2019 saw growing threat to artistic freedom in Europe

An in-depth analysis of 711 acts of violations of artistic freedom that took place in 93 countries last year has found that nationalist, populist politics has led to increased censoring of artists’ voices in countries where the right to freedom of artistic expression has traditionally been protected.

Governments were responsible for over half of all acts of censorship, and criticising the government led to 42% of all imprisonments. A third of all incidents of censorship realated to music and a further quarter to visual art. The figures have been published in State of Artistic Freedom 2020, a report by Freemuse.