Across 80 countries, the study "The State of Artistic Freedom 2019: Whose Narrative Counts?" (financed notably by the Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs) called out 673 instances: "In 2018, 19 artists were imprisoned and 10 were detained under the guise of counter-terrorism. Freemuse’s research concludes that nine countries (Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Nicaragua, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the United States) are found to have used anti-terrorism and anti-extremism legislation and measures against artists in 2018", claim the authors.
“The State of Artistic Freedom 2019 documents a pervasive human rights scandal involving counter-terrorism laws being used to silence artists who criticise governments or question societal mainstream values”, said Srirak Plipat, Executive Director of Freemuse. “Freedom of artistic expression has been systematically restricted on illegitimate grounds both in the global north and south at alarming levels—with women, LGBTI and minorities artists often targeted by governments and non-state actors including social media companies.” Read further here.
