The awards honour champions of free expression and those battling censorship around the world in the field of arts, campaigning, digital activism and journalism.
Index on Censorship is proud to announce three new judges for its 2020 Freedom of Expression Awards. These are New York-based artist Molly Crabapple, award-winning Guardian journalist Amelia Gentleman and Cindy Gallop, founder of social sex video platform MakeLoveNotPorn.
Freedom of speech and creativity continued to face acute threats in 2019, but artists and curators continue to be at the forefront of the dangerous but necessary work of driving social change. ... Index on Censorship, which tracks the curtailing of...
Shake off the post New Year blues with drinks, snacks and debate at our winter magazine launch on the theme of macho leaders and their attempts to silence freedom of expression, on Wednesday 15 January at Google HQ.
The UK should make it harder for powerful individuals and companies to bring libel actions or use other vexatious legal threats designed to stifle investigative journalism, Index on Censorship said on Friday.
A multimillionaire at the centre of a police investigation over sexual assault allegations is trying to censor newspaper reports, though he is referred to only as Mr X. ... The campaign group Index on Censorship said last night that it was...
An employee of a leading think tank was fired for publicly arguing that transgender women were not real women. Maya Forstater was a tax expert for The Centre for Global Development (CGD). In March 2019, Forstater posted a series of tweets in...
People have long speculated that J.K. Rowling, creator of Harry Potter and nothing else of note since, is secretly a transphobe. Until today, the strongest evidence was that she had liked a Twitter post referring to trans women as “men in dresses,”...
Another explosion in the gender wars went off on December 18th, when an employment tribunal in London ruled that stating “gender-critical” beliefs—for instance, that the words “man” and “woman” properly refer to males and females rather than to...
Scottish playwright Jo Clifford is no stranger to controversy. Her play, The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven, casts Jesus as a trans woman, and first aired at Glasgow’s Tron in 2009 to a reception of applause—and protest. But there is...
Index Awards 2017: Celebrating defenders of free expression
Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Index’s aim is to raise awareness about threats to free expression and the value of free speech as the first step to tackling censorship.
Index relies entirely on the support of donors and readers to do our work.
We work in four ways:
Index on Censorship publishes an award-winning quarterly magazine that has featured some of the world’s best-known writers. We publish original creative writing and articles about free expression from across the globe.
Our website offers additional information to help people understand the current threats to free expression globally. And we reach a wider audience through social media.
Each year, Index on Censorship identifies some of the greatest threats to free speech around the world and develops advocacy campaigns to push for change in legislation or public attitudes. We choose topics where our work can make a significant impact – and deliberately choose areas where others might not be focused. You can see our current areas of focus on our Campaigns and Projects work.
We use a mixture of research, reporting, direct advocacy and media campaigning to achieve our goals.
Index on Censorship believes that free expression encourages more open and tolerant societies. We actively promote debate with an exciting series of events each year to help people better understand the value of free speech. This includes performances, exhibitions, talks and concerts. We are also regularly quoted in international media on free expression issues. Read more about our current events programme here.
Index on Censorship directly supports groups and individuals facing censorship through our Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship. The fellowship offers a year-long programme of tailored support to a small group of fellows selected for their outstanding work in the fields of journalism, arts, campaigning and digital advocacy. Read more about this innovative work here.