Joe Rogan row shows limits of appetite for free speech

Photo: Sopa Images Limited/Alamy

When singer-songwriters Neil Young and Joni Mitchell objected to Joe Rogan including misinformation about the Covid vaccine, they could have simply decided to remove their music from the platform. This would have been consistent with the tradition of the protest singer, from which they both come. The problem was that they appeared to make this an ultimatum, asking Spotify to choose between them and the podcaster - and this turned it into a free speech issue, writes Martin Bright here.

We must not let Putin use the Ukraine crisis to bury Navalny trial news

On Tuesday, as our world leaders sought to prevent a new war, Putin’s biggest critic Alexei Navalny was put on trial, again. The popular Russian opposition leader is accused of embezzling donations to his FBK anti-corruption organisation, which spearheaded investigations into Russian officials and sparked large protests against Putin. Navalny has denied the charges and says they’re politically motivated.

Putin is so fearful of dissent that he has held the trial not in Moscow, in a court, but rather in the prison that Navalny is already detained in, writes Index CEO Ruth Smeeth in her weekly blog. Read the article in full here. 

Over 400 days of injustice for Andrei Aliaksandrau

President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Félix Tshisekedi. Photo: kremlin.ru

Our friend and former colleague, Andrei Aliaksandrau, has now spent more than 400 days behind bars in Belarus. On returning to Belarus from London in the mid-2010s, Andrei was well aware of the risks of continuing his work in defence of human rights, but he refused to be intimidated or to be silenced. We publish extracts from a letter of his. Read now.

New report shines light on Chinese “long arm” repression of Uyghurs

A landmark new report has been published by Index on Censorship highlighting the shocking extent of Chinese attempts to repress Uyghurs living in countries across Europe – including the UK. The report, compiled over months of detailed research and gathering of personal testimony, shows how the “long arm” of the Chinese Communist Party is silencing ethnic Uyghurs.

Download the report China's Long Arm: How Uyghurs are being silenced in Europe here.