Countries once considered liberal are increasingly denying dissenters entry at their borders
The freedom to travel is becoming a privilege, not a right
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CATEGORY: United States
The week in free expression
Index rounds up some of the biggest stories in the global free speech landscape from the past seven days
Power to the people?
Our fundamental right to protest is being eroded in the UK and USA
USA urged to protect press freedom and keep journalists safe after order to gut United States Agency for Global Media
The US President has signed an order calling for the USAGM to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law”
Standing in solidarity with VOA, RFE/RL and RFA
The Trump administration is moving to shutter these essential media outlets. This will aid autocrats and further silence voices of dissent
Hollywood: the Pentagon’s secret weapon
Roger Stahl speaks to Index about the Department of Defense’s continuing influence on Hollywood movies
The existential threat to international aid and consular assistance
With the UK modelling the USA’s approach to aid cuts, independent journalism and political prisoners could be in a perilous position
Trump, Zelenskyy and the war on truth
Donald Trump’s assertions about the Ukrainian president convey an alarming normalisation of false realities and an affront to accuracy
Elon Musk’s attack on public broadcasters is destroying Reagan’s Cold War legacy
Once lauded as bastions of American patriotism, media outlets such as Radio Free Europe and Voice of America are now being labelled enemies of the state
Could Donald Trump’s administration be a double-edged sword for free speech?
We speak with the USA-based non-profit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) about the new president’s complicated approach to free expression
Smears about the media made by US President Donald Trump have obscured a wider problem with press freedom in the United States: namely widespread and low-level animosity that feeds into the everyday working lives of the nation’s journalists, bloggers and media professionals. This study examines documented reports from across the country in the six months leading up to the presidential inauguration and the months after. It clearly shows that threats to US press freedom go well beyond the Oval Office.
“Animosity toward the press comes in many forms. Journalists are targeted in several ways: from social media trolling to harassment by law enforcement to over-the-top public criticism by those in the highest office. The negative atmosphere for journalists is damaging for the public and their right to information,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO at Index on Censorship, which documented the cases using an approach undertaken by the organization to monitor press freedom in Europe over the past three years. Learn more.