Category: International

A Moment of Speech: Charlie Hebdo’s Controversial Cartoons

Yesterday’s massacre of twelve people, including five cartoonists, at the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo have rightfully sparked international condemnation.  An outpouring of speech that includes statements from world leaders, vigils in cities across the globe, the…

BREAKING NEWS: Charlie Hebdo Attack Kills 12, Including 5 Cartoonists

© Martin Vidberg / Le Monde

At least two masked gunmen burst into an editorial meeting of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo this morning and killed 12 people including the cartoonists Charb, Cabu, Wolinski, Tignous, and Philippe Honoré. The attackers have not yet been apprehended…

Censorship 2014: Manga and Anime Blamed for Crime

Misconceptions and deliberate hyperbole about manga and anime are nothing new, but a CNN segment that aired in June was so impressively wrong that our piece on it was one of the most visited on the site this year. In…

Protestors Perform Public Book Burning in India

This past Friday in India, several members the Bharatiya Janata Party, a right-wing political party, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a non-government Hindu organization, joined together to protest Perumal Murugan’s novel Mathorubagan by openly burning copies in front of a…

Jordan Continues to Enforce Anachronistic Censorship Laws

Jordan is no stranger to the governmental enforcement of book censorship or the public censure and criticism expressed by various communities and organizations regarding this issue — an issue which has become increasingly prevalent and apparent in light of citizens’…

Turkish Government Takes Further Action Against Freedom of Speech

In light of recent events, ranging from laws implemented to restrict internet freedom while tightening governmental control to a series of police arrests made on December 14th of journalists, screenwriters, and other media agents, there is an increasing level of…

“Allegedly Harmful” Memoir Goes to the UK Supreme Court

In early October, the UK Court of Appeals issued an injunction that stopped publication of an unnamed memoir on the grounds that its content was “allegedly harmful” to the author’s 11-year old child. On December 9, the performing artist and…

Indonesian Editor Could Face Jail Time for Cartoon

Stephff cartoon

An Indonesian newspaper editor could face up to five years in prison for blasphemy because of a political cartoon criticizing ISIS that his newspaper published in July. Some Indonesian fundamentalists complained that a modified ISIS flag bearing a pirate-style skull…

Pyongyang Movie Production Cancelled As Hacker Fallout Continues

Pyongyang cover

Following the cancellation of The Interview last week, there is already a second casualty of Hollywood’s new deference to Kim Jong-un’s sensibilities: a movie based on Guy Delisle’s graphic novel Pyongyang that was to begin filming in March. The production…

International Community Rallies to Support Zunar

Zunar cartoon

With Malaysian political cartoonist Zunar facing yet another government investigation for sedition, the international cartooning community is rallying to spread the word and pressure Malaysian authorities to leave him in peace. Nearly all of Zunar’s books have been officially banned…