Index on Censorship weekly round-up

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Friday, 23 August 2024
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Elon Musk presides over the detritus of what once was Twitter. Credit: James Duncan Davidson

Why do we tolerate X? Elon Musk’s poisoned well is fast filling up with far-right propaganda, disinformation, hate speech and now, it would seem, adverts for machine guns and grenade launchers from Iran-backed terrorists in Yemen. This is the reality of the free speech utopia the world’s richest man promised us when he took over Twitter. And yet we continue to populate it with content. I do, Index does and many of you reading this will continue to do so. When Dr Johnson said in 1776 that “no man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money” he could not have imagined a world where 335 million blockheads provide free copy for a billionaire.

It’s not just X. The social media business model depends on us all selling our labour for nothing to feed the exponential growth of the platforms.

As Musk has grown closer to Donald Trump, he has begun to openly use X to publish his own personal propaganda for his favoured candidate. His “civil war is inevitable” intervention in Britain’s summer riots demonstrates that he is actively prepared to foment division and racial tension in a country he knows little about. As the US election approaches, Musk seems intent on turning X into an ideological sewer.

So why do we stay? We stay because the rewards are immediate and addictive. We are paid, not in cash, but in dopamine hits and the validation of our followers. And it’s not all negative. Twitter was once a fantastically useful resource for journalists, providing connections, expert knowledge and hard news from an unprecedented international network. When I broadcast to my relatively modest 15,000 followers, the response is more direct and personal that in any other medium I have worked in, including mass circulation newspapers. For a small organisation like Index, X is a vital way of communicating our work with dissidents to our 80,000 followers around the world.

In recent weeks, there has been a noticeable movement away from Musk’s platform. In the UK, journalists have led the X-odus to Threads and Bluesky. In the case of Threads, owned by Meta, it’s not quite clear why it is better to write content for Mark Zuckerberg rather than Musk, although some are remarking that the tone is less openly hostile. Bluesky is positively benign in comparison, but with just six million users it has none of the reach of its nastier competitor.

Personally, I have ended up tripling my workload as I now post not just to X, but to my loyal and impeccably behaved band of 395 followers on Threads and 81 followers on Bluesky.

It would be odd for a free expression organisation to advocate for the boycott of a social media platform, but we have regular discussions internally about the ethics of remaining on X. We will, of course, keep you informed.

There are two stories we have been tracking this week in Thailand and India that would benefit from wider international circulation. The first is the dissolution of the Move Forward party in Thailand, which won the most votes in last year’s elections. Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat promised to end the practice of military intervention in Thai politics, break up monopolies and reform the country’s lese majeste laws, which restrict criticism of the royal family. Limjaroenrat told the Guardian this week ([link removed]) : “They’re coming after us. They’re exterminating us.”

Meanwhile, this month marks the fifth anniversary of the Indian government’s decision to strip the state of Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy. Since then we've reported on the many ways in which people's free expression has been attacked in the region, from newspapers being closed and journalists arrested to mosques being closed. Last year, India’s supreme court backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s position on the contested region, which has been ruled in part by Pakistan and India since partition in 1947. Local elections will take place next month and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pledged last week ([link removed]) that he and his opposition alliance, known as the INDIA bloc, will commit themselves to restoring statehood.

Martin Bright
Editor-at-Large
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** Banned: UK school librarians shushed over LGBQT+ books
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American-style book bans are coming to the UK


A special investigation ([link removed]) by Katie Dancey-Downs revealed more than half of UK school librarians surveyed by Index have been asked to remove books from their shelves. This story was picked up first by The Independent ([link removed]) and then by the rest of the British media.


** Why Project 2025 is a threat to free media
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Public radio stations, such as WECI serving Richmond, Indiana, will suffer if Project 25's media reforms are implemented. Credit: Deansfa

A prototype for Donald Trump in power will restrict local independent journalism writes Ella Edwards ([link removed]) .
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**
Celebrating Iranian resistance
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** An evening of film, discussion and solidarity
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** Tuesday 17 September, 5.30pm | Colours Hoxton
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On 16 September 2022 the world was shocked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. Her murder was a reminder of the brutal side of Iran, as was the crushing of dissent that followed. Despite the crackdown people did and still do resist, taking great personal risks in their quest to improve the rights landscape of Iran. Index on Censorship celebrates these dissidents and so, as we remember Amini, we want to spotlight them too.

The event features a screening of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi's Cannes-award winning 3 Faces (2018), made while under a 20 year filmmaking ban, plus a panel discussion and standing in solidarity with Toomaj Salehi.
More information and to register for free: click here ([link removed])


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** From the Index archives
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** Bashing the bishops
Michael Foley
Autumn 1999
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As we mourn the death of pioneering Irish feminist and journalist Nell McCafferty this month ([link removed]) - and that of Edna O’Brien in July ([link removed]) - we are reminded of the very difficult circumstances journalists and authors were operating in for most of the 20^th Century. This article by Michael Foley from 1999 is about the opening up of Ireland and the legacy of the Catholic Church and its collaboration with the secretive state. Read it now ([link removed]) here ([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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