Index on Censorship weekly round-up
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Friday, 15 March 2024
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A protest calling for the release of Toomaj Salehi, who remains in jail in Iran. Photo: Joe Flood. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED ([link removed])
A great privilege of working at Index is, and always has been, the amazing people we get to encounter, those who look tyranny in the face and don't cower. Iranian musician Toomaj Salehi is one such person. This week, the 2023 Index Freedom of Expression arts award winner ([link removed]) donated the £2500 cash prize to relief funds for those affected by the floods in Iran's Sistan and Baluchistan province in an act of extreme generosity. We were informed of the donation by his family.
Salehi, whose music rails against corruption, state executions, poverty and the killing of protesters in Iran, has spent years in and out of jail. Today he is still not free - indeed he faces a court hearing on another new charge tomorrow. Our work with him doesn't end with the award. But what solace to know that the money will make a tangible difference to the lives of many and that jail cannot stop Salehi from his mission to make Iran a more just country.
While Salehi, and others, confront the brutal face of censorship, those in the USA and the UK are this week dealing with the finer print - who owns what. The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday ([link removed]) that will require TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the popular video-sharing app or face a total ban. This is challenging territory. TikTok is guilty of its charges, shaping content to suit the interests of Beijing and data harvesting being the most prominent. So too are other social media platforms. If it is sold (which is still an if) we could see a further concentration of influential apps in the hands of a few tech giants. Is that a positive outcome? And how does this match up against the treatment of USA-based X? The social media platform, formerly Twitter, has Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding, the investment vehicle of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, as its second largest investor. Is the US Government
holding X to the same standards?
Meanwhile, the UK government (which has expanded the definition of extremism this week ([link removed]) in a concerning way) plans to ban foreign governments from owning British media, effectively saying no to an Abu Dhabi-led takeover of the Telegraph. We have expressed our concerns ([link removed]) about the buyout before and these concerns remain. Still, we'd like to see the final proposal before deciding whether it's good news.
We've also spoken a lot this week about the decision by literary magazine Guernica to pull an article written by an Israeli (still available via the Wayback machine here ([link removed]) ) following a staff-walk out. We stand by everyone's right to protest peacefully, of which walking out of your office is just that. But we are troubled by other aspects, specifically redacting an article post-publication and the seemingly low bar for such a redaction (and protest), which hinged on the identity of the author and a few sentences. We can argue about whether these sentences were inflammatory - I personally struggle to see them as such - and indeed we should, because if we can't have these debates within the pages of a thoughtful magazine aimed at the erudite we're in a bad place.
Speaking of a bad place, Russia goes to the "polls" today.
Jemimah Steinfeld, editor-in-chief
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** Navalny told them not to give up –
and they didn’t
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People attending memorials for Alexei Navalny risk being arrested and tortured.
Photo: United States Mission Geneva/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED ([link removed])
Mourners wanting to mark the death of Alexei Navalny were detained across Russia, with almost half of them in St Petersburg alone. No less than 78 were jailed up to 15 days. In some cases, people were not allowed ([link removed]) to see their lawyers, writes Alexandra Domenech ([link removed]) .
** Why withdrawal of labour is the ultimate expression of freedom
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Police and pickets face off during the miners' strike. Photo: Amgueddfa Cymru, CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED
Forty years on from the miners' strike in the UK, our CEO Ruth Anderson argues that industrial action embodies the collective voice of workers asserting their rights and advocating for their economic interests. Whether through strikes, protests, or other forms of organised resistance, workers exercise their agency to challenge unjust conditions, demand fair treatment, and negotiate for better terms of employment, she writes. Read her blog here ([link removed]) .
** New Assange film hopes to spur action
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As Julian Assange awaits the verdict of his final court appeal against his extradition to the USA, where he faces a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison under the Espionage Act for publishing classified information, those on the outside are determined not to give up the fight to free him, writes Daisy Ruddock ([link removed]) .
The Trust Fall: Julian Assange ([link removed]) – which is released at cinemas today – follows the Australian publisher and activist through his lifelong pursuit of truth. The film explores Assange’s life through archive footage and recollections of those who know him, focussing on his work on WikiLeaks and the years he has spent in isolation both in London’s Ecuadorian embassy and Belmarsh Prison.
** From the Index archives
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** Muscovite memories
by Maria Stepanova
Autumn 2016
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Russians will today vote in an election which Vladimir Putin is set to win. Time to reflect on what Putin has done to the fabric of Russia, starting with this interview and poem ([link removed]) .
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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 ([link removed]) to Index you help us to protect freedom of expression and to support those who are denied that right.
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