Forensic tools open new front for using phone data to prosecute journalists
On April 13, police in Russia’s Khakassiya republic arrested Mikhail Afanasyev and seized his digital devices. Afanasyev, chief editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus, was detained based on an article about riot police in southern Siberia refusing to serve in Ukraine. He faces a possible 10-year prison sentence for spreading “false” information. It’s not surprising for…
CPJ calls for Twitter to restore accounts of suspended journalists, commit to media freedom
New York, December 16, 2022—Twitter should immediately reinstate the journalists whose accounts it suspended without notice and explicitly commit to practices that defend a free and independent media, Jodie Ginsberg, president of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement Friday. Responding to news reports that Twitter had suspended the accounts of at least…
CPJ joins call urging U.S. Senate to advance the PRESS Act
The Committee to Protect Journalists Monday joined nearly 40 other press freedom and civil liberty organizations in a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, urging him to advance the PRESS Act in a 2022 end-of-year omnibus bill. The legislation would create a federal shield law that would protect journalists from being forced to…
CPJ condemns Biden administration decision that Saudi crown prince has immunity in U.S. Khashoggi lawsuit
New York, November 18, 2022 – In response to news reports that the Biden administration told a U.S. court late Thursday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should be immune in a civil lawsuit over the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, CPJ issued the following statement condemning the decision: “The Biden administration’s submission that…
CPJ calls on North Carolina prosecutors to drop charges against Asheville Blade reporters
New York, November 18, 2022 – Prosecutors in Buncombe County, North Carolina, should immediately drop all charges against Asheville Blade reporters Veronica Coit and Matilda Bliss, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday. Coit and Bliss were arrested while covering a homeless camp eviction in Asheville, North Carolina, on December 25, 2021, and charged…
US FBI-led investigation of Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing a welcome first step
New York, November 15, 2022—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday welcomed reports that the FBI plans to investigate the May 11 killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as an important first step toward potentially achieving justice in her case. The U.S. Department of Justice notified the Israeli Ministry of Justice of the…
CPJ alarmed by wiretapping charges against Ohio newspaper editor
Washington, D.C., November 8, 2022 — Authorities in Pike County, Ohio, should immediately drop all charges against journalist Derek Myers and return equipment seized from Myers and his newsroom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. The Pike County Sheriff charged Myers, editor-in-chief of local news website the Scioto Valley Guardian, with wiretapping on October…
CPJ welcomes new US Justice Department guidelines protecting journalists’ sources
Washington, D.C., October 26, 2022—In response to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision Wednesday revising Justice Department regulations to restrict federal prosecutors’ ability to obtain journalists’ phone and email records in government leak investigations with narrow exceptions, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “This is an important step to protect press freedom in the…
CPJ condemns harassment, bomb threat against Iranian American journalist Negar Mortazavi
New York, October 20, 2022 — In response to news reports that the University of Chicago received an anonymous bomb threat on Tuesday for hosting an event featuring Iranian American journalist Negar Mortazavi, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “The bomb threat against journalist Negar Mortazavi was a crude attempt at censorship….