Friday, 23 July 2021

The world must look beyond Cuba's carefully manufactured PR image

Photo: REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

It is vital that organisations dedicated to free speech and human rights continue to draw attention to repressive conditions and abuses inside Cuba, writes James Bloodworth. However it is also important that liberals and progressives take the reports that these organisations produce seriously – as seriously as they do when the same accusations are made of less fashionable or PR-savvy dictatorships.

Pegasus: The tools may have changed but repressive regimes have not

The news this week about the reach of NSO Group's spyware Pegasus reminds us of both the advances of emergent technology and the ongoing determination of repressive regimes and hostile actors to use it against their citizens, to silence critics and to restrict media freedom. Those seeking to censor and intimidate in the 21^st century may be using different tools, but the objective remains the same, writes our CEO Ruth Smeeth.

The US cheerleader who won an important victory for student free speech

Brandi Levy outside Mahanoy Area High School. Photo: Danna Singer/Provided by the ACLU

The US Supreme Court has ruled eight to one that the rights of high school student Brandi Levy were violated in a case dating back to 2017. After failing to make the varsity cheerleading team, Levy had posted profanity-laced criticisms of the team roster on Snapchat while off campus at a local convenience store. The team captain kicked her off the team for a year as punishment. Index's Bridget Byrne examines the case and what it means for student free speech. Read the story here.

Support Index on Censorship's ongoing work

Watch on demand: Our recent event explored the extent to which the Chinese Communist Party is exploiting its growing influence in order to erode freedom of expression in Europe, and looked at what needs to be done to protect our fundamental rights and our democracy. Speakers: Mareike Ohlberg, China analyst and co-author of Hidden Hand: How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World; Tom Tugendhat MP, Chairman of the UK’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee; Edward Lucas, journalist and editor of the China Influence Monitor; and Trevor Phillips, chair of Index on Censorship. Watch the event here.

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.

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