Katie Dancey-Downs

England

Writer and Reporter at Freelance

Assistant Editor at Index on Censorship

Half assistant editor @IndexCensorship, half freelance writer on freedoms, the planet and culture (@Eurovision @BBCNews @Newint +) | Opinions my own | She/her

Articles

Tariffs and tight control

1 week ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld |Katie Dancey-Downs

This week, the global conversation was dominated by one word: tariffs. China was no exception, but not all conversations were allowed to unfold freely. On major Chinese social media platforms, searches for “tariff” and “104” (a numeric stand-in) led to dead ends, error messages or vanishing posts. It wasn’t silence across the board, though. Some conversations weren’t just permitted, they were actively promoted.
The harassment of Chinese-Australian artist, political cartoonist and activist Badiucao must end

2 weeks ago | indexoncensorship.org | Katie Dancey-Downs |Jemimah Steinfeld

A short video featuring Badiucao championing the right to freedom of expression on a billboard in Mong Kok in March/April 2025. Source: https://x.com/badiucao/ The undersigned organisations condemn the harassment of artist, political cartoonist and activist Badiucao, which has taken place via email, in the media, and on social media in the last week.
The Roma women abused under Czechoslovakia’s haunting legacy

2 weeks ago | indexoncensorship.org | Katie Dancey-Downs

A Roma woman protesting at Ostrava Municipal Hospital. Her sign reads: "their body - their right". Photo by Vladimir Prycek / CTK Photo / Alamy Live News This article will appear in Volume 54, Issue 1 of our print edition of Index on Censorship, titled The forgotten patients: Lost voices in the global healthcare system, which will be published in April 2025.
The freedom to travel is becoming a privilege, not a right

3 weeks ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld |Mackenzie Argent |Katie Dancey-Downs

I have a recurring nightmare: I somehow find myself in China. I’m having a great time until I realise I work at Index, might be on a blacklist, and could get arrested at any moment.
The week in free expression

4 weeks ago | indexoncensorship.org | Mackenzie Argent |Katie Dancey-Downs |Jemimah Steinfeld

In the age of online information, it can feel harder than ever to stay informed. 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 will publish a weekly news roundup of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days. This week, we look at the detention of an Oscar Award-winning documentary maker and a poorly-monitored Signal group chat.
The women taking on authoritarian regimes

4 weeks ago | indexoncensorship.org | Katie Dancey-Downs |Jemimah Steinfeld

Belarusian political activist and president-elect Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya receives the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Women for Peace and Security Award at Bella Center in Copenhagen in 2023.
Standing in solidarity with VOA, RFE/RL and RFA

1 month ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld |Katie Dancey-Downs

Government-funded broadcasters such as Voice of America have been threatened by high-profile individuals. Photo by Francis Chung / POLITICO via AP Images / Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo Index on Censorship has much in common with Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. We were all established during the Cold War, us in 1972 and RFE and RL in 1950 and 1951 respectively.
UN working group on arbitrary detention releases opinion concerning the treatment of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi

1 month ago | indexoncensorship.org | Katie Dancey-Downs |Daisy Ruddock

On 13 March 2025, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (“UNWGAD”) issued an opinion declaring that Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi’s detention of more than 753 days was arbitrary and in violation of international law. A joint petition was submitted to the UNWGAD by the Human Rights Foundation, Doughty Street Chambers, and Index on Censorship in July 2024.
Rights groups call for Apple's closed appeal against the Home Office's encryption-breaching order to be opened to the public

1 month ago | indexoncensorship.org | Katie Dancey-Downs |Daisy Ruddock |Mark Stimpson

Responding to news that Apple will be before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal on Friday, representatives from Big Brother Watch, Index on Censorship, and Open Rights Group have written to President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the Rt Hon Lord Justice Singh, calling for the case to be made public. The letter states that the “case implicates the privacy rights of millions of British citizens who use Apple’s technology, as well as Apple’s international users”.
Students versus the state in Serbia

1 month ago | indexoncensorship.org | Jemimah Steinfeld |Katie Dancey-Downs |Daisy Ruddock |Mark Stimpson

According to some analysts, the largest student-led demonstrations in Europe since 1968 are taking place today in Serbia. I almost missed that sentence in this story from the Sunday Times last weekend given all of the other news vying for my attention. I’m glad I didn’t. The article itself is well worth reading – a story that pulls in Abu Dhabi developers and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Now dodgy planning regulations aren’t exactly the lane of Index.