Attacks on the Press in 2011: Regulating the Internet
Legislation for Internet security can quickly turn into a weapon against the free press. Cybercrime laws are intended to extend existing penal codes to the online world, but they can easily be broadened to criminalize standard journalistic practices. By Danny O’Brien
Attacks on the Press in 2011: Angola
Youth-led and social media-fueled protests demanding reform challenged President José Eduardo Dos Santos, who marked 32 years in power. Parliament, controlled by Dos Santos’ MPLA party, considered legislation to “combat crime” in information and communication technology. The bill, pending in late year, would stiffen penalties for defamation and would criminalize electronic dissemination of “recordings, pictures,…
Defending the middle ground of online journalism
It’s easy to use polarizing descriptions of online news-gathering. It’s the domain of citizen journalists, blogging without pay and institutional support, or it’s a sector filled with the digital works of “mainstream media” facing financial worries and struggling to offer employees the protection they once provided. But there is a growing middle ground: trained reporters…
Armed men threaten journalist in Angola’s Cabinda
New York, October 31, 2011– Authorities in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda should take all steps necessary to ensure the safety of independent journalist José Manuel Gimbi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today following reports that unidentified armed men raided Gimbi’s residence Thursday and threatened to harm him.
Angolan editor given one-year suspended prison term
New York, October 12, 2011–An Angolan judge handed a suspended prison term and a fine to the editor of an independent newspaper on Monday in connection with stories that alleged corruption and abuse of power by five senior officials close to President José Eduardo Dos Santos, according to news reports and local journalists. Judge Manuel Pereira…
Journalists attacked while covering protest in Angola
New York, September 6, 2011–Angolan security forces attacked journalists covering an anti-government protest on Saturday in the capital, Luanda, news reports said. At least two dozen people were arrested and several others injured as police blamed the violence on protesters.
Angola denies entry to Mozambican journalists
New York, August 16, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled that Angolan immigration authorities barred Joana Macie and Manuel Cossa, two Mozambican journalists, from entering the country on Thursday, claiming they lacked the proper entry visas.
Angola’s ruling MPLA obstructing independent reporting
New York, March 16, 2011–Angola’s ruling MPLA government must allow the press to freely cover public events, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today after a number of recent incidents in which authorities barred journalists from covering public events related to the country’s opposition party.
Angolan journalist gets year in prison for defamation
New York, March 3, 2011–A court in Angola’s southwestern province of Namibe sent a journalist to prison today without due process over his coverage of a sexual harassment scandal that implicated the province’s top judicial official, according to local journalists and news reports.Judge Manuel Araujo sentenced Armando José Chicoca, a freelancer who reports for U.S. government-funded…