The week in free expression 10 October – 17 October

Bombarded with news from all angles every day, 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. This week, we look at Trump’s assault on the free press and Russian criminal investigations into dissenting voices.

America: Press freedom under threat

US President Donald Trump’s attacks on the free press continue with the introduction of Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s newest rules for journalists.

Under his new directive journalists are being required to sign a pledge promising not to gather or report any information that has not been vetted and approved by the Pentagon. Journalists who don’t follow the rules have been told they will be stripped of their credentials.

Outlets across the US have fought back against these demands by refusing to sign, with only the Trump-affiliated One America News (OAN) agreeing to bend the knee. OAN has made past headlines for its spreading of conspiracy theories relating to fraud in the 2020 presidential election and the Covid-19 pandemic.

This comes during an unprecedented attack on the press from the current administration, with Trump’s dismantling of the Voice of America, and the installation of Trump loyalists at CBS under new owner David Ellison, son of billionaire Trump friend Larry Ellison. This marks a considerable shift to the right for the news outlet.

Russia: Investigations brought against exiled opposition

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on 14 October that it would be targeting exiled opposition figures with criminal investigations in a clear example of trans-national repression.

The charges relate to criticism of Russia’s war in Ukraine, with accusations of a plot to overthrow the Russian government. Former richest man in Russia and critic of Vladimir Putin Mikhail Khodorkovsky faces these charges, as well as journalist and former political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Kara-Murza was sentenced in 2022 to 25 years in prison after speaking out against the invasion of Ukraine, but released as part of a prisoner swap in 2024.

Evgenia Kara-Murza, Vladimir’s wife, won Index’s Freedom of Expression Trustee Award last year for campaigning against the imprisonment of her husband and eventually securing his release.

Kara-Murza is being targeted now because of his involvement in the Russian Anti-War Committee alongside a number of prominent members of the exiled Russian opposition including former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and activist Anastasia Shevchenko.

India: Afghan embassy changes tack on women journalists  

Female journalists were given front-row seats to a press conference held by Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Delhi, India on 13 October – after being excluded from a media event there only two days before. 

The exclusion of women journalists had been met with anger across India, with opposition politicians decrying the Taliban-led Afghan government’s decision to invite men only. 

Women journalists attending the second press conference took advantage of the opportunity to question Muttaqi on the Taliban’s gender discrimination, with journalist Smita Sharma asking: “Why are you doing this in Afghanistan? When will they be allowed to go back and get the right to education?”

A Taliban source told the BBC that female journalists had been excluded “due to lack of proper coordination”.

Peru: Gen Z uprising 

A state of emergency has been declared in Peru after a popular 32-year-old hip hop artist Eduardo Ruiz was killed by police during Gen Z protests in Peru this week.

The protests began in September, and culminated in the removal of the then President Dina Boluarte from office on 10 October over accusations of corruption. But demonstrations continued after the appointment of an interim president Jose Jeri who is now refusing to resign over Ruiz’s death. 

Boluarte’s government drew criticism earlier this year for its enactment of  a law that threatened the work of civil society organisations and NGOs. Boluarte said the new law would: “place under comprehensive review a minority of NGOs that act against the interests of our country, sowing hatred and attacking our system”.

The protest movement in Peru follows a growing trend of global youth-led revolts that have caused the fall of governments in Nepal and Madagascar. 

Palestine: Three journalists released but more still imprisoned

Following the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, international press are still being denied entry into the embattled Gaza strip.

Fighting has not stopped since the agreement was reached, with clashes between Hamas and rival militias happening across Gaza. The violence on the ground has already led to the death of another Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi who was killed by an armed faction last weekend. He was a video reporter covering the war with a huge social media following, but was accused by Israel of being a Hamas propagandist. 

As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces have begun to release Palestinian prisoners but have been slow to let journalists go. Out of 19 media workers detained over the last two years only three have been released.

So far 197 journalists have been killed since the start of the war in Gaza according to reporting by the Campaign to Protect Journalists.