Vietnam moving to smother dissent
There are growing signs that Vietnam’s government is moving to smother dissent, as the one-party regime in recent days has labeled a pro-democracy group a terrorist organization, imprisoned a blogger… Read more »
Category: Freedom of Expression
Central Europe slipping away from democracy?
Civil society activists are expressing concern that Slovakia, which currently holds the Presidency of the European Union, is considering a draft amendment which calls for the mandatory registration of foreign… Read more »
Russia urged to find masterminds of 2006 Politkovskaya murder
Colleagues of slain Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya gathered Friday at the office of her paper Novaya Gazeta exactly 10 years after the crusading reporter was shot dead, AFP reports: A… Read more »
Election exposes Jordan’s enduring weaknesses
One of the most common claims I hear when asking Jordanians about elections is: “We are a tribal society, and tribalism will always dominate the elections,” notes Kristen Kao, a… Read more »
Russia’s ‘uncivil society’
On Wednesday evening, Anton Belikov, an artist and lecturer at Moscow’s Surikov Academy of Arts, walked through an exhibition of photographs documenting the war in eastern Ukraine, and threw paint… Read more »
U.S. nominates Cuba envoy, regime ramps up repression
Cuba’s press, emboldened by President Raúl Castro’s call for reforms in 2010, are finding more space for critical comment, but harassment and intimidation from authorities, a legal limbo caused by… Read more »
Inside Google’s AI-powered war on trolls
Mass harassment online has proved so effective that it’s emerging as a weapon of repressive governments, notes analyst Andy Greenberg. In late 2014, Finnish journalist Jessikka Aro reported on Russia’s… Read more »
Sakharov Prize nominees revealed
Journalist Can Dündar and fellow defenders of freedom of thought and expression in Turkey, the Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzemilev, the Yazidi survivors and public advocates Nadia Murad Basee… Read more »
MidEast governments’ hostility to foreign analysts prompts protest
Middle Eastern governments and media are demonstrating increasing hostility to foreign researchers and journalists, according to an open letter signed by a group of distinguished scholars, academics, journalists, and… Read more »
Cuba censoring text messages with words like ‘democracy’
Cuban dissidents said Monday that Raúl Castro’s communist government is censoring mobile text messages that contain certain words, including “democracy” and “human rights,” Reuters reports: Text messages that included… Read more »