CPJ Mexico Representative Jan-Albert Hootsen asks President Andrés Manuel López Obrador about his commitment to protecting journalists’ safety at the president’s daily press conference in Mexico City on November 6, 2019. (Prometeo Lucero/Article 19)
CPJ Mexico Representative Jan-Albert Hootsen asks President Andrés Manuel López Obrador about his commitment to protecting journalists’ safety at the president’s daily press conference in Mexico City on November 6, 2019. (Prometeo Lucero/Article 19)
The Torch

Protect yourself against NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware

The Torch is a weekly newsletter from the Committee to Protect Journalists that brings you the latest press freedom and journalist safety news from around the world. Subscribe here.

CPJ’s Emergencies Team released a safety advisory this week for journalists targeted by the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware and other digital surveillance technology. The advisory details how journalists can identify attacks, respond if they have been targeted, and protect themselves and their sources. For more information, consult CPJ’s Digital Safety Kit.

In Mexico City on Wednesday, CPJ Mexico Representative Jan-Albert Hootsen asked President Andrés Manuel López Obrador about his commitment to strengthening press freedom in Mexico. López Obrador said that he is fully committed to supporting and funding Mexico’s Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists “with no limits in the budget to protect journalists.” Mexico has been the deadliest country for reporters in the Western Hemisphere in 2019, has the highest number of disappeared journalists in the world, and nearly all crimes against the press there remain unpunished.

In Hong Kong, police fired pepper spray and tear gas at journalists covering protests, and arrested two journalists: freelance photojournalist Joey Kwok and Hong Kong Baptist University journalism student Nelson Tang.

Global press freedom updates

  • Radio host Buenaventura Calderón shot dead in Honduras
  • Radio journalist Benjie Caballero shot in the Philippines
  • Bolivian camera operator injured by explosive amid post-election protests
  • Arson attack damages indigenous newspaper office in Canada
  • Three journalists beaten by Sierra Leone presidential bodyguards in September
  • Congolese journalist detained for five days over defamation complaint
  • Hamas security forces have detained journalist Bassam Mohammad Moheisen since October 23
  • Indian police accuse publisher of treason in 25-year-old case
  • CPJ calls for modification of Dutch terrorism bill to protect press freedom

The 2019 International Press Freedom Awards are only two weeks away! The awardees this year include Folha de S. Paulo reporter Patrícia Campos Mello, Indian investigative journalist Neha Dixit, Nicaraguan broadcaster 100% Noticias news director Lucía Pineda Ubau and founder and editor Miguel Mora, and Maxence Melo Mubyazi, champion of online freedom of expression in Tanzania. Zaffar Abbas, editor of Dawn, Pakistan’s leading daily, will receive the 2019 Gwen Ifill Award.

Journalists interested in obtaining press accreditation can contact [email protected]. The deadline to apply is November 15. The event will be held on November 21, in New York City.

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