Increased risks for filmmakers and sources in documentaries’ Golden Age
Joshua Oppenheimer travelled to New York for today’s premiere of his documentary “The Look of Silence,” but one place he won’t travel is Indonesia, where he says his work on this and an earlier film puts him at risk. Earlier this week, Laura Poitras, the Academy Award-winning director of the documentary CITIZENFOUR, filed a lawsuit…
CPJ welcomes U.S. government’s new hostage policy
New York, June 24, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the new U.S. policy announced today which states that families of American hostages seeking to negotiate with or pay ransom to the abductors will not be threatened with criminal prosecution. The White House will also create an office to work with the families of the…
CPJ welcomes Facebook move to add PGP encryption features
San Francisco, June 1, 2015–Facebook today announced that it would offer users a field to post PGP encryption keys on their profiles, and that it will use the encryption standard to protect the contents of notification emails. The improvements were announced on the social network’s security blog and will gradually be rolled out to all…
CPJ joins call urging White House to protect encryption for journalists
Journalists are safest when their devices are secure by default. That is why the Committee to Protect Journalists today joined a coalition of nearly 150 civil society organizations, companies, trade associations, security experts, and policy specialists in sending a joint letter to U.S. President Barack Obama. The letter urges the president to support the broad…
Drawing the line: Cartoonists under threat
On January 7, two gunmen burst into the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing eight journalists and bringing into focus the risks cartoonists face. But with the ability of their work to transcend borders and languages, and to simplify complex political situations, the threats faced by cartoonists around the world—who are being imprisoned,…
CPJ troubled by report US spied on Al-Jazeera journalist in Pakistan
New York, May 8, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by a report that the U.S. National Security Agency carried out intensive surveillance of Al Jazeera’s Islamabad bureau chief, Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan, based on suspicion that he was a member of Al-Qaeda. The Intercept reported today that the NSA’s information supporting its claim…
Surveillance forces journalists to think and act like spies
Once upon a time, a journalist never gave up a confidential source. When someone comes forward, anonymously, to inform the public, it’s better to risk time incarcerated than give them up. This ethical responsibility was also a practical and professional necessity. If you promise anonymity, you’re obliged to deliver. If you can’t keep your word,…
UPDATE: Google, Mozilla revoke authority of CNNIC after breach of trust
San Francisco, April 2, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Google’s plan to revoke the authority of root certificates belonging to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) following CNNIC’s major breach of the trust placed in them to underpin global Internet security. Mozilla also said it will not trust any CNNIC certificates dated after April…
CPJ joins call for meaningful reform of US surveillance
Mass surveillance and the bulk collection of metadata by the U.S. government pose serious threats to journalists in the U.S. and around the world, which is why the Committee to Protect Journalists today joined a wide coalition of privacy, human rights, technology, and trade groups calling on Congress and the Obama Administration to include certain…