Abstract
Index has had a busy few months with our increasing profile on digital freedom, including work in India and Belarus, ensuring the digital governance debate protects free speech, planning ahead for the G8 and G20 summits and following developments in Europe with regard to its forthcoming freedom of expression guidelines, due to be published in summer 2013.
Digital freedom continues to be a top priority for Index, and we assessed its health at two events in June, at King’s Place in London and in Brussels. Index’s report on how the European Union protects digital free expression was also launched in June, and our in-depth research into the barriers to online freedom continues. The global digital governance debate is ongoing and Index hopes to help shape developments, with a presence at the Internet Governance Forum later this year. Two countries of particular importance will be India and Brazil, where Index is planning future events and partnerships with local NGOs.
At the start of the year, we launched Belarus: Pulling the Plug, a report looking at how digital technologies have provided new opportunities for free speech but also give the regime brand new tools to silence and track dissent. As more and more Belarusians turn to the internet for impartial news, in contrast to the state propaganda on television or in print, the internet has become an increasingly important source of information. Pulling the Plug details the variety of means the authorities have used to control the internet, as keeping a tight rein on information remains at the core of the Belarusian regime’s policy of self-preservation.
Index enjoyed a major success in April: after a three-and-a-half-year campaign, the UK Parliament passed the Defamation Act. English libel law will no longer have the potential to chill free speech through so-called ‘libel tourism’; lawsuits must be lodged in the country where the alleged libel actually took place. Corporations will not be able to sue for libel unless they can prove financial damage, and the Act includes a strengthened public interest defence. Our campaign with partners showed how public participation can make a huge difference – 60,000 supporters continued to lobby their MPs until the final days before the vote in Parliament.
Burma has been a particular focus for Index in the last few months. In March, Index conducted field interviews with journalists, bloggers, artists, politicians and activists in Mandalay and Rangoon. We’ll publish a report analysing freedom of expression during the country’s transition – assessing both the positive steps already taken and the work still to do. It is clear that Burma is a freer country than it was at the time of Index’s last mission, which took place in 2010 and had to be conducted under cover.
The first public discussion of freedom of the arts in Burma took place in April, co-organised by Index’s Head of Arts, Julia Farrington. The Symposium on Artistic Freedom of Expression highlighted the fact that, although they are no longer practised, many of Burma’s legal barriers to freedom of expression remain in statute. The symposium heard from the leading voices in Burma’s vibrant arts scene, including comedian Zarganar, activist Min Ko Naing, poet Zeyar Lynn and filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi. While many of these old laws remain, the chill on civil society is ever present. There’s a lot to do before Burma is no longer deemed one of the world’s ‘least free’ places, but progress has been made, proving that even in the most authoritarian of states, the hope for progress is not a false one.
This hope was in abundant display during the annual Index on Censorship freedom of expression awards at the Inner Temple on 21 March. Our winners, Kostas Vaxevanis, Bassel Khartabil, Malala Yousafzai and Zanele Muholi, showed incredible resilience in the face of oppression. But there are challenges ahead: Kostas Vaxevanis faces a new trial in October 2013. We will continue to support him over the coming months.