The week in free expression 3 October – 10 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 social media restrictions in Afghanistan and the indictment of Letitia James.

Afghanistan

Taliban sources have confirmed that new restrictions on social media platforms in Afghanistan this week are intentional.

Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are among platforms facing disruption, according to global internet monitor NetBlocks, who also reported another internet outage in Kandahar province.

Last week saw a total telecommunications outage across Afghanistan, which Taliban officials told journalists was caused by old fibre optic cables that needed to be replaced. With this somehow causing a country-wide blackout of both internet and phone services. 

USA

New York’s Attorney General Letitia James has been indicted on charges of fraud as part of a wider push by President Donald Trump to use the Justice Department as a weapon against his political enemies.

In 2022 in her position as Attorney General, James had filed a civil lawsuit against the Trump Organisation, as well as aiding in a three-year criminal investigation into Trump’s New York business dealings that led to a now overturned $500 million fraud ruling.

In order to prosecute James and also the former head of the FBI James Comey who had investigated Russian interference in the 2016 elections (and was fired by Trump),  the President installed his former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan as interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia. This was after her predecessor refused to bring charges against people Trump had characterised as enemies.

In September before these prosecutions started, Trump posted to Truth Social a message he later admitted was intended as a private memo to Attorney General Pam Bondi stating: “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

Comey this week pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to congress. 

Australia

Canberra, Australia, 9 October, whistleblower David McBride, who was jailed for leaking documents that alleged Australian Special forces had killed innocent people in Afghanistan, had an application rejected to have his case heard by Australia’s High Court. 

This is the latest in an ongoing battle to have his sentencing overturned.

During the original trial, the Australian Government moved to prevent McBride from seeking protection under Australia’s whistleblower laws by blocking expert witnesses from speaking, citing “public interest immunity laws”.

The former military lawyer-turned whistleblower was convicted of three charges last year and sentenced to five years and eight months in prison for the theft of classified documents and for passing the documents to journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The documents formed the bases of an ABC investigation titled ‘The Afghan Files’ that claimed Australian Special forces units had committed war crimes whilst stationed in Afghanistan.

McBride is the only person imprisoned in relation to these crimes.

Madagascar

Even following the dissolution of his government, embattled President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar refuses to step down in the face of large scale youth-led protests.

Rajoelina said at a press conference: “I swear that if power cuts persist in the capital within a year, I will resign.” 

Protesters from group Gen-Z Mada were not convinced, calling for more protests to take place on Thursday, during which rubber bullets and tear gas were used to disperse demonstrators. They also called for a general strike as a display that they reject the President’s promises.

Saudi Arabia

Human Rights Watch have told comedians who performed at Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Comedy festival that they “cannot accept” money that originated from the government of Saudi Arabia.

The statement comes as comedians who performed at the festival scramble to get public opinion back on their side. 

Bill Burr, Louis C.K. and Omid Djalili have all attempted to spin their participation as positive, whilst comics Aziz Ansari and Jessica Kirson offered to donate their fees in a futile effort to buy back public opinion.