The chilling of artistic freedom is impacting artists and those they connect with

The death of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny last month, after years of confinement in a Siberian jail, and subsequent quelling of protest, emphasised the flourishing of censorship across a globe riven by geopolitical crises, in a year when democracy is put to the test in more than 70 countries. With the threat of electoral misinformation being boosted by AI-generated content and social media algorithms, artists have been warning of new kinds of censorship. The effect is being felt in real life, online and in social media

Free expression groups and creatives believe the price of “safety” on the internet may be the exclusion of marginalised artists and groups, and an end to online privacy for all

New European regulations have required Instagram to reveal how some artists’ accounts have been deprived of visibility. But fears remain over who has access to the culture-shaping power of social media

Many users are beginning to wonder if the platform's guidelines have any positive value

Social media giant has been taken to task for its notorious “female nipple” guideline, but the battle for creatives' freedom of expression is not yet over

As the UK’s troubled Online Safety Bill finally looks set to become law, there are still concerns about whether it will get the balance between online safety and censorship right

New functions show if content goes against the social media platform's Recommendation Guidelines that it uses to decide what should be promoted and searchable

Censorship by more mainstream social media platforms has artists turning to OnlyFans to promote their work

A set of ambiguous laws has pushed platforms to refuse service to artists whose work includes nude imagery or could be construed as sexual

The Füde Experience by the multidisciplinary artist Charlie Ann Max was a glimpse of the future I am fighting for

Galleries and artists are Increasingly finding themselves at the centre of heavy-handed suppression on the social media platform

Thirty-five years ago the Guerrilla Girls took to the streets to protest gender inequality—now memes are helping to remind us that there is much work still to do

In 2019, 20 artists were invited to discuss Facebook and Instagram's problematic approach to art and nudity—so why has nothing changed?

Instagram censorship is preventing some artists from showing the bulk of their work—and punishing them and their followers

Being a life model is not just artistic tradition or a way to make money

The platform’s control over what counts as art is effectively changing the way it is made, shown and seen

More institutions and galleries ought to be fighting for contemporary creatives with the same passion that Vienna is fighting for long-dead ones