2020: One for the history books

The past year has been all about restriction of our freedoms and not just to stop the spread of Covid

Why Index has held its first ever social media blackout

Despite atrocities against activists increasing globally, we have highlighted the execution by the Iranian government of journalist Ruhollah Zam

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'

Index urges UN Secretary-General to demand member states respect human rights following Ruhollah Zam execution

Following the execution on Saturday in Iran of Ruhollah Zam, an activist and journalist who had been accused of using a messaging app to stir up dissent, Index call on the UN Secretary-General to demand members respect the UN Declaration on Human Rights

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

#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

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 challenges

Governments using virus as cover to restrict newspapers

Several countries have banned publishers from producing and distributing print newspapers and magazines to stop the spread of the Covid virus despite a lack of scientific evidence

Iran: Satirical writer Kioomars Marzban is sentenced to 23 years in jail

Kioomars Marzban, a 27-year-old satirical writer from Iran, was sentenced to 23 years and 3 months in prison. He was found guilty on five separate charges, given a two-year travel ban, and a two-year ban on publishing or using social media.

Andrew Graham-Yooll on Argentina

Andrew Graham-Yooll served as editor for the Index on Censorship magazine from 1989-1994. To honour his memory, Index features some highlights of his writing for the magazine about his home country Argentina

Thirty years on: the Salman Rushdie fatwa revisited

Thirty years after a fatwa was issued ordering Muslims to execute author Salman Rushdie over the publication of The Satanic Verses, Index publishes a collection of writing on the implications for free expression and censorship

Student reading list: The Iranian Revolution

Forty years ago the rule of the last shah of Iran came to an end after millions of Iranians, from all social classes, took to the streets in protest