Featured
Riyadh Comedy Festival: Making the jokes the real comedians can’t
Index presents the gags you won’t have heard in the last two weeks, featuring jokes by AI comedians inspired by Jimmy Carr, Louis C.K. and Jack Whitehall
Latest news
-
Banned Books Week: The author writing to stop history repeating itself
Rachel Seiffert is confronting her family's Nazi past to prevent the world making the same mistakes in the future
-
Free speech tested at party conferences
Political parties in the UK must allow critical voices in
-
Index joins call for robust protections against transnational repression in the higher education sector
Film maker and postgrad researcher Roshaan Khattak was targeted after researching enforced disappearances in Balochistan
-
The week in free expression 26 September – 3 October
Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days
Banned Books Week UK returns from 5–11 October 2025. It’s a week to celebrate the books that have been challenged, removed or silenced, and to stand with the people who write, sell and share them
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: Jamal Khashoggi's murder
-
Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Comedy Festival: nothing to laugh at
Why are famous British and American comics such as Jimmy Carr and Dave Chappelle now performing in a country notorious for censoring and harassing ...
-
Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the 2034 World Cup is just another attempt at sportswashing
Undemocratic states that seek to exploit soft power to hide their human rights abuses should be condemned, not celebrated
-
The Saudi problem: can human rights ever trump trade?
As we mark 23 months since University of Leeds dental student Salma al-Shehab was arrested after returning home on holiday, we ask whether the UK F...
-
Saudi Arabia: Kingdom must be held to account for suppression of dissent
Index on Censorship joins with dozens of civil society organisations to call for Saudi Arabia to be held accountable for grave human rights violati...
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 54.02 SUMMER 2025
Land of the Free?: Trump's war on speech at home and abroad
Has the USA, the so-called Land of the Free, become a dangerous country for those who question its government?
Such a notion is, of course, in opposition to the country’s founding principles. Enshrined in the 1791 First Amendment to the US Constitution are citizens’ fundamental freedoms – including freedom of religion, speech, the press, protest and petition. Conveniently glossing over its dark history of colonisation and slavery (which would continue for nearly a century after the First Amendment was ratified), it signified the USA as a global bastion of democracy, equality and civilised values. Now, Trump appears to be metaphorically setting fire to the paper these principles are written on.
This is having profound impacts within the USA and around the world. Trump was inaugurated for his second term only six months ago, but already he has sought to deport people for their views on Israel and Palestine; threatened universities with eye-watering financial sanctions if they do not adhere to his ideological viewpoints; slashed the budgets of state-funded broadcasters; deployed the National Guard to police protests, a tactic used by military dictatorships; and dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID), stopping the work of human rights groups globally.
In this edition, we explore these attacks on free speech at home and abroad.
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