Index’s Padraig Reidy speaks to two members of the Russian feminist punk group on a secret trip to the UK
Pussy Riot members perform in Moscow
Date: 18 July, 6:30-8pm at ECFR
Venue: European Council on Foreign Relations, London
Tickets: Free, but space is limited. Email [email protected] if you’d like to attend.
Index, in partnership with the European Council on Foreign Relations, is holding a timely debate on the shifting world order and its impact on rights and freedoms. The event will also launch the latest issue of Index on Censorship magazine, including a special report on the multipolar world.
The balance of economic, political and social power is shifting across the world; in this debate we will ask how this might affect individuals’ rights and freedoms. In the last two months we have seen protests across the world as citizens challenge their governments. Meanwhile news of US internet companies being tapped by the NSA continue to hit the headlines. Discussions of who is tapping whom continue to be uncovered. From nations to companies, who has the power now?
The expert panelists include: Index CEO Kirsty Hughes, ECFR Senior Policy Fellow Anthony Dworkin, and Turkish journalist and writer Ece Temelkuran.
Pussy Riot – videos of their “Punk Prayer” protest are blocked by Russian authorities
April saw a bizarre variety of sites blocked by the Russian authorities or internet service providers – among them Pussy Riot videos, Wikipedia, the Yandex search engine, Blogger blogs, sites promoting bribery and corruption, sites of land developers and the humorous anti-encyclopaedia Absurdopedia (the Russian version of Uncyclopedia). Even the parody website Gospoisk (gossearch.ru) was blocked. The site is a fake search engine, ostensibly created with government support: when a visitor types a query in the search box, he or she is asked to enter his first and last name, patronymic, passport details, address and the reason for the request. Compiled by Andrei Soldatov
New legislation against “homosexual propaganda” has been passed against backdrop of piousness and machismo of Putinism, says Padraig Reidy
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