Music has been described as a “cultural universal” – a practice found in all known human cultures and societies. While anthropologists still scratch their heads over exactly where the concept originated, evidence indicates that humans have used musical instruments for an astonishing 40,000 years.
During an excavation in 1995 in Slovenia, researchers discovered a bear’s femur bone with holes in it and concluded that it could be an ancient flute.
Humans have always found ingenious ways to make music, and it’s not difficult to see why. It is one of the most powerful forms of self-expression, capable of eliciting both intense happiness and sadness in the listener. It is used to celebrate, lament, respect and enrage, and its endless genres, styles and instruments form a core part of countries’ unique cultural heritages.
But despite its universality, music is being silenced globally. Religious extremism, political factions, racism and nationalism are all driving forces, stopping it being performed, produced and listened to. In this issue we explore how music bans have been weaponised to silence communities and erase histories.
Songs of defiance: Sarah Dawood
How ever much authoritarians try to turn down the volume, musicians will play on
The Index: Mark Stimpson
Moments that matter in the free speech world, from US disinformation to a democracy void in Belarus
Adding insult to injury: Nour El Din Ismail
Turkey is not always welcoming to Syrian journalists
Waiting for the worst: Alexandra Domenech
A daring few Russian politicians are staying put
Somalia’s muzzled media: Hinda Abdi Mohamoud
The challenge of seeking out the truth in the face of daily risks
Further into the information void: Winthrop Rodgers
A new law in Iraq could hinder rather than help journalists
Peace of mind: Chan Kin-man, Jemimah Steinfeld
From umbrellas, to prison, to freedom. A word from a founder of the Hong Kong Occupy movement
“She will not end up well”: Clemence Manyukwe
In Rwanda, opposition politicians have a nasty habit of being assassinated
Modi’s plans to stifle the internet: Shoaib Daniyal
India’s prime minister is keeping a tight grip on what goes online
Editor in exile: Ian Wylie
A Burmese journalist shares his story of arrest and escape
Evading scrutiny: Beth Cheng
China’s new tactic for dealing with critics: keep the trials under wraps
Lowering the bar: Ruth Green
Working in law in Afghanistan is now impossible – if you’re a woman
A promise is a promise: Amy Booth
Argentina’s president is taking a chainsaw to media freedom
Going offline: Steve Komarnyckyj
Beyoncé is blacklisted in Russia and the question remains: who runs the world?
The beacon of hope: Nilosree Biswas
The next chapter is unwritten for a library in Delhi
A story of forgotten fiction: Thiện Việt
In Vietnam, book censorship is a fact of life
The sound of silence: Sarah Dawood
Musicians in Afghanistan fear for their livelihoods, lives and culture
The war on drill: Mackenzie Argent
Artistic freedom is not a privilege extended to all musicians
A force for good: Salil Tripathi
Exploring the soundtrack of resistance in Bangladesh
Georgia on my mind: JP O’Malley
In the face of repression, the beat goes on in the Caucasus
Murdered for music: Kaya Genç
The meeting of politics and song can be deadly in Turkey
A Black woman who dared to rock: Malu Halasa
How one artist smashed into a genre ringfenced for white men
Fear the butterfly: Katie Dancey-Downs
Iranian singer Golazin Ardestani will never take no for an answer
In tune with change: Tiléwa Kazeem
In Nigeria, Afrobeats is about more than a good song
Singing for a revolution: Danson Kahyana
Nothing enrages the Ugandan government like hearing Bobi Wine
Cuba can’t stop the music: Coco Fusco
Government and musicians alike understand the political power of song
Dangerous double standards: Youmna El Sayed
Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera’s offices is a warning sign for press freedom
Musician, heal thyself: Mike Smith
The death of Liam Payne brings the issue of mental health into sharp focus
Democracy, but not as we know it: Martin Bright
Is the USA stuck in the hinterland between democratic and autocratic?
Silence has to be permitted in a world with free speech: Jemimah Steinfeld
Index’s CEO argues that the right to stay quiet is as precious as the right to protest
Big Tech shouldn’t punish women for seeking abortions: Raina Lipsitz
Trump is incoming. So too is a growing threat to online abortion discussions
Cell dreams: Russia’s prisoner art: Mark Stimpson
Dissident artwork created under Putin’s nose, and shared with Index
No Catcher In The Rye: Stephen Komarnyckyj, Hryhorii Kosynka
The words of a writer killed by the Soviet regime live on in a new translation
A life in exile: Mackenzie Argent, Jana Paliashchuk
What it means to be homesick, through the eyes of a Belarusian poet
An unfathomable tragedy: Sarah Dawood, Dimi Reider
One year on from 7 October, a moving piece reflects on the human devastation
You are now free: Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin, Katie Dancey-Downs
An exclusive translation from a Sudanese writer in exile, who has faced ban after ban
Putin will not stop until he’s stopped: Evgenia Kara-Murza
The Russian dissident who fought for her husband’s release (and won) has the last word
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