Friday, 04 August 2023
Photo: Adam Harangozó, CC BY-SA 4.0

In the latest round of judicial overstretch, Morocco holds a royal flush. This week a man named Said Boukioud was jailed for five years over Facebook posts deemed offensive to the king. As it so happens last Sunday was Throne Day, the anniversary of King Mohammed VI’s accession to the throne. On Boukioud’s Facebook page (he has since deleted his whole account) he criticised Morocco’s diplomatic normalisation with Israel — but in Morocco, to criticise foreign policy is to criticise the monarch. And criticising the monarch is simply not tolerated.
 
If we were to include every example of critics being silenced in Morocco, we might max out your inbox, so we’ll highlight just a few. At the end of May this year, human rights activist Saida El Alami was sentenced to two years in prison for “insulting the king” and “insulting a magistrate or public servant”. This came on top of a three-year prison sentence she was already serving for Facebook posts criticising security forces (for sending officers to question her neighbours about her when she was out) and the judiciary (for allegedly being corrupt). In fact, the second sentence she received was a result of things she said during her first trial.
 
Human rights defender and journalist Rida Benotmane had his conviction upheld in February this year for social media posts and Youtube videos criticising the government. Rapper Gnawi was given a year in prison in 2019 for insulting the police, after releasing a song that highlighted inequalities in the country (and criticised the king). And journalist Hanane Bakour could face three years in prison for “publishing fake news” for a Facebook post critical of the government. Her case has now been postponed 10 times.
 
Transnational repression has come into play too, when in 2021 authorities arrested a Uyghur activist in exile, Yidiresi Aishan, on behalf of China. He remains at risk of extradition.
 
There are an increasing number of jailed media workers (currently 14), activists and dissidents and a shrinking space for media freedom, with a “partially restricted” ranking on the Index Index. In the words of RSF, journalists in Morocco “do as they are told” or face harassment.
 
Moving on from insulting the Moroccan monarch towards the jewel in the crown of free expression magazines, we’re delighted to have launched the summer issue of Index on Censorship. The online paywall has come crashing down until 10 August, so you can read every feature online for free.
 
We explore neurodiversity stereotypes, and whether they’re being overcome, in our special report, hearing from Nick Ransom, Meltem Arıkan, Ashley Gjøvik and Lillian Carrier. JP O'Malley interviews the bestselling Russian-Swiss writer Mikhail Shishkin, and Rebecca Ruth Gould visits a museum honouring the writers silenced by execution in Georgia. We’d love to hear which features resonate with you, move you or get you thinking. And if you’re looking for a short story like no other, might we suggest starting with Kaya Genç’s A Censored Day?
 
 
Katie Dancey-Downs, assistant editor

Is X really a bastion of free expression?

The San Francisco headquarters of Twitter, now known as X. Photo: Tobias Kleinlercher/CC BY-SA 3.0

A new row between the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, sees both sides claiming to be working in the interest of freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

In one corner, the CCDH claims that X is not moving quickly enough to tackle online hatred that finds a home on the social media platform. They claim to highlight examples where hatred goes unchallenged and then in turn encourage X’s advertisers to use their commercial clout to bring about change on the platform, including through the use of boycotts and removing their accounts. Read what our CEO Ruth Anderson thinks about the spat.

Report: Chinese funding and academic freedom in Europe

Cover image: Lumli Lumlong

European universities have become increasingly international over the last decade, fostering relationships with researchers, institutions, private companies, and students around the world. While academic internationalisation provides many opportunities, it also presents challenges.

Our new report asks to what extent Chinese money is being used to fund European universities and to what extent is it eroding academic freedom in the process. The report looks at funding from Chinese companies, Chinese international students, and the protections the EU and UK have in place to prevent undue interference. 

From the archive

Blurring the lines
by Jemimah Steinfeld
Winter 2017

It has just been reported that Hong Kong’s high court has refused to ban a song originating in the 2019 protests, Glory to Hong Kong. The good news came against years of bad – a string of countries passing laws to make the singing of national anthems compulsory. Jemimah Steinfeld looks at how these songs are a form of coercion, as well as subversion.

 
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Index on Censorship defends people's freedom to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution. We publish censored writers and artists, monitor and campaign against censorship, and encourage debate.  

We rely on donations from readers and supporters. By donating to Index you help us to protect freedom of expression and to support those who are denied that right.
 
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