Frank la Rue, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, says that longstanding international standards for free speech in the offline world are entirely relevant to online speech.

And he argues that the related global standards for legitimate limitation of some kinds of speech apply equally to the online world.

After consultations in Sweden, Cairo, Delhi, Johannesburg, Buenos Aires and Bangkok, the UN special rapporteur for free expression is wrapping up a recommended position for the UN Human Rights Council. Frank la Rue is now reporting back to an "experts meeting" in Stockholm, ahead of concluding his report.

There are lots of hot topics about freedom on the Internet, and restrictions... including blocking, filtering, access, intellectual property, legislation, international co-operation, the responsibilities of Internet Service Providers, etc.

Lwanga Mwilu completed her MA thesis under my supervision in 2010. It was a complex piece of work, fusing the following issues:

* Theories of free speech and the limits
* Interrogation of hate speech and xenophobic speech (not exactly the same things)
* Online participation and moderation
* Xenophobic violence in South Africa in 2008

A lot of hounding the newshounds (or their editors to be more precise), and distilling readings and doings over the years, resulted in the publication last month of "The Extraordinary Editor. A handbook for South African media leaders" published by Sanef.

It covers managing yourself, people, money, content, publics ... and change. My co-editor Liz Barratt did a wonderful job with designer Shahn Irwin on the layout, and fun caricatures were done by Baba Tjeko. Our next stop: offering workshops on making the most of this resource.

At last! Grocott's Mail is taking the Makana Municipality to court over an advertising boycott. Former municipal manager Pravine Naidoo last year ordered the withdrawal of council advertising, accusing the newspaper of being "anti-transformation".