In the aftermath of Kenyan cartoonist Godfrey Mwampembwa (better known as Gado) being fired from the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation earlier this month, fellow cartoonists, free speech advocates, and cartoonist rights activists are supporting the artist and condemning Kenyan press for undermining freedom…
Category: International
Egyptians Speak Out for Ahmed Naji and Free Expression
Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji remains in prison pending an appeal of his conviction for “violating public modesty” with an excerpt from his book Use of Life. A few brave government officials, including Minister of Culture Helmy al-Namnam, have spoken out…
Two Indian Men Arrested For Sharing Satirical Image
Two young men from the Khargone district in Madhya Pradesh, India, have been arrested for distributing obscene material over the internet. They face a possible three to five year jail sentence. 22-year-old Shaquir Yunus Banthia and 21-year-old college student Wasim Sheikh were…
UN Committee Urges Japan to Ban Sexual Violence in Fiction
Just a few months after a UN envoy recommended that Japan ban certain types of manga and anime to somehow protect real children from abuse, a separate UN committee has now entered the fray by urging the government to ban…
Indian Cartoonist Strikes Back at Facebook and Censorship
Since the blocking of two of his cartoons on Facebook, Indian graphic novelist Orijit Sen had made it a personal mission to find ways to provoke audiences and inspire conversations. He spoke with Hindustan Times, discussing how Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer…
Government Forces Firing of Kenya’s Top Cartoonist
After decades of doing work for Kenya’s largest newspaper, the Daily Nation, the celebrated and most syndicated cartoonist in East and Central Africa Godfrey Mwampembwa (better known as Gado) has been fired due to suspected political pressure from the Kenyan…
Horror Comics Blamed for 1950s Scottish Vampire Panic
The year was 1954. The location: Glasgow, Scotland’s Southern Necropolis, a massive graveyard harboring over 250,000 sets of mortal remains. Over a span of three nights that September hundreds of children under the age of 14 reportedly assembled there with…
Manga Cop-Out at the Swedish Supreme Court
In the abstract, most people in free societies would probably agree that no one should be fined or thrown in jail simply for possessing drawings of any sort. But when the drawings in question are certain varieties of manga, often…
Indian Cartoonist Latest Victim of Facebook’s Content Policy
A cartoon by Kanika Mishra, drawn in response to a controversial statement made by Indian Minister Maneka Gandhi about the inability to criminalize marital rape, has been pulled from Facebook for not adhering to “community standards.” The award-winning cartoonist has…
New Malaysian Museum Dares to Exhibit Zunar Cartoons
There’s some rare good news for Zunar this week: despite the nine charges of sedition currently hanging over his head, the Malaysian political cartoonist’s work is now on display in a dedicated section of the brand-new Asia Comic Cultural Museum…