#freespeechstories

YouTube comedians in India have defended themselves after authorities said they would launch a probe into whether their humour was "abusive."

What is it okay to say in Indian culture? That question is at the heart of a social media confrontation gripping India. On one side, AIB, a group of young performers who describe themselves as "India's edgiest comedy collective." On the other, conservative Hindu groups who have complained to the Maharashtra State Government.

AIB has around 900,000 YouTube subscribers for its videos which send up various aspects of Indian culture and politics. Their growing following means we have featured them before on this blog - with this alternative take on India's election, for example. Their latest venture was a three-part series called the "AIB Knockout." They brought a roster of top Bollywood stars in front of an audience and "roasted" them - in other words, taunted them with highly personal jokes and insults, including graphic references to the stars' sex lives. It's a format familiar in the West, but it seemed sure to shock in conservative India.

And shock it did. The video not only got 8m views, it attracted complaints for its "vulgar" humour with sexual references, and for being against Indian values. In Maharashtra, the state where Mumbai is located, a local Hindu nationalist party called AIB's language "abusive and filthy." The hashtag #AIBNationalShame began to trend, with comments such as "Hilarious !!?? Really ?? Is vulgarity n abusive language necessary for charity ?! Or to show how open we r !!" and "Bollywood showed one thing today that Bollywood will remain a gutter!" The state's Department of Culture said it would investigate the "vulgarity," although the relevant Minister later tweeted that they weren't allowed to do "moral policing" and could only check if the comedians had a licence.

The main film industry union, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees also waded into the dispute, and demanded apologies from the actors that participated in the video.

In light of the complaints, the comedians themselves decided to take drastic action - and took the video down from YouTube. Although they are not granting media interviews, AIB posted a long response online which makes clear that for them, this is a struggle over Indian culture and free speech.

"Over the last few days, we've found ourselves subject to more scrutiny, judgment and opinion than we're worth," they wrote. "This Knockout shouldn't matter. In a secure culture it wouldn't matter."

They make clear that there were age and content warnings on the video. "To everyone who's called us seditious pornographers while plotting the downfall of Indian Values And Civilization As We Know It, we would like to reiterate that we are just a bunch of comedians who work, and have always worked, without any malicious intent whatsoever," they said. However they didn't go into detail about why they took the video down.

On social media, there has been a rally of support for the comedians under the term "We Stand By AIB Knockout." More than 25,000 people have signed an online petition in defence of the group.

"The real issue here is not about some celebs made some jokes & some people got offended. It is about moral policing.. We Stand By AIB Knockout," wrote one tweeter. There has also been a new video in response posted by Indian YouTubers The Viral Fever, which has been trending all day under the hashtag #NoCountryForFunnyMen.

AIB has 900,000 YouTube subscribers

The video was watched 8m times before being removed

Prominent Indian tweeter @GabbbarSingh has been commenting on the issue on his Twitter feed, and he told BBC Trending that the removal of the video was a "pragmatic move."

"When there is a backlash from people who sound like they have a lot of free time and muscle power, it's natural to care about their own security and their loved ones. Had I been in AIB's shoes, I would have probably taken a similar step," he said.

Leading Bollywood actresses Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha and Alia Bhatt came under fire for attending the event. One tweet read "#DeepikaPadukone Could u explain AIB show. It is so sad that role models of millions were participated in it."

Last week we heard the story of Kenyan blogger Abraham Mutai, part of our #FreeSpeechStories series. Mutai was arrested for tweeting about his latest investigation into what he says is government corruption. A campaign to #FreeMutai trended on Twitter and the discussion continued days after his release. Lots of you also got in touch with us directly.

While we were interviewing Mutai for our radio programme (which you can hear here) we received plenty of questions for him via our Twitter page. "Are you a journalist or a paid blogger?" asked Twitter user Mr Keep, who describes himself as a social media analyst.

For the record, Mutai had this to say: "I'm not a trained journalist, but you don't have to be a trained journalist to be a blogger."

Others wanted to know what Mutai's next move would be with questions like: "do you feel safe and able to continue exposing corruption?"

The full interview is really worth a listen - the story starts about 11 minutes into our weekly radio programme.

In keeping with the campaign to #FreeMutai, Twitter users were overwhelmingly supportive of the blogger. We got quite a few emotional tweets from those who were sorry to hear him say he was now living in fear. "This frightens me, as well. My thoughts are with @ItsMutai and other freedom of speech bloggers" said one. "Kenya is sinking lower and lower on free speech. #FreeSpeechStories. I'm disappointed that Mutai is now afraid," said another.

During our coverage of Mutai's case we noticed several tweets criticizing the Kenyan government. Many alluded to controversial new security laws and said they were curbing free speech - although the government says the new laws are necessary to fight terrorism. People also shared their experiences of censorship from other parts of the world including Latin America and Canada.

Blog by Anne-Marie Tomchak

Next story: Why was one death singled out in Egypt?

We want to hear your free speech stories no matter where in the world you are. Have one? Get in touch with us using the hashtag #FreeSpeechStories.

Watch videos on our YouTube channel or follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending.

Updated 28 Jan to clarify timeline of deaths over the weekend.

Does the death of Shaimaa al-Sabbagh - whose story has captivated social media - mark a change in Egyptian attitudes towards protesters?

Back in 2011, protestors, who succeeded in toppling the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak, were hailed as heroes.

But in more recent times, derision towards the Muslim Brotherhood has led to support for the government's suppression of street gatherings. So when 18 people were killed in recent clashes on the fourth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, no one expected one protester's story to captivate social media quite as it has.

So why did the death of Shaimaa al-Sabbagh provoke a strong response?

One answer is the sequence of events on 24 January. It all started with this emotional tweet: "I don't know her, I couldn't save her, the girl died and her blood is on my clothes." Egyptian journalist Nancy Attia was in a state after a protester died in front of her.

The dead woman was soon identified as al-Sabbagh and within 12 hours her name had been mentioned more than 130,000 times on Twitter.

On Saturday, 32-year-old al-Sabbagh joined a protest in Cairo organized by the Socialist Popular Alliance party.

Photos show her standing by other members of the party chanting "bread, dignity, freedom" - the same slogan of the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. Another photo to put on the site of those killed in Tahrir Square in 2011. But al-Sabbagh never made it to Tahrir - she was shot dead on the way to the square.

The Ministry of Interior issued a statement vowing it will bring al-Sabbaghh's killer to justice. But the government opponents are not convinced. They believe that it was the police that targeted her.

Al-Sabbagh was one of the first people to die during the weekend demonstrations. In total at least 17 others were also killed, and dozens were injured. Yet it was her story that dominated social media.

"Shaimaa's death was documented, the images and the footage were very powerful," Egyptian blogger Fatima Said told BBC Trending.

An emotional photo of al-Sabbagh being held by her grieving colleague right after being shot was one of the most shared images with her name.

Videos - some much too graphic to be shown on this blog - showing people rushing to take her to the hospital, with her face covered in blood, were uploaded onto YouTube and viewed by over a million people.

But the spread of news about her death is not just about a female victim whose death was caught on camera.

Fatima Said believes it also has something to do with her not being identified as a Muslim Brotherhood supporter, a group now demonized by a large segment of the population.

"People have become desensitized towards a certain group," Fatima says, "and because Shaimaa was clearly a liberal and a person the West can identify with ideologically, her story got picked up widely by English speakers on twitter and international media."

Just a day before al-Sabbagh's death a 17-year-old student was shot dead during clashes between Muslim Brotherhood protesters and residents in Alexandria. The protester was Sondos Abubakr, but her name did not trend.

"Shocking but not surprising," Said says. "We shouldn't discriminate in our coverage of death."

Blog by Mai Noman

More from BBC Trending - read the story of the Japanese social media fight against Islamic State.

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending.

We all have disagreements with our families, and fortunately most of them don't play out on social media. But a very public spat between a young right-wing MP and her aunt has gripped social media in France.

This isn't just any family - it's the Le Pen clan. They rule the far-right Front National (FN) party. Jean-Marie Le Pen was its founder and his daughter Marine Le Pen is the current leader.

The next generation is Marion Marechal Le Pen, who is Marine's niece and Jean-Marie's granddaughter. She was only 22 when she was voted into the French Parliament, making her the country's youngest MP in modern history.

But those three relatives don't all always agree with each other. Marion disobeyed her aunt's orders by sharing a controversial anti-Muslim video with her thousands of followers on Twitter.

The video was posted by Aymeric Chauprade, another FN politician. In it, he says among other things that France is at war with Islam and that the argument that there is a peaceful Muslim majority doesn't hold - as the majority of Germans were also peaceful before Adolf Hitler came to power there.

The video has been subject of a complaint by the anti-racism organisation, SOS Racisme. Marine Le Pen herself immediately distanced herself from Chauprade and asked party members not share it for legal reasons.

Not only did Marion Le Pen disobey her aunt, but Jean-Marie Le Pen - who once famously said that the Holocaust was a small detail of history and has been prosecuted several times for anti-Semitic remarks - followed suit, and posted the video on Twitter.

FN supporters were divided over the video on social media. Some hailed Chauprade for being brave: "Dear Marine," wrote one Twitter user, "Chauprade is the one who is right."

But others were critical of the video.

"#Chauprade is astonishingly stupid," tweeted one. "he picks up pub arguments that link Islam and Nazism."

Commentators in France have said the FN has struggled to hit the right note after the Paris attacks. Public support for the Charlie Hebdo victims has not translated into significantly greater support for Marine Le Pen, while the government has received a popularity boost, according to polls.

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending.

All our stories are at bbc.com/trending

BBC Trending radio

Hear the full story of the Le Pen family feud on this week's BBC Trending radio programme.

You can put us in your pocket and listen anytime by downloading our free podcast.

A spoof make-up tutorial has gone viral on YouTube after mocking the appearance of Pegida spokeswoman Kathrin Oertel.

The video shows a radio presenter pretending to shave off her eyebrows and tattoo new ones on - and slicking back her hair to mock Oertel's style.

The German organisation has been holding mass street rallies against what it calls the "anti-Islamisation" of Europe.

Large anti-Pegida demonstrations have been held across the country in protest.

Video by Andy Brownstone

Watch more videos on our YouTube channel or follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending.

There's been more online condemnation from Pakistanis over the Taliban attack which killed over 130 school children last month.

A video posted on Facebook by two young film-makers shows ordinary people taking a stand against the terrorists.

"A Message to the Taliban" has been widely shared since it was posted earlier this week.

In a country where it is dangerous to confront extremism, the video features Pakistanis saying it is the Taliban who should be afraid.

Video by Andy Brownstone

Watch more videos on our YouTube channel or follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending.

Kenyans on Twitter, or KOT's as they're known, are asking whether the country is going through "dark days" after a blogger was arrested for tweeting.

"I posted a blog about mismanagement of funds in Isiolo County in eastern Kenya and shared it on Twitter," Abraham Mutai told BBC Trending. "Within hours my blog was taken down and my Twitter page was deactivated."

Mutai was arrested on Saturday afternoon in Mombasa, where he's based, and taken to the capital Nairobi. He was charged with "using a media platform to cause public anxiety."

He was released a day later and his blog and Twitter account were reinstated. He says the allegations he made about Isiolo County are now being followed up by authorities and he believes the 25,000 tweets under the hashtag #FreeMutai hastened his release.

"If we as bloggers don't take a stand right now, we may all suffer the same fate in the near future #FreeMutai," wrote Xtian Dela to his 400,000 followers. "If you remain quiet about Mutai, who will speak when they come for you?" asked Kenyan entrepreneur Francis Waithaka.

Despite the support, the experience had a chilling impact on how free Mutai feels to continue his work.

"Personally, I'm afraid right now." he says. "I'm thinking about my safety and I've already scaled back my tweets. Now I need to think twice about what I say online."

Mutai has become well known in Kenya for investigating corruption and explaining cases in short, easy-to-understand bursts.

Kenya passed a wide-ranging and controversial set of security measures in December in an attempt to combat the threat posed by Islamic militants from neighbouring Somalia. Some parts of the law were suspended by the country's High Court, but an atmosphere of fear remains, says the BBC's Juliet Njeri in Nairobi.

"People are censoring themselves online because they are worried they'll get in trouble," she says.

Some Kenyans are using the tag #DarkDays to express concern about the new laws on Twitter.

Keriako Tobiko, Kenya's public prosecutor, says he can't comment on the Mutai case because an investigation is ongoing. But he denied that the government is using the new security law to curtail freedom of speech.

"Those making such claims are being alarmists merely crying wolf for attention," Tobiko told BBC Trending in a text message. "Check out the kind of wild stuff that is said about the government and President [Uhuru] Kenyatta online and you'll confirm there is no truth in the claims."

And what about the future for one of the country's most well-known bloggers?

"I will continue investigating corruption in Kenya," Mutai says. "Whether I will continue publishing it is another question."

Blog by Anne-Marie Tomchak

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending

What subjects are off limits for humour?

Last week, at the same time as millions rallied online in support of pointed French satire using #JeSuisCharlie, in Spain #YoconFacu (I am with Facu) was trending last week in support of the satirist Facu Diaz. He's been accused of mocking victims of terrorism in an online video sketch which uses the iconography of the armed Basque organisation ETA.

His detractors say that he has overstepped the limits of freedom of expression - while he claims that he is actually being targeted for his close ties with the growing left-wing opposition movement, Podemos. So which one is it? BBC Trending's Anne-Marie Tomchak went to Madrid to investigate.

Reporting: Anne-Marie Tomchak