Jemimah Steinfeld

London

Editor-in-Chief at Index on Censorship

CEO @IndexCensorship. Author on China. Seen in @guardian @thetimes etc. @bsmeinfo editor award shortlister. Trustee @PaperRepublic. Dumplings forever

Articles

Protest is becoming perilous in the USA

1 week ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld

When photojournalist Linda Tirado was covering a Minneapolis protest in May 2020 – days after George Floyd was killed – she was shot in the face with a plastic bullet. Tirado has since spoken about the traumatic brain injury she suffered on that day, which has changed her life. Rubber bullets. Plastic bullets. These are not harmless deterrents – they are weapons. And once again they’re being used against journalists in the USA.
The female TikTokers silenced through murder

2 weeks ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld

Members of Civil Society hold a protest demonstration at Peshawar press club in June 2025 demanding justice for Sana Yousaf, the 17-year-old who was murdered in her own home in Islamabad. Photo by Pakistan Press International (PPI) / Alamy Live News When news broke on Monday of 17-year-old Sana Yousaf’s murder, it was first described as a potential “honour-based killing”.
On Russia's naughty list

1 month ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld

My predecessor Ruth Anderson used to joke that we weren’t working hard enough because we hadn’t been banned in Russia. Perhaps she was onto something. We’re still not banned there, as far as I know. Amnesty International though appears to have met the mark – or rather crossed a Kremlin red line. This week, Russian authorities labelled Amnesty an “undesirable organisation”, accusing it of being a “centre for the preparation of global Russophobic projects”.
Arrested for criticising Hamas – in London - Index on Censorship

1 month ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld

On Saturday 17 May, veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was arrested. Tatchell is no stranger to arrest. When he celebrated his 70th birthday in January 2022, his post marking the occasion said he’d been arrested 100 times. At the end of that year he added another one to the list, this time in Qatar, where he was protesting the country’s criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people ahead of the World Cup. That arrest wasn’t exactly surprising.
Ten years in Saudi prison for a tweet

1 month ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld

“Saudi Arabia criticised for ignoring the USA’s appalling human rights record” – that was the headline on satirical website News Thump, spoofing this week’s arms deal between the two countries. In these bleak times, I’ll take laughter where I can get it. But behind the joke is a darker truth: the USA’s steady backslide on human rights and Saudi Arabia’s ongoing abuses. This week, it’s Saudi Arabia that demands our attention.
Kashmiris are disappearing from the streets

1 month ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld

Indian paramilitary troopers stand alert after an unidentified military aircraft crashed in the Wuyan area of Pampore. Photo by ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Live News A crisis is often seized as an opportunity, especially by those eager to silence dissent – and no more so than in Narendra Modi’s India.
When music becomes a battleground

1 month ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld

In today’s world of hot takes and moral outrage, we all want clear answers – good, bad, right and wrong – and people we can easily rally behind or blast – villain, victim, hero, heretic. But the cases of Kneecap, Jonny Greenwood and Dudu Tassa have resisted such clarity, and they’ve forced us to reckon with an uncomfortable truth: freedom of expression, especially in moments of deep political pain and division, isn’t always neat, easy or even popular.
World Press Freedom Day: Remembering Victoria Roshchyna

1 month ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld

Victoria Roshchyna had two strikes against her: she was Ukrainian and she was a journalist. Roshchyna frequently reported from Russian-occupied territories, which was and is incredibly dangerous work. In 2022, she was detained, which she wrote about for Index. A year later, she vanished once again. It took nine months for Russian authorities to confirm she was in custody, held without charge. As with much of Russia’s penal system, the details remain murky.
Tunisia’s Spring is over

2 months ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld

It was the event that started the Arab Spring: in December 2010, a 26-year-old Tunisian street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi fatally set himself alight in an act of despair against state corruption and brutality. This ignited a wave of popular uprisings across the region (pictured above). At Index we documented closely what happened next and we saw how it was a mixed picture, including in Tunisia.
The week in free expression: 12–18 April 2025 - Index on Censorship

2 months ago | indexoncensorship.org | Mark Stimpson |Daisy Ruddock |Jemimah Steinfeld |Martin Bright

Today, the torrent of online information, misinformation and disinformation makes it harder than ever to stay in the loop. As we get bombarded with news from all angles, important stories can easily pass us by. To help you cut through the noise, every Friday Index publishes a weekly news roundup of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days.