News
New Report Outlines the Threats to Artistic Freedom in 2018
The Freemuse annual report is a potent reminder that artistic freedom is in constant need of monitoring.
Censorship
In Brief
Tania Bruguera and Other Cuban Artists Released from Jail, Government Curtails Law Censoring the Arts
Numerous Cuban artist-activists were detained for protesting Decree 349, but have been released as the law is reassessed. Cuban Vice Minister of Culture Fernando Rojas tells the Associated Press that more precise regulations will be published in upcoming days, but that “artistic creation is not the
Art
Tumblr’s New Adult Content Filter Thinks This Bowl of Fruit Is NSFW
What do Batman, Garfield, and Big Bird have in common? They've all been marked for deletion by Tumblr's faulty new algorithm meant to censor adult content on the website ahead of its outright ban on December 17.
News
Artists Arrested in Cuba for Protesting Decree Censoring the Arts
Cuban artists were arrested after planning a sit-in at the Cuban Ministry of Culture to protest Decree 349, which puts in place unprecedented censorship of the arts and will take effect December 7.
News
Facebook Censors Art Historian for Posting Nude Art, Then Boots Him from Platform
Ruben Cordova used his social media profile as an archive of his research, but his photos of the Met Breuer's Like Life exhibition triggered Facebook's censors, who then permanently disabled his profile.
News
After 4,300 Books Were Banned in Kuwait, an Artist Installs a Cemetery of Banned Books
Mohammad Sharaf installed 200 headstones for the censored titles in a plot of land beside Kuwait’s Annual Book Fair.
News
Bangladeshi Photojournalist, Shahidul Alam, Granted Bail After 102 Days in Detention
Alam's lawyer told Al Jazeera she hopes the 63-year-old artist will be released by Sunday.
News
Political Cartoonist Threatened by Chinese Authorities During “Free Expression Week”
An exhibition by Badiucao, addressing Google's complacency in China's internet censorship, was set to open in Hong Kong on November 3. With one day's notice, organizers were forced to cancel the event “out of safety concerns," following threats from Chinese authorities.
News
DC Commission Reverses Course After Attempt to Censor Artists
The mayor’s office rescinded the controversial amendment, and grantees have received a letter explaining it as an “over-correction” just moments after the censorship push made national headlines.
News
Artists Accuse DC Arts Commission of Censoring Free Speech for Grant Money
The Commission recently told its grantees that it could terminate any funding interpreted as "lewd, lascivious, vulgar, overtly political, and/or excessively violent." The ACLU may sue on First Amendment grounds if the language is not repealed.
News
Queer Artist Claims Bal Harbour Officials Censored His Photography
Pacifico Silano has accused the mayor and staff of a South Florida beach town of censoring his queer-themed exhibition and canceled his show in protest.
News
Israel's Culture Minister Pushes Bill to Freeze Funds for Arts Organizations Highlighting Palestinian Narratives
The new bill suggests that culture organizations that criticize the State of Israel or highlight the Palestinian national narrative will have trouble with government funding.