A year ago this week, the world mourned with the citizens of Paris, France, where a terrorist rampage that began at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo resulted in the death of 17 people, including 12 at the Charlie offices. Cartoonists…
Category: International
Egyptian Novelist Acquitted of “Harming Public Morality”
Last week, Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji and Tarek el-Taher, a newspaper editor who printed an excerpt from Naji’s book Use of Life, were acquitted on charges of “harming public morality.” The charges had been brought on behalf of a reader…
Five Hong Kong Booksellers Missing, Likely in Chinese Custody
Five employees of Hong Kong publisher and bookseller Mighty Current have gone missing in the past few months, and international publishing and free speech organizations are now demanding answers as to their whereabouts. Editor Lee Bo disappeared last Wednesday, approximately…
Google Ideas Open Conversations About Censorship in New Web Series
A new initiative from Google Ideas, simply called Censored, invites users to a series of conversations with people who are fighting for their right for free expression. In Part 01 of the series, “Painting over the Bullet Holes,” Google Ideas…
Russian Publishers Too Scared to Print Children’s Book About Animal Detectives
Despite a vague federal law that professes to protect children from harmful information, Russian mother and author Anna Starobinets didn’t let censorship stand in her way when it came to publishing her newest children’s book, Beastly Crime Chronicles. In a…
Sedition in 140 Characters or Less: Zunar on the Alarming State of Free Speech in Malaysia
“The Malaysian government has no sense of humor.” This is the polite way that cartoonist Zunar describes his home country’s current administration and their controversial and unjust treatment of free expression in a recent editorial piece he wrote for the…
Cartoonist Discusses Self-Censorship Epidemic in India
Last month, Indian graphic novelist and political cartoonist Orijit Sen’s cartoon “Punjaban” quickly became a viral hit after it was removed from Facebook when an anonymous user reported it for “containing nudity.” Despite the fact that an outpouring of support…
Attacks on Expression on the Rise Throughout the World in 2015
2015 wasn’t just a benchmark year for censorship in the United States, where we fought more challenges to graphic novels and books than we’ve ever seen. International censorship was on the rise, culminating in literal attacks on cartoonists around the…
Myanmar Activist Imprisoned for Mocking Military’s Masculinity
Myanmar political activitist Chaw Sandi Tun has been sentenced to a six-month prison term for posting a satirical cartoon that criticized the country’s military on Facebook. Tun — a former member of the Maubin District Students’ Union and active demonstrator…
Lebanese Editors Use Government Censorship to Make More Comics
Earlier this year, three editors/artists for the independent Lebanese magazine Samandal were found guilty of belittling Christianity, “inciting sectarian strife,” and propagating “defamation and slander” leading to a total of $60,000 in fines. In a recent interview with The Comics…