About us

Index on Censorship is Britain’s leading organisation promoting freedom of expression. Our website provides up-to-the-minute news and information on free expression from around the world.

A wide-ranging programme of events and projects put our causes into action. Our award-winning magazine shines a light on these vital issues through original, challenging and intelligent writing.

It was founded in 1972, when editor Michael Scammell and a group of writers, journalists and artists, led by the British poet Stephen Spender, took to the page in defence of the basic human right of freedom of expression for writers in the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries.