Stories about Free Expression from February, 2015
Renowned Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Still Detained After 10 Months
A human rights lawyer who has defended clients ranging from Ai Weiwei to communist party officials, Pu Zhiqiang is now facing criminal charges over his postings on Weibo.
Bangladeshi-American Blogger Hacked to Death in Dhaka
Roy is the second Bangladeshi blogger killed since 2013. Horrifying photos of he and his wife, bloodied and injured on the street, were circulated on social media.
Digital Citizen 2.4
Digital Citizen is a biweekly review of news, policy, and research on human rights and technology in the Arab World. Last month, a horrific attack on the Paris offices of...
The Dress Rehearsal for the Belarusian Crackdown
"Belaruskaya Pravda" chief editor Yuri Dubina says the recent crackdown in Belarus on independent online media is only "the dress rehearsal" before the presidential election this November.
Egyptian Blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah Sentenced to Five Years in Jail
Prominent Egyptian activist and blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah, an icon of the Egyptian revolution, was sentenced to five years in prison today.
US Government Eases Sanctions to Allow Export of Personal Communications Tools to Sudan
The US government has issued a general license amending sanctions on Sudan to allow the export of certain personal communications technologies.
Your Mobile Privacy is Under Threat Because of US and UK Spies
"The NSA and GCHQ covertly stole millions of encryption keys used to protect your mobile phone communications."
Advocates Petition UN to Intervene on Jailed Ethiopian Bloggers’ Behalf
Advocates argue that the Ethiopian government's imprisonment of these individuals on spurious terror charges is arbitrary and illegal.
Wave of Arrests in France for ‘Advocating Terrorism’ After Charlie Hebdo Attack
Since the attacks last January, over 100 criminal charges have been filed for terrorism advocacy in France, occasionally against minors, oftentimes for reasons that have little to do with the true fight against terrorism.
In Putin's Russia, a Retweet Can Lead to a Jail Term
Even a retweet of an image or a republished post may cost Russian citizens unfettered access to the Internet—and often, their freedom.
Turkey Cites National Security as it Cranks Up Internet Controls
Courts offer citizens occasional protection from Ankara's vicious war on freedom of expression and privacy, so government is looking for laws that bypass them.
Is Iraq Restricting Speech on Facebook?
Local sources say escalating fights online among political parties and sects since last week's execution of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh may have led to the new policy.
Twitter's New Transparency Report Shows Massive Spike in Demands from Russia
"We went from having never received a request to receiving more than 100 requests for account information. We did not provide information in response to any," Twitter's report says.
‘We Need to Be Careful Even of What We Think': Self-Censorship in Venezuela
"Since the start of the protests, I had been mapping online censorship and helping people use encrypted communication tools. When the police came, I got up, scared to the bone."
Who Do We Lose with Internet Censorship and Control?
"Through Internet censorship and control we lose an ability to be our own secret human – the one we are when nobody is around."
The Collapse of Media Freedom in Bulgaria
The state of media freedom has progressively worsened in Bulgaria in recent years. In 2014 the country plunged 13 places on the Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index.
