Jemimah Steinfeld
@jemimahsteinfeld.bsky.social
CEO @indexoncensorship.org and journalist. Chat mostly human rights, free speech, politics, climate & China.
Sometimes in Guardian, BBC, Independent, Prospect, Times, CNN etc.
Author of book on sex & youth in China.
Sometimes in Guardian, BBC, Independent, Prospect, Times, CNN etc.
Author of book on sex & youth in China.
Pinned
Death by a thousand cuts in Hong Kong - Index on Censorship
It’s been five years since the National Security Law was passed: how much has freedom of expression deteriorated in China’s special administrative region since then?
www.indexoncensorship.org
It’s been five years since the passage of the NSL in Hong Kong. Some hoped it might have been symbolic & rarely used. It was not. Dissent has mostly vanished. Thousands are in prison. We owe it to them to fight for the freedoms that they too fought for.
www.indexoncensorship.org/2025/06/deat...
www.indexoncensorship.org/2025/06/deat...
Parking the fact that Lai is guilty of no crime according to any reasonable definition of crime, the HK court could have granted clemency, freed him & spun it as them being great and kind. That they didn’t shows just how fearful of Lai’s message they are. Hold on to that.
February 9, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Parking the fact that Lai is guilty of no crime according to any reasonable definition of crime, the HK court could have granted clemency, freed him & spun it as them being great and kind. That they didn’t shows just how fearful of Lai’s message they are. Hold on to that.
I had a lot of emotions following the Lai sentencing. So I wrote about them www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/02/we-m...
We must keep fighting for Jimmy Lai - Index on Censorship
The Index CEO reacts to Hong Kong’s sentencing of the media mogul, and why the British government should have done more
www.indexoncensorship.org
February 9, 2026 at 1:26 PM
I had a lot of emotions following the Lai sentencing. So I wrote about them www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/02/we-m...
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
The others pleaded guilty in the hope that their sentences would be shorter.* Which they are. But are punishingly lengthy still.
*And, I'm sure this came into the equation for some of them: to avoid paying expensive legal fees. Which has to be factored into the lawfare being waged in Hong Kong.
*And, I'm sure this came into the equation for some of them: to avoid paying expensive legal fees. Which has to be factored into the lawfare being waged in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai has was sentenced to 20 years in jail on Monday following his conviction on foreign collusion and sedition charges. Full story: buff.ly/6MkP1zn
February 9, 2026 at 6:08 AM
The others pleaded guilty in the hope that their sentences would be shorter.* Which they are. But are punishingly lengthy still.
*And, I'm sure this came into the equation for some of them: to avoid paying expensive legal fees. Which has to be factored into the lawfare being waged in Hong Kong.
*And, I'm sure this came into the equation for some of them: to avoid paying expensive legal fees. Which has to be factored into the lawfare being waged in Hong Kong.
The world has failed Jimmy Lai and his family. What a travesty
February 9, 2026 at 7:31 AM
The world has failed Jimmy Lai and his family. What a travesty
Just seen Trump post the most flat-out racist thing yet, which I don’t wish to repost. But I really hope any remaining fence sitters finally hop off and land on the side of respect, kindness and decency.
February 6, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Just seen Trump post the most flat-out racist thing yet, which I don’t wish to repost. But I really hope any remaining fence sitters finally hop off and land on the side of respect, kindness and decency.
They don’t just cut ribbons! They’re the head of our state. It’s scandalous the way they’re treated as if above the law.
#UK: A few years ago we launched a campaign to end royal secrecy. Too many files that should be public still aren’t. We warned then about the cost of secrecy. Today, amid new Andrew revelations, we’re renewing our call for transparency www.indexoncensorship.org/2023/01/crow...
Crown Confidential - Index on Censorship
The UK Royal Family’s obsession with secrecy is blurring history and making it hard for us to get the full picture
www.indexoncensorship.org
February 4, 2026 at 11:04 AM
They don’t just cut ribbons! They’re the head of our state. It’s scandalous the way they’re treated as if above the law.
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
#China: Two journalists - Liu Hu and Wu Yingjiao - have been detained because of their reporting, which looked into corruption by a senior official. This is the kind of public-interest reporting that journalists are supposed to do. They should be released immediately.
February 4, 2026 at 9:48 AM
#China: Two journalists - Liu Hu and Wu Yingjiao - have been detained because of their reporting, which looked into corruption by a senior official. This is the kind of public-interest reporting that journalists are supposed to do. They should be released immediately.
Of all the horrible things I’ve written about recently in the world this is the story that really broke me. Cruelty on top of cruelty on top of cruelty.
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/02/in-i...
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/02/in-i...
In Iran, funerals are the new battleground - Index on Censorship
The authorities are trying to control how the nation grieves its protesting dead. The people are pushing back
www.indexoncensorship.org
February 3, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Of all the horrible things I’ve written about recently in the world this is the story that really broke me. Cruelty on top of cruelty on top of cruelty.
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/02/in-i...
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/02/in-i...
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
Yesterday, five-year-old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning.
Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.
Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.
February 1, 2026 at 3:49 PM
Yesterday, five-year-old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning.
Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.
Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.
It feels wrong to focus on an arrest amid mass slaughter but that instinct itself is misleading. An arrest by that regime is still an egregious act, and outrage doesn’t need to be reserved for the worst possible outcome.
#Iran: Mehdi Mahmoudian, the co-writer of Oscar-nominated film It Was Just an Accident, has been arrested in Iran. His crime? Signing a statement condemning the recent bloodshed in the country. Another example of how far the government will go to control the narrative.
February 2, 2026 at 3:32 PM
It feels wrong to focus on an arrest amid mass slaughter but that instinct itself is misleading. An arrest by that regime is still an egregious act, and outrage doesn’t need to be reserved for the worst possible outcome.
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
“Keen to learn & receptive”, “a huge Liverpool fan”, “he really loved Belarus”, “great fun!” That’s how lots of us remember our colleague Andrei who is spending his 5th year behind bars in Belarus for helping pro-democracy protesters.
I want him out. Now.
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/01/bela...
I want him out. Now.
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/01/bela...
Belarus: Andrei Aliaksandrau celebrates his birthday today in a penal colony - Index on Censorship
Lukashenka's political prisoners are seen as bargaining chips rather than people. Andrei, like hundreds of others, should not be behind bars
www.indexoncensorship.org
January 27, 2026 at 11:29 AM
“Keen to learn & receptive”, “a huge Liverpool fan”, “he really loved Belarus”, “great fun!” That’s how lots of us remember our colleague Andrei who is spending his 5th year behind bars in Belarus for helping pro-democracy protesters.
I want him out. Now.
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/01/bela...
I want him out. Now.
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/01/bela...
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
Today our friend and former colleague #AndreiAliaksandrau spends another birthday behind bars in #Belarus.
Watch as Margaret Atwood, Nadya from Pussy Riot, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore & Trevor Phillips come together to recite his poem.
The authorities must #FreeAndrei ⬇️
youtu.be/PtYfwV-sTNA?...
Watch as Margaret Atwood, Nadya from Pussy Riot, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore & Trevor Phillips come together to recite his poem.
The authorities must #FreeAndrei ⬇️
youtu.be/PtYfwV-sTNA?...
Margaret Atwood and other writers, artists and journalists recite a poem for Andrei Aliaksandrau
YouTube video by Index on Censorship
youtu.be
January 27, 2026 at 10:59 AM
Today our friend and former colleague #AndreiAliaksandrau spends another birthday behind bars in #Belarus.
Watch as Margaret Atwood, Nadya from Pussy Riot, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore & Trevor Phillips come together to recite his poem.
The authorities must #FreeAndrei ⬇️
youtu.be/PtYfwV-sTNA?...
Watch as Margaret Atwood, Nadya from Pussy Riot, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore & Trevor Phillips come together to recite his poem.
The authorities must #FreeAndrei ⬇️
youtu.be/PtYfwV-sTNA?...
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
I want to say this too: this victory was won because we had observers EVERYWHERE. ICE and CBP couldn't set foot in our city without cameras rolling. Much of the nation seemed determined to ignore our plight for weeks, but the avalanche of documentation we produced dragged the nation to us.
January 27, 2026 at 1:03 AM
I want to say this too: this victory was won because we had observers EVERYWHERE. ICE and CBP couldn't set foot in our city without cameras rolling. Much of the nation seemed determined to ignore our plight for weeks, but the avalanche of documentation we produced dragged the nation to us.
“Children suffered “so much psychological stress that parents said they were hitting their own faces or wetting themselves despite being potty-trained”.
Description from an ICE detention centre. And to protest this you run the risk of being killed.
It’s a disgrace what’s happening in the USA.
Description from an ICE detention centre. And to protest this you run the risk of being killed.
It’s a disgrace what’s happening in the USA.
January 25, 2026 at 6:22 AM
“Children suffered “so much psychological stress that parents said they were hitting their own faces or wetting themselves despite being potty-trained”.
Description from an ICE detention centre. And to protest this you run the risk of being killed.
It’s a disgrace what’s happening in the USA.
Description from an ICE detention centre. And to protest this you run the risk of being killed.
It’s a disgrace what’s happening in the USA.
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
NEW: this is how the US press would report on this if it was happening in a ‘shithole country’. It’s an execution. But it also reveals how weak Trump really is
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
Death Squads Execute Second Dissident
Or what the US press would say if this was happening on the streets of a "shithole" country overseas
open.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 1:03 AM
NEW: this is how the US press would report on this if it was happening in a ‘shithole country’. It’s an execution. But it also reveals how weak Trump really is
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
January 24, 2026 at 12:38 AM
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
struck by how much places that do not usually do political journalism have stepped up in this time.
Since @peoplemag.bsky.social is doing such a good job covering this with honesty & the humanity it deserves in spite of this vengeful regime trying to snuff it out, here’s the links to their articles. Give them all the clicks—they earned it.
January 25, 2026 at 4:52 AM
struck by how much places that do not usually do political journalism have stepped up in this time.
A really good read if you want more context to what’s happening in Uganda right now. And from a beautiful writer no less
#Uganda: After a sham election last week which saw President Museveni extend his 40-year rule to 45 years come January 2031, our contributing editor Danson Kahyana reflects on how the dictator tightened his grip on the country ⬇️
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/01/when...
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/01/when...
January 23, 2026 at 11:57 AM
A really good read if you want more context to what’s happening in Uganda right now. And from a beautiful writer no less
Imagine facing a decade in jail simply for lighting candles to memorialise the dead. That’s Hong Kong justice for you www.bbc.com/news/article...
National security trial for Hong Kong's Tiananmen activists begins - BBC News
Prosecutors claim the group's call to end China's one-party rule is subversive to the constitution.
www.bbc.com
January 23, 2026 at 9:03 AM
Imagine facing a decade in jail simply for lighting candles to memorialise the dead. That’s Hong Kong justice for you www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
While Trump has sucked up all the air, please take a moment to learn about heroes like Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho. Don't let the Beijing and Hong Kong governments get away with repression when the world is not looking. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Hong Kong national security trial of three pro-democracy activists begins
Chow Hang-tung, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho, who led Tiananmen Square vigils, are accused of inciting subversion
www.theguardian.com
January 23, 2026 at 2:56 AM
While Trump has sucked up all the air, please take a moment to learn about heroes like Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho. Don't let the Beijing and Hong Kong governments get away with repression when the world is not looking. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
Crews today dismantled plaques telling the stories of enslaved people who lived in the President's House in Philadelphia following orders by President Trump and Interior Secretary Burgum to remove content at national parks that “inappropriately disparage” the US. 6abc.com/post/philade...
Slavery exhibits at President's House in Philadelphia removed after Trump administration directive
Crews dismantled plaques telling the stories of the nine enslaved people who lived in the President's House and were owned by George Washington.
6abc.com
January 23, 2026 at 1:26 AM
Crews today dismantled plaques telling the stories of enslaved people who lived in the President's House in Philadelphia following orders by President Trump and Interior Secretary Burgum to remove content at national parks that “inappropriately disparage” the US. 6abc.com/post/philade...
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
One of the things I’m really struggling with about what’s going on in Minnesota is that if you describe what’s going on in plain, factual ways to someone who’s not paying close attention you sound completely, bugfuck crazy
Minnesota: "School officials say the [5-year-old] child was used as bait. They say [ICE] agents made little Liam knock on the door to ask to be let in in order to see if anyone else was home."
January 22, 2026 at 1:03 AM
One of the things I’m really struggling with about what’s going on in Minnesota is that if you describe what’s going on in plain, factual ways to someone who’s not paying close attention you sound completely, bugfuck crazy
"I just want to be alive" says Uganda opposition leader Bobi Wine.
This is not hyperbole. He's in hiding, men are camped out at his home and leading officials have issued constant threats.
Visibility matters right now. Global attention could save his life.
observer.co.uk/news/interna...
This is not hyperbole. He's in hiding, men are camped out at his home and leading officials have issued constant threats.
Visibility matters right now. Global attention could save his life.
observer.co.uk/news/interna...
‘I just want to be alive’: Ugandan opposition leader issu...
Bobi Wine speaks to The Observer after fleeing on a motorbike taxi as armed men surrounded his home. The government is vowing to ‘handle him accordingly’
observer.co.uk
January 21, 2026 at 11:16 AM
"I just want to be alive" says Uganda opposition leader Bobi Wine.
This is not hyperbole. He's in hiding, men are camped out at his home and leading officials have issued constant threats.
Visibility matters right now. Global attention could save his life.
observer.co.uk/news/interna...
This is not hyperbole. He's in hiding, men are camped out at his home and leading officials have issued constant threats.
Visibility matters right now. Global attention could save his life.
observer.co.uk/news/interna...
Reposted by Jemimah Steinfeld
Eight years ago today, bookseller Gui Minhai was arrested again and later sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Chinese Communist government. Since January 2018, his family has been unaware of his whereabouts and health status.
N.B. Gui is a Swedish citizen who was "disappeared" in Thailand.
N.B. Gui is a Swedish citizen who was "disappeared" in Thailand.
八年前的今天，书商 #桂民海 再次被捕，后被判刑10年；
nchrd.org/2025/10/chin...
2018年1月以来，家人一直不清楚他的下落与健康状况。
2025年1月，中国政府回复联合国关于桂民海案的询问时，仍拒绝透露他的下落与状态。除强迫失踪、任意拘押和剥夺公正审判权外，很可能在拘押中被剥夺必要医疗，这已构成酷刑。
nchrd.org/2025/10/chin...
2018年1月以来，家人一直不清楚他的下落与健康状况。
2025年1月，中国政府回复联合国关于桂民海案的询问时，仍拒绝透露他的下落与状态。除强迫失踪、任意拘押和剥夺公正审判权外，很可能在拘押中被剥夺必要医疗，这已构成酷刑。
January 20, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Eight years ago today, bookseller Gui Minhai was arrested again and later sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Chinese Communist government. Since January 2018, his family has been unaware of his whereabouts and health status.
N.B. Gui is a Swedish citizen who was "disappeared" in Thailand.
N.B. Gui is a Swedish citizen who was "disappeared" in Thailand.