Putin versus Pussy Riot
The anti-Putin punk band has been designated as a terrorist organisation meaning any reference to the group may now carry criminal penalties
Latest news
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Is impartiality possible when it comes to free speech?
Introducing a new independent report called The Impartiality Project
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Europe’s real censorship problem isn’t what Trump claims
As a Pride organiser faces criminal charges, Europe’s far right makes clear whose voices it wants erased
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Gen Z attitudes: An Index on Censorship survey
Take part in our survey of the views of people born between 1997 and 2012 on freedom of expression both on and offline
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Investigative journalism under threat if government breaks end-to-end encryption
Index and other organisations issue statement as UK Members of Parliament debate a petition calling for the Online Safety Act to be repealed
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Spotlight: Remembering Sir Tom Stoppard
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In memory of Sir Tom Stoppard, a visionary dramatist and fierce champion of free expression
A longtime Index patron and contributor, Stoppard was one of the greatest playwrights of his time and a relentless defender of free expression
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Identity politics: words can, and do, hurt
"When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less, and that includes pronouns"
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Cancel culture, junk journalism and the dissident tradition
A wide-ranging interview with the playwright, screenwriter and Index on Censorship patron Sir Tom Stoppard
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Tom Stoppard on the Writers in Prison Committee
The playwright on why he would never have been a writer in prison – and the importance of communicating with those who are
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MAGAZINE
LATEST ISSUE: VOLUME 54.03 Autumn 2025
Truth, trust & tricksters: Free expression in the age of AI
It is difficult to spend a day without using artificial intelligence. Whether we look up a fact on Google or use our car’s navigation system, AI is helping to guide us. AI is not human, but is increasingly taking on human characteristics. Want to write a five-year strategy for work? AI can give you the structure. A text to the lover you’re breaking up with, ChatGPT is on hand with the perfect choice of words. Even as I compose this editor’s letter in a Word document, the sinisterly named Copilot – Microsoft’s AI assistant – is hovering in the margin with the tantalising offer that it could do a better job.
So what does it all mean for free expression? We asked a range of writers to explore themes around censorship and AI for this latest issue, and the result is fascinating. Kate Devlin delves into griefbots which are essentially deepfakes of dead people – often with all their unpleasant characteristics removed.
Innocent enough but in the wrong hands they are pernicious. A country’s political hero can be resurrected to encourage causes they would have disavowed were they alive. Ruth Green looks at whether AI has free speech.
In a recent US lawsuit, the owner of a chatbot which had been talking to a teenager, in a sexualised way, before he killed himself, argued that the bot’s communications were covered by the First Amendment. Luckily the judge threw the case out.
Meanwhile Timandra Harkness examines how AI can trawl social media to discover every word you’ve ever written.
Uncensored gallery
Index commissions censored and exiled artists from around the world to illustrate our magazine covers and feature stories. You can view some of their work here