10 June: Caught in the web: how free are we online?

Date: Monday 10 June, 7pm
Venue: Kings Place, London (Hall One), here
Tickets: £9.50, available here

The internet: free open space, wild wild west, or totalitarian state? However you view the web, in today’s world it is bringing both opportunities and threats for free expression.

Many of us use the internet everyday, and yet our rights as ‘netizens’ remain largely undefined. And it’s not only states like Iran or China which are limiting internet freedom. Democratic governments also risk stepping in and over-regulating or censoring the net.

So what are the key issues, and how can we address them? Join our expert panel for some answers, featuring columnist David Aaronovitch (chair), activist and blogger Cory Doctorow, the Guardian’s James Ball, international media lawyer Paul Tweed, Yahoo!’s Director of Public Policy Patrick Robinson (tbc) and our CEO Kirsty Hughes for a discussion on who really controls our free expression online.

PAST EVENT: 21 March: Index Freedom of Expression Awards 2013

Date: Thursday 21 March, 6.30pm
Venue: Inner Temple, EC4Y 7HL (here)
Tickets: £75, £130 for a pair, £500 for 10

The world’s most exceptional free expression heroes will be coming to London on 21 March to collect their trophies at the Index Freedom of Expression Awards, hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby. These internationally renowned Awards are in their thirteenth year, and continue to be a key date in the calendar for the UK’s top journalists, artists, lawyers and human rights activists.

In the pre-ceremony reception, and post-Awards party, guests are invited to meet the winners, and celebrate with champagne and canapés.

Be inspired by this year’s heroes. Celebrate freedom of expression. Support Index on Censorship. More information here.

PAST EVENT: 13 Feb: A screening of Maziar Bahari’s ‘Forced Confessions’ + Q&A with Jon Snow

Date: Weds 13 Feb, 6.45pm (Screening 7:15pm – 8:15pm)
Venue: Free Word Centre (here)
Tickets: £6 (available here)

Index on Censorship and English PEN present a screening of journalist and film maker Maziar Bahari’s new film Forced Confessions, followed by Q+A with ­ Jon Snow.

Few things are more humiliating than having to reel off someone else’s lies. In 2009, millions of Iranians watched on TV as filmmaker Maziar Bahari, was forced to make a false confession. He had supposedly been collaborating with the West and was accused of espionage. As a filmmaker and journalist working for Western broadcasting corporations, he was the perfect scapegoat for the regime.

It has now been 30 years since the first false public confession. No Iranian believes any of them, but the ruling regime continues to use them. Maziar Bahari tells his story, and the story of forced confessions, through his own voice-over and interviews with fellow Iranians who have been through the same ordeal.

Jon Snow will interview Maziar Bahari directly after the screening.

PAST EVENT: 30 Jan: Amazing Azerbaijan! A film screening and discussion

Date: Weds 30 January, 7pm
Venue: Free Word Centre (here)
Tickets: Free (available here)

Index on Censorship and Crow Hill Films invite you to a screening of Amazing Azerbaijan! followed by a discussion on Azerbaijan, Eurovision and human rights.

Amazing Azerbaijan! pulls back the glittery facade that this oil-rich nation presented to the world when hosting Eurovision 2012, telling personal stories of human rights abuses to which Europe’s leaders have turned a blind eye. The screening will be followed by a discussion about Azerbaijan’s human rights record and position in Europe, with speakers to be confirmed.

The event is the first in a European outreach campaign, supported by The Bertha BRITDOC Connect Fund.

PAST EVENT: 29 Jan: Taking the Offensive – defending artistic freedom of expression in the UK

Date: Tues 29 January, 9-6pm
Venue: Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London
Tickets: By invitation only

Index on Censorship’s major conference on the threats to artistic freedom of expression in the UK will debate the social, political and legal challenges to artistic freedom of expression and the growth of self-censorship in contemporary culture.

This event will bring together a select audience including artists, directors, government officials, arts institutions, police, lawyers, funders and faith and community groups

Key speakers include: Sir Nicholas Serota (Director, Tate), Sir Hugh Orde (ACPO), Professor Mona Siddiqui (Glasgow University), Jude Kelly (Southbank Centre), Sally Tallant (Liverpool Biennial), Bill Echikson (Google), Moira Sinclair (Arts Council) and many more.

More information about this major conference is available here.

PAST EVENT: 15 Jan: Is freedom of expression under threat in the digital age?

Date: Tues 15 January, 6-8pm
Venue: Seminar Hall, 1st floor, the India International Centre, Delhi
Tickets: Please contact eve@indexoncensorship.org

Index is partnering with the Editors Guild of India and the India International Centre for a debate on the subject, ‘Is freedom of expression under threat in the digital age?’  Who, if anyone, can or should police the web? How do we protect freedom of expression online in the face of demands to respect religious, political and cultural sensititivies? How do we stop new technology turning the web into a snoopers’ paradise for police and governments?

Chaired by renowned journalist and editor TN Ninan, our panel will include Ajit Balakrishnan (founder and Chief Executive of rediff.com), Sunil Abraham (Executive Director of the Centre for Internet and Society), Kirsty Hughes (CEO of Index on Censorship), Lokman Tsui (Policy Advisor to Google, Asia Pacific) and Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Director of Free Speech Debate at Oxford University).

PAST EVENT: 4 Dec: Digital Frontiers – magazine launch party

Date: Tues 4 December, 6.30pm
Venue: Free Word Centre (map here)
Tickets: Free (available here - SOLD OUT)

Index is launching ‘Digital Frontiers’, the latest issue of its award-winning magazine, with an expert discussion on free speech online. Richard Allan (Director of Policy, Facebook) and Gus Hosein (Chief Executive, Privacy International) will be in conversation with Kirsty Hughes (Chief Executive, Index on Censorship) to dig into some of the magazine’s central issues.

From Tunisia to China, activists and journalists are using technology to get vital news out and bring about change. As the battle to control information continues – from government surveillance, online blocking and big business to hacktivists and protesters – Index looks at the key players in the fight for digital freedom.

Please join us for sushi, drinks and high level discussion at the Free Word Centre to celebrate the launch.

For more information about the magazine and how to subscribe, click here.

PAST EVENT: 3 Dec: Leveson’s legacy and the future for the British press

Date: Mon 3 December, 7pm
Venue: The Frontline Club (map here)
Tickets: £12.50 (available here)

On Thursday 29 November Lord Justice Leveson published his report into the culture, practices and ethics of the press. Since November last year when hearings began he has taken evidence from journalists, editors, proprietors, politicians and victims of phone-hacking.

Index on Censorship and the Frontline Club will be bringing together a reactive debate, with former Daily Star reporter Richard Peppiat, Media Standards Trust Director Martin Moore, Editor-at-large of Spiked! Mick Hume and Index’s Kirsty Hughes chaired by the BBC’s Torin Douglas, to discuss the findings of the report and what it will mean for the future of the British press.