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We are an international NGO that protects the right of artists to imagine and create freely.

02/10/2026

📢

AGL has important updates to share about the case of termination of the Instagram account associated with “Exposure Therapy,” Emma Shapiro’s (Emma Shapiro) long-running artistic project that confronts gender bias in online content moderation practices.

1️⃣ Out-of-court dispute settlement body User Rights, an independent body that can review platforms’ moderation decisions under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), found the termination of the “Exposure Therapy” account unjustified and recommended Meta to overturn its moderation decision. While User Rights’ decision is not binding, under the DSA platforms must engage with the process in good faith. So far, Meta has neither restored the account nor explained why it has not followed the recommendation.

2️⃣ The complaint AGL submitted under DSA against Meta on behalf of Emma Shapiro, challenging the termination of the Exposure Therapy Instagram account, is now before Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator for assessment on the merits. The national independent authority oversees and enforces the DSA in Ireland, where Meta has its EU base.

📌 How can you help?

- Like and share this post to raise awareness
- Read more about the case at the link in bio
- Follow Avant-Garde Lawyers Repro Uncensored and Emma Shapiro to stay up-to-date on case developments.

📸 Background photo credits: A collection of “Exposure Therapy” stickers courtesy of the artist Emma Shapiro.
Photo credits, slide 1: Emma Shapiro, Headshot.

01/09/2026

This summer, AGL had the pleasure of welcoming as an intern.

A law student at the University of Georgia, Julia brings a dynamic background in media production and a strong interest in free speech protection, strategic litigation and intellectual property issues.

Over the course of a month, Julia has delved into AGL’s strategic litigation work, helping to defend artists and freedom of expression worldwide.

We are grateful for our ongoing internship collaboration with the University of Georgia School of Law, kindly facilitated through the AGL Global Network.

Swipe to discover Julia’s reflections on her time with AGL✨

28/08/2026

📢 Avant-Garde Lawyers is recruiting a Legal Consultant!

Use your expertise in international human rights law and strategic litigation to help defend artists and cultural workers worldwide.

🗓️ Apply by 13 September 2026. Early applications are encouraged.

To apply, email your CV, a short cover letter and a legal writing sample in English to [email protected], and complete the form available through the link in our bio. You’ll find the full job description there too.

Our team would love to hear from you! Share this opportunity with someone who could be a good fit.

26/08/2026

AGL is excited to share a new interview with , a lawyer from AGL Global Network.

Ekaterina is a French lawyer and a member of the Marseille Bar. She practices immigration law, and supports international artists dealing with the French administration. In her interview, she sheds light on immigration pathways for artists wishing to relocate in France, including artists at risk, and shares practical tools to navigate complex administrative and bureaucratic issues.

The full interview is available on YouTube (link in bio).

11/08/2026

AGL : Abdelrahman ElGendy

Abdelrahman ElGendy is an Egyptian writer and translator whose work examines state violence, empire, and exile, attending to the entanglements of local and global oppressions and the solidarities that emerge across them. His new, critically-acclaimed book, Huna, is both a memoir of his experience with revolution and his more than six years spent as a political prisoner in Egypt, and a literary exploration of what it means to inhabit a space designed to erase you and still find ways to be.

While imprisoned, Abdelrahman turned to writing as a means of survival, smuggling out his pieces. Since his release in 2020, he has published dozens of pieces for outlets including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Nation.

Avant-Garde Lawyers (AGL) is proud to have supported Abdelrahman in his pursuit of safety and the opportunity to continue his creative practice in an environment free from fear.

The quotes featured in this post are from AGL’s interview with Abdelrahman. You can view the full interview at the link in bio.

Penguin Random House
David Ebershoff
Hogarth Books

31/07/2026

AGL is pleased to see its work on the case of the artist and activist Emma Shapiro featured in The Art Newspaper article by Aimee Dawson

On 17 June 2026, AGL filed a complaint with the Spanish Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) on Emma’s behalf, claiming that Meta failed to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) when it suspended and subsequently terminated , the Instagram account of her long-running artistic project Exposure Therapy, an art project that confronts gender bias in online content moderation practices.

As artists increasingly lose access to their online platforms, especially when their work explores sensitive topics such as nudity, sexuality, and gender expression, AGL’s legal strategy in this case challenges the termination of an artist’s entire account, which has erased years of essential artistic and advocacy work on the matters of public interest. The case also tests how the Digital Services Act’s rules on transparency, effective redress, and proportionality apply when platforms impose account-level sanctions.

Read more on Emma’s case and AGL’s involvement at The Art Newspaper at https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/07/30/artist-starts-legal-case-against-meta-for-deleting-her-instagram-account.

26/06/2026

Out now: « Art on Trial: A Strategic Litigation Toolkit for Artistic Freedom »

A new Avant-Garde Lawyers resource for lawyers, artists, civil society organisations and advocates working to defend artistic expression through strategic litigation.

The Toolkit is available through a solidarity-based access model, with free access available for artists, activists, civil society organisations, independent practitioners and others for whom cost may be a barrier.

Immensely grateful to the for its support in making this Toolkit possible.

Access it at the link in bio✨

18/06/2026

🚨FILING ALERT 🚨On 17 June, AGL filed a complaint against on behalf of , the Spain-based artist, activist and editor of .art, to contest the termination of the Instagram account associated with Exposure Therapy, an art project that confronts gender bias in online content moderation practices.

📣In our complaint, we assert that, in removing the Exposure Therapy account, Meta has failed to comply with several of its obligations under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). These include not providing a clear statement of reasons for its decision, denying Emma access to an effective internal appeal process and failing to act in a diligent, objective and proportionate manner when suspending and removing the account without prior warning.

🎨As artists increasingly rely on digital environments to create, disseminate and monetise their work, protecting artistic freedom online is more important than ever. By pursuing this case, AGL hopes to ensure proper enforcement of platforms’ obligations under the Digital Services Act and to raise awareness of the chilling effect that automated content moderation and opaque platform policies can have on artistic expression.

🤝HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?

- Like and share this post to raise awareness
- Read more about the case at the link in bio
- Follow .garde.lawyers to stay up-to-date on case developments
- Are you an artist who has been impacted by content moderation on an online platform? Send us a message, we might be able to help.

05/06/2026

Last week in Lucerne, Avant-Garde Lawyers had the honour of joining and the Human Rights Orchestra for a powerful charity concert in support of .ukrainian and .contatto.

Across several days of rehearsals, conversations and music, AGL’s Executive Director, Andra Matei, and Secretary General of Manfred Nowak spoke with the orchestra about music and human rights: from Beethoven’s Fidelio, an opera about political imprisonment and liberation, to Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony, often read in relation to fear, repression and artistic survival under Stalin.

Four years after AGL was one of the organisations supported by this concert, it was deeply meaningful to return, and to connect these histories with AGL’s work supporting musicians and artists facing censorship, threats, prosecution or exile.

With gratitude to , Musicians for Human Rights, the Human Rights Orchestra, all the musicians and .

Warm congratulations to Gen.Ukrainian and Fondazione ConTatto, whose essential work gave the evening its urgency and purpose.

Slide 1: AGL Gender Expert , Manfred Nowak and Andra Matei;
Slide 2: Orchestra conductor Alessio Allegrini, Andra Matei, Vice President of Musicians for Human Rights Alberto Danelon and Manfred Nowak
Slide 3: Andra Matei speaking with Manfred Nowak
Slide 4: Music scores for the evening’s program: Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World.
Slide 5: Rehearsal, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with
Slide 6: The audience begins to rise for a standing ovation after the concert, inside the interiors of .

29/05/2026

Last week, AGL attended the conference Confronting the Destruction of Gaza: Art, Reception, and Commitments (Faire face à l’anéantissement de Gaza : créations, accueils, engagements) hosted by as part of . The conference discussed artistic creation and the destruction of cultural heritage in Gaza, the challenges of welcoming artists in emergency situations in France, and broader questions of cultural solidarity with Palestine.

For AGL, events like this, bringing together artists, researchers, lawyers, cultural institutions and CSOs, are essential for building networks of solidarity and support systems for artists at risk. For a year now, AGL has been supporting Palestinian artists who are still trapped in Gaza despite their admission into institutions in France and the merit of their artistic work, as all evacuations from Gaza to France remain blocked.

AGL is grateful to partner with conference organiser on this work and remains committed to supporting artists from Gaza seeking to continue their artistic practice in safety.

We cordially thank all the speakers who contributed to this event including .albanese.unsr.opt, , , , .kempf, .jarada, and others, as well as Palestinian poets , .elassy, and Yousef Alqedra who concluded the event with readings of texts by eighteen Palestinian poets, some still in Gaza.

Artwork credits: Re-Lighthouse by , a recreation of the monumental Lighthouse sculpture built in Gaza and destroyed at the start of the war in 2023. It will travel from Marseille to other cities across France and Europe, with the hope of one day returning to the port of Gaza.

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