Index on Censorship

The autumn 2019 Index on Censorship magazine examines how border officials are demanding access to individuals’ social media accounts at frontiers around the world. This is ushering in a frightening new era where people are worried that their words, their criticism and taking part in a protest will end in a travel ban. In this issue Steven Borowiec writes about the toughest border of all between North and South Korea where South Koreans can be prosecuted for communicating with relatives in the north. Jan Fox reports how an opera singer who wanted a US visa removed posts from her Facebook page because she thought they might prevent her visiting. And Mark Frary looks at the difficulties for LGBT people travelling to some countries. Meanwhile Ela Stapley offers her top ten tips for securing your information when you pass borders, and Meera Selva looks at how governments are using internet shutdowns to control their populations, with India using it frequently to control information in Kashmir. We also publish an extract for the first time in English of Marguerite Duras’ screenplay for the 1977 film Le Camion (The Lorry) and a poem about male rape by the controversial award-winning poet Dean Atta. Also modern day writers Elif Shafak, Kerry Hudson and Emilie Pine plus theatre director Nicholas Hytner reflect on the lessons of past index contributors Nadine Gordimer, Václav Havel, Samuel Beckett and Arthur Miller