Michael Anti’s exile from Facebook over ‘real-name policy’
The Chinese journalist Michael Anti had his Facebook account deleted in January. The reason Facebook gave was that Michael Anti isn’t his real, government-recorded, name–which is true. Instead, Anti is the name that he has written under for almost a decade, on his own personal blogs, and in his writing for the New York Times…
Accused Maguindanao mastermind may go free
New York, March 8, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is worried that a special five-judge panel named by the Philippines Court of Appeal in Manila will free the suspected mastermind behind the Maguindanao massacre, or release him on a technicality. Lawyers for Zaldy Ampatuan, the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, have…
Mideast protests a red flag to Chinese censors
Working to defend press freedom, I take it that I’ve hit the mark when I get censored. So I smiled today when I got an e-mail from a friend in China who said he was in the gym watching breakfast television when my face came up on CNN. I opened my mouth and the screen…
Media rights groups to U.N.: Intervene in Sri Lanka case
New York, March 8, 2011–Five prominent media rights organizations sent a letter on Monday to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, calling on the U.N. to intervene in the case of Prageeth Eknelygoda, the Sri Lankan columnist and cartoonist for the Lanka eNews website, who disappeared on January 24, 2010. Since then, the letter notes, his wife,…
CPJ calls on China to stop inhibiting international press
New York, March 7, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists rejects statements by a Chinese government official that international reporters are not being detained, attacked, and harassed in China. CPJ calls on the police to end their anti-media attempts to stop foreign journalists from reporting on possible anti-government demonstrations in what has become known as the…
China threatens foreign journalists for ‘illegal’ reporting
New York, March 3, 2011–Police threats to revoke foreign journalists’ visas and require advance permission for newsgathering are disturbing new efforts to restrict reporting on protests in China, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Journalist stabbed, hospitalized in Indonesia
Bangkok, March 3, 2011–The stabbing of Banjir Ambarita, a freelance reporter who frequently contributes to Indonesia’s English-language daily the Jakarta Globe, appears to be related to his reporting linking police to a prisoner sex abuse scandal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Abusive Twitter messages target foreign media in China
California-based China Digital Times (CDT) reports new Chinese-language Twitter commentators have appeared in the last week. Twitter is generally blocked in China, but heavily used by activists who access it by means of proxy networks overseas. The recent arrivals are vocal supporters of the government’s efforts to tamp down nascent “Jasmine Revolution” rallies anonymously organized…
Updates on Wali Khan Babar and Umar Cheema in Pakistan
Here are two quick updates on prominent Pakistani cases we’ve been following: Despite police claims made soon after the assassination-style killing of Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar on January 13, there have been no arrests made in his case, and there is little reason to expect that there will be any. Babar was one…
Foreign journalists detained in China’s ‘Jasmine’ protests
New York, February 28, 2011–Chinese security officials’ concerted attack on the foreign press in a busy commercial street near Tiananmen Square in Beijing Sunday is a return to the restrictions international reporters faced before they were eased in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.