Index on Censorship weekly round-up

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Friday, 13 September 2024
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Donald Trump and Kamala Harris went head-to-head on 10 September 2024 in a heated debate. Photo: ABC News

Who could have predicted that Donald Trump would unite George Orwell and Taylor Swift in the form of an Index newsletter? But that’s the strange world in which we’re living.

This week I’ve been obsessively telling my Index colleagues about Laura Beers’ excellent book Orwell’s Ghosts ([link removed]) , which is full of insights about today’s political climate through the lens of the Animal Farm author’s wisdom. One part that’s really stuck with me is the relationship between free speech and the truth, as Orwell saw it.

“Orwell could never endorse a world in which 'alternative facts' were given free rein,” Beers writes, reminding her readers about the famous Nineteen Eighty-Four line where Orwell describes freedom as the right to say that 2 + 2 = 4. As Beers points out, it is very much not the right to say that 2 + 2 = 5. Objective truth matters.

Anyone with even a passing interest in the US election will know that this week has been a goldmine for talking points on truth, lies and misinformation. It is the perfect moment to be reading this book.

When ABC News hosted a debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump ([link removed]) this week, it was also the first time they’d met in person. After shaking hands, the debate began with gusto, Harris quickly getting under Trump’s skin. What was particularly interesting about this debate though was the on-the-go fact-checking live on air. It’s something we’ve never seen to this degree, and the fact that ABC feel it is needed now is telling.

On the issue of abortion, Trump asserted — not for the first time — that babies in the USA are being executed after being born. Moderators took down the false claim: “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”

Commentators on the right were quick to denounce this new era of fact-checking. It was unfairly skewed towards Trump and they were picking him apart more than Harris. There is of course a simple explanation for that, which is that he told more lies. According to CNN ([link removed]) , Trump delivered more than 30 false claims while Harris gave one, although additional claims of hers were misleading or lacking in context.

The award for top untruth of the night goes perhaps to Trump’s claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people’s pet cats and dogs. The internet quickly got to work with memes of The Simpsons’ dog Santa’s Little Helper giving the side eye to cat Snowball II ([link removed]) . But ABC moderators were speedier than the meme-makers and set the story straight live on air, confirming that there had been “no credible reports” of this alleged neighbourhood pet buffet.

Of course, the lie didn’t come out of thin air. As The Economist ([link removed]) breaks down, the “allegation had been circulating in right-wing circles on social media, boosted by Elon Musk”. Amid anti-immigrant sentiment in some circles, a Facebook post “cited fourth-hand knowledge” about the cat-eating claim. A half-truth is still a lie. And when it comes to a Facebook post based on fourth-hand knowledge being pedalled by a would-be (and former) president, we’re not even close to the realms of a half-truth. Two plus two does not equal four. Two plus two equals Lassie for lunch.

Social media has played a starring role in the misinformation story. Perhaps now is a good time to move on to X owner and tech billionaire Elon Musk’s post directed at pop superstar Taylor Swift.

Following the TV debate, Swift endorsed Harris in an Instagram post ([link removed]) to her 284 million followers (to Trump’s 26.5 million and Harris’s 16.9 million, just to demonstrate the sway she has), where she talked about her concern over AI-generated content claiming to show her endorsing Donald Trump. Beneath a picture of the Shake It Off singer holding her ragdoll cat Benjamin Button, she wrote: “The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth,” and signed off “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady,” riffing off the sexist trope used by Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance towards Harris and others.

While not distracted by SpaceX (one of his other companies), which yesterday launched the first ever privately-funded spacewalk, Musk found the time to post ([link removed]) : “Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.” If we know anything about Swift it’s that Musk is about to become the villain in an upcoming hit single.

Trump also reacted to Swift endorsing Harris. He said the popstar would “probably pay a price for it in the marketplace".

Swift might say: “Haters gonna hate”. But when powerful billionaires and presidential candidates are deriding cultural figures for having a political voice, and objective truth becomes optional in a democracy, there is a problem. As this and other elections continue to unfold, it’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure that two plus two continue to equal four.

Katie Dancey-Downs, assistant editor
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** Silenced Afghan women raise their
voices in hope
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Afghan women protest gender apartheid under the Taliban at a summit in Tirana, Albania. Photo: Lindsey Hilsum

A summit on Afghan women’s rights took place in the Albanian capital Tirana this week. The gathering comes just two weeks after the Taliban’s “vice and virtue” laws banned women in Afghanistan speaking in public ([link removed]) . The All-Afghan Women’s Summit ([link removed]) is in stark contrast to a United Nations meeting in Doha, Qatar at the end of June on the future of Afghanistan which excluded women at the insistence of the Taliban ([link removed]) .

Writing for Index from Tirana ([link removed]) , Channel 4's Lindsey Hilsum said: "Everything Afghan women do this week in Tirana, Albania is forbidden to them at home. Arguing. Laughing. Speaking loudly in public. Singing. Wearing brightly coloured clothes. Showing their faces. All haram according to the men from Kandahar who currently hold power. As the Taliban move to erase women across Afghanistan, in Tirana Afghan women are asking, how do we fight back?"


** Fictitious legal letter threatening legal action is sent to every sitting MP
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Rachel Blake MP and Jamie Stone MP have supported the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition campaign

On 11 September 2024, a spoof legal letter from fictitious law firm, Silver, Langston and Percival Partners was sent to every sitting MP in the House of Commons ([link removed]) . The letter, claiming to be acting on behalf of an anonymous claimant, calls on MPs to “publicly retract [their] statements and apologise”, or face court proceedings. While it is a spoof letter, it includes language taken from real legal letters that have been sent to public watchdogs in the UK. The letter was organised by the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition ([link removed]) , a coalition of civil society organisations seeking to put an end to the legal harassment of those speaking out in the public interest, of which Index is co-chair.
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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])


** From the Index archives
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** Find me a war
by Cecilia Valenzuela
March 1995
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This week we learned of the death of Peru's former president Alberto Fujimori. Fujimori came to power unexpectedly in 1990 and worked quickly to address the hyperinflation that was wracking the country's economy and dealt with the Shining Path insurgency. However, Fujimori later became better known for the human rights abuses that occurred during his decade-long stay in power. Half way through his leadership Peruvian lawyer and journalist Cecilia Valenzuela wrote that the country was living under "a subtle and well-managed dictatorship". Read her article 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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