Newsletter from Article 19, published on article19.org on 12 February 2014: Art, in any form, constitutes a key medium through which information and ideas are imparted and received. Artist Alert, launched by ARTICLE 19 in 2008, highlights cases of artists around the world whose right to freedom of expression has …

British comedian and actor Russell Brand had been booked to perform in United Arab Emirates and Lebanon on his ‘Messiah Complex’ world tour, but those gigs have now been cancelled because of threats from religious groups. “I was told that if I went there there would be problems,” Russell Brand …

An opinion poll conducted by the Doha Debates television programme reveals that six out of ten Arab citizens support government censorship of the arts, especially when it comes to nudity or profane language. According to the poll, conducted between 30 May and 3 June 2012, most said that the existence …

The first and only album of the Emirati hip-hop duo Desert Heat which came out in 2008, was banned in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, reported AFP. It is still unknown if censorship will also be the fate of their next album which is due to be published on 10 October …

The Middle East’s new youth entertainment and lifestyle tv-channel MTV Arabia announced on 20 August 2008 that it will mark the holy month Ramadan by refraining from music videos. Some call it “religious censorship over music videos”. Others appreciate the tv-channel’s sensitivity to the solemnity of the Islamic month of …

An American hit song receiving airplay in the United Arab Emirates provokes controversy and has been banned from radio stations in Dubai for containing lyrics that “depict sexuality, lesbianism and promiscuity”, reported the daily newspaper Gulf News In 2007, American singer Katy Perry’s debut single, ‘UR So Gay’, generated some …

MySpace.com – rated as the third most popular website in the world – has been blocked in the United Arab Emirates, causing many grievances amongst Dubai’s internet savvy, reports the Dubai newspaper 7 Days MySpace.com is an interactive website which offers a user-submitted network of band and artist profiles, including …

The Arab satellite music channel Nogoom has decided to ban the airing of songs that are classified as ”inappropriate for the average viewers” and which contain seductive scenes and females wearing revealing outfits     The censorship committee officials at the network revealed that “broadcasting such demeaning songs goes against …