2015

  
Residents protest over the coup in Ouagadougou in September. With many radio stations silenced during the unrest, pirate station Radio Resistance was a vital resource for news. (Reuters/Joe Penney)

Resistance over the airwaves: Pirate station’s vital role during Burkina Faso coup

Radio Resistance was a pirate radio station born out of necessity. During Burkina Faso’s short-lived military coup last month, in which many local radio stations were forced off air, it kept citizens informed and gave them the courage to stand up against the attempted takeover, Burkinabe journalists said.

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Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Van Hai arrives in Los Angeles in October 2014 after being released from jail and forced into exile. The U.S. says trade deals will depend on human rights but press freedom conditions remain poor in Vietnam. (AFP/Robyn Beck)

Poor trade-off: Jailed journalists released into exile as Vietnam pushes for weapons deal

In September, Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong Tan was released after serving three years of a 10-year prison term and was immediately flown to Los Angeles. In October 2014 Tan’s colleague Nguyen Van Hai, whom she co-founded the Free Journalists Club with in 2007 and who was also imprisoned for his work, followed the same route.

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A screengrab of Universal TV's talk show Doodwadaag. The show's producer and a director for the station have been arrested. (YouTube)

Somali security agents raid Universal TV office, arrest journalists

Nairobi, October 5, 2015–Somali national security forces raided the offices of the privately owned broadcaster Universal TV in Mogadishu on October 2 and arrested Abdullahi Hersi, the station’s East Africa director, and Awil Dahir Salad, a producer, on the same day, according to local journalists and reports.

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In Thailand, cartoonist detained and warned he could be prosecuted

Bangkok, October 5, 2015–Authorities in Thailand briefly detained Sakda Sae Iao, a prominent editorial cartoonist with the local language Thai Rath newspaper, on Sunday and warned he could be prosecuted for his future work, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the harassment and calls on Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to end…

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Save Crypto: CPJ joins call for Obama to back strong encryption

The Committee to Protect Journalists has signed a petition organized by digital rights groups Access and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, urging President Barack Obama to publicly commit the U.S. to a policy of supporting strong encryption. Since the Save Crypto petition’s launch on September 29, it has gathered nearly 18,000 signatures, including about 30 from…

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Flaws discovered in TrueCrypt, but journalists still have options for encryption

Project Zero, a Google team that searches for bugs, has identified two flaws affecting the TrueCrypt disk encryption software program. While the flaws, which were found by computer security researcher James Forshaw, are not cryptographic–meaning they couldn’t be used directly to decrypt a disk or device–they present potential problems for user security.

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A protester holds a placard which reads 'I know they tap my phones' during a rally against the proposed surveillance bill in France. (Reuters/Charles Platiau)

CPJ joins call to oppose draft surveillance law in France

The Committee to Protect Journalists has joined 30 other press freedom and digital rights groups in calling on the French government to reject a draft law on surveillance. The open letter, submitted yesterday to members of parliament, warns against giving authorities greater powers to spy on communications.

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Hürriyet journalist assaulted in Istanbul

Istanbul, October 1, 2015–A critical Turkish journalist, Ahmet Hakan, was assaulted by four men on Wednesday night in Istanbul, according to news reports. The assault followed two attacks on the independent daily Hürriyet, one of the outlets Hakan works for, and threats the journalist received in recent weeks.

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CPJ to release annual report on impunity in murders of journalists

New York, October 1, 2015–CPJ will release its 2015 Global Impunity Index, which tracks countries where journalists are murdered and the killers go unpunished, on October 8, 2015. The index will be released ahead of UNESCO’s International Conference on Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists in San José, Costa Rica, on October 9-10. The International Day…

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