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Awards 2017
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle”][vc_column_inner el_class=”awards-inside-desc”][vc_custom_heading text=”FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AWARDS 2017″ font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlUhPA3TuB56Ow0JmVsGgeXY5XEy0wwmh” align=”center”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”2017 Fellows” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
Selected from over 400 public nominations and a shortlist of 16, the 2017 Freedom of Expression Awards Fellows exemplify courage in the face of censorship. Learn more about the fellowship.
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Arts | Rebel Pepper
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Campaigning | Ildar Dadin
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Digital Activism | Turkey Blocks
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Journalism | Maldives Independent
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1500367746306{background-color: #f2f2f2 !important;}”][vc_column][awards_gallery_slider name=”2017 AWARDS GALA” images_url=”89583,89582,89581,89580,89577,89578,89576,89575,89574,89565,89560,89559,89553,89552,89551,89550,89549,89548,89547,89546,89545,89544,89543,89542,89541,89540,89539,89538,89537,89536,89535,89534,89533,89532,89531,89530,89529,89528,89527,89526,89525,89524,89523,89522,89520,89521,89519,89518,89517,89515,89513,89512,89511,89510,89509″][vc_column_text]
The Awards were held at London’s Unicorn Theatre on Wednesday 19 April 2017.
High-resolution images are available for download via Flickr.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1500374640894{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”Support the Index Awards.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:28|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fsupport-the-freedom-of-expression-awards%2F|||”][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1500374612115{background-image: url(https://www.indexoncensorship.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/EMK_3669web-Edit-1490x460_revised.jpg?id=90091) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1500374723834{background-color: #f2f2f2 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”2017 SHORTLIST” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_tta_tabs][vc_tta_section title=”Arts” tab_id=”1500362988336-5bdbb85d-772be509-a00f”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
ARTS
for artists and arts producers whose work challenges repression and injustice and celebrates artistic free expression
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxXBCcuFOGQ”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle” el_class=”container container980″][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84885″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/03/index-awards-luaty-beirao/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84888″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/03/indexawards2017-rebel-pepper-china-caroonist/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84881″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/03/fahmi-reza-art-weapon-against-corruption/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84890″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/03/index-awards-hungary-two-tailed-dog-party/”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Campaigning” tab_id=”1500362988646-d5275c82-89e2e509-a00f”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
CAMPAIGNING
for activists and campaigners who have had a marked impact in fighting censorship and promoting freedom of expression
Supported by Doughty Street Chambers
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/vQcwVRmGHII”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84876″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/03/arcoiris-lgbt-honduras/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84879″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/03/index-awards-breaking-silence/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84882″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/03/ildar-dadin-russian-activist/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84886″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/03/maati-monjib-free-speech-morocco/”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Digital Activism” tab_id=”1500375693353-6cf89875-d61ee509-a00f”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
DIGITAL ACTIVISM
for innovative uses of technology to circumvent censorship and enable free and independent exchange of information
Supported by Private Internet Access
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/6VDEpJYlB5s”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84883″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/04/jensiat-cyber-security-sexuality-iran/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84878″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/04/bill-marczak-spyware/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84875″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/04/evan-mawarire-hope-nation/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84889″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/04/turkey-blocks-win-back-internet/”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Journalism” tab_id=”1500375685814-07dc032c-abfae509-a00f”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
JOURNALISM
for courageous, high-impact and determined journalism that exposes censorship and threats to free expression
Supported by CNN
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/aczK0uN0ytU”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84877″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/04/kurdish-journalist-behrouz-boochani/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84880″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/04/daptar-hope-women-dagestan/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”85704″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/04/krik-crime-corruption-serbia/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”84887″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/04/maldives-independent-hold-government-to-account/”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_tta_section][/vc_tta_tabs][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”2017 JUDGING PANEL” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][staff name=”Noma Dumezweni” title=”Actor” profile_image=”85068″]Noma Dumezweni, who plays Hermione in the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, was shortlisted in 2016 for an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress. Speaking about the importance of the Index Awards she said: “Freedom of expression is essential to help challenge our perception of the world”.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][staff name=”Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC” title=”Barrister” profile_image=”85067″]Caoilfhionn Gallagher is a public law specialist at Doughty Street Chambers who represented the bereaved families in the 7/7 London bombings, and the Hillsborough football stadium tragedy. In October 2016 she was named Human Rights and Public Law Junior of the Year at the Chambers UK Bar Awards.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][staff name=”Tina Brown” title=”Journalist and editor” profile_image=”82577″]Tina Brown is an award-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief of Tatler, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. She is founder of Women in the World Summits.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][staff name=”Anab Jain” title=”Tech entrepreneur” profile_image=”82573″]Anab Jain is a TED fellow and co-founder of Superflux.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][staff name=”Stephen Budd” title=”Music manager” profile_image=”82576″]Stephen Budd is chairman of the Music Managers Forum and co-founder of Damon Albarn’s ‘Africa Express’ musical collaborations project.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][staff name=”Jodie Ginsberg” title=”CEO, Index on Censorship” profile_image=”80210″]Jodie Ginsberg joined Index on Censorship from the think-tank, Demos. A former London Bureau Chief for Reuters, Jodie worked for more than a decade as a foreign correspondent and business journalist. She was previously Head of Communications for Camfed, a non-profit organisation working in girls’ education.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Each year Index recruits an independent panel of judges – leading voices with diverse expertise across campaigning, journalism, the arts and human rights. Judges look for courage, creativity and resilience. We shortlist on the basis of those who are deemed to be making the greatest impact in tackling censorship in their chosen area, with a particular focus on topics that are little covered or tackled by others. Where a judge comes from a nominee’s country, or where there is any other potential conflict of interest, the judge will abstain from voting in that category.
The Freedom of Expression Awards are open to anyone involved in tackling free expression threats – either through journalism, campaigning, the arts or using digital techniques – is eligible for nomination. Any individual, group or NGO can nominate or self-nominate. There is no cost to apply. Nominees must have had a recognisable impact in the past 12 months.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1500374747691{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 15px !important;background-color: #f2f2f2 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle” el_class=”container container980″][vc_column_inner][awards_news_slider name=”2017 COVERAGE” years=”2017″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1500374757272{margin-top: 20px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”SPONSORS” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1484567001197{margin-bottom: 30px !important;}”][vc_column_text]
Index is grateful to those who supported the 2017 Awards:
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If you are interested in sponsorship you can contact [email protected]
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Index award winners and judges call for release of Bahraini campaigner
Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab (Photo: The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy)
Playwright David Hare, author Monica Ali, comedian Shazia Mirza, MP Keir Starmer and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka are among those who have written to Prime Minister Theresa May asking the UK government to call on Bahrain to release a campaigner imprisoned for just tweeting his opinions.
Nabeel Rajab has been in pre-trial detention in Bahrain since July. He has been held largely in solitary confinement, and for the first two weeks after his arrest was held in a filthy police cell that aggravated heart and other health issues.
Rajab was arrested for expressing opinions. He did not advocate or condone violence, nor is he accused of any violent act. Some of the “criminal” communications he is charged with include retweets of his support for organisations like Index on Censorship, which organised the letter. Rajab is also accused of “insulting“ Bahrain’s ally Saudi Arabia. He faces up to 15 years in prison for his “crimes”.
Rajab is a former winner and judge of the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards and those who signed the letter included former fellow winners and judges.
“Free expression is under severe threat in Bahrain and the region,” said Index on Censorship CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “It is vital that Bahrain’s democratic allies make clear to Bahraini authorities that their behaviour is unacceptable. The US State Department has already publicly called for Nabeel’s release. The British government should do the same.”
September 1, 2016
Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing to ask you to call publicly for the release of Nabeel Rajab. One of the Gulf region’s best-known human rights defenders, Mr Rajab has been in pre-trial detention since July. He has been held largely in solitary confinement, and for the first 15 days after his arrest on 13 June was held in a filthy police cell that aggravated heart and other health issues.
Mr Rajab was arrested simply for expressing opinions. He did not advocate or condone violence, nor is he accused of any violent act. Indeed, some of the “criminal” communications he is charged with include retweets in his support from international civil rights organisations like Index on Censorship. He is also accused of “insulting” Bahrain’s ally Saudi Arabia. He faces up to 15 years in prison for his “crimes”.
Free expression is under severe threat in Bahrain and the region. It is vital that Bahrain’s democratic allies make clear to Bahraini authorities that their behaviour is unacceptable. The US State Department has already publicly called for Nabeel’s release. We ask Britain to do the same.
Yours sincerely,
Index on Censorship former winners and judges
Jodie Ginsberg, CEO, Index on Censorship
Keir Starmer MP
David Hare, playwright
Monica Ali, author
Howard Brenton, playwright
Maureen Freely, author
Shazia Mirza, comedian
Charlie Smith, GreatFire.org, China
Rafael Marques de Morais, journalist, Angola
Serge Bambara, musician, Burkina Faso
Shazad Ahmed, campaigner, Pakistan
Yoav Shamir, director, Israel
Tamas Bodoky, campaigner, Hungary
Sanar Yurdatapan, composer, Turkey
Rakesh Sharma, filmmaker, India
Maria Teresa Ronderos, journalist
Farieha Aziz, campaigner, Pakistan
Safa Al-Ahmed, journalist, Saudi Arabia
Jean Hatzfeld, journalist and author, France
Mahsa Vahdat, artist, Iran
Murad Subay, artist, Yemen
Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, House of Lords
Wole Soyinka, playwright and poet
Zaina Erhaim, journalist, Syria
Mouad Belrhouate, musician, Morocco
For more information, please contact Sean Gallagher at [email protected] or +44 (0)207 963 7262
Does social media have a censorship problem?
Credit: Flickr / Jason Howie
Facebook made headlines this week over allegations by former staff that the site tampers with its “what’s trending” algorithm to remove and suppress conservative viewpoints while giving priority to liberal causes.
The news isn’t likely to shock many people. Attempts to control social media activity have been rife since Facebook and Twitter launched in 2006. We are outraged when political leaders ban access to social media, or when users face arrest or the threat of violence for their posts. But it is less clear cut when social media companies remove content they deem in breach of their terms and conditions, or move to suspend or ban users they deem undesirable.
“Legally we have no right to be heard on these platforms, and that’s the problem,” Jillian C. York, director for international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, tells Index on Censorship. “As social media companies become bigger and have an increasingly outsized influence in our lives, societies, businesses and even on journalism, we have to think outside of the law box.”
Transparency rather than regulation may be the answer.
Back in November 2015, York co-founded Online Censorship, a user-generated platform to document content takedowns on six social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, Google+ and YouTube), to address how these sites moderate user-generated content and how free expression is affected online.
Online Censorship’s first report, released in March 2016, stated: “In the United States (where all of the companies covered in this report are headquartered), social media companies generally reserve the right to determine what content they will host, and they do not consider their policies to constitute censorship. We challenge this assertion, and examine how their policies (and the enforcement thereof) may have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.”
The report found that Facebook is by far the most censorious platform. Of 119 incidents, 25 were related to nudity and 16 were due to the user having a false name. Further down the list were content removed on grounds of hate speech (6 reports) and harassment (2).
“I’ve been talking with these companies for a long time, and Facebook is open to the conversation, even if they haven’t really budged on policies,” says York. If policies are to change and freedom of expression online strengthened, “we have to keep the pressure on companies and have a public conversation about what we want from social media”.
Critics of York’s point of view could say if we aren’t happy with the platform, we can always delete our accounts. But it may not be so easy.
Recently, York found herself banned from Facebook for sharing a breast cancer campaign. “Facebook has very discriminatory policies toward the female body and, as a result, we see a lot of takedowns around that kind of content,” she explains.
Even though York’s Facebook ban only lasted one day, it proved to be a major inconvenience. “I couldn’t use my Facebook page, but I also couldn’t use Spotify or comment on Huffington Post articles,” says York. “Facebook isn’t just a social media platform anymore, it’s essentially an authorisation key for half the web.”
For businesses or organisations that rely on social media on a daily basis, the consequences of a ban could be even greater.
Facebook can even influence elections and shape society. “Lebanon is a great example of this, because just about every political party harbours war criminals but only Hezbollah is banned from Facebook,” says York. “I’m not in favour of Hezbollah, but I’m also not in favour of its competitors, and what we have here is Facebook censors meddling in local politics.”
York’s colleague Matthew Stender, project strategist at Online Censorship, takes the point further. “When we’re seeing Facebook host presidential debates, and Mark Zuckerberg running around Beijing or sitting down with Angela Merkel, we know it isn’t just looking to fulfil a responsibility to its shareholders,” he tells Index on Censorship. “It’s taking a much stronger and more nuanced role in public life.”
It is for this reason that we should be concerned by content moderators. Worryingly, they often find themselves dealing with issues they have no expertise in. A lot of content takedown reported to Online Censorship is anti-terrorist content mistaken for terrorist content. “It potentially discourages those very people who are going to be speaking out against terrorism,” says York.
Facebook has 1.5 billion users, so small teams of poorly paid content moderators simply cannot give appropriate consideration to all flagged content against the secretive terms and conditions laid out by social media companies. The result is arbitrary and knee-jerk censorship.
“I have sympathy for the content moderators because they’re looking at this content in a split second and making a judgement very, very quickly as to whether it should remain up or not,” says York. “It’s a recipe for disaster as its completely not scalable and these people don’t have expertise on things like terrorism, and when they’re taking down.”
Content moderators — mainly based in Dublin, but often outsourced to places like the Philippines and Morocco — aren’t usually full-time staff, and so don’t have the same investment in the company. “What is to stop them from instituting their own biases in the content moderation practices?” asks York.
One development Online Censorship would like to see is Facebook making public its content moderation guidelines. In the meantime,the project will continue to strike at transparency by providing crowdsourced transparency to allow people to better understand what these platforms want from us.
These efforts are about getting users to rethink the relationship they have with social media platforms, say York. “Many treat these spaces as public, even though they are not and so it’s a very, very harsh awakening when they do experience a takedown for the first time.”