Inside Expression: ARTICLE 19's newsletter, February 2022

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Inside Expression: February 2022

Join us for new ARTICLE 19 podcasts, the Free Andrei and Irina campaign, and the power of protest

Freedom of expression in a pandemic

Listen to the podcast: Freedom of expression in a pandemic

ARTICLE 19’s Global Expression Report analysed the radical new restrictions placed on freedoms during the pandemic. Emily Hart speaks to experts in Brazil, Tunisia, and Thailand about how freedom of expression has fared in their countries since the outbreak of COVID-19.

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"It was different because it was led by the younger generation. They probably didn’t have the same trauma or the bad memories that society experienced before. So they went out on the street with hopes and new perspectives and with courage that we hadn’t seen for a while. It was so refreshing." – Thai activist Pimsiri Petchnamrob

Join our campaign to free Andrei and Irina

"We want as many people as possible to know how incredibly kind and generous he and Irina are, and to understand the unfathomable injustice they are both facing at the hands of the Belarusian authorities.” – ARTICLE 19 and Index on Censorship

A year on from the detention of human rights activists Andrei Aliaksandrau and Irina Zlobina, ARTICLE 19 and Index on Censorship launched a campaign for solidarity and called for their immediate and unconditional release.

The campaign is ongoing, with a push for people to get involved on 9 February, as ARTICLE 19 comes together with other human rights organisations for a day of solidarity with Belarusian activists and journalists.

Download social media banners and messaging from our campaign toolkit.

Make your voice heard. Support Andrei and Irina, and the hundreds of activists who the Lukashenko regime has targeted – and who remain behind bars.

The right to protest

"It was hard to process the idea that I was now a criminal. To have broken the law felt so alien to me. While I was prepared to face my sentence, as all activists who confront unjust laws must be, I was nevertheless irritated by the irony of such acts of civil disobedience – that in order to advocate for democracy and justice and safeguard the rule of law, sometimes laws had to be broken." – Hong Kong activist Nathan Law

Around the world, protest remains under threat. As part of ARTICLE 19's Boundaries of Expression series of podcasts and essays, award-winning editor and journalist Jo Glanville looks at why the right to protest matters at a time when we need it more than ever. 'Even in liberal democracies, where civil liberties have been won through protest movements, there is a backlash,' she writes.

Listen to the Boundaries of Expression podcast for fascinating, moving insight about why we must protect the right to take to the streets – with Glacier Kwong, a political activist from Hong Kong; Extinction Rebellion’s Gully Bujak; and Patricia Meléndez, Head of Civic Space at ARTICLE 19.

Read more from ARTICLE 19

News and campaigns from ARTICLE 19

It’s been a bleak start to the year for journalists in Mexico. Four journalists – María de Lourdes Maldonado López, José Luis Gamboa Arenas, Alfonso Margarito Martínez Esquivel, and Roberto Toledo – were murdered in January. ARTICLE 19’s Mexico and Central America office has called on the authorities to prevent attacks, protect journalists, and carry out comprehensive investigations when crimes are committed against the press.
As President Erdoğan continues targeting journalists and the media, ARTICLE 19 highlighted the case of journalist Buse Söğütlü, who faces charges under terrorism laws in Turkey. The charges against her are in contravention of international and European human rights standards and her right to freedom of expression continues to be violated. Read ARTICLE 19's expert analysis.
The health of free speech continues to deteriorate in Tunisia as the President ushers in further restrictive measures to silence dissent, protest, and rigorous journalism and undermines the independence of the judiciary and the constitution. As ARTICLE 19’s analysis makes clear, it’s vital that the President halts the state of emergency and reinstates key rights in a country once hailed as a leading force for democratic change in the region.

Twitter Chat
Join us on 10 February at 2pm CET with FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders and other partner organisations for the #LeadingForChange Twitter chat!
Follow us @ARTICLE19org and the hosts @fair_wl on Twitter and use the #LeadingForChange hashtag to take part in the conversation. FAIR SHARE will be asking questions based on the case studies recently highlighted in a joint report, Leading for Change, which show why it’s so important for gender equality to be at the heart of leadership in the workplace.

Join us on Twitter to discuss diverse, inclusive, and feminist leadership in the workplace

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ARTICLE 19 / Conversations you may have missed

'What we call zones of silence are being imposed, they’re spreading, they’re propagating like a pandemic,' ARTICLE 19 Mexico and Central America’s Leopoldo Maldonado told The New York Times, describing the impact attacks on the media were having on people’s access to news and information.
ARTICLE 19 Executive Director Quinn McKew spoke on a panel of experts about policing social media for Al Jazeera’s Inside Story.
In the United Kingdom, the Labour Party has called for tougher measures to tackle 'anti-vax' content online. But, says Barbora Bukovská, ARTICLE 19's Senior Director for Law and Policy, it's time for the government to rebuild trust with its citizens.

Help protect freedom of expression

You can now help to protect freedom of expression by giving to ARTICLE 19!

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Bookmark

When a school district in Tennessee banned Maus by Art Spiegelman on Holocaust Memorial Day, it was a reminder of just how powerful and important this graphic novel is — for children in middle schools, and for everyone. Spiegelman described the ban as a 'red alert' and a 'harbinger of things to come,' while a comic bookshop owner said he’d be happy to send a copy of Maus to anyone in the affected district for free.

ARTICLE 19 opportunities

Working in human rights is a challenging but rewarding career choice. With ARTICLE 19 you will find an international community of activists, legal specialists, and experts working together to protect basic freedoms.

ARTICLE 19's Team Digital is also looking for public interest advocates to join the 2022–23 Internet of Rights Fellowship. Find out more

Careers

Coming soon from ARTICLE 19

Protest in Iran and the chilling effect of mounting lawsuits against journalists in Europe

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