LATEST FROM INDEX ON CENSORSHIP

Arrested for criticising Hamas – in London 

Campaigner Peter Tatchell was detained on Saturday in a case that shows all that’s going wrong with free speech in the UK today

How Lukashenka uses healthcare against political prisoners

On the International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners in Belarus, Index explores how healthcare is being used as a weapon to silence diss...

Ten years in Saudi prison for a tweet

British national Ahmed al-Doush has been sentenced over a seven-year-old deleted post

The week in free expression: 10–16 May 2025

Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days

Donna Ockenden: “There has got to be an absolute commitment to listening to women”

The senior midwife speaks to Index about the culture of silence surrounding maternity care failures in the National Health Service

Annabel Sowemimo on the silent killer in the NHS

The doctor, writer and activist discusses the difficulties of speaking out against institutional racism in UK healthcare settings

The female keyboard warriors taking on Myanmar’s military junta

Inside and outside the country, digital activists are using the power of the internet to expose human rights abuses

Celebrated author Margaret Atwood wins The British Book Award for Freedom to Publish

The Handmaid's Tale author was awarded the prize in partnership with Index on Censorship

Kashmiris are disappearing from the streets

India's government is ramping up repression in the Jammu and Kashmir region

Young people in Turkey are defying decades of oppression 

Mass youth protests have mobilised a fragmented society into action and enlivened the political opposition

Kashmir’s residents are living under the watchful eye of surveillance

Since the disputed region had its semi-autonomous special status revoked in 2019, communities have faced increased scrutiny

The week in free expression: 3–9 May 2025

Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days

Uniting in Budapest to cleanse the image of Hungarian universities

Hungary's approach to academic freedom is being rewritten with the help of a prominent British educational magazine, argues Sally Gimson

The Turkish government’s grip on journalism is tightening

With 90% of the country’s media now controlled by the state, it is becoming harder and harder to report independently

When music becomes a battleground

From Kneecap to Jonny Greenwood, recent gig cancellations reveal how fragile free expression has become in the shadow of war

World Press Freedom Day: Remembering Victoria Roshchyna

We remind ourselves of the sacrifices of journalists around the world

Greek democracy is being dismantled

Greece has been rocked by accusations of government corruption and a phone-tapping scandal involving opposition politicians and journalists

The week in free expression: 26 April-2 May 2025

Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days

Myanmar’s deadly earthquake highlights the country’s media restrictions

Reporting from Thailand, Index looks at how the military junta has denied international journalists entry to Myanmar following the disaster in March

In Mexico and Honduras, state agents target journalists while governments claim to protect them

Wendy Funes, winner of the Index 2018 Freedom of Expression award for journalism, is among those who have been consistently threatened for doing th...

World Press Freedom Day 2025: Journalists reflect

With the annual celebration taking place on 3 May 2025, six journalists from around the globe tell Index what press freedom means to them

Press freedom is deteriorating in Turkey

Ahead of World Press Freedom Day, a journalist with experience of imprisonment in Turkey speaks to those who have been arrested repeatedly

Venezuela’s prison problem

From inhumane conditions to unjust detentions, Index explores the plight of political prisoners in the Latin American country

Left speechless: How trauma is leaving children in Gaza unable to communicate

The psychological toll of living in a warzone is causing young people to lose their ability to speak

The silence around sexual assault in India’s universities

Rape victims on campuses are being urged to keep quiet, with people's reputations prioritised over stopping sexual violence

Tunisia’s Spring is over

President Kais Saied's rule is becoming increasingly authoritarian

The week in free expression: 19–25 April 2025

Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days

When trade wars become culture wars

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is reportedly under pressure to repeal hate speech laws in order to secure a favourable trade deal with the USA

RFK Jr could be a disaster for American healthcare

It is deeply troubling that the USA’s new health secretary believes in conspiracy theories and is hostile towards modern medicine

Mahmoud Muna: “There is a policy of oppression towards cultural institutions”

Index interviews “the bookseller of Jerusalem” about the recent raids on his bookshop and the ongoing crackdown on literary free expression in Isra...

The week in free expression: 12–18 April 2025

Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days

Celebrating Europe’s biggest bullies

Who’s made the most effort to throw legal threats at the little guys? A tongue-in-cheek round-up of the European SLAPP Contest 2025

Tariffs and tight control

Chinese censors are feasting on the chaos that is Donald Trump’s trade war

Whistleblowers silenced over failings in NHS pregnancy care

Index investigates the culture of secrecy shrouding maternity services and women’s healthcare in England

The harassment of Chinese-Australian artist, political cartoonist and activist Badiucao must end

More than 40 organisations from around the world stand in solidarity with the award-winning cartoonist

The week in free expression: 5–11 April 2025

Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days

The Roma women abused under Czechoslovakia’s haunting legacy

Under Soviet rule, Roma women were subjected to forced sterilisation. Today, they are still facing discrimination in their reproductive care

The TV station the Taliban would love to ban

A satellite channel has set up shop in Paris to broadcast educational and lifestyle programmes to women and girls in Afghanistan

UK court rejects Home Office bid to hear Apple encryption case in secret

Index on Censorship, Big Brother Watch and Open Rights Group welcome ruling over UK Government attempts to gain backdoor access to data

Autocrats above the law

In today’s geopolitical climate, even lawyers need lawyers

The week in free expression: 29 March–4 April 2025

Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days

Has Donald Trump’s hit list been inspired by Viktor Orbán’s?

As the US president continues his attacks on universities and the media, it’s worth noting that a democratic leader has done this before

The Kurdish journalists being targeted in Syria

Media workers in the Kurdish-led autonomous region in northern Syria have long suffered attacks by Turkish forces and extremist groups

President Museveni’s crackdown on Ugandan TikTokers

Social media spaces are shrinking as freedom of speech is further eroded in Uganda, leaving no safe haven for critical thoughts

The freedom to travel is becoming a privilege, not a right

Countries once considered liberal are increasingly denying dissenters entry at their borders

The week in free expression

Index rounds up some of the biggest stories in the global free speech landscape from the past seven days

Mother’s Day 2025: Celebrating the women taking on authoritarian regimes

From Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to Laila Soueif, we pay tribute to mothers around the world who are fighting unimaginable battles for free speech and...

Power to the people?

Our fundamental right to protest is being eroded in the UK and USA

USA urged to protect press freedom and keep journalists safe after order to gut United States Agency for Global Media

The US President has signed an order calling for the USAGM to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law"

The extraordinary decency of Athol Fugard

Filmmaker and actor Gavin Hood reflects on his relationship with the late South African novelist, playwright and director, who has died aged 92

The end of impunity for Rodrigo Duterte

Justice has finally caught up with the former Philippines president

Standing in solidarity with VOA, RFE/RL and RFA

The Trump administration is moving to shutter these essential media outlets. This will aid autocrats and further silence voices of dissent

Rights groups call for Apple’s closed appeal against the Home Office’s encryption-breaching order to be opened to the public

Representatives of rights groups have written to the President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal to call for Apple's case to be made public

Students versus the state in Serbia

As huge protests continue to take place, harassment and violence are escalating

This World Book Day, let’s fight for the freedom to read

Following an Index investigation into banned books in UK school libraries, the annual celebration has taken on a new meaning

Hollywood: the Pentagon’s secret weapon

Roger Stahl speaks to Index about the Department of Defense’s continuing influence on Hollywood movies

Iran’s silenced musicians

As the list of those persecuted in the country grows, it is obvious that Iran’s leadership is systemically opposed to musical free expression

The existential threat to international aid and consular assistance

With the UK modelling the USA's approach to aid cuts, independent journalism and political prisoners could be in a perilous position

Jimmy Lai, the troublemaker

A new biography details the life of Hong Kong’s most outspoken political prisoner – the book's author Mark Clifford talks to Index about Lai’s reso...

One year on from his death, Alexei Navalny’s legacy is still alive in Russia

Thousands of brave Russians continue to pay their respects to the late opposition leader and speak out against Putin’s regime

Australia is turning up the heat on environmental activists

Climate protesters in Australia face a higher risk of arrest than those in any other country, and direct action is becoming harder

Trump, Zelenskyy and the war on truth

Donald Trump's assertions about the Ukrainian president convey an alarming normalisation of false realities and an affront to accuracy

Why can’t we just ban politicians from lying?

An outright ban on intentional deception would be unenforceable, lead to self-censorship and do nothing to tackle the disinformation plaguing socia...

Index pays tribute to Israeli journalist and human rights activist Oded Lifshitz

Lifshitz, who was killed after he was taken hostage during the 7 October massacre, was an ardent campaigner for Palestinian rights

“In a fascist regime, culture becomes propaganda”: concerns over growing censorship in Israel

Israeli filmmakers and academics have responded to the government’s crackdown on cultural institutions that depict the events of 1948 and showcase ...

Elon Musk’s attack on public broadcasters is destroying Reagan’s Cold War legacy

Once lauded as bastions of American patriotism, media outlets such as Radio Free Europe and Voice of America are now being labelled enemies of the ...

Could Donald Trump’s administration be a double-edged sword for free speech?

We speak with the USA-based non-profit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) about the new president's complicated approach to fre...

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “The people of Belarus are showing the dictator that they want him gone”

Following January's sham election, political activists and journalists willing to challenge Aliaksandr Lukashenka face prison, exile or worse – but...

Index calls for the immediate and unconditional release of author and bookseller, Mahmoud Muna

Author Mahmoud Muna and his nephew Ahmad Muna were arrested by undercover Israeli police with dozens of their books being confiscated

Under the Taliban, Afghanistan’s musicians have fallen silent

A complete music ban has meant both professionals and amateurs must stop playing or risk their lives. We explore the impact on those in exile and t...

Golazin Ardestani: “They controlled my voice, my body, my agency”

Since Iranian singer-songwriter Gola fled her home country in 2011, she has continued her fight for women's rights in exile

Big Tech shouldn’t punish women for seeking abortions

With Trump now in office, state and local governments in the USA must push tech companies to protect women’s private data

Joe Mulhall, Solá Akingbolá and Hanna Komar champion silenced musicians

Index on Censorship launches the latest issue of its magazine with a powerful night of poetry and music

Bobi Wine still standing up to oppression in Uganda, politically and musically

Yoweri Museveni’s most formidable challenger refuses to be silenced and remains on the frontline of protest

The war on drill

The police are disproportionately censoring and criminalising music by young Black men, with drill at the forefront

Afghanistan’s female lawyers are the latest target for the Taliban

Pursuing a legal career has become impossible for women in the country. Some of those women told Index their stories

Editor in exile: One journalist’s daring escape from Myanmar

Index travels to Germany to meet exiled newspaper editor Kyaw Min Swe, who faced torture and imprisonment at the hands of the military junta

Liam Payne’s death signals an epidemic of silence in the music industry

While the future looks brighter, the mental health of artists has long been neglected

Lukashenka’s election plan is to shut down the internet – again

In the run up to the Belarusian presidential election, Index's Belarus researcher reflects on her own experience during protest crackdowns in 2020

How might Donald Trump’s executive orders impact free speech?

The new president has signed more than 100 directives that will alter the course of US policy. We look at how they will influence free expression i...

How did you do in our banned books quiz?

Were you one of the five winners in our year-end competition? Find out the answers to those fiendish clues

Index on Censorship welcomes the release of Palestinian human rights defender and lawyer Diala Ayesh

Ayesh was released from administrative detention on 14 January 2025 by Israeli authorities

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

How can Gaza rebuild its culture?

With a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas now imminent, Index reflects on the damage done to Palestine’s cultural institutions

A story of forgotten fiction in Vietnam

The country's rich literary history has been plagued by censorship and book bans

Will Meta’s changes to content moderation work?

Are Mark Zuckerberg's recently announced plans to ditch existing fact-checking policies motivated by winning political gain?

What could Assad’s downfall mean for freedom of expression in Syria?

Syrian journalists have been subjected to free speech violations for decades. Could the future hold hope for a more open media landscape?

Bashar al-Assad has fallen: now I must continue writing

A formerly imprisoned, exiled journalist talks about his plans to return to Syria and resume reporting

It’s been quite the year for freedom of expression

We’ve seen severe violations by repressive governments – but we’ve also seen remarkable acts of defiance by political activists, journalists and pr...

Pakistan faces increasing internet censorship

Internet shutdowns are nothing new in the country, but authorities appear to be using them as a form of control now more than ever

Book censorship is rife on Amazon.com, according to a report from The Citizen Lab

The research laboratory has identified that books with LGBTQ+ and religious themes are being restricted for sale online in the Middle East

Can academic freedom survive Donald Trump’s plans for thought control?

The president’s aim to remove power from universities and punish so-called “woke” ideology has chilling implications for free speech globally

Will Syria’s future leaders restore human rights for all?

Bashar al-Assad’s government was toppled by Syrian rebels this week, bringing the dictator’s 24-year-reign to a close

Decolonisation in name only: Sedition and free expression in India

As Mohammed Zubair’s case shows, the “world’s largest democracy” is still holding on to outdated and repressive laws that class journalism as a threat

Hanna Komar explores the trauma of oppression through her new play

The Belarusian poet wrote Body in Progress to expose how persecution has a profound impact on the body and mind

Media regulator fails to properly protect freedom of expression in online safety draft guidance

Index on Censorship criticises Ofcom’s inadequate ‘passing references’ to users’ privacy rights and warns of legal battles if draft guidance on enc...

Belarus is a prison for freedom

Freedom of expression in Belarus is costly and the price is years off your life

Human Rights Day 2024: A tribute to human rights defenders

Index on Censorship spotlights four people standing up for human rights around the world

Human rights organisations condemn criminal complaint lodged against award-winning journalist Mohammed Zubair

Index on Censorship and other organisations highlight the continued use of sedition to target independent reporting and public interest speech

The power of protest

Peaceful demonstration is a fundamental form of self expression, and a crucial mechanism of any democracy

Science in Iran: A catalyst for corruption

Index looks at why being a scientist in Iran is so dangerous, and what is left behind when advancement is hindered

Index launches year-end banned books competition

Solve fiendish cryptic clues from the mind of author Marc Nash to identify the book titles and win one of five 12-month magazine subscriptions

Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi released from prison

Joint statement by the International Counsel Team at Doughty Street Chambers, Index on Censorship and Human Rights Foundation

Venezuela: a blueprint for tackling a rigged election

A citizen-led movement to capture accurate voting tallies revealed that Nicolás Maduro did not win the country's election

COP29: Azerbaijan’s flagrant human rights abuses undermine its role as climate conference host

The men in black who patrolled the corridors of Baku’s Olympic Stadium indicated the level of surveillance that activists are now under

The dangers of boycotting Russian science

As physics laboratory Cern ends co-operation with Russia and Belarus over the Ukraine war, Index talks to exiled scientists

Boualem Sansal faces life imprisonment if found guilty of national security charges

The Algerian novelist has long been a controversial figure for his criticism of his home country and extremist Islam

A big week to remember

The past week has been busy for Index and in Hong Kong. It is up to us all to ensure award winners and political prisoners are not forgotten

Index on Censorship announces 2024 Freedom of Expression award winners

Campaigners, artists and journalists from Iran, Palestine, Russia and Uganda are named in awards ceremony in London this week

The reappearance of Stalin’s ghost in modern Russia

Denouncements of citizens for anti-Russian sentiment and punitive psychiatry are rising in the former Soviet Union

How Putin’s Russia is weaponising psychiatry against its critics

The Russian leader is revisiting the Cold War playbook by using mental manipulation to silence dissidents and its use is growing

Democracy, but not as we know it

Donald Trump’s re-election is indicative of a broader global trend towards a new age of veiled authoritarianism.

Who will protect freedom of expression now?

What terrible things will happen while we are all distracted by the clown in the White House?

Anything is possible: 35 years on from the fall of the Iron Curtain

As we mark the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, we should remember that democratic change can come very quickly

Mozambique faces protest crackdown following disputed presidential election

The police have killed at least 20 people during a march led by an opposition leader, whilst hundreds more have been injured or arrested

In India, the money from state advertising is too tight to mention

Angana Chakrabarti reports from the North Eastern region, where government advertising is used as a tool to control the media

Donald Trump’s re-election is disastrous for free speech

Today is a day of despair – but it is also a day for those of us who genuinely care about free expression to come together to protect and promote it

Index on Censorship announces 2024 Freedom of Expression award shortlist

At a time of growing conflict, threats and censorship, the shortlist for this year’s Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression award highlights the...

On the brink

Freedom and democracy are on the ballot in the US presidential election

The UK Government must defend its citizens around the world

As the new Prime Minister vows to protect press freedom and tackle impunity, we're reminded of the many British citizens who are unjustly imprisone...

Celebrating the music of Toomaj Salehi

This week marks two years since Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi was arrested, and although his death sentence has been reversed, he still languishes i...

Rap is not a crime, yet my cousin remains behind bars in Iran

Two years ago today, Toomaj Salehi was arrested because his music was unjustly seen as a threat.

Press freedom and journalist safety in peril, rising polarisation and a climate of fear – findings of the press freedom mission to Georgia

After a fact-finding mission to Georgia on the state of free expression, a consortium of organisations, including Index on Censorship, present thei...

Film censorship risks emboldening those who threaten violence

Cinema screenings are fairly cancelled in the interests of public safety - but does this further relinquish the voices of those seeking to expose i...

Platform on Safety of Journalists demand reform in Ireland following anti-SLAPP conference

Partners of the Platform call on Irish authorities to continue to prioritise media freedom and better protect journalists.

Living in gangster times

Reporting on organised crime in the eastern state of Bihar is a deadly business

Tainted scientists

Katie Dancey-Downs talks to the scientists who have been censored for questioning the effectiveness of animal testing

Journalists have a “right to life”

The rich and powerful are increasingly acting with impunity to silence, sometimes permanently, those who seek to shine a light on their activities

Georgian dream – or nightmare?

Ahead of a national election next week, Index CEO Jemimah Steinfeld visited Georgia's capital Tbilisi. She observed that the country, formerly one ...

Be nice, or you’re not coming in

The Indian government is revoking the status of its overseas citizens and denying visas for those critical of Modi

The show must go on

Ravish Kumar was one of the biggest independent voices of Indian channel NDTV before he dramatically resigned to set up his own YouTube channel in ...

Ukraine: Index and partners mourn death and demand justice for Victoria Roshchyna

Organisations welcome the opening of an investigation into the death of the Ukrainian journalist who died in unclear circumstances while in Russian...

Detained, blindfolded and threatened with death: a week in the hands of Ukraine’s Russian occupiers

Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna was on her way to Mariupol when she was taken hostage. She recounts her ordeal here

All the news that’s fake to print

Index on Censorship's new editor rounds up the stories that have made headlines this week including disinformation around the Florida hurricane

Index pays tribute to Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna who has died in Russian detention

The war reporter wrote from the front line for several Ukrainian news outlets before she was captured by Russian forces last year, and has now died...

Al Jazeera’s closure sets a dangerous precedent for journalism, says union

The shutdown of the West Bank news centre has been labelled a security step by Israeli officials, but a worrying form of press suppression by media...

One year on from 7 October: free speech violations in Israel and Palestine

Amongst the horrendous loss of life and destruction, journalists and peace activists have been persecuted. We summarise Index's coverage of censors...

Telling fact from fiction

Journalistic "black holes", such as in Gaza and Sudan, curtail people's ability to understand geopolitics and conflict

Georgia: Press freedom and the safety of journalists in peril

Findings of a recent press freedom mission to Georgia by the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform, of which Index is a member

Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera’s West Bank office is a blow to press freedom

This is just another example of Israel’s suppression of Palestinian journalists, which stops them from documenting the brutal war in Gaza

British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah denied freedom once again

The political prisoner remains behind bars after serving a five-year jail term, but his family won’t stop campaigning for his release

Is jail time for Just Stop Oil protesters justified?

When countries like the UK and the USA start punitively punishing peaceful but disruptive protesters, the world needs to be on watch

The hypocrisy of how Western democracies respond to protest

Nations in the "Global North" continue to crack down on protests and freedom of expression, while condemning similar actions abroad

ODEE and Fishrot: Index signs letter in support of artistic freedom

An artist is being sued by one of Europe's largest fishing companies and now dozens of organisations are asking for the case to be dropped

United Nations member states must call for Toomaj Salehi’s release

The family of Toomaj Salehi are calling for Iran to immediately and unconditionally release the jailed Iranian rapper

The most ridiculous book bans

For Banned Books Week 2024, Index staff share some of the most absurd examples of literary censorship

Who holds the pen on scrutinising the most powerful?

The influence wielded by newspapers has come into sharp focus in the past week

The corporate silencing of the truth about Ukraine’s “Holocaust by bullets”

Index co-hosted the private UK premiere of an important film about the Babyn Yar massacre to persuade CBS News to release key footage

Breaking end-to-end encryption would be a disaster

Index launches campaign to highlight why politicians should not rush to add a "back door" to messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal

Iranian filmmakers pull it out of the bag

An exploration of some of the innovative strategies employed by Iran’s directors to circumvent censorship

Two plus two equals five in US presidential debate

The adjective Orwellian is overused but the surreal ABC News debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris can only be described that way

Silenced Afghan women raise their voices in hope

Women gather in Albania in defiance of the Taliban's new "vice and virtue" laws which aim to stop them from being heard

Fictitious legal letter threatening legal action is sent to every sitting MP

UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition, of which Index is co-chair, launches campaign as Parliament delays establishing anti-SLAPP protections

Bread, Work, Freedom

Afghan women gather in Tirana for global summit to defy the Taliban

Back to school: a hard lesson for Hong Kong

Secondary school students are now going to be educated in Xi Jinping Thought to promote patriotism for China

Israel’s trajectory into a nascent police state

Israel’s push towards authoritarianism by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition is not slowing down during the country’s ever-expanding mil...

The enforced silence of Afghanistan’s women

Taliban-enacted "vice and virtue" laws have taken away both voices and human rights

Modi’s plans to muzzle India’s internet

The Indian government may have withdrawn the latest version of its Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, but Modi still intends to bring his onl...

The great X-odus

People are leaving X by the droves and with good reason. But it still has many strengths, not least in connecting Index to dissidents

The painful death of Syria’s independent media

A number of independent media outlets opened in the wake of the Arab Spring but lack of funding and poor governance has seen them fold

Why Project 2025 is a threat to a free media

A prototype for Donald Trump in power will restrict local independent journalism

Banned: school librarians shushed over LGBT+ books

A special investigation reveals more than half of UK school librarians surveyed by Index have been asked to remove books from their shelves

Violent repression and torture in Zimbabwe on eve of major development conference

Index reports on the government’s increasing brutality towards protesters and human rights activists

The importance of local journalism to understanding the UK riots

Mill Media with its network of local journalists was able to spot the rising far-right threat to asylum hotels well before their national counterpa...

Belarus: If you want freedom, take it

Today marks the fourth anniversary of the disputed election in Belarus that saw Alyaksandr Lukashenka take a sixth term as president

Russia, disinformation and two Olympic boxers

Female boxer Imane Khelif is guaranteed a silver or gold today at the Paris Olympics but her achievement has been marred by false claims that she i...

How many letters can they shred?

The Belarusian president-elect in exile, denied her victory by Lukashenka, writes exclusively for Index on the country's political prisoners

Undercover freedom fund

We talk to the founders of Bysol, a non-profit humanitarian foundation using cryptocurrency to help dissidents in Belarus and aid the Ukrainian war...

UK journalists fall victim to new police tactics

Journalists covering protests in the UK are still being arrested, even before they have arrived at the demonstrations

Vladimir Kara-Murza: The dissident spirit of Russia

The historian and writer represents views which run counter to the authoritarian tendency that has dominated the country for so much of its recent ...

The unstilled voice of Gazan theatre

Laura Silvia Battaglia recalls the last play she saw in Gaza and talks to its director today about how theatre is still providing a voice for the d...

Russia: Index welcomes release of Vladimir Kara-Murza and Evan Gershkovich from jail

The vocal critic of Vladimir Putin and the Wall Street Journal reporter are among a number of people released as part of a prisoner exchange

First they came for the Greens

A look at the violent attacks being carried out against Germany’s Green Party as politicians standing on an eco-ticket in the European Parliament e...

The Bangladesh government has been killing student protesters but reporting it has become nearly impossible

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her ministers are trying to cover up what the government has done and is blaming external “terrorists” and opposit...

Kenya: Young reporters and NGOs targeted as part of clampdown on Gen Z protests

Our reporter talks to a young journalist and the director of a young people’s organisation who have been threatened and censored for their work

Iran: Complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in response to the ongoing judicial persecution of Toomaj Salehi

Index on Censorship, Human Rights Foundation and Doughty Street Chambers make submission on behalf of rapper's family

Ukraine | A chronicle of censorship

A TV giant in the USA is preventing a documentary film about the Babyn Yar massacre being shown

The latest rubbish joke from China

An unexpected view of China and the Wall Street Journal’s sacking of a reporter named chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association hit the headli...

How Russia is shaping the Syrian media narrative

The way that announcements about illnesses and deaths are reported shows signs of external influence

It’s radio silence around Venezuela’s election

Venezuela is heading to the polls on 28 July but both national and international media are being stifled when it comes to reporting on the election

Rwanda polls: The Kagame “landslide” that would embarrass other dictators

A lack of meaningful opposition is behind the incumbent president's re-election

Encouraging signs on freedom of expression after Starmer’s first week

Appointments to and actions from the new Cabinet suggest a shift in approach

Report pinpoints role of likely Russian troll networks in European election disinformation

Thousands of social media accounts promoted pro-Russian propaganda and conspiracy theories

Exhibition about Russian political prisoners cancelled over Israel-Gaza row

A London art gallery has pulled an exhibition about Russian dissidents because an Israeli artist refused to condemn "the Zionist regime"

Fears mount over health of Azerbaijani political prisoner

The son of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu speaks to Index about the deteriorating health of his father, who was imprisoned on fabricated charges in 2023

Lukashenka unexpectedly releases political prisoners

Despite the announcement, more than 1400 remain behind bars in Belarus leaving questions over leader's motives

General Election 2024: We can’t assume Keir Starmer will be a champion of all things anti-censorship

Index has a long history with the UK's new Prime Minister but we will still hold him to account on free expression

Football can’t escape the free speech debate

UEFA’s plan to keep politics out of football at this summer’s European Championships has been difficult to enforce

Julian Assange released: What now?

The plea deal reached between the WikiLeaks founder and the US government sets a worrying precedent

Has Russian disinformation caused Europe’s lurch to the right?

A tsunami of disinformation from Russia may have helped far-right and Eurosceptic groups in this month's European Parliament elections

A chilling update from Belarus

Despite Lukashenka's regime running trials in absentia for its critics overseas, the opposition remains vocal

Our manifesto: the next UK government’s necessary actions to restore freedom of expression

From protecting protest rights to addressing transnational repression, the upcoming government has a lot to do to fully restore freedom of expression

Iran’s supreme court overturns death sentence given to Toomaj Salehi

Decision welcomed by Toomaj Salehi's family, Index on Censorship, Human Rights Foundation and Salehi's international legal team

Index on Censorship seeks new Communications and Events Manager

Role sits at heart of the organisation, helping to lead the communications strategy through social media management, events and media

Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani sentenced to six years in prison

Facing “harshest punishment” for her activism, Atena Farghadani must be released immediately

Fears of censorship grow as Modi begins third term

Despite the BJP’s reduced number of seats, there are fears that journalists and India’s civil society will be further silenced

The silencing of media in times of war

National security arguments cannot become a tool to control free expression in democratic societies

No D-Day for the Channel Islands

The recent inquiry into slave labour camps on Alderney showed much of the story of the islands remains untold

Looking forward: Challenges facing online speech regulation in India

With the Digital India Act on the horizon, Index is working to ensure the country's proposed regulatory regime can protect free expression for ever...

Slovakia: democracy just bearing up

The country is one of the smallest members of the European Union and sometimes struggles to develop a vision for itself

Are people in Israel getting the full story on Gaza?

The world is seeing a completely different war from the domestic audience

Israeli military censor bans highest number of articles in over a decade

The sharp rise in media censorship in 2023 comes as the Israeli government further undermines press freedoms, especially amid the Gaza war

Bahrain: Joint letter on human rights situation to the United Nations Human Rights Council

Index joins more than 30 other organisations to raise concerns over the situation in the country 13 years after popular uprisings were quashed

South Africa votes amid corruption and rampant abuse of power

Thirty years on from the dismantling of apartheid, the country's electorate are still waiting for real change

On never being able to stop

Our outgoing CEO Ruth Anderson shares her thoughts as she hands over the freedom of expression baton

Are we sleepwalking into Orwell’s nightmare?

Forty years on from Nineteen Eighty-Four, a panel of freedom of expression experts has explored the relevance of the dystopian novel to now

Georgia’s foreign agent bill: an existential threat to democracy

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in an attempt to stop the country's slide into authoritarianism

How artificial intelligence is influencing elections in India

Deepfake videos and other content is appearing with increasing regularity and regulators are too slow - or are unwilling - to act

New magazine Atar fills information void in Sudan

As a brutal war rages in Sudan a new publication fights to share stories which would otherwise be lost

The death of North Korea’s propaganda chief marks the end of an era

Kim Ki Nam spent decades shaping the narrative of the totalitarian state and building a personality cult around the ruling Kim dynasty

Sting, Margaret Atwood, Elif Shafak and Coldplay join more than 100 artists, musicians, writers and leading cultural figures to call for the immediate and unconditional release of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi

Musician faces death sentence after three years of judicial harassment, including arrest, imprisonment and torture

Protesting to save democracy in Georgia

All those across the world who care about freedom need to demonstrate solidarity with protesters on the streets of Tbilisi determined to defeat a n...

Urgent appeal filed with United Nations for Iranian rapper sentenced to death for his music

Toomaj Salehi, who was beaten and tortured in jail, has just 20 days to appeal charges of "corruption on Earth"

Nobody is safe from Iran’s protest crackdown

Protests over Toomaj Salehi's sentence have rightfully begun, but his is not an isolated case

Burkina Faso has chosen the tool of the tyrant

A report into the death of 223 civilians in the African state has led to a clampdown on the media

We the screamers

The atrocity deniers are everywhere and we need to scream over them with the truth

Statement: Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi sentenced to death

Index on Censorship has issued a joint statement with ARC and PEN America condemning a decision by an Iranian revolutionary court

The death penalty is the new normal in Iran

Our weekly newsletter leads on the announcement of a sentence we all feared for rapper Toomaj Salehi

Toomaj Salehi: A voice of defiance

Our 2023 Freedom of Expression Art Award winner was jailed for the power of his words. Now he faces the death sentence

Review | Storyteller: Photography by Tim Hetherington | Imperial War Museum until 29 September 2024

An exhibition of the work of the acclaimed late photojournalist has opened in London. The recipient of the fellowship that bears his name visits

Why we cannot afford to look away

We are at risk of disaster fatigue around the war in Ukraine as new atrocities crowd the story out of the news

We must not forget what is happening inside Iran

The Iranian authorities have cracked down hard on domestic protest, particularly by women, says exiled film-maker

India’s hate speech trackers are being blocked

Even from exile in the USA, a Kashmiri journalist critical of India’s ruling BJP is being silenced

Vladimir Kara-Murza: The family man who has spent two years in prison

Campaigner Bill Browder calls the jailed Putin critic "the type of person that our world needs the most"

Why critics like Jay Rayner have a role in battling self-censorship

Our CEO ponders the challenges of being a reviewer after reading the latest column from the Observer's restaurant writer

Kara-Murza’s detention, two years on: A tale of resilience amid Russian authoritarianism

On the two-year anniversary of the journalist and activist's detention in Putin's Russia, we call on the UK to take action

More than 60 experts call for the Anti-SLAPP Bill to be amended

Leading editors, lawyers, journalists, academics and experts say bill should be amended to ensure it can protect everyone speaking out in the publi...

Index on Censorship appoints Jemimah Steinfeld as its new Chief Executive Officer

Steinfeld will succeed Ruth Anderson, who is leaving Index to focus on her role as a Labour Party shadow minister in the House of Lords

Desperation mounts for Afghanistan’s persecuted journalists

A year on from our call to action in Spring 2023, the situation for journalists under the Taliban is bleaker than ever

Israel’s civil and human rights are under siege

The shuttering of Al Jazeera is just the latest in a series of restrictions introduced in response to the war in Gaza

Reflections six months on from 7 October

Our CEO says that we must address the root causes of a conflict that has led to the deaths of more than 31,000 people

When the old fox walks the tightrope

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act is a poisoned chalice – and not just for the nation’s LGBTQ+ community. Our East Africa contributing editor discuss...

Joint letter to mark 1000 days of hunger strike by Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace

Index has joined with more than 25 other human rights organisations to call for the release of the Bahraini human rights activist

Evan Gershkovich: We must be as loud as possible

The unlawful imprisonment in Russia of the WSJ reporter has huge implications for media freedom worldwide. We can all play a part in bringing about...

Solidarity, Assange-style

Our editor-at-large opens up about his personal, complicated relationship with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

The SLAPP stickers

A conversation between a wokey comedian, Rosie Holt, and her wonky lawyer brother, Charlie Holt, co-chair of the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition, on how op...

When is a landslide not a landslide?

It’s a question which Vladimir Putin has clearly been thinking about after what would ordinarily be considered a decisive win in last week’s Russia...

The journalists being threatened with artificial intelligence

Perpetrators of gender-based violence are wielding a new digital weapon against Pakistani journalists

Iran: do you want the good or the bad news?

A great privilege of working at Index is, and always has been, the amazing people we get to encounter, such as Iranian musician Toomaj Salehi

Why withdrawal of labour is the ultimate expression of freedom

Forty years on from the miners' strike, our CEO says we are duty-bound to uphold and defend the right to express dissent

New Assange film hopes to spur action

The director of a forthcoming documentary on Julian Assange speaks to Index about how he hopes it will motivate people to take action before it’s t...

Navalny told them not to give up – and they didn’t

People across Russia risked arrest to pay their respects to the dead opposition leader during a 'climate of terror'. We spoke to some of those who ...

Remembering the women who pay the ultimate price for freedom

On International Women's Day, our CEO Ruth Anderson reflects on another deadly 12 months for female dissidents

Mexico: Obrador’s attacks on freedom reach new heights

The Mexican president is attacking independent institutions and publicly shared a critical journalist's telephone number

Calls to sanction architects of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act grow

Uganda's LGBTQ+ community live in fear for their lives following the passage of draconian legislation in Uganda last year. The international commun...

Ukraine’s resilience shows us how to stand up to oppression

The two-year anniversary of Russia's illegal war in Ukraine reminds us that even in the depths of war there must always be hope

UK, USA continue attack of protest rights

Recent incidents add to an already worrying picture of the protest landscape in the respective countries

Index reiterates our urgent call for Assange to be freed

The final stage of Assange's UK appeal begins today. The international community must unite in their support to free him

Pakistan election surprise highlights ways to fight censorship

During the recent elections Pakistan saw internet blackouts and a media narrative dictated by the military. But opposition leaders showed how to fi...

Alexei Navalny dead

Putin's fiercest critic has died in an Arctic Circle penal colony. An Index writer remembers his fond and foolish friend

Love in the time of dissent

A week in which many are celebrating their love has turned the focus on those dissidents who are forced to be separate from their partners and fami...

The deadly challenges of reporting on Sudan’s “forgotten war”

The simple act of asking questions, or holding a camera, places a target on your back and hundreds have been attacked and even murdered

China’s feminists walk a tightrope

Within China's extremely censored environment, some conversations on feminism are seemingly untouched while others are shut down straight away. The...

Joke’s on Lukashenka speaking rubbish Belarusian. Or is it?

Belarus’ belligerent leader is both tyrannical and comical. It’s fodder for the nation’s comics – when they’re not being muzzled

We have a duty to protect our politicians

The threats faced by Mike Freer and Nikki Haley are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a broader trend towards intolerance and extremism

Why a manipulated image of a politician is the tip of the AI-ceberg

The role of traditional media as a trusted source of news is under threat from artificial intelligence as this story from Australia shows

Sport faces growing censorship problem over the Israel-Gaza war

Governing bodies are becoming increasingly heavy-handed in their attempts to remain neutral in the conflict

The fragility of freedom

Recent history has shown us our own naïveté of hoping for an end to horrors like the Holocaust

Index on Censorship launches search for new chief executive

Freedom of expression charity seeks new leader to help write the next chapter in the organisation's more than 50-year history

Moments of Freedom winner announced

Agfhan reporter's flight to safety in Paris from the Taliban is the moment you chose as part of our year-end campaign

How censorship wins

Publishing with freedom has become impossible in Belarus

The suffering of Wael al-Dahdouh in “deadliest conflict for journalists”

Al Jazeera's bureau chief has lost many family members in the Gaza conflict including his son Hamza, one of 76 Palestinian journalists who are repo...

Fined thousands for a joke

Malaysian Comedian Rizal Van Geysel tells Francis Clarke how jokes landed him with a court case which inspired his recent show

Explained: Ecuador’s state of emergency and free expression

A notorious gang leader's escape from prison has plunged Ecuador into chaos, prompting the president to declare a 60-day state of emergency

Jimmy Lai’s “co-conspirators” speak out after being named in Hong Kong trial

Bill Browder and Benedict Rogers are among those singled out in the Hong Kong-British businessman’s trial on charges under the national security law

Chinese election interference tests Taiwan’s capability to defend freedom of speech

Analysts say Taiwan needs to strike a balance between defending free speech and addressing the impact of China’s disinformation campaign

The unravelling of academic freedom on US campuses

When the lines between speech and action have been ambiguous, US colleges have moved too far towards clamping down on what people say. Now pro-Pale...

From the Danube to the Baltic Sea, Germany takes an authoritarian turn

German authorities are increasingly silencing pro-Palestine activism in an effort to stamp out anything they fear could be seen as antisemitic

The world needs to learn from Masha Gessen moments

The Russian-American writer was at the centre of a controversy yet things were not exactly as they first seemed

What does Tusk’s victory mean for oppressed groups in Poland?

The ousting of the Law and Justice party after eight years in power is cause for celebration, but change will not happen overnight

Putin’s control threatens Russian dissident voices

Whilst war rages in Ukraine it is easy to lose sight of those saying loudly that the Russian state doesn’t act in their name

Hacking is far more than a security issue. It chills free speech

The recent sanctioning by British and US governments of Russian intelligence operatives sheds light on a growing tactic used to intimidate and sile...

Art institutions accused of censoring pro-Palestine views

Ai Weiwei and other artists speak to Index amid a spike in censorship within the art world right now as a result of the Middle East conflict

We must not stay silent on Iran’s use of the death penalty

Hundreds have been executed in Iran this year as the regime continues to punish those involved in the protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death

UK’s hostile environment continues to silence already persecuted people

By pushing ahead with its controversial Rwanda plan, the UK government is breeding a culture of fear for asylum seekers

Saying goodbye to Kissinger the criminal

The forgotten dead of the nations that ‘realpolitik’ devastated are still crying out for justice

The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition welcomes Wayne David MP’s Anti-SLAPP Bill

A Private Members’ Bill being presented today is a crucial milestone for the UK to stamp out all SLAPPs targeting public interest reporting

Moments of Freedom in a bleak year

Our CEO Ruth Anderson talks about our year-end campaign, launched next week, which will focus on the times when light breaks through the darkness

New online platform provides free education to girls in Afghanistan

Afghan girls are being denied access to higher education. The Begum Academy is trying to change that

New report: Juries in defamation cases in Ireland

A new report from Index on Censorship looks at whether the Irish courts should dispense with juries in defamation cases

If X is so hateful, why are we still on it?

When Elon Musk bought Twitter, we decided to wait and see whether it would remain a bastion of free speech as he promised. How's that going?

Argentina’s Milei ushers in atrocity denialism, trolling and attacks on the media

After a campaign marked by online abuse, the libertarian president-elect could embolden the most violent elements of the far right

Qatar fails to deliver on World Cup promises

One year on from the 2022 World Cup, improvements to human rights in Qatar have yet to materialise

Life and death in Iran’s prisons

The human rights activist Narges Mohammadi faces yet more charges for her activism and her refusal to wear hijab

Message to Cameron: No more fish and chips with Xi please

David Cameron is now Foreign Secretary of the UK. Following criticism over his links to China, Index looks at what should be on his agenda

Punishment cells and limited legal recourse

The numbers of journalists and human rights defenders in jail in Belarus has heavily increased since 2020, while conditions inside have worsened

Curtailing creativity today will lead to greater censorship tomorrow

Hungary's banning of photos that promote LGBTQI+ lifestyles and the sacking of the head of the country's National Museum are chilling reminders tha...

The Magufuli hangover

Tanzania's civic space was hopeful for reform after the death of John Magufuli in 2021 but early optimism under President Samia Hassan has evaporat...

Silent Palestinians in Gaza and Israel

It’s not just anti-war voices that are being gagged in a conflict that threatens to spiral out of control

Why academic freedom and freedom of speech are not the same thing

The right to debate ideas in universities does not give free rein to voice hateful ideas outside that environment

The stakes are high for free expression in Israel-Hamas conflict

Journalists have been attacked and killed, individuals have been silenced and protests banned as a result of the conflict

Index CEO writes open letter on EU plans for political advertising rules

Ruth Anderson addresses European presidents on the chilling effect on freedom of expression of proposed new legislation

Standing together for peace in the Middle East

Activists working for peace in Israel and Palestine came together this week to raise their voices

Rights are still under attack globally

While the world is watching one conflict, our gaze is diverted from other important stories, writes the Index CEO

Campaigner for Afghan girls’ education takes the path to freedom

A week after winning an Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression award, Pen Path’s co-founder has been released from a prison in Afghanistan

2023 Freedom of Expression Award winners announced

Index on Censorship has recognised activists and campaigners from Afghanistan, India and Iran for their work at its annual awards ceremony

X marks the spot where Israel-Hamas disinformation wars are being fought

The Elon Musk-owned social media platform used to be the go-to in times of crisis but its strengths for truth-telling are eroded and all but gone

Myanmar’s growing doxxing problem

As a new Myanmar Witness report shows yet more evidence of critics being targeted online, the organisation’s lead investigator outlines the scale o...

Media freedom groups call for justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia

Index joins call for improved media safety on sixth anniversary of investigative journalist's murder

Israel and Palestine – the key free speech issues

Freedom of expression looks certain to be a casualty as the Gaza Strip explodes into conflict

1,000 days behind bars: In solidarity with Andrei Aliaksandrau

Andrei’s friends and former colleagues stand in solidarity with him as he remains imprisoned by Lukashenka’s regime for over 1,000 days

“There is no book so dangerous that it should not be available in a library”

The banning of books has repeatedly proven to be a key tool in the arsenal of tyrants and repressive regimes, writes our CEO

Why we need Banned Books Week more than ever

In just one year, book bans in the USA have increased by a third – largely targeted at works containing content on LGBTQ+ rights, race and racism, ...

Questioning of journalist at UK airport highlights increasing overreach of border forces

Matt Broomfield's interrogation by police at the UK border is evidence of a worrying trend which threatens the ability of journalists to travel fre...

How to celebrate Putin’s 71st birthday? At the Ukrainian festival telling him to ‘fuck off’

Next weekend, Kyiv's hipsters will be fed a diet of stand-up comedy, music, fashion and food as they raise a finger to their aggressive neighbour

Trump raises the stakes on media freedom

Former President threatens to cancel the licences of media outlets he perceives to be critical of him should he be reelected in 2024

The Embassy Murders: A new short story

Marking 50 years since Pinochet's coup and 33 years on from our introduction to political prisoner Paulina Salas in Death and the Maiden, she retur...

India’s Right to Know under threat as social media giants bend to censorship

The big platforms are kowtowing to Indian government pressure to censor dissent while hateful content is promoted

Botswana’s trans activists battling silence with creativity

Botswana has made progress on LGBTQ+ rights, but many still feel silenced. A growing movement of activists are using art as a vehicle for change

Shortlists announced for the 2023 Freedom of Expression Awards

Artists, activists and journalists from Afghanistan, India, Myanmar and Somalia are among the nominations for this year's awards

Britain’s legal system silences sexual assault victims

The Brand allegations highlight how British courts can be used by the rich and powerful to silence the victims of sexual assault

Over 60 editors, journalists, writers, publishers and experts call on the UK Government to commit to a standalone anti-SLAPP law

The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition, of which Index is a co-chair, has co-ordinated and sent a letter to the Government ahead of the King's Speech on 7 Nov...

Parliament’s China spying scandal breaks the bond of trust

The arrest of a parliamentary researcher will have worrying implications for Chinese dissidents and their families

‘There simply is no moral high ground anymore’ – Stella Assange

WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange is running out of options to avoid extradition, despite growing efforts from the Australian government to get th...

‘People are scared to come, but we want writers, journalists and artists to visit’

The Lviv BookForum curator on organising a festival during a war, the importance of countering Russian colonialism and remembering fallen friends

50 years on wounds still raw from Chile coup

The country is still divided over the dictator's legacy, as violence over the weekend shows

“An attack on encryption unprecedented in any democracy” 

The Online Safety Bill returns to the House of Commons for the first time in eight months on 11 September. This is the last chance the Government h...

Vladimir Kara-Murza: ‘Putin has elevated his status’

As the Russian dissident turns 42 today in jail with a 25-year prison sentence ahead of him, it's important the world knows his name

Online Safety Bill loophole opens door to unprecedented investigatory powers

On 11 September, the House of Commons will review the Online Safety Bill for the first time in nine months

Zimbabwe’s ‘crocodile’ crushes dissent ahead of Wednesday elections

Human rights have been under attack since President Emmerson Mnangagwa came to power

The day the music died

When Kabul fell to the Taliban two years ago today, musicians were among the first to experience repression

“They simply do not care about us”

A male-dominant political sphere contributes to a toxic environment for women in Nigeria. Some are speaking up, but the barriers are high

Is X really a bastion of free expression?

The Center for Countering Digital Hate says the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, is not doing enough to tackle online hate

All lose out when books are banned

We should be celebrating books that seek to challenge our world view, not banning them

Report: At what cost? Chinese funding and academic freedom in Europe

Read our publication on Chinese funding and academic freedom in Europe as part of our #BannedByBeijing campaign

It is time for the EU to be an ally for freedom of expression

As Spain assumes the presidency of the European Union, the bloc needs to reflect on the draft political advertising regulations

Pakistan’s political vandals

As Pakistan gears up for a general election, Ahmadi Muslims are experiencing vandalism at the hands of police and extremist politicians

Afghans who supported the British government’s mission now face death

We have turned our backs on those left behind in Afghanistan. It is not too late to act

What is the Marxist vision of journalism?

China has launched an education platform for would-be reporters that requires them to pledge loyalty to Xi Jinping

Chilling intimidation campaign against journalist outside Chinese borders

Anonymous efforts to silence a Dutch reporter are signs of increasingly shameless psychological warfare by the Chinese

Britain’s Holocaust island

The peaceful island of Alderney was involved in the darkest chapter of World War II. Both residents and politicians have tried to keep a lid on thi...

“For Hong Kong, may freedom reign”

Our CEO Ruth Anderson reflects on a shocking week when China's transnational repression efforts escalated

Belarus, the country where journalists are terrorists

Index speaks with the chair of the country's journalism association, which has now been labelled extremist

Targeted activists vow “the voices of Hongkongers will never be eliminated”

After Hong Kong authorities issued arrest warrants for eight exiled pro-democracy activists, a panel including Christopher Mung and Finn Lau gather...

Death of a storyteller

John Sweeney remembers Ukrainian novelist turned war crimes investigator Victoria Amelina, who has died in a Russian rocket attack on a watering ho...

The international community must resist Hong Kong’s attempts to threaten human rights across the globe using the National Security Law

Eight pro-democracy activists living in exile in the UK, USA and Australia, including Nathan Law (pictured), are the subject of arrest warrants and...

Seeking the real story of Prigozhin’s challenge to Putin

Finding the truth about what is happening in Russia is almost impossible but the country's remaining independent media are working hard to do so

“Wherever I take this exhibition, they follow me“

Chinese dissident artist Badiucao highlights how he is targeted overseas by Beijing in their bid to silence him

Celebrating the work of investigative journalists

Our chief executive reflects on the value of dedicated and determined reporters in unearthing the stories that must be heard

The dangers in Europe’s proposals for political advertising

Our CEO Ruth Anderson says big tech platforms could be inundated with vexatious requests to remove content

Index on Censorship host event Beijing would rather you didn’t see

Hear from Uyghur campaigner Rahima Mahmut and see art from Badiucao, Lumli Lumlong and vawongsir

Afghan journalist speaks out on the UK’s “shameful silence”

An expert panel met last week to discuss the plight of Afghan women, journalists and refugees, and highlighted the urgent need for more pressure to...

Twitter ‘Blue’: Sex workers, censorship and the fight for online visibility

After being shut out online, sex workers saw Twitter Blue as a tool for more visibility. However, it's had the opposite effect

A lot of hot air: Johnson, Braverman and climate protests

Distate of tactics used by groups such as Just Stop Oil should not be used as an excuse to further erode public assembly and protest rights

Maria Ressa: “Journalism research has no integrity if it endangers journalists at risk”

Rappler editor-in-chief breaks silence over Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism report on digital news

There is no right to be heard

Our CEO defends the right of people, with views and values different to her own, to express themselves

Tiananmen Square? Don’t mention it

Efforts by Beijing to wipe out any memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre continued to expand the past week. But ways to remember expanded too

This is no joke

In China a comedian risks jail time for mocking the army. Dr Qian Gong and Dr Jian Xu chart the rapid rise and potential fall of stand-up in the co...

Turkey and Thailand: Two elections, different outcomes

One poll remains deadlocked while another has seen the population vote for a change of direction

Sir Salman Rushdie wins Freedom to Publish Award

Author says has freedom of expression has never been under greater threat in the West in his lifetime

Coronation crackdown: It couldn’t happen here…could it?

The heavy-handed treatment of anti-monarchy protesters at King Charles III's ceremony is ominous

Turkey’s elections: “No rule of law anymore”

The country’s human rights landscape has disintegrated since Erdogan took over in 2003

Turkish youth turn to YouTube amid stifling of information

In the weeks leading up to the election, young professionals lean on YouTube to gather varied and impartial news

Don’t give up on Myanmar

The country has a vibrant future believes author Oliver Slow, despite the military junta's attacks on dissent

Argument for urgent intervention in Jimmy Lai case laid bare in new report

Pressure on UK government to intervene in Lai case highlighted in a new report, which exposes the destruction of media freedom in Hong Kong

Defying the Taliban – A stark reminder of the collapse of Afghan women’s rights

Last Thursday, human rights organisation Anotherway Now hosted a screening of the Sky News documentary ‘Defying the Taliban: women at war in Afghan...

India tightens grip on social media platforms

New rules that force platforms to "fact-check" content relating to government business are deeply concerning, say digital rights activists

Modi’s India: The age of intolerance in the world’s biggest democracy

Recent estimates suggest that India has now overtaken China in population size, but where the world's most populated country should be a beacon of ...

The daily risks taken by Afghanistan’s female journalists

Life for women in the media has been bleak since the Taliban takeover, and experts don’t see that changing anytime soon

Facebook policies put human rights defenders at risk

Laws designed to stop political ads being used for misinformation on Facebook are being used to target opponents to Egypt's government

Salma al-Shehab becomes the latest Saudi prisoner to go on hunger strike

The 34-year-old mother of two was sentenced to 34 years for exercising her freedom of expression

Destroyed ballot boxes, arrests, assaults – Nigeria reels from latest elections

Violence around Nigeria’s elections was aimed at voters and at journalists. The country’s media professionals are still shaken

In Mexico, a journalist is attacked every 13 hours. The government is to blame

Under fire from organised crime and from the government, reporters working in Mexico have been subject to nearly 700 attacks in the past calendar y...

The harsh reality for Afghanistan’s journalists

Two reporters share a plea to the world not to forget them as they face intimidation from the Taliban and restrictions on their ability to work

Media outlets excluded from UK Home Secretary’s trip to Rwanda

Index raises second Council of Europe alert over exclusion of journalists seen as critical of Government's immigration policy

Journalists battle for truth after Turkish earthquakes

Since February’s earthquakes, free speech NGO the Media and Law Studies Association has been monitoring attacks on journalists in Turkey. The resul...

‘Thank Gary Lineker for being a true advocate for refugees’

A sports journalist, who can't work safely in Afghanistan anymore, tells us why Gary Lineker's stance meant so much to him

Israel: Free expression hangs in the balance

The attack on the Supreme Court is just one way in which due process and dissent are coming under fire

Open up your doors as you promised

Even journalists who escape Taliban rule face deportation, starvation and imprisonment so the UK needs to honour its commitment to Afghan journalists.

The UK Government must honour its pledge to resettle Afghans at-risk

The number of Afghan journalists and media workers who are in imminent danger remains incredibly high, inside the country and beyond

Bunker Cabaret: From the bomb shelters of Kyiv to Somerset House

Ukranian collective explores the making of art in time of war

Academic freedom under threat for more than 50% of world’s population

The ability to express and discuss ideas openly is being curtailed in univerisites, new data published by the Academic Freedom Index reveals

UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition welcomes end of Realtid case

Index and other coalition members continue to call for urgent action to be taken against SLAPPs after settlement of case against Swedish business p...

UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition reiterates its support for Carole Cadwalladr

Index joins other members of the coalition in welcoming court’s dismissal of majority of appeal in legal action against journalist in Arron Banks case

Censoring Roald Dahl is not the answer, just a problem

Rewording Dahl's classics sets a worrying precedent. Instead of censoring his works we should invest in promoting new, diverse talent

Do Chechens really support Putin’s war in Ukraine?

Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine mirrors the two bloody wars for independence in Chechnya. But those speaking out publicly against Ramzan Kadyro...

The silence after the earthquake in northwestern Syria is deafening

Bahar al-Assad is using the natural disaster that has killed thousands to launder his reputation internationally while ordinary Syrians suffer

The shock waves from Turkey’s Twitter restriction

Criticism of the Turkish government in the wake of this week's deadly earthquakes led to the blocking of the social media platform

CCP undermining the right to protest in the birthplace of European democracy

Activists in Greece protesting China’s hosting of the Winter Olympics in 2022 were arrested

Iran protests: “Mahsa” Amini does not exist

The name of the woman murdered by Iran’s “morality police” was Jina Amini but Kurds in the country cannot use their real names, says British-Kurdis...

“I have gone through hell”: assault, starvation, discrimination

An Afghan journalist says her escape from the Taliban to Pakistan has only gone to show why the UK government must do more

Hong Kong’s travesty of a show trial begins

The Hong Kong 47 are now on trial. There is nothing free or fair about this

Iran’s erased women remembered

A new exhibition by Soheila Sokhanvari celebrates Iranian freedom and womanhood

Two years on: The dwindling freedoms following Myanmar’s military coup

On the second anniversary of the coup, democracy in the country is slipping further away. A Burmese-led organisation and an exiled journalist descr...

Brazil is falling into an abyss

Attacks on free expression in the country are the worst since the dictatorship ended in 1985, writes a journalist from Brazil

Those who refuse to despair

Today, 27 January, is the birthday of our former colleague Andrei Aliaksandrau, another one spent in jail thanks to his opposition to the regime of...

New play gives a voice to the forgotten Crimean Tatars

The powerful work tells the stories of indigenous Tatar dissidents and their families on the Russian-occupied peninsula

We need to end SLAPPs now

The UK’s legal structure continues to let oligarchs bully reporters

Major new global free expression index sees UK ranking stumble across academic, digital and media freedom

A major new global ranking index tracking the state of free expression is published today

Ntwali’s death is a huge loss for Rwanda’s challenging media landscape

The journalist was one of the few to challenge the long-standing president. Who will speak out now?

‘We won!’ Maria Ressa’s victory is a win for global media freedom

As a Philippines tax court acquits veteran journalist Maria Ressa, she and Rappler celebrate - and continue to hold the line

Crown Confidential

The UK Royal Family’s obsession with secrecy is blurring history and making it hard for us to get the full picture

Royal secrecy surveyed

As part of our special report Index sent a survey to 28 historians and journalists who work with archives related to the Royal Family. We received ...

Join our Twitter storm of protest against Salma al-Shehab’s 34-year sentence

On Sunday 15 January, we mark the two-year anniversary of the arrest of the University of Leeds student on her return home to Saudi Arabia

Tyrant of the year 2022 named

You voted in your thousands and there was a clear winner, Mexico's Andrés Manuel López Obrador

Belarus: Free Andrei and Irina now

Index on Censorship and ARTICLE 19 call for charges against human rights defenders to be dropped

Remember their names: The protesters executed by the Iranian authorities

Four men have been executed following unjust show trials in Iran. Here's what we know about them

Secrets, lies and a costly legal battle

A historian has paid dearly in his quest to access archives on Mountbatten, which should have been readily available. Here he writes about the pers...

What the royals don’t want us to see

We trawled through hundreds of blocked archives on the UK Royal Family to present a flavour of what is off limits

Ramita Navai: No turning back from Iran’s women-led uprising

The British-Iranian journalist and author of the award-winning City of Lies speaks about the growing protests in her homeland

Pavel Litvinov: A dissident hero

An interview with Red Square demonstrator Pavel Litvinov on his role in founding Index, Russian imperialism and the war in Ukraine

In memory of Viktor Fainberg, 1968 Red Square demonstrator

The dissident fought hard for free expression and paid dearly. Here we shed more light on his amazing life

Seeing Auschwitz is a timely reminder of the importance of documenting atrocities

A new exhibition in London takes a different viewpoint on the horrors of the Holocaust

Why end-to-end encryption is essential for national security and public safety

As the Online Safety Bill makes its way through Parliament, we look at why at least one element of the proposed legislation has not been thought th...

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...

New South Wales’ chilling landscape for environmental protest

Australian authorities are dramatically ramping up the sentences faced by peaceful climate crisis protesters

An insidious and unlegislated form of policing?

The Metropolitan Police has made hundreds of requests to remove online content in the past year. Every single one of them related to drill music. T...

China’s tradition of inventive protest is in full swing

Protesters in China unhappy with Xi Jinping's government and its policies are getting creative with their messages

Who is 2022’s Tyrant of the Year?

Choose from our shortlist of 12 despots and vote on who you think has done most to crack down on freedom of expression this year

Landmark report finds China using arts “to silence critics and drive censorship”

Major new investigation from Index on Censorship reveals the scale and reach of the CCP’s international soft power push across the European arts la...

New legal opinion on the Online Safety Bill

Index on Censorship has commissioned a legal opinion by Matthew Ryder KC and finds that the powers conceived would not be lawful under our common l...

Letter to Justice Secretary: Adoption of a UK Anti-SLAPP Law

Editors, journalists, lawyers and academics write to Dominic Raab to express support for the Model UK Anti-SLAPP Law launched by the UK Anti-SLAPP ...

A new generation of protesters in China?

Trying to make sense of the protests in China right now is hard but one thing's certain - they hint at the existence of greater dissent than the CC...

Failed empty gesture 0 – 1 Strong silent stand

The Iranian team's defiant stand against oppression at the World Cup in Qatar puts everyone else to shame

Italy: a call in support of Roberto Saviano

The Italian writer is facing a lawsuit for aggravated defamation initiated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

“The Online Safety Bill will fundamentally undermine rights to freedom of expression”

Index and other organisations ask UN Special Rapporteurs to intervene on proposed UK legislation

Junket journalism is taking off in China

China’s attempts to woo foreign journalists and bloggers in bid to control conversation

Questions that Sunak should have asked Mohammad bin Salman at G20…(but probably didn’t)

As we continue to mark the ongoing detention of University of Leeds PhD student Salma al-Shehab, we look at what could have been discussed at this ...

Roberto Saviano: Italian democracy on trial

The Gomorrah author heads to court tomorrow in a case that illuminates the precarious state of media freedom in Italy

How ‘industrial football’ was used to silence protests

Football fans turned out in large numbers during the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul. They’ve paid the price since

Xi’s real China dream

China’s leader is football mad and he has put the sport at the forefront of many initiatives. When it comes to the nation’s freedoms that’s been a ...

Letter to Suella Braverman on policing of Just Stop Oil protests

Index joins other organistions in writing to the Home Secretary to say the arrest of journalists threatens press freedom in the UK

Detained, cuffed and thrown in a cell for seven hours: reporting protest in the UK in 2022

A London reporter describes the day he ended up in jail simply for doing his job

Refereeing rights: Why we shouldn’t expect footballers to hand out human rights red cards

Do sports stars have a duty to be politically active? A leading philosopher argues that the responsibility lies elsewhere

Journalism is at risk from the National Security Bill. We’re fighting back

Imagine a country where the authorities target investigative journalists as spies, and outlaw news and campaigning organisations that receive forei...

Coalition of journalism organisations slams the National Security Bill

Index, RSF, the NUJ and openDemocracy say the overly broad and vague way the bill is currently drafted could see journalists labelled as spies

Preparing for a new fight against book bans

Just over a month after Banned Books Week 2022, the risk to literature has intensified. Depending on the outcome of the US midterms, moves from Rep...

Model UK Anti-SLAPP Law

Advancing robust protection against SLAPPs within the parameters of the MOJ’s proposed legislative framework

Can a familiar face herald a new start in Brazil?

After spending two years outside his home country, Guilherme Osinski returned to vote in hope of an end to the dark years of shame for Brazil

World leaders will have “blood on their hands” if Alaa Abd El-Fattah dies

Attendees at COP27 need to raise the case of the British-Egyptian writer before it's too late, say the activist's sisters

What Russia’s children think about the war in Ukraine

Since the end of February, author Yulia Yakovleva has interviewed children aged five to seventeen. Their testimonies are invaluable

Winners of Index’s 2022 Freedom of Expression Awards announced

The “bravery and brilliance” of free expression champions from China, Cuba, Russia and Ukraine celebrated at annual awards

Britain needs to do more to help Jimmy Lai

A panel convened in the House of Lords on Monday to highlight the plight of Hong Kong activist and media mogul Jimmy Lai

What does Hu Jintao’s Great Hall removal mean?

A who, what, why on the dramatic moment China's last leader was removed from the Party Congress

Postcard campaign provides comfort to Jimmy Lai in prison

US students are sending the imprisoned activist postcards in act of solidarity

“Where is the sense of urgency?”

Civil society coalition calls out delays in justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia

A dark light

In the five years that have passed since Daphne Caruana Galizia's death, her family have had to fight to demand both justice and accountability for...

Letter to UK Foreign Secretary on Salma al-Shehab

Index and other human rights organisations call on Rt Hon James Cleverly to act in case of jailed Saudi national

Keep up focus on rights in Qatar argue Index panel ahead of World Cup

“If there is ever an opportunity to try and pretend a country is a nice country, it’s when everyone is diverted by someone kicking a football,” sai...

How to make the Online Safety Bill work for the British people

A new briefing report on five key areas for UK government decision-makers to consider in order to protect free speech for adults

Women pay ultimate price for Iran protests

As the world marks the tenth International Day of the Girl, young Iranian women are risking everything to stand up for their rights

How well do you know the beautiful game?

What do you know about the intersection of human rights and football? Take our quiz and find out

14-year sentence for Andrei Aliaksandrau “a damning indictment of Lukashenka’s Belarus”

Index and ARTICLE 19 call on Belarusian authorities to quash prison terms and release our former colleague, his wife and others from the BelaPAN ne...

How China’s limited human rights have collapsed under Xi Jinping

As Xi Jinping likely starts an unprecedented third term in power next week, Jemimah Steinfeld reflects on the China he took over 10 years ago and w...

Anti-SLAPP measures cannot come fast enough

New rules cannot come fast enough as Kazakhstan university endowment fund associated with former president issues legal proceedings against UK medi...

Brazil: tragedy, farce and fascism

Brazil's far-right demons are loose and democracy is under attack, writes author Urariano Mota ahead of Brazil's elections

The woman exposing the propaganda puppet masters

Emma Briant researches the players behind some of the largest misinformation and disinformation campaigns today

The Online Safety Bill must be completely overhauled

Index calls on the new Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to ensure legislation does not damage rights to freedom of expressi...

Iran shuts down internet after protests spiral over 22-year-old’s death

Access to popular platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp has been stopped following the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country's mo...

Banned Books Week 2022: In conversation with Xinran

In recognition of Banned Books Week 2022, Index on Censorship’s Jemimah Steinfeld interviews author and journalist Xinran about censorship in China

China must protect the rights of Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing

On the anniversary of the detention of two young Chinese human rights defenders, Index joins call for country to uphold its international obligations

Joint statement on the proposal for the European Media Freedom Act

Index joins with other journalists’, media freedom, and human rights organisations to call for strengthened efforts to increase transparency in med...

Mexican journalists are still being failed

Mexico has long been a ruthless place for journalists and press freedom. According to the international human rights organisation Article 19, 156 j...

Saudi Arabia is equating free online expression with terrorism

As we mark 20 months since the arrest of Salma al-Shehab, Index calls for the country’s Specialized Criminal Court to be overhauled

LIVE: Protest and the Royal succession

The Queen's death has put freedom of expression under the spotlight after anti-monarchy protesters were arrested. Read our rolling coverage of the ...

‘Bolsonaro represents death’ reflects Brazilian journalist ahead of elections

I was born in the city of Curitiba, in the south of Brazil, and I was always proud to be Brazilian. Since Jair Bolsonaro came to power on 1 January...

UN report cites serious human rights violations in Xinjiang but ultimately fails the Uyghurs

The UN Human Rights Office report on China's activities in the region has finally been published after long delays and on the day the High Commissi...

Mikhail Gorbachev: the Soviet leader who learned to love freedom of expression

The former president, who has died at the age of 91, wrote presciently in the pages of Index on Censorship

Writers and free speech champions celebrate Salman Rushdie’s work

Supporters of the author read extracts of his work to show their support as he remains in hospital following horrific attack on 12 August

Share your messages of support for Salman Rushdie

Join us in sending messages of support to the author, who was attacked as he prepared to give a lecture in New York state in August 2022

Index condemns 34-year sentence for Salma al-Shehab

Saudi women’s rights advocate faces longest ever prison term for a peaceful activist after tweeting support for prisoners of conscience

Read Salman Rushdie from the Index on Censorship archives

On 12 August 2022, Salman Rushdie, the author of the book The Satanic Verses, was attacked as he prepared to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Insti...

Iranian society has been taken hostage, says exiled documentary film-maker

Vahid Zarezade and Gelareh Kakavand have been forced to flee the country after being interrogated and beaten for their work highlighting conditions...

Why are the letters of political prisoners in Belarus so cheerful?

Censorship of communications means that those detained by Lukashenka's regime are not free to express themselves openly

Index supports The Shift News in freedom of information battle with the government of Malta

The media outlet had requested details of dealings between government entities and Media Today co-owner Saviour Balzan

Theatre censorship: An index reading list

Index on Censorship has always supported the theatre of resistance, and our Winter 2021 magazine even had this issue as its main theme.  In Belarus...

Index on Censorship files media freedom alert after Sinn Féin MLA legal action

Index on Censorship is concerned at the lawsuits that have been filed against journalist Malachi O’Doherty and columnist Ruth Dudley Edwards. Both ...

Where poetry is labelled extremism

The removal of the Rajapaksa clan will not solve Sri Lanka’s deeply ingrained problem with corruption and the repression of dissent

Fighting tyranny with poetry: Myanmar’s silenced voices

The last time a political activist was hanged in Myanmar was in 1976, when the ethnic Chin student Salai Tin Maung Oo, 25, was executed for seditio...

Remembering the political prisoners executed in Myanmar

Kyaw Min Yu and Phyo Zayar Thaw were prominent voices in the democracy movement in Myanmar. But on 25 July 2022, state news outlet Global New Light...

Co-chairs of UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition welcome Government’s action on SLAPPs

Dominic Raab to announce legislative measures that includes recommendations from coalition co-led by Index on Censorship

A memorial for the man who told the world about the Babyn Yar massacre

Anatoly Kuznetsov is the author of Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel. His memoir is a masterpiece of Ukrainian literature and a testament...

Belarus: Andrei Aliaksandrau writes of his “travels”

Our former colleague writes from prison as his trial is suspended for two months

Peru has a rare thing: a political leader who won’t speak to the press

President Pedro Castillo has not given a statement to the media for more than 100 days. The country’s journalists fear democracy is at risk

Kurdish journalists arrested as Turkey flexes its muscles

Journalists in Turkey are once again being targeted in one of the country's largest Kurdish-majority cities, explains a director from the Media and...

You can’t “put the genie back in the bottle”

A panel of activists, journalists and writers from Hong Kong reflect on the rights landscape as the city marks 25 years since the handover and why ...

Lukashenka’s justice on show

As Andrei Aliaksandrau and his fiance face treason charges, another activist shares her own experiences of Belarus' court system

The dangers of “red tagging” and other lessons from the Philippines

Rey Valmores, a 25-year-old political activist from Quezon City, on the challenges faced by campaigners in the Philippines in advance of this week’...

All eyes on “one of the safest countries in the world”

As Commonwealth leaders meet in Rwanda, few believe Boris Johnson's assessment of the country. Index speaks with the adopted daughters of Hotel Rwa...

Fifty years of Pride and prejudice

Pride started as a way to give voice to the silenced, but it lost its way. Ahead of its 50th anniversary, a new protest movement has emerged

Cancelling Russian culture is today’s moral imperative

Putin has used Russian culture to further his aims. Promoting it today risks furthering his agenda, writes Marina Pesenti

Bill of Rights will seriously undermine freedom of expression in the UK

Index joins other organisations in calling for the UK Government to abandon proposals that would weaken or replace the Human Rights Act

Cancel Putin, not culture

Artists must unite in their opposition to authoritarian regimes and there should be an end to the blanket boycott of Russian culture

Beijing is rewriting Hong Kong’s handover history. We must not allow it

Residents of Hong Kong are going to be given “fortune bags” this month. Millions of people in the city of 7.4 million will receive bags containing ...

Index expresses concern over Julian Assange extradition

Home Secretary Priti Patel's decision will have a chilling effect on journalism and put the Wikileaks founder at risk

‘The Amazon is a lawless land’

Journalist Dom Phillips and Bruno Araújo Pereira went missing in the Amazon in Brazil. Index spoke to one of the people who last saw them

Cineworld’s cancellation of Lady of Heaven screenings: an unheavenly response

Cineworld has cancelled all UK screenings of a film in what sets a worrying precedent

“A joker, a poet and an idealist”

Belarusian journalist and poet Sabina Brilo (below) on her friend Andrei Aliaksandrau who goes on trial today

Egypt: Activist Abdelrahman ‘Moka’ Tarek is free

Human rights groups who have been campaigning for several years for the release of the blogger and human rights defender can finally celebrate

Belarus: An open letter from Andrei Aliaksandrau on his day in court

Our former colleague writes to his supporters as his trial on charges of treason opens in Belarus

China’s fifth most wanted democracy advocate looks back at Tiananmen

Zhou Fengsuo was a student at the time of the Tiananmen Square protests. He tells Jemimah Steinfeld how peaceful times turned to horror

Iran enters the multiverse of madness

The Iranian government is holding propaganda events while attempting to silence protests against corruption following a building collapse in Abadan

Chad: Return to democracy still seems a distant prospect

A reconciliation dialogue promised after the death last April of the central African country's president is in turmoil

500 days lost in a Belarusian prison

Our former colleague Andrei Aliaksandrau reaches another bitter milestone as a political prisoner in Belarus

Belarus: the free press continues despite attacks

The chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists says reporting is harder than ever because of government crackdowns and war in neighbouring ...

Awards nominees “celebrate those on the front line in the fight to protect freedom of expression around the world”

Index on Censorship announces shortlist for 2022 Freedom of Expression Awards

Index on Censorship and Reporters Without Borders welcome High Court’s decision in Realtid case

Swedish business publication and its journalists still face SLAPP cases over articles about Eco Energy World and its founder

Index raises concerns over exclusion of journalists from UK Home Secretary’s Rwanda visit

Alert filed with Council of Europe over key media being unable to hold Priti Patel to account as she announces migrant plan

Syria passes draconian cybercrime laws

Country is latest to criminalise vaguely defined fake news to target human rights activists and journalists

“I believe in a new Russia but Putin is going nowhere”

Russian liberal politician, economist and professor Grigory Yavlinsky has long been a thorn in the side of Vladimir Putin. As the founder of the Ru...

Online Safety Bill will “significantly curtail freedom of expression”

Gavin Millar QC has produced the first analysis of the implications of the Bill for the British media and journalism, the courts and the UK’s digit...

Attacks on journalists covering protests increase says new report

The latest annual report from the Council of Europe safety of journalists platform makes for worrying reading on media freedom

Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter – good for free speech?

The tech entrepreneur has made it clear that free speech is at the forefront of his decision to buy the social media platform. We explore just what...

Apple’s Chinese and Russian takedowns come under scrutiny

A new report by GreatFire and whistleblower Ashley Gjovik reveals the tech giant complies with far more requests from the two governments than else...

Shanghai lockdown shows how far Xi will go to control population

Criticism of China's Covid-Zero policy is being censored online

Dissidents, spies and the lies that came in from the cold

Index on Censorship started at the front line of an ideological war

Index condemns lawsuit against Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins

21 organisations say lawsuit issued by Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Prigozhin is a SLAPP

Switching from cute animals to war: A Ukrainian children’s author speaks out

Kateryna Yegorushkina is a Ukrainian children’s writer and publisher from a town close to Kyiv. Here, in our second video on the state of free expr...

Today’s dissidents in Russia: tech savvy and willing to risk it all

Despite the huge risks attached to defying Putin, a handful of Russians are still speaking up. We profile six here

Hungary elections 2022: What does another Orban term mean for freedoms?

The godfather of "illiberal democracy" - Viktor Orban - is fighting his fiercest election battle to date. What exactly is on the line when Hungaria...

Call for an end to beatings and abductions of journalists and protesters in Ukraine

Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Centre for Civil Liberties in Kyiv, condemns the actions of Russian troops

Beijing’s fearless foe with God on his side

Jimmy Lai Chi-Ying, Hong Kong’s 74-year-old self-made billionaire, is a dissident. His cause is freedom. For championing this cause, he has been ja...

Andrei Kurkov on Russia’s war against Ukrainian culture

Anyone who believes that Ukraine should remain independent and become part of Europe is already an enemy of Russia, says the celebrated author

The Buena Vista Social v The Kremlin

The empty chairs at the empty tables in a journalists’ hangout in Kyiv are a tribute to the ultimate price paid for free expression

Ukrainian reporter forced to film propaganda video before release

Victoria Roshchina, who works for independent media channel hromadske, had to deny she was being held captive

Margaret Atwood: We are entering a new era of book banning

The multi-award winning novelist, essayist, poet and activist wrote in the 50th anniversary issue of Index on Censorship magazine

Plays, protests and the censor’s pencil

Shakespeare was no stranger to censorship from the Elizabethan and Jacobean police states. Here we chart how the Bard’s plays amused monarchs and d...

Mother-tongue abusers

The writer Zinovy Zinik on the moment his granddaughter learnt about Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, and how it devastated her fairytale view ...

Ukrainian news reporter detained by Russia’s FSB

The whereabouts of Victoria Roschina, who works for independent news channel hromadske, is unknown after her detention

1972: Nixon went to China, BBC banned McCartney and Index was published

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] You may have heard that the 70s were different. In 1972, when the first issue of Index magazine was launched, n...

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...

Hong Kong’s National Security Law reaches the UK

High-profile activist Benedict Rogers, who lives in London, is being targeted using the draconian law in what is believed to be its first use outsi...

How an independent broadcaster in Ukraine is defying the invasion

The TV and YouTube channel hromadske has been forced to abandon its studios but keeps the news flowing

Does Russia’s war have popular support? Navalny says not

Some 14,000 people, including children, have been detained for protesting the war. Putin's pollsters say Russians support it

Lament for Hong Kong

Watching the crushing of Hong Kong’s media is heartbreaking and confirms the dictum that censorship inevitably degenerates into absurdity and corru...

They “have come to rob you of your name and language”

A selection of five pieces on Ukraine from 1972 to 2014 that help shed light on the present conflict and celebrate the country’s rich cultural hist...

“Russia says it is not killing civilians. That is a lie”

Reporting for Index from Kyiv, John Sweeney says knocking a TV station off air by firing missiles at the transmitting tower is as subtle as Putin g...

Index condemns the threats to the lives and safety of journalists in Ukraine

Council of Europe Platform partners call for protection of Ukrainian and international reporters following Russia's invasion

Statement of support for Ukraine

More than 130 human rights and journalism organisations issue statement in condemnation of invasion and attacks on the press

Why Russian protests against invasion of Ukraine are so vital

Dissent against the action in Ukraine could be crushed just as it was in Czechoslovakia in 1968 but we should not give up hope

Joe Rogan row shows limits of appetite for free speech

Spotify's response to the Joe Rogan row has been on point. Before that the row waded into difficult waters

400 days of injustice for Andrei Aliaksandrau

Our friend and former colleague Andrei Aliaksandrau remains behind bars in Belarus

Landmark report shines light on Chinese “long arm” repression of ex-pat Uyghurs

An Index study highlights the shocking extent of Chinese attempts to repress Uyghur ex-pats living in countries across Europe including the UK

“Spies were being sent to look for me”

Since returning home to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the winter of 2020, after spending several years travelling throughout Africa, I found ...

Index is looking for an assistant editor

Index on Censorship is on the hunt for a passionate, driven journalist to join our editorial team in the role of assistant editor.

No corruption please, we’re British

The UK has developed a parallel vocabulary to avoid labelling anyone with the c-word … until now, says Oliver Bullough

Will athletes risk the wrath of Beijing to stand up for human rights?

The Olympic Games have a history of protest, but China is going out of its way to stop that. With growing concern over the Uyghurs and Hong Kong we...

Ukraine journalists fight battle on all fronts

Journalists in Ukraine operate in a harsh environment. As tensions with Russia build, the grave situation demands attention

The most authoritarian British government since the Second World War?

The right to protest peacefully, the protection of human rights and the ability for journalists to reveal government wrongdoing are all under threa...

“All this for a simple post on Facebook”

Index award winner reveals ordeal after she shared an article on drug trafficking in Niger

Greece: Concern over criminal charges against investigative reporters

Seven organisations including Index are closely monitoring the cases of two journalists who reported on a major financial scandal

Kazakh family share horror of speaking up about Xinjiang

First he fled Xinjiang. Then Kazakhstan. And then Turkey. On 20 January 2021 Serikzhan Bilash, a prominent human rights defender and activist, trav...

Kazakhstan’s independent media and civil society shiver after protests

Demonstrations over fuel prices have lead to a crackdown and the arrival of Russian troops

Turkish-Armenian academic faces deportation from Greece over controversial views

Sevan Nişanyan believes he has been added to the country's "list of undesirable foreigners" as a result of his controversial research

Index reiterates its support for Carole Cadwalladr as she faces SLAPP trial

We join seventeen other organisations in supporting the award-winning journalist who is facing a week-long defamation trial in London this week

As Russian troops move to border Ukraine history attacked

The closure of Memorial is an attack on Ukraine history, coming at a time of heightened concern about the country's future

Belarus: Join the campaign to free our friends Andrei Aliaksandrau and Irina Zlobina

It is now a year since our former colleague and his partner were detained following Alyaksandr Lukashenka's disputed election victory

Just a week into 2022 and already violations are stacking up

From Kazakhstan to Hong Kong the news is full of horrific stories from around the world. We must use our voices to shout about them

Hope in the darkness

Nathan Law, one of the leaders of Hong Kong’s protest movement, is convinced that the repression will not last forever. Here we publish an extract ...

Index Chair Trevor Phillips honoured with knighthood

Phillips is honoured with knighthood for his work on understanding Covid-19

“I wrote a play then lost my home, my husband and my trust”

Turkish playwright Meltem Arikan’s Mi Minör was blamed for the seminal Gezi Park protests that convulsed Istanbul

Hong Kong arrests series of journalists in large-scale assault on media freedom

The arrests of prominent Hong Kong journalists and activists are an assault on media freedom and we must shout loudly against them

Censorship is still in the script

In June 2015, a national newspaper in Britain started a campaign to have a play banned. This surprised me for two reasons. One: clearly no one had ...

Testament to the power of theatre as rebellion

The Belarus Free Theatre, whose 16 members have now gone into exile to escape the Lukashenka regime, are preparing to perform at the Barbican in Lo...

Call for investigation into historical police handling of Norwegian publisher’s attempted murder

Case is believed to be linked to the publication of The Satanic Verses in the country

Women journalists caught in middle of Afghanistan’s nightmare

Many journalists – women in particular – have fled the Taliban or are in hiding from the brutal regime

“Apple poisoned me: physically, mentally, spiritually”

Ashley Gjøvik, who was fired by the tech giant after blowing the whistle on toxic waste under her office, says her fight will go on

“We need more courageous writers in theatre,” says leading Turkish playwright

Two Turkish writers discuss Index on Censorship's new magazine, which looks at how playwrights and directors are resisting oppression

It’s unequivocal – the Chinese government is committing genocide. We must all act

The Uyghur Tribunal in London rules that “beyond reasonable doubt” the Chinese government is guilty of genocide. We must all end our silence

Index condemns the conviction of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Index on Censorship condemns the sentencing to four years in prison of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and calls for all charges to be dropped. She...

Turning back the tide: the refugee crisis tests Greek media freedom

Dutch journalist forced back to the Netherlands after asking tough questions of the prime minister of Greece over migrant push-back

Who is 2021’s Tyrant of the Year? WINNER ANNOUNCED

The individual who has been voted the most oppressive in 2021 by Index readers has been named

Internet shutdowns: Sudan’s censorship tool of choice

The African state regularly blocks access to the web when protests flare up and the recent military coup is no different

Lawsuits against the author and publisher of Putin’s People are SLAPPs

Nineteen organisations condemn the legal actions against Catherine Belton and HarperCollins

#WhereIsPengShuai: Tennis world shows it’s OK not to remain silent over China

The silence that usually follows human rights violations is notably absent in the sports star's mysterious disappearance

Marighella’s delayed release shows censorship is alive and well in Brazil

The country's Constitution outlaws censorship but Bolsonaro's government has ways to apply pressure on film directors

Hong Kong’s freedoms under further attack as ‘Captain America’ is jailed

Five year and nine month sentence for protestor raises fears over retrospective action of national security law

Richard Ratcliffe: The UK Government needs to look long and hard at its hostage policy

The husband of jailed British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe talks about the reasons for his hunger strike as it enters its 16th day

Change in the pipeline?

Despite one high-profile success by indigenous people in the USA, these communities still face an uphill battle when it comes to stopping the const...

Respect for tradition: Australia’s selective listening on environment issues

First Nations voices are often ignored. Now Yvonne Weldon is hoping to change that as she bids to become the first Aboriginal Lord Mayor of Sydney

It’s not easy being green

Environmental activism is alive and well in Turkey, despite the peddling of conspiracy theories and government efforts to discredit campaigners

The rape of Uganda

The nation’s natural resources are being plundered and it’s those doing the damage who are being protected

Suffering in silence: The poetry of Parwana Fayyaz

Three poems on the lives of women in Afghanistan

Letter to US Attorney General on Julian Assange

Index joins other organisations in expressing concern over extradition proceedings against Wikileaks founder

Daphne Caruana Galizia: Four years on from her murder, Malta must be held to account

Index joins the Maltese community, Reporters without Borders, PEN International and others to mark grim anniversary

Index condemns lawsuits brought by ENRC against Tom Burgis

We join with 14 other organisations to condemn legal action against the journalist, the Financial Times and HarperCollins in London

Interpol must clarify its involvement in the arrest warrant issued against British journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown

Fourteen organisations join call amid fears reporter may be arrested in Spain following threats by the Malaysian government

Index on Censorship condemns lawsuit against journalist and author Oliver Bullough

Council of Europe media alert filed condemning legal action against the author of Moneyland

Call for the immediate and unconditional release of Egyptian human rights defender Abdelrahman ‘Moka’ Tarek

Index and nine other organisations call for Moka's release as he receives the 2021 Freedom of Expression Awards

Words under fire: When libraries become targets

When those in power want to control access to history and ideas, libraries are often the first to be targeted, reports Rachael Jolley

Champions of free expression celebrated at Index on Censorship awards

Winners from Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Niger and the UK named at ceremony

Call for Afghan actors, writers and film-makers to be given safe passage

More than 80 luminaries from the world of film and theatre have written an open letter to The Times

Secret agenda

A reform of the UK’s Official Secrets Act would mean that journalists with confidential documents could face harsher penalties than the spies who h...

Members of the LGBTQ+ community sign letter calling for reform to Online Safety Bill

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Dear Editor, As proud members of the LGBTQ+ community, we know first-hand the vile abuse that regularly takes pl...

Afghan journalists facing an impossible choice under the Taliban

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] For five days after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban insurgency, Mariam (not her real name) didn’t leave her ho...

Why journalists need emergency safe havens

Journalists tell Index how a new type of visa is vital to protect lives and stop media censorship. Rachael Jolley reports

Belarusian Association of Journalists: facing closure but not extinction

Body representing independent media in country facing liquidation in further crackdown by Lukashenko regime

Spinning bomb: Fighting the disinformation war

Nerma Jelacic argues revisionists are manipulating free speech defenders

Speaking for my silenced sister Reality Winner

Winner, a US Air Force veteran, has just been released after being imprisoned for exposing secret papers about Russian interference in the US elect...

Are we becoming Hungary-lite?

Jolyon Rubinstein fears a British legislative agenda that could stifle protest, satire and the very foundations of democracy

Right for US students to speak freely off campus upheld

Mahanoy Area High School student Brandi Levy wins Supreme Court case after a profanity-laced post on Snapchat at a local convenience store

The world must look beyond Cuba’s carefully manufactured PR image

It is important that Western human rights organisations do not allow the distorted image of Cuba as a tropical socialist outpost to muddy their thi...

Obituary: Peter R de Vries ‘a tireless and courageous fighter for justice’

The veteran Dutch crime reporter has died from injuries sustained in a shooting last week

Joint call condemning the Belarusian regime’s raids on journalists and human rights activists

Index joins with 11 other organisations to demand the release of those detained

Afghanistan: Journalists in the firing line

As Western forces leave the country, the free press faces a uncertain future under the Taliban

Attempted murder of Dutch crime reporter Peter R de Vries “a slippery slope of violence”

The crime reporter was shot earlier this week and is the latest incident in increasing attacks on the media in the Netherlands

Slovenia no longer a safe haven for the free press

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] As Slovenia takes over the presidency of the council of the European Union, some are questioning the country's ...

UK whistleblower Jonathan Taylor finally freed from extradition torment almost one year on

Former in-house lawyer for oil firm SBM Offshore now allowed to return home

Belarus: Human rights organisations urge the UN Human Rights Council to maintain calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Andrei Aliaksandrau

Call comes as Council receives the report of the UN special rapporteur on the situation regarding human rights in the country

Index on Censorship announces shortlist for 2021 Freedom of Expression Awards

Imprisoned Egyptian human rights campaigner, Russian feminist performance artist, and persecuted Djiboutian journalists among the shortlisted candi...

Myanmar keeps it poets locked up despite prisoner release

Maung Yu Py, a well known name in Burmese poetry circles, remains in Myeik prison despite the release of 2,300 anti-coup protestors

Fourteen organisations call for the immediate and unconditional release of journalist and human rights defender Andrei Aliaksandrau

Former Index on Censorship staff member faces up to 15 years in prison

Belarus: Journalist Andrei Aliaksandrau faces up to 15 years in prison

Former Index staff member faces charges of high treason

The free speech Euros: Group F

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] In celebration of one of football’s biggest international tournaments, here is Index’s guide to the free speech...

World Whistleblowers Day: why we must be able to speak freely

On the launch of a new charity to help those who wish to speak out about wrongdoing

Government’s Online Safety Bill will be “catastrophic for ordinary people’s freedom of speech” says David Davis MP

Leading experts brand Government’s Bill “catastrophic” at press conference today

As Apple Daily looks set to close down, speech crime comes to Hong Kong

The national security law has been used against journalists for the first time

Burkina Faso’s media freedom under attack

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Burkina Faso is supposedly one of Africa’s gems when it comes to press freedom. In a continent full of countrie...

Whistleblower Jonathan Taylor releases further allegations of corruption

Former SBM Offshore employee releases details of multimillion dollar payoffs to a Panamanian company following a cancelled BP deal

Pentagon Papers: Daniel Ellsberg speaks 50 years on

It is five decades since a government whistleblower leaked a 7,000-page report into US involvement in Vietnam

Anti-Ha: an exclusive short story by Shalom Auslander

The American author talks about laughter and the power to subvert

Statement on the Maya Forstater judgement

The case before the Employment Appeal Tribunal was about protecting in law the right to hold certain beliefs

Index and 21 other organisations condemn lawsuits brought by ENRC against public watchdogs

Lawsuits represent an egregious attempt to curtail freedom of expression and jeopardise anti-corruption efforts

Why journalists and dissidents turn to Telegram

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As you scroll through your Telegram feed, one image jumps out. It shows crowds of young Hong Kongers, all dresse...

Tiananmen candlelights a sight too beautiful to last

Hong Kong will be dark on the anniversary of the massacre this 4 June as the National Security Law bites

Letter from Palestine: “I am either dead or I am muted”

The Palestinian author Abbad Yahya says he is unable to freely express his thoughts

George Floyd: what has changed one year on?

It is 12 months since police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for nine and a half minutes leading to his death and sparking protests aro...

Hijack, arrest, torture: Belarusian journalists under attack

The grounding of a Ryanair flight on a fake bomb threat is just the latest escalation of an independent media clampdown in Belarus

Roman Protasevich is a dissident and an activist, but above all a journalist

Belarus regime staged hijack to silence their most prominent critic

Urgent letter to Croatian Minister of Justice: Do not extradite whistleblower Jonathan Taylor

Whistleblower's evidence contributed to an oil company paying fines amounting to over $US800 million in a corruption and bribery scandal

Stop holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of Israel

Claims of a Zionist conspiracy are not protected speech but a racist attack on all Jews, writes former Index editor

Yulia Tsvetkova’s hunger strike: “I have reached a dead end”

Index award-winner calls on her supporters not to waste any more time "on the farce called Russian justice"

Destruction of media building in the Gaza Strip “unacceptable”

Index expresses concern over bombing by Israeli military

Navalny writes from his penal colony: “Books are our everything”

The jailed critic and opponent of Putin is sending messages via Instagram, detailing his ill-treatment

Standing up to a global oil giant

Celebrated author Ma Jian reflects on the terrible legacy of the Chinese Communist Party in its centenary year

Index shares its concerns about the Academic Freedom Bill

In response to today's Queen's speech, Index, English PEN and Article 19 have written to the Education Secretary

UK football social media blackout raises free speech issues

Some clubs, players and the Professional Footballers' Association are in support of social media regulation

Statement on the Maya Forstater tribunal

Index on Censorship has intervened in a case with important freedom of expression ramifications

The human face and the boot

Celebrated author Ma Jian reflects on the terrible legacy of the Chinese Communist Party in its centenary year

Urgent action is needed to defend our media

As the 2021 Council of Europe Platform report is published, Index on Censorship and its partners call for the urgent implementation of the report’s...

Heberto Padillo’s ‘confession’ 50 years on

As Cuba once again cracks down on artists and intellectuals, twenty have joined together with artist Coco Fusco to recreate the Cuban poet's act of...

100 days in prison in Belarus: MP calls for Andrei Aliaksandrau’s release

As our former colleague spends his 100th day in detention, Christine Jardine MP joins our call for his immediate and unconditional release

Ten years on: Celebrating the legacy of Tim Hetherington

Photojournalist's legacy lives on in the Index on Censorship fellowship in his name

British whistleblower held overnight in Croatian psychiatric hospital

Oil industry exec arrested on holiday in 2020 hospitalised after embassy alerted police

Russia: Index expresses concern over the arrest of Doxa journalists

Student journalism is a building block of media freedom, says Index CEO

What price press freedom in Northern Ireland?

Journalists continue to be threatened as tensions escalate in the province

Russia: Drop all charges against Yulia Tsvetkova

Award-winning artist faces six years in jail for her work promoting body positivity and women's rights

Myanmar: Poets, celebrities and journalists detained by military

The popular poet and comedian Zarganar, and the co-founder of news channel Mizzima have been detained as junta continues crackdown

Judges named for 2021 Freedom of Expression Awards

Acclaimed writer Fatima Bhutto, Turner Prize-winning sculptor Anish Kapoor and campaigner Ailbhe Smyth to judge awards

Impartiality and independence of police watchdog questioned by whistleblower

A report on the policing of protests supported Priti Patel before evidence-gathering was complete and was influenced by bias against non-violent di...

Xinjiang: “I have no regrets on speaking out”

Newcastle University academic Dr Joanne Smith Finley believes that China has lost “an erstwhile ally” in sanctioning her

Twenty-four organisations express solidarity with the Swedish media outlet Realtid

Index among those bodies supporting journalists ahead of the first hearing in their UK defamation case

Jess Phillips: Violence against women and girls begins and ends with censorship

The outpouring of grief in the wake of the death of Sarah Everard is not just because of our sorrow at her loss. Women have been self censoring on ...

Index welcomes the launch of the National Action Plan to protect journalists

The plan has been developed with the National Committee, of which Index is a member

Nellie Bly: “I said I could and I would. And I did.”

On International Womens Day, investigative journalist Patricia Devlin shares the story of the woman who is her inspiration

Film awards season: Journalism and activism in the spotlight

Movies on social justice and investigative journalism dominate the nominations for major awards at the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the Baftas thi...

Equatorial Guinea: Journalist Delfin Mocache Massoko facing threats over corruption investigation

South African court demands apology from lawyer linked to country's ruling Obiang family

Journalists held in Insein prison, Myanmar’s “darkest hell-hole”

Reporters covering the pro-demcracy protests are being held in a notorious military-run prison in Yangon

Index statement on Alexei Navalny

Putin critic has been sent to a Russian penal colony following his show trials

Student Press Freedom Day: The challenges of Covid and censorship

A combination of the pandemic and restrictions already in place has made reporting for students more difficult

Daphne Caruana Galizia: a small step towards justice

Vincent Muscat's guilty plea has led to charges against others in the case of the murder of the Maltese investigative journalist

Lebanon’s journalists face Hezbollah threat

The murder of publisher and activist Lokman Slim is a stark warning to media in the country

Index condemns the removal of Radio Television Hong Kong’s director of broadcasting

Veteran journalist Leung Ka-wing has been replaced by a civil servant six months before his contract was due to expire

The Government’s policy paper on higher education: free speech and academic freedom

Index on Censorship responds to seven specific policy proposals, including the appointment of a Free Speech and Academic Freedom Champion

Belarus: Index strongly condemns actions against journalists and human rights defenders

Belarusian Association of Journalists and the Human Rights Centre "Viasna" have been targeted

He is loathsome, but I will always defend Ken Loach’s right to offend me

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image="116256" img_size="full" add_caption="yes"][vc_column_text]I can think of few public figures I hold in gr...

The military coup in Myanmar: the media under attack

Journalists are being attacked and pursued for their coverage of the protests

BBC banned in mainland China

British broadcaster has broken rules on truth and impartiality, says Chinese regulator

Letter to MSPs on Scotland’s Hate Crime and Public Order Bill

The decision to withdraw amendments on freedom of expression at the eleventh hour will have a chilling effect

Index raises concerns over UK Freedom of Information

We join media freedom organisations, editors and broadcasters in calling for an urgent review of right-to-know legislation

Index calls on US Department of Justice to drop Julian Assange appeal

We join 23 press freedom, civil liberties, and human rights organisations in call to drop case against WikiLeaks founder

International Day of Solidarity with Belarus

Index and 16 other organisations call for all imprisoned journalists to be immediately released

How farmers’ protests in India are being used to silence the media

Journalists reporting on clashes between police and protestors have faced a fierce backlash

Index on Censorship calls for the immediate de-arrest of photographer Andy Aitchison

Photographer covering conditions at a Kent asylum centre has had his equipment confiscated

Biden’s first week in office and what it means for free speech

A flurry of executive orders reverses many Trump-era policies

Time to act over online privacy

We should all be wary of accepting website terms and conditions, says The Privacy Collective

Letter to Rt Hon Dominic Raab on Andrei Aliaksandrau

Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab MP First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Dear Foreign Secretary, ...

Letter to the ambassador of Belarus on Andrei Aliaksandrau

Dear HE Ambassador Yermalovich, Index on Censorship expresses our alarm at the detention in Belarus of our friend and former colleague, journalist ...

The desperate situation for six people who are #JailedNotForgotten

We revisit the six activists and journalists currently in jail and call for your messages of support

Index calls for the release of Andrei Aliaksandrau

Former Index writer has been arrested and forced to give a confession for his part in protests

The Biden presidency: what can we expect for free speech?

We look at Joe Biden's record sheet on free speech to see if we can find clues about his future presidency

Two countries, one system: why we must drop the pretence

The arrest of more than 50 people involved in last year's pro-democracy primaries means no-one in Hong Kong is safe, write Mark Frary and Benjamin ...

A win for Assange, but not for free speech

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] This week’s decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the USA to stand trial for charges ...

Major public protest in Cuba might be turning point for free expression

In an extraordinary move, Cuban intellectuals and artists are airing their grievances publicly and collectively. Will it make a difference to freed...

Ruhollah Zam: 27 July 1978 – 12 December 2020

The founder of the Amadnews channel, a critic of the Iranian government, has been executed for 'spreading corruption on Earth'

UK online harms proposals could gravely impact free speech

Index has significant concerns about the UK government’s proposals for online harms and their unintended consequences on free speech

Assange hearing outcome could set an “alarming precedent” for free speech

The UK Assange hearing – which will decide whether there are grounds for Assange to stand trial in the USA – should reach a conclusion on 4 January...

Slapp lawsuit against Swedish magazine Realtid filed in London

Index and other press freedom organisations call for an end to litigation designed to silence valuable and necessary investigative journalism

Free expression needs to be at the heart of the Covid vaccine response

Today, as the first people in the UK receive the Covid-19 vaccine, we need more information and engagement with those with concerns

Let them know they are not forgotten

Join us in sending messages of support to six human rights activists and journalists around the world who are #JailedNotForgotten

Index launches report looking at the real-world effects of Slapps on journalists

As 60 organisations come together to ask the EU to develop legislation to stop vexatious lawsuits, we publish journalists' accounts of being slappe...

Slapped down: A report

Six journalists speak about the legal efforts to silence them over their reporting

Vidal-Hall on 14 years at Index exposing censorship happening under our nose

The former editor of Index discusses working with Noam Chomsky, 9/11 and interviewing Orban before his far right swing

Index launches interactive tool for journalists facing legal threats

The launch is part of the #StopSlapps campaign against the use of lawsuits to silence the media

What the Fuck!? podcast new episode: Punk poet Penny Rimbaud

The founder of punk anarchists Crass speaks about Donald Trump, the repressed British and his new album Arthur Rimbaud in Verdun

“His only crime is to believe that Egyptians deserve the most basic of human rights”

Karim Ennarah, EIPR's criminal justice unit director, is facing fabricated charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading fake news

“Tanzanians want democracy, respect for their basic human rights and dignity” – Tundu Lissu

The Tanzanian opposition leader, who has been forced to flee the country, talks to Index about the recent election

Why a naked feminist statue should remain uncensored

Maggi Hambling's A Sculpture for Mary Wollstonecraft has been roundly criticised, with some trying to censor its nakedness

What the Fuck!? podcast new episode: Harry Potter actor Natalia Tena

The actor who played Nymphadora Tonks talks about why she gets angry about female genital cutting and what she is doing about it

The bloody consequences of Turkey’s clashes with the Kurds

In September, two men were abducted, beaten and thrown from a helicopter. One died, the other hospitalised. Journalists reporting the story have be...

“Anxiety has always been part of Hong Kong’s handover story”

A new book on Hong Kong published this November called Making Hong Kong China: The Rollback of Human Rights and the Rule of Law by Michael C. Davis...

Index launches weekly What the Fuck!? podcast with Alison Jackson

British artist and photographer talks about artistic freedom and driving a fake and half-naked Donald Trump around Manhattan

“Between the devil and the deep blue sea” – how Nigeria is looking to move forward from the #endSARS protests

Young Nigerians are coming together to make sure their voices heard

Forced motherhood is an infringement on free expression

As various countries around the world seek to make abortion illegal or hard to get, Orna Herr highlights the free expression implications

Journalists and media freedom under attack in Lukashenko’s Belarus

Volha Siakhovich writes from Belarus about the current conditions of journalists working in the country

#FreeNazanin: Charity worker faces new charges on Monday

MP Tulip Siddiq expresses her support by reciting a poem written for Index by Zaghari-Ratcliffe from her cell

There are still risks to even talking about voting in the USA today

Openly speaking about who you might vote for in the USA can still get people in trouble, says acclaimed author Darryl Pinckney

Department of Homeland Security visa proposals are “alarming development” for media freedom

The proposals aim to limit the length of stay for foreign journalists through changes to their visa

Tanzania: will Magufuli return to power in free and fair elections?

The polls say that the country's incumbent president will get a second term but will the result be rigged?

Coney Barrett’s free speech stance still unclear as nomination goes to Senate

Supreme Court nominee's responses to questioning on key issues during confirmation hearings have not allayed fears

Yuri Dmitriev: the historian being silenced by Putin

A Russian historian's research into killings during Stalin's regime has resulted in an extreme campaign against him

The crisis in Kashmir: an Index reading list

A reading list of articles from the Index archive detailing the hardships faced by people in Kashmir

French exhibition on facial recognition cancelled over claims it violates police privacy

An exhibition to highlight the dangers of facial recognition has been cancelled in northern France after claims it would violate police privacy, ev...

Remembering Daphne Caruana Galizia: her sister speaks to Index

It is three years since the Maltese investigative journalist died in a car bomb attack

Index on Censorship receives lifeline grant from Government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund

We have been awarded £55,441 as part of a government fund to help those in the arts face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic

“Who is going to try to seize power?” Caroline Eden talks to Index from Kyrgyzstan

A journalist in the Kyrgyz capital shares her eye-witness account of the protests with Index on Censorship

What you missed from Banned Books Week 2020

As the annual celebration of the freedom to read comes to a close, we consider the work that still needs to be done

The grannies are revolting: when the older generation protests

As demonstrations in Belarus continue, we take a look at the times the protests of elderly women were heard loudest of all

Trump’s Supreme Court nominee: where does Coney Barrett stand on free speech?

The nomination could be vital to free speech laws in the USA

Choose your moment: the inspirational Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The Supreme Court judge, known as the Notorious RBG, was not afraid to use her dissenting voice

Heavy fines on social networks for not tackling online abuse may have unintended consequences

Index CEO Ruth Smeeth discusses the proposed Online Harms Bill in a virtual session organised by the Board of Deputies after a rise in anti-Semitic...

New report on protecting the media against Slapps

What measures can be introduced to protect journalists facing vexatious legal actions?

Academic freedom in Hong Kong: “It’s a storm and no one wants to go outside, even with an umbrella”

Academics are losing tenure and teachers are being fired as China's national security law bites

Mehdi Rajabian’s Iran: where making music is a crime

Musician's inclusion of women's voices in his last album has led to his arrest. Here he talks exclusively to Index on Censorship about the challeng...

Meet the 73-year-old great grandmother squaring up to Lukashenko in Belarus

Nina Bahinskaya has been shoved and restrained, arrested and fined half her pension. What drives her to protest?

British MP: “We should forge a path for Uighur freedom” – here’s how

“History will judge us for the unforgivable lack of action thus far,” said Shabana Mahmood, an MP from the UK in a speech she delivered in British ...

Ireland notified by Council of Europe over legal action against media outlet

Index on Censorship have raised a Council of Europe alert amid concerns over current legal action against the Dublin Inquirer

Remember the victims of Charlie Hebdo

As a trial commences in France to prosecute accomplices to the Charlie Hebdo murders, we remember the victims of the brutal crime

EU must stand up for independent media in Hungary

One of Hungary's last and biggest independent media outlets, Index.hu, has recently seen its editor fired in another worrying attack on media freed...

Scotland’s hate crime bill would stifle free speech

The wording of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill is incredibly vague and could lead to people being punished simply for telling a joke

How did Belarus come to be ruled by “the last dictator of Europe”?

The attack on the people of Belarus today is the result of 26 years of brutal dictatorship, in which basic freedoms were dismantled one by one

Ruth Smeeth: “The brave men and women who refuse to be silenced”

Summer is supposed to be the quiet time for news - not this year

“Have you ever felt joy from finding out a loved one is in prison?”

Yury Savitsky is one of hundreds who have been detained in Belarus following the disputed elections. His wife Ekaterina tells Index her heart-break...

Rowan Atkinson joins Index in call for changes to Scotland’s planned hate crime bill

Comedian is one of 20 individuals who have signed a joint letter, along with Index on Censorship, raising concerns over the wording of a new bill

Cartoonists being silenced during Covid, report shows

Cartoons make you laugh, wince and - increasingly in this pandemic - angry. We find out why

Kashmir’s journalists have taken great risks this past year to get news out. We must support them