Our free speech is under attack, in the UK and across the world, and we need to fight to protect it

15 Jun 20 | News and features

Credit: Singlespeedfahrer/Petr Vodicka/Amy Fenton/Executive Office of the President/ Philip Halling/Isac Nóbrega/The White House

George Floyd. Dr Li Wenliang. Amy Fenton. JK Rowling. Edward Colston. Jair Bolsonaro. Donald Trump.

Love or loathe these people, the actions of each have opened a new debate in 2020. From the Black Lives Matter movement to the debate on sexuality, to the freedom of the press in the UK, to the role of Government and state actors hiding details of a public health emergency from their citizens.

If we have learnt anything at all from the turmoil that 2020 has given the world, it’s that free speech is vital; free expression is central to who we are and; that journalistic freedom is integral to the type of global society we aspire to live in.

Today, I’m joining the team at Index on Censorship as its new CEO. Index has spent the last half century providing a voice for the voiceless. Giving those who live under repressive regimes a platform to tell the world of their experiences and enabling artists to share their work with the world when they can’t share it with their neighbours.

Our work has never been more important.  There have been over 200 attacks on media freedom across the globe, since the end of March this year, related to Covid-19. In the US alone there have been over 400 press freedom ‘incidents’ since the murder of George Floyd, including 58 arrests of journalists, 86 physical attacks and 52 tear gassings.  In the UK, this weekend, on the streets of London we saw journalists attacked while reporting on a far-right demo in our capital.

My role in the months ahead is to highlight the threats to free speech, both in the UK and further afield, to celebrate free speech, to open a debate on what free speech should look like in the 21st century and most importantly to keep providing a platform for those people who can’t have one in their own country.

The editorial in the first edition of Index on Censorship in 1972, stated:  There is a real danger… of a journal like INDEX turning into a bulletin of frustration. But then, on the other hand, there is the magnificent resilience and inexhaustible resourcefulness of the human spirit in adversity.

With you, the team at Index will continue to fight against the frustration while celebrating the magnificent resilience of the human spirit.  And I can’t wait to get stuck in.

Ruth

PS Join us to protect and promote freedom of speech in the UK and across the world by making a donation.

Index urges President Trump to speak out forcefully for press freedom

11 Jun 20 | Statements

President Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500via emailDear President Trump,We are writing to you as journalists, press freedom organizations, and industry groups to express our deep dismay at the recent violence perpetrated against journalists in the United States as they have sought to report on mass protests across the country. On behalf of the 72 groups listed below, we urge you to speak out forcefully against these attacks and in support of the rights of journalists to report freely, as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The United States’ history of protecting free expression and defending and protecting the rights of journalists is much admired beyond U.S. borders. This is born out of a recognition that journalists serve as independent monitors of social and political developments, and are essential to democracy, transparency, and accountability.

Attacks on journalists in the U.S. threaten to undermine this commitment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has received reports of at least 320 violations of press freedom across the country since protests demanding an end to police brutality and calling for social justice broke out on May 26. It is vital that state and local government officials take steps to ensure such violations never happen again, and that the perpetrators are held to account.

We call on you to send a clear and unambiguous message across the country and around the world about the importance of the press freedom and work of the press. Local leaders need to hear unambiguously from you that they have a responsibility to fully investigate these attacks, protect journalists, and ensure that they can work unobstructed and without fear of injury or reprisal.

Press freedom in the United States is critical to people around the world. Thousands of foreign correspondents are based in Washington D.C. and throughout the U.S., where they are tasked with telling the story of America to their publics back home. The ability of journalists to work freely in the U.S. creates a more enlightened global citizenry.

What happens in the United States also has repercussions for journalists around the world, including American correspondents. When the U.S. backslides it sends a green light to authoritarian-leaning leaders around the world to restrict the press and the free flow of information.

Authoritarian regimes in China, Iran, and Turkey have already opportunistically spoken out about the heavy-handed police tactics used here, using the crackdown on the press in this country to legitimize their own repression of independent journalism.

Instead of condemning journalists and the media, we urge you to commend and celebrate them as the embodiment of the First Amendment, which is the envy of so many countries around the world.

Sincerely,

Acclaim Nigeria Magazine (ANM)

Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC)

Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI) Indonesia

Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain

Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ)

ARTICLE 19

Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo (Abraji)

Association for International Broadcasting

Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication

Bytes 4 All

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)

Canadian Media Lawyers’ Association

Cartoonist Rights Network International (CRNI)

Centre for Law and Democracy

Centre for Media Studies and Peacebuilding (CEMESP)

Committee to Protect Journalists

Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE)

DW Akademie

Free Media Movement – Sri Lanka

Free Press Unlimited

Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI)

Fundación Gabo (Gabriel García Márquez Foundation)

Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP)

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)

Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN)

Global Voices

Hong Kong Journalists Association

Independent Journalism Center

Independent Journalism Center (IJC)

Index on Censorship

Initiative for Freedom of Expression – Turkey (IFoX)

INSI – international News Safety Institute

Institute for Regional Media and Information

Instituto Prensa y Sociedad Venezuela

International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)

International Federation of Journalists

International Media Development Advisers (IMDA)

International Media Support (IMS)

International Press Institute

International Women’s Media Foundation

Internews

Media Focus International (MFI)

Media Foundation for West Africa

Media Institute Southern Africa – Zimbabwe

Media Matters for Democracy (MMFD)

Media Watch

Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA)

Metamorphosis Foundation

Newsgain

Norwegian PEN

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)

Pacific Islands News Association (PINA)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)

PEN America

PEN International

Press Union of Liberia

Project Syndicate

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Reporters Without Borders

Rory Peck Trust

Rural Media Network Pakistan

Samir Kassir Foundation – SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom

SembraMedia

Social Media Exchange (SMEX)

Somali Media Women Association (SOMWA).

South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)

South East European Network for Professionalization of Media (SEENPM)

The Center for Independent Journalism, Romania

World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)

World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)

CC:

Vice President Michael R. Pence

Kayleigh McEnany, White House Press Secretary Ambassador

Kelly Craft, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations

Mapping violations of free speech under the cloak of coronavirus (Eurozine)

24 Apr 20 | Index in the Press

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Deputy editor of Index on Censorship magazine, Jemimah Steinfeld, writes in Eurozine about the violations the Index project to map media freedom during coronavirus is recording, and why this is so crucial.

“Mapping these abuses is of critical importance, not the least to let people and politicians know that we are watching and documenting. We need to increase awareness around the world about the challenges media professionals face during the coronavirus crisis, and to highlight the importance of media freedom.”

Read the full article here.

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The regimes using coronavirus as an excuse to attack press freedom (New Statesman)

24 Apr 20 | Index in the Press

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Editor-in-chief of Index on Censorship magazine, Rachael Jolley, writes in the New Statesman on how the rights to press freedom are being violated around the world in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Index is running a project to map these incidents.

“Challenges are coming at us from all directions. But the public’s right to know should not be erased during this time,” she wrote.

Read the full article here. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]