Stories about Freedom of Speech from March, 2024
How India’s amended citizenship law is creating a large pool of exclusion
Sporadic protests erupted nationwide after Indian government implemented the highly controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 just a few weeks before India's upcoming general election.
From discredit to censorship: When power attacks the Latin American press
With their campaigns against independent media, the governments of several Latin American countries are beginning to threaten press freedom.
Georgian Dream's fight against LGBTQ+ people
Georgian Dream's anti-LGBTQ+ narrative is nothing new. Homophobia has been part of the party's toolkit in the years since the party took over the country's leadership in 2012.
Turkey heads to the polls for local elections
All eyes are on the CHP's Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been in office for five years and AKP's Murat Kurum, the former Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change.
Under threat: The life of Karakalpak activists in Kazakhstan
The latest activist arrested in Kazakhstan at the request of Uzbekistan is human rights activist and informal leader of the Karakalpak diaspora Akylbek Muratov.
In Azerbaijan authorities remain silent over the murder of a trans woman
In general, for many LGBTQ+ individuals who face discrimination and violence, there is little recourse through the police or any official judicial channels in Azerbaijan.
How Turkey’s opposition media empowers Erdoğan
President Erdoğan and his government are not the sole players in helping to consolidate the country’s democratic dismemberment. The danger comes from the very circles who despise his regime the most.
Hong Kong passes controversial new security law broadly defining treason and insurrection
The city had devoted 30 days to the public consultation of the draft law during the Lunar New Year, and lawmakers had spent 12 days debating it in the LegCo.
Deepfakes and the risks from the growing use of video fraud
" ... [T]he truth is on the edge of "death" because, with the increase of deepfakes in circulation, it will be more and more difficult to understand what the truth is."
Women march for Palestine and against patriarchy in Pakistan
Women in Pakistan's major cities, such as Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, and Multan, rallied on International Women’s Day, demanding gender equality, justice, and safety, challenging patriarchal norms for the seventh consecutive year.
Lotteries, dressed-up figures, and other peculiar entertainment at Putin's sham elections
Current regime needs people to come to the polls in order to show the regime's legitimacy inside the country. Authorities find ways of 'entertainment' that would attract people to vote.
Chad: The media environment fails to protect journalists
With less than two months to go before the presidential elections in Chad on May 6, 2024, death threats continue to loom over local journalists.
US-funded news outlet Radio Free Asia to withdraw from Hong Kong
US funded-news outlet Radio Free Asia (RFA), which had been accused of being “anti-China” by Beijing-backed newspapers, is set to withdraw from Hong Kong.
Independent media wage losing battle against censorship in Azerbaijan
Since 2017, independent and opposition online news outlets have faced censorship via blocking on spurious grounds.
A decade of digital repression and resistance in Southeast Asia
Global Voices Southeast Asia editor Mong Palatino highlights the major trends, challenges, and prospects of upholding freedom of expression in the region
Another wave of blasphemy in Pakistan
Blasphemy allegations in Pakistan resurfaced, prompting a smear campaign against the Chief. He faced criticism for ordering the release of a minority Ahmadiyya man accused in a blasphemy case.
New song titled ‘Mom has a Secret’ features mothers from Russia who are anti-war activists
All of the women featured in the video for the song, as well as Monetochka herself, are mothers but also high profile activists who oppose the war and the regime.
Turkey's Erdoğan Silences Critics with “FETO” Terrorist Label
To date, tens of thousands of Turkish citizens have been accused of being FETO members, resulting in the loss of their jobs, possessions, livelihoods, and in many cases, their freedom.
Little Suad received a letter from her father detained in Azerbaijan
Hasanli was sentenced on November 21, 2023, to four months’ pre-trial detention on a charge of “smuggling foreign currency.” If convicted he is facing a possible eight-year prison sentence.
