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DonateFrom conflict-ridden Syria to aspiring world leader Brazil, 10 nations on a downslope. By Karen Phillips
Committee to Protect Journalists
North Korea
Attacks on the Press
| Brazil, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, Syria, Turkey, Vietnam
CPJ may have raised some eyebrows with this year's list of the world's 10 most censored countries. North Korea was relegated to the number two slot, behind Eritrea. In our last ranking, in 2006, we ranked North Korea as the worst, and many other organizations continue to do that.
CPJ Internet Channel
| Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Uzbekistan
One big reason for the Internet's success is its role as a universal standard, interoperable across the world. The data packets that leave your computer in Botswana are the same as those which arrive in Barbados. The same is increasingly true of modern mobile networks. Standards are converging: You can use your phone, access an app, or send a text, wherever you are.
Reports
| Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam
CPJ's new analysis identifies Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Iran as worst
Reports
| Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Uzbekistan
CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney counts down the 10 countries where the press is most tightly restricted. How do leaders in these nations silence the media? And which country is the worst of all? (4:03)
Read CPJ's report on the 10 Most Censored countries for more detail on how censorship works, and which countries were the runners-up.
China didn't make the cut for our 10 most censored countries. While the Chinese Communist Party's censorship apparatus is notorious, journalists and Internet users work hard to overcome the restrictions. Nations like Eritrea and North Korea lack that dynamism.
Here's a quick pointer to Rimjin-gang, my favorite website delivering current reporting from North Korea. Produced by Japan-based Asia Press Network, Rimjin-gang is also just about the only site producing news from one of the world's most censored nations.
The latest batch of reporting--writing, photography, and
video--from North Korea is available online at Asia Press Network (APN). The stories deal
with apparent hyperinflation, the emergence of street markets in
It's my second link to a report by Hal Roberts (and others at the Berkman Center) in as many days, but I worry that this this detailed document on denial-of-service (DOS) and hacking attacks on independent media and human rights groups might get missed in the holiday season.
The news headlines in the last few weeks have been full of stories of how DOS attacks can bring down even high-profile websites, often with relatively little technical expertise on behalf of the attackers. Such attacks are nothing new to online journalists across the world, however. Just this year, CPJ has dealt with cases of independent news sites being taken offline by remote Internet attacks in China, Burma, Vietnam, Russia, Kazakhstan, and now Belarus.
The Berkman Center's report details over three hundred other cases from 1998 onwards, from Sweden to North Korea. More important, the researchers interviewed the victims of these attacks, and categorized what defenses were practical and effective -- and what did not work.
If you're an online journalist with powerful opponents, I'd strongly encourage you to read this document and pass it along to your tech-savvy associates. Even a small amount of preparation can help keep vital news and opinion available online when you -- and your readers -- most need it.
A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North
Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of
reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to
record everyday life in North Korea. The title comes from the Rimjin River
(Imjin in English), which forms part of the Demilitarized Zone that separates
North and South Korea. Japanese and Korean readers have been able to read the Rimjin-gang magazine since 2007. Ishimaru Jiro, Rimjingang's editor and publisher, is the driving force behind organizing a group of North Koreans, to whom he gave video and still cameras. He works with Asia Press, a cooperative started in Japan in 1987 to foster independent journalism in Asia .
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