Journalists harassed, threatened with death over Ghana election coverage
At least five Ghanaian journalists were separately harassed or threatened with death over their coverage of the country’s December 7, 2020, general elections, according to news reports and journalists who spoke with CPJ by phone and messaging app. In mid-December 2020, following the elections, Kevin Taylor, the founder of the Loud Silence TV YouTube channel,…
How U.S. copyright law and fake Gmail accounts were used to censor a report on gambling in Kenya
On February 4, Emmanuel Dogbevi turned to Twitter with a plea for help. He tagged press freedom groups and colleagues in a series of tweets, lamenting how allegations that he violated U.S. copyright law had prompted his news website to be taken offline. Dogbevi told CPJ via phone that Ghana Business News, the Ghana-based website he edits,…
Nigerian journalist Benjamin Anaja beaten, detained by security forces
On February 3, 2021, in Ikeja, the capital of Nigeria’s southwestern Lagos state, nine officers from the state Environmental Sanitation Corps assaulted and detained Benjamin Anaja, a reporter with the privately owned The Guild news website, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview, and a statement by the International Press…
Mozambique expels British journalist Tom Bowker, bans him for 10 years
New York, February 16, 2021 — Mozambican authorities should reverse their decision to expel journalist Tom Bowker and allow him to work freely in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Mozambican immigration authorities today forced Bowker, a U.K. citizen and the co-founder and editor of the privately owned Zitamar News website, to…
DRC journalist Pius Romain Rolland Ngoie detained since December over criminal defamation complaint
New York, February 11, 2021 — Congolese authorities should immediately release journalist Pius Romain Rolland Ngoie and reform their country’s laws to decriminalize defamation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 22, 2020, judicial police arrested Ngoie, a reporter who covers the country’s parliament for the privately owned Depeche.CD news website, while he…
South African journalist Sam Sole on landmark court victory: “2008 surveillance was the tip of the iceberg”
South Africa’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, handed down a landmark judgment on February 4 that not only protects journalists and their sources from surveillance abuse, but also upheld a lower court’s ruling that the insidious practice of the bulk interception of ordinary citizens’ data and communication is illegal. The ruling, documented by CPJ, was…
Ugandan security personnel harass journalists, shut down radio station during elections
Between January 12 and January 20, 2021, Ugandan security personnel harassed and detained at least four journalists covering the country’s general elections, and shut down at least one radio station, according to a statement by the Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, a local human rights group, and journalists who spoke to CPJ. Ugandans voted in…
Nigerian news website Peoples Gazette blocked, threatened with legal action
New York, February 5, 2021–Nigerian authorities should ensure access to the Peoples Gazette new site is not disrupted and its reporters can work without fear of harassment or intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 26, four mobile internet service providers operating in Nigeria – India-based Airtel, South Africa-based MTN, Nigeria-based 9mobile, and Glo, which…
CPJ welcomes South African Constitutional Court’s ruling condemning surveillance
New York, February 4, 2021 – In response to the South African Constitutional Court’s decision today to uphold a 2019 High Court ruling that invalidated legislation allowing for the surveillance of members of the press, the Committee to protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Journalist Sam Sole’s communications should never have been intercepted, but the…
Journalists attacked, harassed, and threatened while covering Liberian senate election
In the days leading up to and following senatorial elections in Liberia on December 8, 2020, security forces and civilians attacked, harassed, and threatened members of the press, according to journalists who spoke with CPJ and a statement shared on Facebook by the Press Union of Liberia, a local trade group. On November 30, in…