Nothing to hide
Four former intelligence professionals, including winners of the Sam Awards for Integrity in Intelligence, reveal their views on whistle-blowing and the importance of secrecy in democratic societies. By Judith Bruhn and Josh Black.
Message from the “heartbeat” city: participatory democracy or bust!
Gezi Park has become a public square for political free expression, writes Ayşe Kadıoğlu.
Why Turkey’s mainstream media preferred penguins to protest
Kerem Oktem, in Istanbul, reflects on the pernicious influence of politics and money on Turkish broadcasters.
The bizarre story of how lippy librarians faced down a silly publisher
A university librarian faced a lawsuit over a critical blog post about the publishing house Edwin Mellen Press but online solidarity won out. By Dominic Burbidge.
Is privacy getting lost in Google’s “cracks and crevices”?
A globally-effective privacy regime is a realistic goal, argues Ian Brown. But it needs giants like Google to get behind it.
Burma in Thailand: working for free speech across the border
Clementine de Montjoye visits Burmese exiles in Thailand, and finds King Zero, the Best Friends Library and the Brilliant Burma School.
I enjoyed the Book of Mormon musical. Now for the Book of Islam?
The Mormons reacted brilliantly to the musical satirising their faith, but something important is lost when we treat religions so differently - writes Katie Engelhart.
Poland marks World Press Freedom Day with new award
Freedom of expression is in good shape in Poland. Yet, freedoms need to be continuously cultivated and defended. The new Article 54 journalism award in Poland is a great initiative to remind society of this responsibility, writes Annabelle Chapman.
Jesus Christ Superstar? Not in Rostov, Russia
The Russian parliament’s vote in support of a declaration against acts offending religious sentiments is symptomatic of worrying trends, write Olga Shvarova and Dominic Burbidge.
To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question
The UK’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has released guidelines on when social media users should be prosecuted but there are still not adequate guarantees for freedom of expression, writes Dominic Burbidge.
The late Ronald Dworkin on ‘How universal is liberalism?’
To honour the memory of Ronald Dworkin, a brilliant philosopher and advocate of free speech, we post his remarkable 2012 Dahrendorf Lecture.
Can the treatment of animals be compared to Nazi concentration camps?
Not in Germany, said the German courts. And the European Court of Human Rights agreed.
Twitter picks off an easy case
In October 2012 Twitter announced the blocking in Germany of tweets from a neo-Nazi group. Judith Bruhn discusses the first act of Twitter’s new country-by-country policy.
The Lady, the writers and the ex-prisoners
Burma’s first Literary Festival in 2013 revealed a rich literary culture as well as continuing tough challenges faced by writers.
The crumbling fourth pillar
The Indian media is in danger of losing its moral compass to the pressures of the new capitalism. It may be a time for a boycott in order to stop the rot, argues Manav Bhusan.
Pressing for Freedom: The Protest over China’s “Southern Weekly”
The Communist Party of China aims to control privately owned media without appearing to do so. A strike at a local newspaper imperils that balance, writes Liu Jin.
