Poet Naema Ahmed Ibrahim was sentenced in Hargeisa to three years in prison on 15 April 2018 on charges of statements she allegedly made in Mogadishu.

Poet Galal El-Behairy has been detained on charges of insulting the Egyptian army and Islam over lyrics for a song and latest poetry book.

Renowned science fiction and children’s stories author, activist and professor Muhammad Zafar Iqbal was stabbed on 3 March 2018 a student at an Islamic school who claimed he attacked the writer because he was "an enemy of Islam".

Spanish rapper Valtonyc has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison on charges of “glorification of terrorism and humiliation of its victims” and “threats” in his songs.

Since the start of 2018, Egyptian courts have sentenced at least three women singers to prison for music that was considered to be immoral and insulting to Egypt.

Freemuse warns of the emergence of a new global culture of silencing others, where artistic expression is being shut down in every corner of the globe.

An Equatorial Guinean court on 7 March 2018 released an artist imprisoned on dubious charges for nearly six months, 18 human rights groups said today. The prosecution dropped all charges against Ramón Esono Ebalé, a cartoonist whose work is often critical of the government.

On 3 March, Music Freedom Day 2018 places the spotlight on women, LGBT and minority musicians to celebrate artistic freedom of expression.

On 23 January 2018, musician and 2010 Freemuse Award winner Ferhat Tunç was presented with a third indictment in four months over political messages posted on his social media.

Zimbabwean musician Jeys Marabini and his band were attacked by audience members for singing in their native IsiNdebele language during their performance at the inauguration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.