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
Latest news
-
New report: Breaking encryption is legally and practically unworkable
Publication sets out our position on why governments should not break end-to-end encryption (E2EE), widely used to protect dissidents
-
Freedom of speech needs freedom of thought
A new book has convinced our writer that we should be thinking about how our right to free speech contributes to the public good
-
Israel bans Sudanese activists from protesting outside the UAE embassy in Tel Aviv
The 6,000-strong Sudanese community in Israel wanted to highlight the sponsorship of a militia perpetrating atrocities in their homeland
-
Algeria’s persecution of poet Mohamed Tadjadit must end
The winner of the 2025 Freedom of Expression Award has announced a hunger strike behind bars
Be the first to hear from uncensored writers and artists
For over 50 years, Index has published work by censored writers and artists. Subscribe to our email newsletter to get regular updates from our incredible contributors.
Spotlight: Ukraine's Holodomor
-
Ukraine | A chronicle of censorship
A TV giant in the USA is preventing a documentary film about the Babyn Yar massacre being shown
-
Shadows of the Holodomor
The famine of 1932-33 and the Ukrainian author who took his own life rather than be killed. Index examines the eerie parallels with the current war
-
Junket journalism is taking off in China
China’s attempts to woo foreign journalists and bloggers in bid to control conversation
-
Fight… and overcome
As the war in Ukraine intensifies, we publish exclusive new translations of two Ukrainian poems that highlight the country’s struggle against invas...
Support us in our important work
Index relies entirely on the support of donors and readers to do its work.
Help us free jailed dissidents, amplify silenced musicians and keep up the pressure on authoritarian governments.
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