Here is the lowdown for the UK.

1. Censorship exists in many forms in the UK but is about what the paper's think they can get away with.

2. We have no freedom of speech but what has evolved is through Acts of Parliament and court judgments.

3. Government controls

what the media can say through a number of ways:

► Restricting information but the Freedom of Information Act has eased this.

► D notices which restrict information if there is security issues.

► Court orders preventing newspapers from publishing stories if they are considered to prejudice a case but only when someone has been charged and trial is proceeding. See the current cash-for-honors scandal where The Guardian got permission to reveal details about an e-mail sent by an aide of Tony Blair.