Friday, 23 May 2025
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** On Russia’s naughty list
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My predecessor Ruth Anderson used to joke that we weren’t working hard enough because we hadn’t been banned in Russia. Perhaps she was onto something. We’re still not banned there, as far as I know. Amnesty International though appears to have met the mark – or rather crossed a Kremlin red line. This week, Russian authorities labelled ([link removed]) Amnesty an “undesirable organisation”, accusing it of being a “centre for the preparation of global Russophobic projects”. Any association with the group is now a criminal offence.

This is no empty label. Just ask Galina Timchenko, co-founder and CEO of the independent Russian-language news outlet Meduza. She’s now facing criminal charges ([link removed]) for organising the activities of an “undesirable organisation” – namely, Meduza itself, which earned that designation back in January 2023 for its reporting on Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The charges stem from her publishing two videos, one in September 2024 and another in March 2025, which authorities claim were designed to “foment protest sentiment”. If convicted, she could face six years in prison.

But it’s not just human rights organisations and independent journalists in the Kremlin’s crosshairs. This week, a Russian court fined ([link removed]) tech giant Apple 10.5 million roubles (approximately $130,900) across four administrative cases. Three related to alleged violations of the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ “propaganda” laws, which were made even more draconian in 2023. The fourth was for allegedly failing to delete content at the request of the Russian authorities.

A journalist from Mediazona, one of Russia’s last remaining independent outlets, covered the court proceedings ([link removed]) and offered a glimpse into how such hearings operate. Here’s a telling moment: “Our reporter notes that the judge read the decision at such a rapid pace it was virtually impossible to grasp the precise details of the claims. We then approached the court’s press secretary to request that a summary of the official court record be released for clarity. The response was terse: ‘The hearing is closed.’”

In the past, Apple has received criticism ([link removed].) for its compliance with Russian censorship demands, from removing VPNs to restricting certain apps. These are moves it has defended as the price of staying in the country. Now they’re paying a different, more literal price.

As for Index, we remain unbanned – and unbowed. We continue to report on Russia in both our magazine and online, including recently interviewing ([link removed]) artist and musician Yaroslav Smolev, and Nadezhda Skochilenko, mother of political prisoner and Index award winner Aleksandra Skochilenko ([link removed]) . This isn’t actually about provoking the Kremlin. It’s about doing our job: telling the truth, and shining a light on one of the most authoritarian regimes in the world.

Jemimah Steinfeld

CEO, Index on Censorship


** More from Index
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From Tanzania to Afghanistan: The week in free expression ([link removed])

A round-up of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days ([link removed])

Arrested for criticising Hamas – in London ([link removed])

Campaigner Peter Tatchell’s detention shows all that’s going wrong with free speech in the UK ([link removed])

How Lukashenka uses healthcare against political prisoners ([link removed])

Healthcare is being used as a weapon to silence dissidents in Belarus ([link removed])

Ten years in Saudi prison for a tweet ([link removed])

British national Ahmed al-Doush has been sentenced over a seven-year-old deleted post ([link removed])

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** What is a SLAPP? Identifying the tools, tactics and trends
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Join Index on 27 May for an online webinar to launch our “Am I facing a SLAPP?” tool.

With speakers:

Amy Jacobsen, Legal Counsel at Greenpeace

Tracy, SLAPP Target

Mark Stephens, Partner, Howard Kennedy and Trustee, Index on Censorship (Chair)

MORE INFORMATION ([link removed])


** From Tanzania to Afghanistan: The week in free expression ([link removed])
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** >> USA: ([link removed]) Student has degree revoked for pro-Palestine speech ([link removed])
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** >> EL SALVADOR: ([link removed]) Leading human rights lawyer arrested ([link removed])
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** >> AFGHANISTAN: ([link removed]) Taliban fires 300 from national broadcaster ([link removed])
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** >> TANZANIA: ([link removed]) [link removed] activists hastily released from detention ([link removed]) [link removed]
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** >> CHINA: ([link removed]) Beijing accused of using mental health law to lock up critics ([link removed])
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** >> IRAN: ([link removed]) Jafar Panahi on life as a banned film-maker ([link removed])
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** Flashback
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[link removed]

The year of miracle and grief ([link removed])

by Leonid Borodin ([link removed])

Index on Censorship, volume 13, issue 3 ([link removed])

“A miracle is something which occurs in spite of and contrary to everything. According to the rules, it does not happen. Consequently, when a miracle does take place, it does so in defiance of the rules.”

Read the extract from a novel by Leonid Borodin, a Russian historian who spent an extended amount of time imprisoned in Soviet Russia on the charge of "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda" allegedly committed through his literary work. Read the story here. ([link removed])


** Support our work
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The world is becoming more authoritarian and our work calling out human rights abuses and promoting freedom of expression in countries such as Russia, Belarus, Saudi Arabia and China has never been more important.

By supporting Index on Censorship today, you can help us in our work with censored artists, jailed musicians, journalists under threat and dissidents facing torture or worse.

Please donate today ([link removed])

Photos by: (Putin) Nikolay Vinokurov / Alamy Stock Photo; (prison which once housed Leonid Borodin) ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Stock Photo

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