20 Jun 2025 | Afghanistan, Asia and Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, News, United Kingdom
Authoritarianism has grown stronger all over the world, and the space for free expression has shrunk. Journalists, writers, and activists are being silenced simply for speaking the truth. Many face threats, arrest, or violence at the hands of those in power.
In Afghanistan, since the Taliban returned to power, freedom of expression has nearly disappeared. Independent journalism is no longer possible. In today’s Afghanistan, expressing your opinion, especially if you are a woman, is not just discouraged, it is dangerous. If you criticise the Taliban’s policies, you are certainly destined for jail.
Over the past four years, thousands of Afghans, including many journalists, have been forced to flee, have been imprisoned or tortured, or have fallen completely silent out of fear.
This is a clear violation of international human rights laws, which recognise freedom of expression as one of the foundations of a just and democratic society. But across the world, censorship is on the rise. The list of people imprisoned for writing an article, attending a peaceful protest, or posting something critical online keeps growing. Many of these individuals have sought safety in Western countries.
Unfortunately, with Donald Trump’s new administration, immigration policies, particularly in the USA, have become much stricter. As a result, fewer at-risk journalists and writers are being offered asylum, even when their lives are clearly in danger.
The UK remains one of the countries that continues to offer refuge to some of these individuals. But the need is much greater. I urge the UK government to expand its support and provide real protection for those forced to flee their countries for telling the truth.
Every journalist, writer, professor, or activist who finds safety in a democratic country carries with them the voice of many others left behind. Protecting these voices is not just a humanitarian act, it is a defence of truth, history, and freedom itself.
I am one of those journalists. I once worked freely in Kabul, reporting stories and raising awareness of issues. But when the Taliban regained power in 2021, I had no space in my own hometown. As a woman and a journalist, it was a double danger. When journalists started being arrested, tortured, or forced into hiding, I realised I had no choice but to leave. Escaping was painful but staying meant silence – or worse.
Now, I live in the UK. This country not only gave me shelter but also allowed me to raise my voice again. Here, I can write, interview, and speak freely. I can be a voice for those women whose rights and voices have been brutally taken away.
Giving refuge to at-risk journalists is not just about saving individuals, it is about defending the values of democracy and free speech. Countries like the UK show they stand for these values not just in words but through real action.
By welcoming journalists like me, the UK has shown it respects truth, protects the vulnerable, and supports future generations who dream of justice. I may live far from home, but I am still working every day to amplify the voices of Afghan women and girls living under oppression.
Sadly, many Afghan journalists are still trapped in countries like Iran and Pakistan. They live in uncertainty, without freedom, without work, and without hope. If the world ignores them, their voices, and their stories, may be lost forever.
We must not forget that in any society, freedom of expression allows people to ask questions, challenge power, and share new ideas. It leads to innovation, growth, and justice. As the British philosopher John Stuart Mill said in his book On Liberty, freedom of speech is essential to personal development and social progress. Through open debate, we find truth and correct our past mistakes.
18 Jun 2025 | Egypt, Israel, Middle East and North Africa, News, Palestine
At a quiet corner of an apartment in Cairo, Palestinian journalists now sit staring at a blank screen. Just months ago, they were reporting from the heart of Gaza – documenting airstrikes, interviewing survivors, filing stories that made global headlines.
Today, they’re unemployed, unheard, and in exile.
More than 250 journalists from Gaza are now living in Egypt after fleeing the Israeli military campaign that began in October 2023, according to figures from the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, which now has a presence in Cairo. Others have evacuated the Strip for countries including Oman, Qatar, Turkey and Canada since the start of what we call a genocide.
Once at the frontlines of war reporting, these journalists are now caught in a different kind of crisis – one marked by silencing, legal limbo, and professional erasure.
Most of these journalists were freelancers, with no long-term contracts, no medical insurance, no institutional protection, and no guarantee of employment after evacuation. Their cameras are packed away. Their microphones sit unused. Without work permits, they can’t be legally employed in Egypt, and with little to no support, many are struggling to survive.
“I was a journalist until the day I crossed the border.” “Now, I am just a refugee with a press card that no longer holds any weight.” This is how Palestinian journalists describe their current situation.
A minority of journalists who worked with international news outlets – those with permanent staff contracts – have been more fortunate. Some were able to join the bureaus of their agencies abroad, while others continue to receive their salaries, even while displaced. But for the vast majority, the collapse of Gaza’s media infrastructure has left them jobless, voiceless, and adrift.
And the barriers are not only bureaucratic – they are political. Egypt has denied work permits to Palestinians evacuating the war in Gaza, including professionals, journalists, and academics.
This policy effectively bars Gaza’s journalists from continuing their work. No matter their skills, credentials, or experience, they are not allowed to contribute to the media landscape in the country where they have sought refuge.
Worse still, for those of us who worked for Al Jazeera, a separate wall exists.
The Qatari-based network has been banned in Egypt since 2011, following the uprising that overthrew the former president Hosni Mubarak. Its bureau was shut down, and journalists affiliated with the network were subjected to persecution and arrests. Today, more than a decade later, that ban remains in place. This means that Al Jazeera journalists from Gaza, now exiled in Egypt, are prohibited from working, even remotely, fearing the risk of being persecuted.
Having worked as an Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza, I now find myself among those silenced – not because I’ve stopped caring, not because I’ve lost the will to report, but because the system has made it impossible for me to continue. The war didn’t just displace us from our homes; it severed us from our profession, from our identities, and from the world we once informed.
Our voices were once loud enough to echo around the world. Now we whisper into the void. The silence is devastating – not just professionally, but emotionally and psychologically.
For journalists, reporting is not just a job. It is a calling and a mission. We bear witness, we document truth, we speak for the voiceless. Being denied the right to report is like being denied the right to breathe.
Many journalists now live in small apartments, surviving on the goodwill of friends, NGOs, or savings that are quickly running out. Some are supporting children and elderly family members, with no income and no clarity on what the future holds. The stress is enormous. The uncertainty is constant.
And yet, the genocide in Gaza continues. Our colleagues who remain inside – those who survived airstrikes, lost family members, or saw their homes flattened – continue to risk everything to report. But even they are running out of tools, electricity, and time. Many of them rely on us in exile to amplify their voices. And we are desperate to do so, but unable.
The consequences of this silencing reach far beyond individual careers. They represent a systemic erasure of the Palestinian narrative. At a time when truth-telling is critical, Gaza’s journalists – those who carry the first-hand accounts, the context, the memory – are being sidelined.
This is not just a loss for us. It’s a loss for journalism, for history, for the world.
The international community, especially global media outlets and press freedom organisations, must act. Gaza’s exiled journalists need legal recognition, support, and pathways to work – whether through temporary relocation programmes, freelance partnerships, or legal aid to navigate the permit systems.
We need allies; we need solidarity; we need our roles as truth-tellers to be restored.
We didn’t choose to leave. We fled for survival. But we still carry the burden of our people’s stories. We still carry the fire and drive to tell them. What we need now is the space and permission to speak.
Let our silence not be the final chapter.
18 Jun 2025 | Americas, News, United States
For many casual listeners, Bruce Springsteen’s song Born in the USA sounds like a glorious patriotic celebration of being American.
Yet listen beyond the upbeat chorus and you discover the dejected life story of a Vietnam veteran who has returned from the war and found it difficult to fit in, readjust to home life and find work.
You can assume that President Donald Trump hadn’t previously picked up on these nuances but now that someone has pointed it out to him, he’s mad as hell.
Born in the USA came out in the middle of 1984 – the year that the eyes of the world were on the country for the Olympics Games in Los Angeles.
It seems that former President Ronald Reagan and his campaign team misinterpreted – either inadvertently or otherwise – the meaning of the song. Reagan name-checked Springsteen on the campaign trail but the rocker later distanced himself from the Republicans.
Springsteen has since used his music to focus on the struggles of the working class and has been more closely aligned with the Democrats, throwing his support behind John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Whether President Trump was aware of the song’s meaning or not, he did not fail to understand the meaning of the comments the Boss made during his current world tour, which opened in Manchester this month.
Introducing his 1999 song Land of Hope and Dreams in Manchester, which he had previously played at the inauguration of Joe Biden, he said: “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration. Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!”
If that message wasn’t clear enough for Trump, he carried on ahead of playing the song House of a Thousand Guitars.
He told the crowd: “The last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed are the people, you and me.”
“It’s in the union of people around a common set of values now that’s all that stands between a democracy and authoritarianism. At the end of the day, all we’ve got is each other,” he said before launching into a stripped-down version of the song on acoustic guitar and harmonica.
Before launching into his song My City of Ruins, a paean to his home town of Asbury Park In New Jersey, he said that the norms of democracy were being eroded. “There’s some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now.”
“In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent,” he said. “This is happening now.”
He went on: “They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that has led to a more just and plural society.
“They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They are defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands.
“They are removing residents off American streets and, without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centres and prisons. This is all happening now.
“A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American.”
He signed off with a message of hope: “The America l’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real and, regardless of its faults, is a great country with a great people. So we’ll survive this moment. Now, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said. He said, ‘In this world, there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there’s enough.’ Let’s pray.”
Trump had certainly got the message by this point. He took to his Truth Social platform to call Springsteen “highly overrated”.
“Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy – Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country,” he posted.
He then went on to threaten Springsteen.
“This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country…Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”
So much for the “free speech” that Trump can’t stop talking about.
Volume 53, Issue 4 of the print edition of Index on Censorship looked at how musicians are raising their voices against oppression. Read more about the issue here. The issue was published on 12 December 2024.
17 Jun 2025 | Europe and Central Asia, Georgia, News, Statements
As the ruling Georgian Dream party intensifies efforts to consolidate authoritarian rule, independent media face unprecedented pressure and are now on the brink of survival. Journalists are increasingly subjected to detentions, physical attacks, arbitrary fines, censorship, as well as financial and institutional repression.
We, the undersigned international media freedom, journalists’, and human rights organisations, renew our call on the international community, especially the European Union (EU), to exert effective pressure on the Georgian Dream ruling party to end the suppression of independent journalism and to uphold democratic principles and media freedom. We further reiterate our full solidarity with Georgian journalists, who, despite mounting pressure, refuse to be silenced.
In recent months, the Georgian Dream party has enacted several repressive pieces of legislation, including the new Foreign Agents Registration Act, as well as amendments to the Law on Grants and the Law of Broadcasting.
As a result, directors of media and civil society organisations (CSOs) now risk criminal prosecution if the state alleges they acted on behalf of “foreign principals” and deliberately failed to register. Furthermore, NGOs and media organisations are required to obtain “the consent of the government or an authorised person/body designated by the government” before receiving any grants from outside Georgia. Even the provision of free training to journalists by international organisations is expected to be ruled a breach of the law.
Independent media in Georgia may only have months left before they are forced to close, depriving the public of independent news.
Using the new amendments to the law on broadcasting, the authorities have already filed complaints against Formula TV and TV Pirveli with the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC).
These complaints object to the broadcasters’ use of terms such as “illegitimate parliament,” “illegitimate government,” “oligarchic regime,” or “regime prisoners”. Formula TV and TV Pirveli now face possible sanctions ranging from public or written warnings and content correction, to imposing fines or ultimately removing licences.
This represents a clear attempt by the Georgian Dream party to impose strict censorship and silence independent media.
Additionally, journalists covering protests have been subjected to heavy fines in recent months. Mapping Media Freedom data records 28 journalists fined 5,000 Lari (approximately €1,600) for “blocking the road” since 28 November, while covering pro-European rallies in Tbilisi. Some journalists have been fined multiple times.
The Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) has long served as an instrument of the Georgian Dream government, suppressing efforts by journalists seeking to report free of political control. Recently, the GPB management fired journalists Vasil Ivanov Chikovani and Nino Zautashvili after they spoke out about political interference at the broadcaster, and subsequently shut down “The Real Space,” the talk show hosted by Zautashvili.
Meanwhile, Mzia Amaglobeli, a veteran Georgian journalist and the founder and director of two of the country’s most prominent independent media organisations, has been unjustly held in pre-trial detention since her arrest in early January. According to Mapping Media Freedom data, at least 13 journalists have been detained since 28 November on various charges. Since that date, 246 journalists have been subjected to attacks including physical harassment, smear campaigns, obstruction of work, legal harassment, and fines.
The crackdown on media freedom is unfolding against the backdrop of a rapid and systematic dismantling of the rule of law and democratic freedoms.
Without sustained international pressure on both Georgian Dream officials and the leaders of institutions responsible for the media crackdown, independent journalism in Georgia cannot survive.
This dismantling of media freedom, democratic freedoms and journalists rights in Georgia, amid rising authoritarianism and a shift in Georgia’s geopolitical direction has wider implications for democracy in the region. We urge the international community to place effective pressure on Georgia and to support independent journalism in the country. We call on the Georgian Dream ruling party to end its assault on the media, repeal repressive legislation and immediately release Mzia Amaglobeli.
Signed:
International Press Institute (IPI)
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa
Index on Censorship
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)
Society of Journalists (Warsaw)
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)
Media Diversity Institute
Media Diversity Institute Global
Justice for Journalists Foundation
RNW Media
Ossigeno.info
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
IFEX
Association of European Journalists in Belgium (AEJ Belgium)
IMS (International Media Support)
Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)
Democracy Reporting International (DRI)
Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS)
PEN International
Public Media Alliance (PMA)
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
This statement was coordinated by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States, Candidate Countries.
