A heart full of hope: behind the doors closed to women in Afghanistan
In the latest of our Letters from Afghan Women, a young woman opens up about keeping hope alive despite threats to her life
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On the ground in Serbia: Student protests lead to crackdown on human rights
Protesters are being intimidated and having spyware uploaded to their phones as stand-off escalates
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Discord for Morocco’s football-loving Gen Z as country hosts Africa Cup
Morocco’s youth have erupted against a system that invests in spectacle while its citizens die in silence
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Should the phrase “globalise the intifada” be banned?
In the wake of the Bondi atrocity, Index says freedom of expression includes not only the right to speak but the responsibility to do so with care
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Putin versus Pussy Riot
The anti-Putin punk band has been designated as a terrorist organisation meaning any reference to the group may now carry criminal penalties
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Spotlight: Remembering Sir Tom Stoppard
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In memory of Sir Tom Stoppard, a visionary dramatist and fierce champion of free expression
A longtime Index patron and contributor, Stoppard was one of the greatest playwrights of his time and a relentless defender of free expression
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Identity politics: words can, and do, hurt
"When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less, and that includes pronouns"
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Cancel culture, junk journalism and the dissident tradition
A wide-ranging interview with the playwright, screenwriter and Index on Censorship patron Sir Tom Stoppard
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Tom Stoppard on the Writers in Prison Committee
The playwright on why he would never have been a writer in prison – and the importance of communicating with those who are
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MAGAZINE
LATEST ISSUE: VOLUME 54.04 Winter 2025
Gen Z is revolting: Why the world's youth will not be silenced
Zoomers – the young people born between 1997 and 2012 – have been taking to the streets this summer. They haven’t got a common ideology but they are angry about the state of world and feel hopeless for the future.
In the UK we have seen them on Saturday marches for Palestine, but in countries where Gen Z make up a significant proportion of the population, they have been toppling governments.
In Morocco, from where we have a frontline report, the government has remained in place, but police acted with a huge show of force, detaining almost 2,500 young people including under-12s. Near Agadir, normally known as a tourist resort, three young people were killed when the police fired on them with live ammunition.
In Madagascar and Nepal, leaders did flee in the face of what looked like a mass uprising. But as the editor of the Nepali Times writes, the young revolutionaries can’t decide what happens next. Nor are they particularly sympathetic to others’ freedom of expression. Journalists reporting on what happened in Nepal found themselves trolled online.
There is something else that marks out Gen Z. They are digital natives to their fingertips, theoretically able to exercise freedom – at least online - on a scale previous generations could only dream of. And yet many are afraid to say what they really think in public forums.
Uncensored gallery
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