Stories about Free Expression
8 March 2019
Russia’s latest ‘anti-fake news law’ is so bad even Kremlin pranksters hate it
Provisions of the new law make it clear that its real target are the online news outlets still not fully controlled by the state or its subsidiaries.
7 March 2019
‘We are not bots!’ In Berlin, thousands protest proposed EU regulation on internet upload filters
Protesters rallied against the proposed "upload filters" in EU Copyright Directive, as part of a movement spanning the continent.
4 March 2019
Photojournalist Mahmoud ‘Shawkan’ Abu Zeid walks free, after more than five years in prison
Shawkan, who was working for Demotix at the time of his arrest, spent almost four years in pre-trial detention.
2 March 2019
Censored on WeChat: Huawei, ZTE and ‘Amazing China’
The censorship of ZTE and Huawei has strong association with the censorship of "China-U.S trade war".
1 March 2019
Netizen Report: Two of Egypt’s leading digital activists await their release from prison, after years behind bars
Alaa and Shawkan are still waiting to get out, Algeria's internet is faltering, and Nepal has a new IT bill.
25 February 2019
Journalists, teachers, and activists targeted in attacks on free speech in the Philippines
"These are attempts by those in power to drown out the voice of the marginalized...displaying Duterte’s fear of committed journalism that seeks to inform, educate and guide the public."
How Saudi leaders are using religion to consolidate power and silence critical voices
''Oppression is a comprehensive system, and [in our country] it is enabled by religion.''
23 February 2019
Singaporean activist sentenced to 16 days in jail after hosting video chat with HK youth leader Joshua Wong
"There’s no sentence that I’d consider fair, because he should never have been charged."
22 February 2019
As Putin preaches ‘sovereignty’ and tech modernization, experts lament loss of online freedoms
As Vladimir Putin promises Russians a faster, more reliable internet, two reports by independent expert groups paint an unrelentingly bleak picture of more crackdowns on online freedom of speech.
Samoa arrested blogger ‘King Faipopo’ accused of defaming prime minister
"New legislation, based on old criminal libel laws from colonial times, forces Samoa leaders to look backwards, not forwards."
