CATEGORY: Magazine

The Big Noise

The Big Noise

by | 10 Dec 19

We are living in the age of the macho leaders. All around the world, these so called “strong men” have stormed the polls and are coming to power. They are being voted in democratically yes, but what they stand for is disastrous for democracy. Not only do they have little time for free speech, their entire image is often constructed around a very delicate type of masculinity that does not accept criticism or dissent. This is what we discuss in the winter 2019 issue of Index on Censorship magazine. In this issue Rappler news editor Miriam Grace Go writes about how the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, tries to position himself as the man by being as foul-mouthed as possible. If you’re a critical journalist – and especially a woman journalist – you can expect vitriol from him. Indian journalist Somak Goshal reports on how Narenda Modi presents an image of being both the guy next door, as well as a tough guy – and he’s got a large following to ensure his message gets across, come what may. And Stefano Pozzebon talks to journalists in Brazil who are right in the firing line of Jair Bolsonaro’s vicious attacks on the media. Meanwhile Mark Frary talks about the tools that autocrats are using to crush dissent and Caroline Lees looks at the smears that are becoming commonplace as a tactic to silence journalists. We also publish a poem from Hong Kong writer Tammy Lai-ming Ho, which addresses the current protests engulfing the city, plus two short stories written exclusively for the magazine by Kaya Genç and Jonathan Tel. Also Rob Sears creates a handbook for the modern dictator.

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Big Brother at the border

Big Brother at the border

by | 12 Sep 19

Editor-in-chief Rachael Jolley argues in the autumn 2019 issue of Index on Censorship magazine that travel restrictions and snooping into your social media at the frontier are new ways of suppressing ideas

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Border Forces

Border Forces

by | 12 Sep 19

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

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A quarterly journal set up in 1972, Index on Censorship magazine has published oppressed writers and refused to be silenced across hundreds of issues.

A quarterly journal set up in 1972, Index on Censorship magazine has published oppressed writers and refused to be silenced across hundreds of issues.

The brainchild of the poet Stephen Spender, and translator Michael Scammell, the magazine’s very first issue included a never-before-published poem, written while serving a sentence in a labour camp, by the Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who went on to win a Nobel prize later that year.

The magazine continued to be a thorn in the side of Soviet censors, but its scope was far wider. From the beginning, Index declared its mission to stand up for free expression as a fundamental human right for people everywhere – it was particularly vocal in its coverage of the oppressive military regimes of southern Europe and Latin America but was also clear that freedom of expression was not only a problem in faraway dictatorships. The winter 1979 issue, for example, reported on a controversy in the United States in which the Public Broadcasting Service had heavily edited a documentary about racism in Britain and then gone to court attempting to prevent screenings of the original version. Learn more.