Global Voices

Madagascar: Jail Terms for Defaming Officials Online Under New Law

PRESS RELEASE Madagascar's National Assembly has quietly adopted a cybercrime law that provides for prison sentences for anyone insulting or defaming a state representative online. Debated and passed without anyone knowing, the law has been the hot topic for journalists, bloggers and social network users ever since they learned of its existence. Any of them could be imprisoned if a court were to decide that something they posted on the Internet had slighted or maligned an official.

Imagine you are a Palestinian academic or a student

The Islamic University of Gaza bombed by Israeli F16 warplanes, August 02, 2014. (Photo: Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) Nazmi Al-Masri on August 12, 2014 Over the one-year period from July 2013 to July 2014, I was supposed to participate in six international academic conferences and meetings as a partner in four international projects: three EU-funded projects (two from Erasmus-Mundus, one Tempus) and one BritishArts and Humanities Research Council-funded project. Because of the siege and the current war, I could not participate in any of these academic gatherings, which were held in the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Jordan, and Cyprus....