Index on Censorship is an organisation campaigning for

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

. It produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association with the UK-registered charity Index on Censorship (founded as the Writers and Scholars Educational Trust), which are both chaired by the British television broadcaster, writer and former politician

Trevor Phillips Sir Mark Trevor Phillips (born 31 December 1953) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician who served as Chair of the London Assembly from 2000 to 2001 and from 2002 to 2003. He presented ''Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Trevor Phillips ...

. The current CEO is Jemimah Steinfeld. WSI was createdScammell, Michael (1984), "How Index on Censorship Started", in Theiner, George, ''They Shoot Writers, Don't They?'', London: Faber & Faber, pp. 19–28. . by poet

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...

, Oxford philosopher

Stuart Hampshire Sir Stuart Newton Hampshire (1 October 1914 – 13 June 2004) was an English philosopher, literary critic and university administrator. He was one of the antirationalist Oxford thinkers who gave a new direction to moral and political thought ...

, the publisher and editor of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

David Astor Francis David Langhorne Astor (5 March 1912 – 7 December 2001) was an English newspaper publisher, editor of ''The Observer'' at the height of its circulation and influence, and member of the Astor family, "the landlords of New York". Early ...

, and the writer and expert on the Soviet Union Edward Crankshaw. The founding editor of ''Index on Censorship'' was the critic and translator

Michael Scammell Michael Scammell (born 1935) is an English author, biographer and translator of Slavic literature. Education Michael Scammell was born in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England, attended Brockenhurst Grammar School, and after two years working as a cop ...

(1972–1981), who still serves as a patron of the organisation.

Founding history

An Appeal from the USSR

The original impetus for the creation of ''Index on Censorship'' came from an Open Letter addressed "To World Public Opinion" by two Soviet dissenters,

Pavel Litvinov Pavel Mikhailovich Litvinov (; born 6 July 1940) is a Russian-born U.S. physicist, writer, teacher, Human rights movement in the Soviet Union, human rights activist and former Soviet dissidents, Soviet-era dissident. Biography The grandson of Iv ...

and

Larisa Bogoraz Larisa Iosifovna Bogoraz (, full name: Larisa Iosifovna Bogoraz-Brukhman, Bogoraz was her father's last name, Brukhman her mother's, August 8, 1929 – April 6, 2004) was a Soviet dissidents, dissident in the Soviet Union. Biography Born in ...

. In the words of the

samizdat Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual rep ...

periodical '' A Chronicle of Current Events'', they described "the atmosphere of illegality" surrounding the January 1968 trial of Ginzburg and Galanskov and called for "public condemnation of this disgraceful trial, for the punishment of those responsible, the release of the accused from detention and a retrial which would fully conform with the legal regulations and be held in the presence of international observers." (One of the accused

Alexander Ginzburg Alexander "Alik" Ilyich Ginzburg ( rus, Алекса́ндр Ильи́ч Ги́нзбург, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr ɨˈlʲjidʑ ˈɡʲinzbʊrk, a=Alyeksandr Il'yich Ginzburg.ru.vorb.oga; 21 November 1936 – 19 July 2002), was a Russian journalist ...

resumed his dissident activities on release from the camps, until expelled from the USSR in 1979; another, the writer

Yuri Galanskov Yuri Timofeyevich Galanskov (; 19 June 1939 – 4 November 1972) was a Russian poet, historian, human rights activist and dissident. For his political activities, such as founding and editing samizdat almanac '' Phoenix'', he was incarcerated i ...

, died in a camp in November 1972.) ''The Times'' (London) published a translation of the Open Letter and in reply the English poet

composed a brief telegram:

“We, a group of friends representing no organisation, support your statement, admire your courage, think of you and will help in any way possible.”

Among the other 15 British and US signatories were the poet

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

, philosopher A. J. Ayer, musician

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

, man of letters J. B. Priestley, actor

Paul Scofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was an English actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award for his work. Scofield ...

, sculptor

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

, philosopher

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

, writer Mary McCarthy and composer

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

. Later that year, on 25 August, Bogoraz, Litvinov and five others demonstrated on

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...

against the invasion of Czechoslovakia. A few weeks before, Litvinov sent Spender a letter (translated and published several years later in the first May 1972 issue of ''Index''). He suggested that a regular publication might be set up in the West "to provide information to world public opinion about the real state of affairs in the USSR".

Title, scope and relations with Amnesty International

Spender and his colleagues, Stuart Hampshire, David Astor, Edward Crankshaw and founding editor Michael Scammell decided, like Amnesty International, to cast their net wider. They wished to document patterns of censorship in right-wing dictatorships — the military regimes of Latin America and the dictatorships in Greece, Spain and Portugal — as well as the Soviet Union and its satellites. Meanwhile, in 1971,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

began to publish English translations of each new issue of '' A Chronicle of Current Events'', which documented human rights abuses in the USSR and included a regular "Samizdat Update". In a recent interview, Michael Scammell explains the informal division of labour between the two London-based organisations: "When we received human rights material we forwarded it to Amnesty and when Amnesty received a report of censorship they passed it on to us". Originally, as suggested by Scammell, the magazine was to be called ''Index'', a reference to the lists or indices of banned works that are central to the history of censorship: the Roman Catholic Church's

Index Librorum Prohibitorum The (English: ''Index of Forbidden Books'') was a changing list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former dicastery of the Roman Curia); Catholics were forbidden to print or re ...

(Index of Forbidden Books); the Soviet Union's ''Censor's Index''; and apartheid South Africa's ''Jacobsens Index of Objectionable Literature''. Scammell later admitted that the words "on censorship" were added as an afterthought when it was realised that the reference would not be clear to many readers. "Panicking, we hastily added the words 'on Censorship' as a subtitle", wrote Scammell in the December 1981 issue of the magazine, "and this it has remained ever since, nagging me with its ungrammaticality (Index ''of'' Censorship, surely) and a standing apology for the opacity of its title." Describing the organisation's objectives at its inception, Stuart Hampshire said:

"the tyrant's concealments of oppression and of absolute cruelty should always be challenged. There should be noise of publicity outside every detention centre and concentration camp and a published record of every tyrannical denial of free expression."

The magazine

''Index on Censorship'' magazine was founded by Michael Scammell in 1972. It supports free expression, publishing distinguished writers from around the world, exposing suppressed stories, initiating debate, and providing an international record of censorship. The quarterly editions of the magazine usually focus on a country or region or a recurring theme in the global free expression debate. ''Index on Censorship'' also publishes short works of fiction and poetry by notable new writers. ''Index Index'', a round-up of abuses of freedom of expression worldwide, was published in the magazine until December 2008. While the original inspiration to create Index came from Soviet dissidents, from its outset the magazine covered censorship in right-wing dictatorships then ruling Greece and Portugal, the military regimes of Latin America, and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and its satellites. The magazine has covered other challenges facing free expression, including religious extremism, the rise of nationalism, and

Internet censorship Internet censorship is the legal control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. Censorship is most often applied to specific internet domains (such as ''Wikipedia.org'', for example) but exceptionally may ...

. In the first issue of May 1972, Stephen Spender wrote:

"Obviously there is the risk of a magazine of this kind becoming a bulletin of frustration. However, the material by writers which is censored in Eastern Europe, Greece, South Africa and other countries is among the most exciting that is being written today. Moreover, the question of censorship has become a matter of impassioned debate; and it is one which does not only concern totalitarian societies."

Accordingly, the magazine has sought to shed light on other challenges facing free expression, including religious extremism, the rise of nationalism, and internet censorship. Issues are usually organised by theme, and contain a country-by-country list of recent cases involving censorship, restrictions on

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

and other

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

violations. Occasionally, ''Index on Censorship'' publishes short works of fiction and poetry by notable new writers as well as censored ones. Over the half century it has been in existence, ''Index on Censorship'' has presented works by some of the world's most distinguished writers and thinkers, including

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera ( ; ; 1 April 1929 – 11 July 2023) was a Czech and French novelist. Kundera went into exile in France in 1975, acquiring citizenship in 1981. His Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, but he was granted Czech citizenship ...

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognised as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writing has ... been of very great ben ...

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing ( Tayler; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British novelist. She was born to British parents in Qajar Iran, Persia, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where ...

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

, and

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...

. Issues under the editorship of Jemimah Steinfeld featured investigations into how the UK's royal family censor their archives, the plight of Afghan journalists and the rise of Narendra Modi. The editor before, Rachael Jolley, looked at taboos, the legacy of the

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's legacy in protest. There have been special issues on China, reporting from the Middle East, and on internet censorship. The Russia issue (January 2008) won an

Media Award 2008 for features by Russian journalists Fatima Tlisova and Sergei Bachinin, and veteran Russian free speech campaigner Alexei Simonov, founder of the

Glasnost Defence Foundation Glasnost Defense Foundation is a non-profit organization with the stated goals of the defense of journalists, journalism, and freedom of expression in Russia. Its president is Alexei Simonov, a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group and the President ...

. Since January 2010 it has been published by

SAGE Publications Sage Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent academic publishing company, founded in 1965 in New York City by Sara Miller McCune and now based in the Newbury Park neighborhood of Thousand Oaks, California. Sage ...

, an independent for-profit academic publisher. Between 2005 and 2009, the magazine was published and distributed by

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, part of the

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research and Dovepress. It i ...

group. In addition to print and annual subscriptions, ''Index on Censorship'' is available on

Exact Editions Exact Editions is an integrated content management platform for magazine and book publishers. It was launched in 2005 by Adam Hodgkin, Daryl Rayner and Tim Bruce. The platform expanded from a web-based subscription service into developing brand ...

, an application for the iPhone/iPad and Android. It is also a partner with

Eurozine ''Eurozine '' is a network of European cultural magazines based in Vienna, linking up more than 90 partner journals and just as many associated magazines and institutions from nearly all European countries. ''Eurozine'' is also an online magazin ...

, a network of more than 60 European cultural journals.

Publishing landmarks

Other landmark publications include

Ken Saro-Wiwa Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa (10 October 1941 – 10 November 1995) was a Nigerians, Nigerian writer, teacher, television producer, and social rights activist. Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland ...

's writings from prison (Issue 3/1997) and a translation of the Czechoslovak

Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members ...

manifesto drafted by

and others in Issue 3/1977. Index published the first English translation of

Alexander Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag prison system. He was a ...

's Nobel Prize acceptance speech. ''Index on Censorship'' published the stories of the " disappeared" in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and the work of banned poets in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

; the work of Chinese poets who escaped the massacres that ended the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...

. ''Index on Censorship'' has a long history of publishing writers in translation, including

Bernard-Henri Lévy Bernard-Henri Georges Lévy (; ; born 5 November 1948) is a French public intellectual. Often referred to in France simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the " Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, politi ...

, Ivan Klima, Ma Jian and Nobel laureate

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi (; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian Nobel laureate, lawyer, writer, teacher and a former judge and founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. In 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering effor ...

, and news reports including Anna Politkovskaia's coverage of the war in Chechnya (Issue 2/2002).

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

's play ''Every Good Boy Deserves Favour'' (1977) is set in a Soviet mental institution and was inspired by the personal account of former detainee Victor Fainberg and Clayton Yeo's expose of the use of psychiatric abuse in the USSR, published in ''Index on Censorship'' (Issue 2, 1975).Nadel, Ira (2004). ''Double Act: A Life of Tom Stoppard''. London: Methuen. pp. 264–268. . It was first performed with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. Stoppard became a member of the advisory board of ''Index on Censorship'' in 1978 and remains connected to the publication as a Patron of ''Index''. ''Index on Censorship'' published the World Statement by the International Committee for the Defence of

in support of "the right of all people to express their ideas and beliefs and to discuss them with their critics on the basis of mutual tolerance, free from censorship, intimidation and violence. Six months later, ''Index'' published the ''Hunger Strike Declaration'' from four student leaders of the

Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese literary criticism, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end Ch ...

, Zhou Duo,

Hou Dejian Hou Dejian (, Cantonese: Hau Dak-gin, born October 1, 1956), is a songwriter, composer, and singer from Taiwan. Since the 1980s, his songs have been popular in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. His songs are written mostly in Chinese, wit ...

and Gao Xin. ''Index Index'', a round-up of abuses of freedom of expression worldwide, continued to be published in each edition of the magazine until December 2008, when this function was transferred to the website. The offences against free expression documented in that first issue's ''Index Index'' listing included censorship in Greece and Spain, then dictatorships, and Brazil, which had just banned the film ''

Zabriskie Point Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 mil ...

'' on the grounds that it "insulted a friendly power" – the United States, where it had been made and freely shown. ''Index on Censorship'' paid special attention to the situation in then Czechoslovakia between the Soviet invasion of 1968 and the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

of 1989, devoting an entire issue to the country eight years after the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

(Issue 3/1976). It included several pieces by Václav Havel, including a first translation of his one act play ''Conversation'', and a letter to Czech officials on police censorship of his December 1975 production of ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sati ...

'' by

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peach ...

. The magazine also carried articles on the state of the Czech theatre and a list of the so-called Padlock Publications, 50 banned books that circulated only in typescript. Index also published an English version of Havel's play ''Mistake'', dedicated to

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

in gratitude for Beckett's own dedication of his play ''Catastrophe'' to Havel. Both short plays were performed at the Free Word Centre to mark the launch of Index's special issue looking back at the changes of 1989 (Issue 4, 2009).

Campaigns

Index has been the driving force in the UK in the campaign to "StopSLAPPs", strategic lawsuits against public participation. As a result of their campaigning, in 2024 a private members bill was tabled. ''Free Speech is not For Sale'', a joint campaign report by Index on Censorship and

English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associa ...

highlighted the problem of so-called

libel tourism Libel tourism is a term, first coined by Geoffrey Robertson, to describe forum shopping for libel suits. It particularly refers to the practice of pursuing a case in England and Wales, in preference to other jurisdictions, such as the United Stat ...

and the English law of defamation's chilling effect on free speech. After much debate surrounding the report's ten key recommendations, the UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw pledged to make English defamation laws fairer. "A free press can't operate or be effective unless it can offer readers comment as well as news. What concerns me is that the current arrangements are being used by big corporations to restrict fair comment, not always by journalists but also by academics." He added: "The very high levels of remuneration for defamation lawyers in Britain seem to be incentivising libel tourism." These campaigns and others were illustrative of then CEO

John Kampfner John Kampfner is a British author, broadcaster and commentator. Since 2019, he has been a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a defence and security think tank. In 2022-2023 Kampfner was Executive Director of ...

's strategy, supported by then chair Jonathan Dimbleby, to boost Index's public advocacy profile in the UK and abroad beginning in 2008. Until then the organisation did not regard itself as "a campaigning organisation in the mould of Article 19 or

", as former news editor Sarah Smith noted in 2001,Smith, Sarah (2001), "Index on Censorship" in Jones, Derek (ed.), ''Censorship: A World Encyclopaedia''. London: Routledge. preferring to use its "understanding of what is newsworthy and politically significant to maintain pressure on oppressive regimes through extensive coverage".

Arts and international programmes

Index on Censorship also runs a programme of UK based and international projects that put the organisation's philosophy into practice. In 2009 and 2010 Index on Censorship worked in Afghanistan, Burma, Iraq, Tunisia and many other countries, in support of journalists, broadcasters, artists and writers who work against a backdrop of intimidation, repression, and censorship. The organisation's arts' programmes investigate the impact of current and recent social and political change on arts practitioners, assessing the degree and depth of self-censorship. It uses the arts to engage young people directly into the freedom of expression debate. It works with marginalised communities in UK, creating new platforms, on line and actual for creative expression. Index on Censorship works internationally to commission new work, not only articles for print and online, but also new photography, film & video, visual arts and performance. Examples have included an exhibition of photostories produced by women in Iraq, ''Open Shutters'', and a programme involving artists from refugee and migrant communities in UK, linking with artists from their country of origin, ''Imagine art after'', exhibited at

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

in 2007. Index has also worked with Burmese exiled artists and publishers on creating a programme in support of the collective efforts of Burma's creative community. Index also commissioned a new play by Actors for Human Rights, ''Seven Years With Hard Labour'', weaving together four accounts from former Burmese political prisoners now living in the UK. Index also co-published a book of poetry by homeless people in London and St. Petersburg.

CEO

The current Chief Executive of Index on Censorship is Jemimah Steinfeld. She took on this role in May 2024, replacing Ruth Anderson, who left the organisation to follow a political path. The Chief Executive of Index on Censorship from 2014 through to 2020 was Jodie Ginsberg, who is now the CEO of the CPJ.

Freedom of Expression Awards

Index on Censorship annually presents awards to journalists, artists, campaigners and digital activists from around the world who make a significant contribution to free expression over the previous year. Sponsors have included ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'',

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

and the London law firm Doughty Street Chambers. The 2020 awards were held online in April 2020 during the 2019–20 COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the awards were presented on 27 October in London. 2022 winners: Journalism: Huang Xueqin; Campaigning:

OVD-Info OVD-Info () is an independent Russian human rights media project aimed at combating political persecution. Its main focus is freedom of assembly. OVD-Info is one of Russia’s largest human rights NGOs. History OVD-Info was founded in December ...

; Arts: Hamlet Lavastida; Trustee Award:

Andrey Kurkov Andrii Yuriyovych Kurkov (, ; born 23 April 1961) is a Ukrainian author and public intellectual who writes in Russian and Ukrainian. He is the author of 19 novels, including the bestselling '' Death and the Penguin'', nine books for children, a ...

. 2021 winners: Journalism: Samira Sabou; Campaigning: Abdelrahman 'Moka' Tarek; Arts: Tatyana Zelenskaya; Trustee Award: Arif Ahmed. 2020 winners: Journalism:

OKO.press OKO.press is a Polish investigative journalism website created on 15 June 2016. The name is a word play on ''oko'', Polish for ''eye'', and an abbreviation for "Ośrodek Kontroli Obywatelskiej" (''Centre for Civic Control''). OKO.press is funde ...

; Campaigning: Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Veysel Ok; Digital: 7amleh; Arts: Yulia Tsvetkova. 2019 winners: Journalism: Mimi Mefo; Campaigning: Cartoonists Rights Network, International; Digital: Fundación Karisma; Arts: Zehra Doğan. 2018 winners: Journalism: Wendy Funes; Campaigning: Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms; Digital: Habari RDC; Arts: The Museum of Dissidence. 2017 winners: Journalism: ''Maldives Independent''; Campaigning: Ildar Dadin; Digital: Turkey Blocks; Arts: Rebel Pepper. 2016 winners: Journalism: Zaina Erhaim; Campaigning: Bolo Bhi; Digital: GreatFire; Arts: Murad Subay. 2015 winners: Journalism: Rafael Marques de Morais and Safa Al Ahmad; Campaigning: Amran Abdundi; Digital:Tamas Bodoky; Arts: Mouad "El Haqued" Belghouat. 2014 winners: Journalism: Azadliq; Advocacy: Shahzad Ahmad; Digital: Shu Choudhary; Arts: Mayam Mahmoud. 2013 winners: Journalism: Kostas Vaxevanis; Digital Freedom:

Bassel Khartabil Bassel Khartabil (; 22 May 1981 – 3 October 2015), also known as Bassel Safadi (), was a Palestinian-Syrian open-source software developer. He was detained without trial by the Syrian government in 2012 and was secretly executed in 2015. Hu ...

; Advocacy:

Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai (; , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani female education activist, film and television producer, and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 17. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, ...

; Arts:

Zanele Muholi Zanele Muholi (born 1972) is a South African artist and visual activist working in photography, video, and installation. Muholi's work focuses on race, gender and sexuality with a body of work that dates back to the early 2000s, documenting and ...

. 2012 winners: Journalism:

Idrak Abbasov Idrak Abbasov (born c. 1976) is an Azerbaijani journalist who works for the newspaper ''Zerkalo (newspaper), Zerkalo'', one of Azerbaijan's few newspapers not controlled by the government of President Ilham Aliyev. ''The Guardian'' described him a ...

; Advocacy: Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, collected by Nabeel Rajab; Innovation: Freedom Fone by Kubatana; Arts: Ali Ferzat; 40th Anniversary Award: Research and Information Centre "

Memorial (society) Memorial ( rus, Мемориал, p=mʲɪmərʲɪˈaɫ) is an international human rights organisation founded in Russia during the fall of the Soviet Union to study and examine the Human rights in the Soviet Union, human rights violations and o ...

" St Petersburg. 2011 winners: Journalism:

Ibrahim Eissa Ibrahim Eissa () (born 9 November 1965) is an Egyptian journalist and TV personality best known for co-founding the popular Egyptian weekly '' Al-Dustour''. He is currently editor-in-chief of '' Al Tahrir'', which he co-founded in July 2011. E ...

; Advocacy:

Gao Zhisheng Gao Zhisheng (born 20 April 1964) is a Chinese Human rights law, human rights attorney and dissident known for defending activists and religious minorities and documenting Human rights in the People's Republic of China, human rights abuses in ...

; New Media: Nawaat; Arts:

M. F. Husain Maqbool Fida Husain (17 September 1915 – 9 June 2011) was an Indian painter and film director who painted Narrative painting, narrative paintings in a modified Cubism, Cubist style. He was one of the founding members of Bombay Progressiv ...

; Special Commendation: Belarus' Prisoners of Conscience, collected by the

Belarus Free Theatre The Belarus Free Theatre ( Belarusian: Свабодны тэатр, ''Svabodny teatr'') is a Belarusian underground theatre group. Following the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, the BFT no longer has any presence in Belarus, with the remaining m ...

. 2010 winners: Journalism: Radio La Voz; Advocacy: Rashid Hajili; Publishing Award: Andalus Press; New Media Award:

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

; Freemuse Award:

Mahsa Vahdat Mahsa Vahdat (in Persian language, Persian مهسا وحدت) (born 29 October 1973, Tehran, Iran) is a Persian classical and world music singer. Mahsa Vahdat's music style is contemporary expression inspired by old traditional and folk and reg ...

; Special Commendation: Heather Brooke. 2009 winners: Journalism: ''

The Sunday Leader ''The Sunday Leader'' was an English-language Sri Lankan weekly newspaper published by Leader Publications (Private) Limited. It was founded in 1994 and is published from Colombo. Its sister newspapers are the '' Iruresa'' ('' Irudina'') and the d ...

'' – Sri Lanka; Film: Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg, '' The Devil Came on Horseback''; New Media: Psiphon; Books: Ma Jian, Beijing Coma; Law: Malik Imtiaz Sarwar. 2008 winners: Journalism:

Arat Dink Arat Dink (Արատ Դինք born 1979) is a Turkish Armenian journalist and the executive editor of ''Agos'', a bilingual Turkish Armenian weekly newspaper published in Istanbul. He is the son of Rakel Dink and Hrant Dink, the former editor-in ...

and ''Agos'' magazine; Mohamed Al-Daradji and ''Ahlaam''; New Media:

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...

and

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...

; Books:

Francisco Goldman Francisco Goldman (born 1954) is an American novelist, journalist, and Allen K. Smith Professor of Literature and Creative Writing, Trinity College. His most recent novel, ''Monkey Boy'' (2021), was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Fi ...

, ''The Art of Political Murder''; Law: U Gambira and the Monks of Burma. 2007 winners: Journalism:

Kareem Amer Kareem Nabil Suleiman Amer (, ) (born c. 1984) is an Egyptian Norwegian blogger and former law student. He was arrested by Egyptian authorities for posts on his blog that were considered to be anti-religious and insulting to Egyptian President Hos ...

; Film:

Yoav Shamir Yoav Shamir (), is an Israeli documentary filmmaker most noted for the films ''Checkpoint (2003 film), Checkpoint'' and ''Defamation (film), Defamation''. Personal life Yoav Shamir was born in Tel Aviv in 1970. A ninth-generation Israeli from Tel ...

, ''Defamation''; Whistleblower:

Chen Guangcheng Chen Guangcheng (born November 12, 1971) is a Chinese civil rights activist who has worked on human rights issues in rural areas of the People's Republic of China. Blind from an early age and self-taught in the law, Chen is frequently describ ...

; Books:

Samir Kassir Samir Kassir (; 5 May 1960 – 2 June 2005) was a Lebanese-Palestinian journalist of '' An-Nahar'' and professor of history at Saint-Joseph University, who was an advocate of democracy and prominent opponent of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. ...

; Law: Siphiwe Hlophe. 2006 winners: Journalism: Sihem Bensedrine; Film:

Bahman Ghobadi Bahman Ghobadi (; ; born February 1, 1969) is an Kurds in Iran, Iranian Kurdish film director, producer and writer. He belongs to the "Iranian New Wave, new wave" of Iranian cinema. Biography He was born in Baneh, a Kurds, Kurdish city in Iran ...

, ''Turtles Can Fly''; Whistleblower: Huang Jingao; Books: Jean Hatzfeld, ''Into the Quick Life: The Rwandan Genocide – the Survivors Speak'' and ''A Time for Machetes: the Killers Speak''; Law:

Beatrice Mtetwa Beatrice Mtetwa (born 1957) is a Zimbabwean lawyer who has been internationally recognized for her defense of journalists and press freedom. ''The New York Times'' described her in 2008 as "Zimbabwe's top human rights lawyer". Legal practice Bor ...

. 2005 winners: Journalism: Sumi Khan; Books: Soldiers, Light by Daniel Bergner; Film: ''Final Solution'', Rakesh Sharma; Campaigning: Center of Constitutional Rights; Whistleblowing: Grigoris Lazos. 2004 winners: Journalism: Kaveh Golestan; Music: West–Eastern Divan Orchestra; Whistleblowing: Satyendra Dubey; Film: ''Amamdla!'' by Lee Hirsch; Books: ''Slave'' by

Mende Nazer Mende Nazer (born 1982) is a UK-resident, Sudanese author and human rights activist. Nazer was a slave in Sudan and in London for eight years. She later co-wrote the 2002 book ''Slave: My True Story''. Abduction Nazer is a Nuba woman from a v ...

and Damien Lewis; Special:

Mordechai Vanunu Mordechai Vanunu (; born 14 October 1954), also known as John Crossman, is an Israeli former nuclear technician and peace activist who, citing his opposition to weapons of mass destruction, revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program ...

; Censor of the Year:

John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, Lobbying, lobbyist, and former politician who served as the 79th United States attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. A Republican Party (United States), R ...

. 2003 winners: Journalism: Fergal Keane; Whistleblowing: Tony Kevin; Censor of the Year: Jonathan Moyo; Circumvention of Censorship:

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

; Defence of Free Expression: Hashem Aghajari. 2002 winners: Defence of Free Expression:

Anna Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (; 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russians, Russian investigative journalist who reported on political and social events in Russia, in particular, the Second Chechen War (1999–2005). It was her repor ...

; Circumvention of Censorship: Şanar Yurdatapan; Whistleblowing: Jiang Weiping; Censor of the Year:

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

. 2001 winners: Defence of Free Expression: Mashallah Shamsolvaezin; Whistleblowing: Grigory Pasko; Circumvention of Censorship:

Lorrie Cranor Lorrie Faith Cranor is an American academic who is the FORE Systems Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, Director and Bosch Distinguished Professor in Security and Privacy Technologies of ...

Avi Rubin Aviel David "Avi" Rubin (born November 8, 1967) is an expert in systems and networking security. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University, Technical Director of the Information S ...

and Marc Waldman; Censor of the Year:

UK Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. ...

(MoD).

Controversies

Theo Van Gogh

In November 2004, ''Index on Censorship'' attracted further controversy over another indexonline.org blog post by Jayasekera that, to many readers, seemed to condone or justify the murder of Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh. The blog described Van Gogh was a "free-speech fundamentalist" on a "martyrdom operation roar nghis Muslim critics into silence with obscenities" in an "abuse of his right to free speech". Describing Van Gogh's film ''Submission'' as "furiously provocative", Jayasekera concluded by describing his death:

"A sensational climax to a lifetime's public performance, stabbed and shot by a bearded fundamentalist, a message from the killer pinned by a dagger to his chest, Theo Van Gogh became a martyr to free expression. His passing was marked by a magnificent barrage of noise as Amsterdam hit the streets to celebrate him in the way the man himself would have truly appreciated. And what timing! Just as his long-awaited biographical film of
Pim Fortuyn Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn (; 19 February 1948 – 6 May 2002), was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF) in ...
's life is ready to screen. Bravo, Theo! Bravo!"

There were many protests from both left-wing and right-wing commentators. In December 2004,

Nick Cohen Nicholas Cohen (born 1961) is a British journalist, author, and political commentator. He was previously a columnist for '' The Observer'' and is currently one for ''The Spectator''. Following accusations of sexual harassment, he left ''The O ...

of ''

'' wrote:

"When I asked Jayasekera if he had any regrets, he said he had none. He told me that, like many other readers, I shouldn't have made the mistake of believing that ''Index on Censorship'' was against censorship, even murderous censorship, on principle – in the same way as
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
is opposed to torture, including murderous torture, on principle. It may have been so in its radical youth, but was now as concerned with fighting 'hate speech' as protecting free speech."

Ursula Owen, the chief executive of ''Index on Censorship'', while agreeing that the blog post's "tone was not right" contradicted Cohen's account of his conversation with Jayasekera in a letter to ''The Observer''.

Danish cartoons

In December 2009, the magazine published an interview with Jytte Klausen about a refusal of

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

to include the Mohammed Cartoons in Klausen's book '' The Cartoons that Shook the World''. The magazine declined to include the cartoons alongside the interview.Eden, Richard (19 December 2009)
"Any Questions? Jonathan Dimbleby in Muslim censorship row"
''The Telegraph'' (UK)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1972 establishments in the United Kingdom Censorship in the United Kingdom Political magazines published in the United Kingdom Freedom of expression organizations Free expression awards Magazines established in 1972 Magazines published in London Works about censorship Works about freedom of expression