Beating censorship with the 'Way of the Blogs'

As part of the Libel Bind series, a collaboration between Index on Censorship, English PEN and the Guardian‘s Liberty Central, Robert Sharp of English PEN is wondering what the alternative to laws on religious defamation might be. He suggests bloggers might have the answer.

‘Despite the robust nature of much of the debate online, I do perceive a sort of online Omerta, a Way of the Blogs. This states that if you have been offended or disrespected online, you can always fight your corner by setting up a counter-blog somewhere else. The idea is that you do not attempt to suppress the offensive material, legally or otherwise, but instead use the same medium to counter and debunk it.’

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Peru: journalists jailed

Criminalisation of speech in Peru
Magaly Medina and Ney Guerrero Orellano, reporter and the producer of gossip show Magaly Te Ve, were sentenced to prison terms and penalties by a criminal court in Peru on 16 October.
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Singapore: magazine guilty of defaming leaders

The Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) and it’s editor Hugo Restall have been found guilty of defaming Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsein Loong, and his father Lee Kuan Yew.

The summary judgement was made without the case going to trial, in compliance with the wishes of the Lees.

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