New York, June 6, 2017–Jordan’s Ministry of Information today revoked the license for Qatar broadcaster Al-Jazeera and said it will close the broadcaster’s Jordanian office. In an announcement reported by the state-run Petra News Agency, the ministry said its actions came after “reviewing the crisis” between Qatar and neighboring Gulf states Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
“Journalists, and ordinary people who rely on them for news and information, are paying the price for this regional diplomatic dispute,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said. “We call on Jordan not to follow its neighbors down the path of censorship, and instead to allow Al-Jazeera and all news outlets to operate freely.”
CPJ could not determine if the order has immediately gone into effect. The Jordanian Embassy in Washington, D.C. did not immediately return a phone call from CPJ requesting comment.