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The International Publishers Association Freedom to Publish Committee—Challenges and Accomplishments

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Abstract

Established in 1886, the International Publishers Association (IPA) is the world’s largest federation of national, regional, and specialist publishers’ associations. The IPA created the Freedom to Publish Committee (FtPC) to protect and promote the freedom to publish, without which unfettered publishing could not take place. This article details the work of the FtPC, its achievements and the challenges to freedom to publish it has identified. Data comes from the Committee’s 2020 Freedom to Publish report and subsequent case files, highlighting challenges publishers are facing, the greatest threats to freedom to publish, countries of concern, and the FtPC’s recommendations for future actions.

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Notes

  1. International Publisher Association, “IPA Freedom to Publish Manifesto.” [1]

  2. Hegdal [2], p. 15.

  3. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World Research Methodology.”

  4. Reporters Without Borders, “Detailed Methodology.”

  5. Reporters Without Borders, “Methodology used for compiling the World Press Freedom Index.”

  6. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World, 2019, China.”

  7. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2022: China.”

  8. Hegdal [2], p. 26.

  9. Reporters Without Borders, “China.”

  10. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2019: China”.

  11. The Bookseller, “Publishers report ‘pause’ on US authors in China.”

  12. Foreign Policy, “China is Burning Books Again.”

  13. Hegdal [2], p. 28.

  14. Hegdal [2], p. 29.

  15. Reporters Without Borders, “China: five years after Liu Xiaobo’s death, at least 15 press freedom defenders at risk of dying in prison.”

  16. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2019: Egypt.”

  17. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2022: Egypt.”

  18. Hegdal [2], p. 32.

  19. Reporters Without Borders, “Egypt.”

  20. Hegdal [2], p. 33.

  21. Middle East Eye, “Egypt: Prominent public figures to stop publishing critical views of government.”

  22. Hegdal [2], p. 36.

  23. Egypt Today, “Egyptian activists Alaa Abdel Fattah, Ahmed Douma, Alimi on list of pardoned prisoners.”

  24. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2022: Germany.”

  25. Hegdal [2], p. 40.

  26. Reporters Without Borders, “Germany.”

  27. Bundestag, Basic Law for the Federation of Germany, 16.

  28. Hegdal [2], p. 40.

  29. Pen Zentrum Deutschland, “Cultural property must not be destroyed or made inaccessible!”.

  30. Hegdal [2], p. 41.

  31. Hegdal [2], p. 43.

  32. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2019: South Korea.”

  33. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2022: South Korea.”

  34. Hegdal [2], p. 55.

  35. Reporters Without Borders, “South Korea.”

  36. Hegdal [2], p. 55.

  37. Guardian, “Fresh Turmoil in South Korea as minister arrested over ‘arts blacklist’.

  38. Hegdal [2], p. 55.

  39. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2019: Russia.”

  40. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2022: Russia.”

  41. Hegdal [2], p. 58.

  42. Reporters Without Borders, “Russia.”

  43. Hegdal [2], p. 58.

  44. Publishing Perspective, “Russian Censorship is Being Intensified; Translated Work Examined.”

  45. The Guardian, “Yuval Noah Harari admits approving censored Russian translation.”

  46. Publishing Perspective, “Russian Censorship is Being Intensified; Translated Work Examined.”

  47. The State Duma, “Responsibility is introduced for spreading fakes about the actions of the RF Forces.”

  48. Russia: New ‘Homosexual Propaganda’ Law threatens freedom to publish, IPA.

  49. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2019: Thailand.”

  50. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2022: Thailand.”

  51. Hegdal [2], p. 62.

  52. Reporters Without Borders, “Thailand.”

  53. Hegdal [2], p. 62.

  54. Hegdal [2], p. 63.

  55. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2019: Turkey.”

  56. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2022: Turkey.”

  57. Hegdal [2], p. 64.

  58. Reporters Without Borders, “Turkey.”

  59. Human Rights Watch, “Turkey: Events of 2018.”

  60. Hegdal [2], pp. 64–65.

  61. Les Univers du Livre “Actualité,” “Turquie: censure des “Goûters philo,” interdits aux moins de 18 ans.”

  62. Milan, “Qui sommes-nous?”.

  63. Hegdal [2], p. 67.

  64. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2019: USA.”

  65. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2022: USA.”

  66. Hegdal [2], p. 73.

  67. Reporters Without Borders, “USA.”

  68. U.S. Const. Amend. I.

  69. Hegdal [2], pp. 73–75.

  70. Literary Hub, “Residents of a Michigan town defunded their library after it refused to remove LGBTQ books.”

  71. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2019: Vietnam.”

  72. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2022: Vietnam.”

  73. Hegdal [2], p. 78.

  74. Reporters Without Borders, “Vietnam.”

  75. The Vietnamese, “Two Human Rights Groups Issue Joint Statement against Harassment of Independent Publishing House.”

  76. Hegdal [2], p. 78.

  77. Aljazeera, “Vietnam court upholds 9-year jail sentence for democracy activist.”

  78. The Vietnamese, “Vietnam: Appellate Court Upholds Journalist Pham Doan Trang’s Nine-Year Imprisonment.”

  79. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2019: Bangladesh.”

  80. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2022: Bangladesh.”

  81. Hegdal [2], p. 21.

  82. Reporters Without Borders, “Bangladesh.”

  83. Hegdal [2], p. 22.

  84. Aljazeera, “Free speech concerns in Bangladesh as writers, activist arrested.”

  85. Hegdal [2], p. 23.

  86. ICORN, “Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury/Tutul.”

  87. Hegdal [2], p. 24.

  88. Hegdal [2], p. 83.

References

  1. International Publisher Association, “IPA Freedom to Publish Manifesto.”

  2. Hegdal, “Freedom to Publish: Challenges, Violations, and Countries of Concern.”

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Correspondence to Kristenn Einarsson.

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Einarsson, K., Taylor, J., Mendoza-Sepulveda, N. et al. The International Publishers Association Freedom to Publish Committee—Challenges and Accomplishments. Pub Res Q 39, 34–46 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-022-09931-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-022-09931-z

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