Playwright and poet Meltem Arikan contributes a new poem reflecting on the Charlie Hebdo attack. How can thoughts be free?
Meltem Arikan: Colours Dripping Red
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CATEGORY: United Kingdom
Nadhim Zahawi MP: It’s time for the Islamic world to support free speech – and repeal blasphemy laws
You can’t kill an idea by killing people. The sickening attack on Charlie Hebdo has shown that to be true. As France mourns her dead, millions around the world are discovering the work of her bravest satirists. Nous sommes Charlie.
Why we should be worried about relinquishing our privacy to a secret state
Edward Snowden’s lawyer Ben Winzer talks to Index about his client and what the loss of privacy to the secret state means to the future of free expression.
John Crace on the Magna Carta: 1215 and all that
In his own inimitable short-form style, John Crace takes a tongue-in-cheek trip throughout the history of the Magna Carta and its manifestations.
Exploring artistic freedom in Wales and beyond
Index on Censorship has been exploring artistic freedom of expression and contemporary forms of censorship in the UK. Who or what controls what is sayable in the arts? Who has a voice in the arts? Do the answers vary as we move around the different member nations of the UK?
Padraig Reidy: In defence of Mario Balotelli
Human beings are complicated, and a zero-tolerance approach to words and meanings is unlikely to work on us
Free thought on campus: nothing to see here
As UK Home Secretary Theresa May pushes for more anti-terror powers, Charley Kai John sketches a nightmare vision of the impact on campuses
Padraig Reidy: Who can speak and who must be silent?
Ask yourself: would it be better to have a society where people argued against me, or would I prefer a society where the authorities were entitled to decide what I should and should not say?
Recap report: ArtFreedomWales free speech hearing
On 27 November Index on Censorship hosted a free speech hearing at the Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff to ask the question: is Wales enjoying its right to artistic freedom of expression?
Padraig Reidy: Let’s ban the word “internet”
We have to stop thinking about things happening “on the internet”, when it’s simply part of human interaction for millions