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1 month ago | 
indexoncensorship.org | Daisy Ruddock |Sarah Dawood |Jemimah Steinfeld |Alexandra Domenech
As the Oscars season came to a close this weekend, all eyes were once again on Hollywood. The prestigious awards ceremony, which took place on Sunday in Los Angeles, played host to some of the biggest names in cinema, all of whom were hoping to secure one of the infamous golden statuettes afforded to the year’s biggest on-screen successes. This year, many awards were given to Index-worthy films and documentaries, as they bravely called out human rights and free speech abuses.
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1 month ago | 
indexoncensorship.org | Sarah Dawood |Jemimah Steinfeld |Alexandra Domenech |Amy Fallon
The news this week has been dominated by the growing feud between Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which has culminated in possibly irreparable relations between the presidents. What started with a meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine (from which Zelenskyy was excluded) ended in a stream of disinformation coming from the leader of the world’s largest economy.
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1 month ago | 
indexoncensorship.org | Sarah Dawood |Jemimah Steinfeld |Alexandra Domenech |Amy Fallon
It would have been difficult to miss the recent flurry of news regarding cuts to international aid organisations, and the repercussions these will have in areas such as climate change mitigation, tackling gender-based violence, and supporting independent journalism in countries with severe free speech violations. Donald Trump’s cuts to USAID (the US Agency for International Development) will decimate such assistance, with more than 90% of the agency’s foreign aid contracts due to be eliminated.
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1 month ago | 
indexoncensorship.org | Sarah Dawood |Jemimah Steinfeld |Alexandra Domenech |Amy Fallon
It would have been difficult to miss the recent flurry of news regarding cuts to international aid organisations, and the repercussions these will have in areas such as climate change mitigation, tackling gender-based violence, and supporting independent journalism in countries with severe free speech violations. Donald Trump’s cuts to USAID (the US Agency for International Development) will decimate such assistance, with more than 90% of the agency’s foreign aid contracts due to be eliminated.
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Nov 22, 2024 | 
indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld |Alexandra Domenech
Aleksandra Skochilenko said: “I’m really flattered to have received this award because I’m awarded just for being myself and sometimes being yourself is really hard work.”Diala Ayesh’s family said: “Diala has worked for many years defending political prisoners and detainees in Israeli occupation prisons and Palestinian Authority facilities. She has been tirelessly dedicated to defending stolen rights.
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Nov 22, 2024 | 
indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld |Alexandra Domenech |Martin Bright
Index held its annual awards on Wednesday, the biggest night in its organisational calendar. This year another crop of amazing individuals enter the Index fold and we pledge to do as much as possible to help them fight oppression (whilst not forgetting about our previous winners – we will free Toomaj Salehi).
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Nov 22, 2024 | 
indexoncensorship.org | Nik Williams |Jemimah Steinfeld |Alexandra Domenech |Martin Bright
The spike haunts journalism. For every journalist in the country, legal threats are a persistent concern that can kill stories dead. Stories that are never published leave no imprint on society around them; while the journalist and their editors know of their existence, their readers and society at large are oblivious. We may know that stories are spiked but their true nature, what has been expunged from the public record, is unknown.
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Nov 15, 2024 | 
indexoncensorship.org | Alexandra Domenech |Martin Bright |Jemimah Steinfeld |Clemence Manyukwe
There is no bigger crime than the killing of the soul. “Stop punitive psychiatry!” read the sign held by activist Oksana Osadchaya at a solo protest in the centre of Moscow in June. The activist – who is visually impaired – was making her protest even though the tiniest acts of dissent can lead to severe punishment. She was taken to a police station where she wasn’t allowed to meet her lawyer at first, and was released without charge only after being held for several hours.
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Oct 17, 2024 | 
indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld |Alexandra Domenech |Martin Bright
Do you want war or peace? That is the message plastered across billboards, bus stops, buildings and even vans in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi. Next to the words is a compare and contrast – devastating scenes from Ukraine, with 4, 5, 9 and 25 crossed out in the corner, against pictures of intact Georgian roads with 41 on top. Forty-one is the number of the current ruling party in Georgia, the Georgian Dream. The other numbers belong to the main opposition parties. The message isn’t exactly subtle.
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Mar 19, 2024 | 
indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld |Alexandra Domenech |Ruth Anderson
A great privilege of working at Index is, and always has been, the amazing people we get to encounter, those who look tyranny in the face and don’t cower. Iranian musician Toomaj Salehi is one such person. This week, the 2023 Index Freedom of Expression arts award winner donated the £2500 cash prize to relief funds for those affected by the floods in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province in an act of extreme generosity. We were informed of the donation by his family.
