chilcot said today. But witnesses still do not know whether the evidence they give will ever make its way into the public domain, says Chris Ames
UK: Rebuilding freedoms
The road to greater surveillance and restrictions of liberties has been paved with good intentions from both the right and left, says Matthew Ryder. As the public mood changes, it is worth keeping this in mind
The BBC and the BNP: An uncomfortable public service
John Kampfner: British National Party leader Nick Griffin received the oxygen of publicity he craved by winning his spot on Question Time, Britain’s premier TV debate show, but at the end of a nation’s ordeal, democracy emerged intact.