The International Press Institute welcomes the enactment on 1 July of Bangladesh’s long-awaited Right to Information Act (2009), and the appointment, under Article 15(1) of the Act, of a three-member Information Commission, as an important step towards acknowledgement of the people’s right to access information.. IPI is concerned, however, that the regime of exceptions to […]

Venezuelan Public Works Minister Diosdado Cabello confirmed on Thursday 9 July that the government is to begin proceedings against more than 200 privately owned radio stations with the aim of stripping them of their broadcasting licences. The broadcasters in question –as yet unnamed – allegedly failed to submit various documentation regarding their ownership to the […]

In the wake of deadly ethnic riots in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, the Chinese government has reportedly cracked down on internet and cellphone access in the region, blocking social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, slowing cell phone service and activating keyword filters. Internet search results have been restricted to reports that echo the […]

A months-old court case against the editor of Gambia’s The Point newspaper, who was arrested along with six other journalists on unrelated charges of sedition and defamation in June, has been revived, a statement by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) said on Wednesday. Pap Saine was arrested on 15 June, along with Ebrima […]