Sedition charges against Singapore cartoonist Leslie Chew, have been dropped. Back in May, we reported that Chew had been arrested for alleged racial insensitivity and sedition as a result of a complaint about one of his Facebook comic strips called…
Category: International
Japanese Editor Arrested for Distributing Obscene Images
Three people, including Akira Ōta, who heads the editorial department at Core Magazine, have been arrested in Japan amid accusations of obscenity. Those arrested are being accused of selling magazines and manga that had sexual content which was insufficiently censored, a…
Canadian “Anti-comics” Law Used to Prosecute Website Owner
A 1949 law passed to prevent the corrupting influence of comic books is being used in Edmonton, Canada, to prosecute the owner of a website that posted a video showing the alleged murder and dismemberment of Chinese exchange student Jun…
Exit Wounds Artwork Defaced by Student at German University
As the world becomes a more globalized place, artists have the ability to reach a wider and more diverse audience than ever before, but with that new, larger audience comes the ability to offend, as well as inspire, a greater…
Japanese Researcher Declares Manga and Anime Good for Children
How many times did your parents tell you to stop reading comic books or watching cartoons so you can read a “real book”? One researcher in Japan is telling parents to stop denying manga and anime to their children because…
Malaysian Cartoonist Zunar Appeals Arrest
Malaysian cartoonist Zunar — pen name of Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque — has elected to appeal a ruling related to his 2010 arrest and detention while under investigation for violation of Malaysia’s Sedition Act. In September of 2010, Zunar’s office was…
Cartoonist Khalid Albaih Changing the Nature of Protest
A recent profile of political cartoonist Khalid Albaih in The New York Times highlights the changing nature of rebellion and protest in the 21st century. Placing Albaih at the center of several different dynamics — between depiction and inspiration and…
Pooh and Tigger Scrubbed From Chinese Website
In the midst of last week’s summit between the presidents of the U.S. and China, users of Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo noticed an uncanny resemblance between a photo of the two leaders and an image of A.A. Milne’s Winnie…
Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá Add Their Voices to Brazil Protests
Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá have long been supporters of CBLDF. They frequently donate their time and original artwork to support our mission to defend free expression. This week, they took to the streets of their home city of São…
Ukrainian Political Cartoons Displayed Despite Administration Objections
An art exhibition of cartoons addressing Ukrainian corruption, and other political issues, was displayed in Kyiv’s Mykhailivska Square by the Institute for World Policy on May 18th, 2013, despite objections and censorship demands by the city officials. PASOS.org translated the…