Laylat al‑Iḥsās (“Night of Emotion”) in Tripoli on 30 August 2025 became a focal point of debate over concerts during the Gaza war. A day before the show, Hizb al‑Tahrir activists and self‑described “defenders of Gaza and religion” marched against the event, backed by a statement from the Association of Muslim Scholars in Lebanon. Despite pressure, the concert went ahead under heightened security and without reported incidents
Lebanon’s satirical TV series “Marhaba Dawle” has become a key test case for artistic freedom, after the Ministry of Interior sought to ban it, producer Firas Hatoum was interrogated by security forces, and Christian and Muslim institutions filed complaints over alleged insults to religion. The legal setbacks for the state, and rising moral panic, reveal how courts, security bodies and religious authorities are reshaping the space for televised satire.
In April 2025, Lebanese artist Hanane Hajj Ali performed her acclaimed play “Jogging – Theatre in Progress” at the Lebanese International University in Saida, to a calm audience and open discussion. Days later, the university condemned the show under moral and religious pretexts, following an online smear campaign that weaponised decontextualised video clips and threats. Artists and cultural workers mobilised in response, framing the case as a dangerous precedent for artistic freedom in Lebanon
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Lebanon's General Security Censorship Bureau delayed the theatrical release of the acclaimed anthology film "Disorder" in July 2025, conditioning its screening license on removal of a 20-second scene depicting security force violence against protesters during the October 2019 uprising. Director Lucien Bourjeily, facing a binary choice between censorship or complete ban, reluctantly complied to protect the work of three other filmmakers. The incident underscores Lebanon's continued suppression of artistic documentation of state violence and exemplifies the extrajudicial nature of the country's film censorship system.
Awk.word, Lebanon’s first underground stand up comedy platform, uses humour to confront corruption, inequality and shrinking civic space. Its cancelled Saida anniversary show and the prosecutions of comedian Nour Hajjar, over jokes about the army and religion, reveal how security bodies and religious authorities increasingly police what can be said on stage, turning comedy into a key battleground for artistic freedom.
BOOK: In Art against Artillery: Voices of Resilience, Ukrainian journalist Olha Volynska documents how artists, musicians and theatre makers continue to create under bombardment and displacement. The book reveals culture as both survival and resistance, showing how stages, galleries and rehearsal rooms become frontline spaces for defending memory, truth and the right to exist as a people.
The brief detention of Syria Prisons Museum founder Amer Matar in September 2025 shows how fragile the space remains for documenting torture and disappearance in post‑Assad Syria. By targeting a virtual museum that uses 3D technology to reconstruct prisons, authorities signalled that immersive memory projects and digital archives of abuse remain under suspicion.
Uganda’s 2026 elections are unfolding under a deliberate information blackout. A nationwide internet shutdown, assaults on journalists, and orders for rights groups to halt work have gutted independent scrutiny of the vote. The combined pressure on media, NGOs and cultural actors exposes a deepening digital authoritarianism that directly threatens civic and artistic freedoms in Uganda.
When Syrian writer Morris Ayek described a “second phase” of Syria’s civil war and used the term “Sunni fascism” in an August 2025 essay for Al Jumhuriya, he triggered a wave of online intimidation. The phrase was torn from its analytical context and recirculated on social media, where Ayek and the platform were attacked for opening a difficult debate on sectarian power and minority vulnerability in post‑Assad Syria.
The August 2025 decision to rename Syrian schools exposed a deep struggle over cultural memory and identity. When authorities moved to remove playwright Saadallah Wannous’ name from a Damascus school, public backlash forced a rare reversal. Meanwhile, a sweeping order in Aleppo replaced dozens of cultural figures with religious names, signalling an ideological reshaping of Syria’s educational space.
The sudden cancellation of Malek Jandali’s “Syrian Symphony for Peace” tour in December 2025 has exposed how cultural policy, religious authority and the politics of martyrdom intersect in post war Syria. The decision to drop his Homs Clock Square concert at the last minute, followed by conflicting official and religious justifications, reveals how fragile guarantees remain for artists using public space to confront traumatic memory.
Iraqi singer Mohammed Abdel Jabbar successfully performed in Nasiriyah on November 15, 2025, despite opposition from religious figures who condemned the concert as incompatible with the city's religious identity. However, just over a week later, concerts scheduled in Basra were cancelled after the organizing company received threats. The cancellation followed protests by clerics denouncing entertainment events, continuing a pattern of pressure against cultural activities in southern Iraq since 2019.
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UK-based Syrian comedian and journalist Malath Alzoubi faced a wave of online threats after a July 2025 stand-up clip satirising Syria’s new leader Ahmad Al‑Sharaa and HTS’s history of dismantling infrastructure. Weeks after the video, a coordinated harassment campaign across Instagram, X and Facebook used homophobic slurs and location-based threats, exposing how Syrian artists in exile remain vulnerable to transnational digital intimidation.
Iraq’s 2025 Husseini Chant Festival shows how religious authority can curb cultural policy without legal bans. After the Ministry of Culture introduced instrumental music into Arbaeen rituals, a clerical backlash led by Ali Al‑Talqani sparked online outrage and institutional hesitation, revealing how informal pressure and fear of controversy drive self‑censorship in Iraq’s cultural sector.
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In May 2025, a governance crisis shook the Syrian Artists’ Syndicate when four council members challenged newly appointed head Mazen Al‑Natour over unilateral decisions and lack of accountability. Their attempt to withdraw confidence was rejected as “illegal,” followed by their removal from the council. The episode exposes how post‑Assad institutions risk replicating old authoritarian patterns instead of protecting artistic freedom
Iraq’s Ministry of Higher Education has banned mixed-gender events at universities, including student marathons, citing “moral and cultural values.” The directive, issued under political and religious pressure, institutionalizes gender segregation and deepens a broader crackdown on student freedoms, women’s visibility, and youth-led cultural expression within academic spaces .
In January 2026, Adelaide Writers’ Week imploded after its board disinvited Palestinian‑Australian author Randa Abdel‑Fattah in the wake of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah shooting. Abdel‑Fattah called the move “a despicable attempt to associate me with the Bondi massacre,” arguing that her mere presence as a Palestinian was treated as dangerous or “unsafe,” sparking a mass author boycott and institutional crisis.
Uganda Law Society has launched an Election Watch and Rapid Response Mechanism ahead of the 2026 polls, deploying over 600 lawyers to monitor violations, document incidents in real time, and offer free legal aid to victims. The initiative targets arbitrary arrests, violence and electoral malpractice, seeking to turn Uganda’s legal community into an active shield for civic space and democratic participation.
Myanmar’s artists, musicians and performers have become voices in resisting the junta’s rule, both inside the country and in exile. Through satire, underground music scenes and documentary projects, they document abuses, support mutual‑aid networks and challenge propaganda. Despite arrests, executions, citizenship revocations and harsh new laws, these creative communities continue to carve out rare spaces for honest expression and solidarity.
Indian films are facing growing, selective scrutiny in Gulf states, especially when they depict India–Pakistan tensions, Kashmir, or LGBTQIA+ lives. Recent bans on “Dhurandhar”, “Sky Force”, and the Malayalam film “Maranamass” show how geopolitical sensitivities and moral norms shape access to cinema for South Asian audiences across the region
