Category: International

Tokyo Prison Under Fire for Banning Gay Manga

The Tokyo Bar Association issued a sexual orientation discrimination warning to the Tokyo Detention House earlier this week when it was found out that they had been explicitly refusing an inmate access to manga which depicts homosexual sex acts —…

Country-Wide Ban Lifted from Award-Winning Book Into the River

An award-winning coming of age novel is back on shelves throughout New Zealand after the country’s Office of Film & Literature Classification lifted its temporary ban. Into the River by New Zealand native author Ted Dawe was banned in his…

Nominate a Defender of Free Speech for Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards!

Index on Censorship, an international organization dedicated to protecting free speech around the world, has opened the floor to nominate artists, journalists, and other activists for the 2016 Freedom of Expression Awards. From the arts and journalism to campaigning and…

Cartoonists On The Front Lines: The Economist Cartoonist on Free Expression in Turkey

Award-winning political cartoonist Kevin Kallaugher has shared his thoughts about United States’ society and politics in The Economist since 1978, but recently, he shared his concerns about the state of free speech in Turkey and the difficulty his fellow cartoonists…

St. Petersburg Nabokov Museum Sends Nude Comics Packing

Sequential artists Dominique Goblet and Kai Pfeiffer are scratching their heads in bewilderment after an exhibition of their work in St. Petersburg, Russia was shut down, even after they agreed to censor it for nudity. The exhibit was part of…

Farghadani Subjected to Virginity Test in Investigation of “Illegitimate Relations”

Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani, currently serving a nearly 13-year prison sentence for caricaturing members of parliament as animals, last week faced trial on the further charge of “non-adultery illegitimate relations” for shaking the hand of her lawyer, Mohammad Moghimi. Moreover,…

5 Year Court Battle Leads to Censorship of Lebanese Comics Magazine

A five-year-old court case surrounding the controversial publication of religious-themed comics in a Lebanese magazine has finally concluded with the three editors/artists of the magazine being found guilty of belittling Christianity. Facing $20,000 in fines, the decision may have forced…

Thai Cartoonist Threatened by Military

Earlier this week, Thai cartoonist Sakda Sae Iew (also known as Sia) and other journalists were taken into military custody by the Royal Thai Army to discuss problems with their subversive works and “adjust their political attitudes” — discussions that…

Government Attempt to Shut Down Free Press Group in Ecuador Fails

The latest target in Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa’s campaign against free speech is the non-governmental organization Fundamedios. Citing legal violations for publishing political blog posts that might suggest participation in partisan politics, the government is attempting to shut down the…