Facebook India executive files criminal complaint against journalist
New Delhi, August 19, 2020 – Facebook regional director Ankhi Das should withdraw her criminal complaint against journalist Awesh Tiwari, and respect citizens’ rights to criticize her, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 16, Das, Facebook’s public policy director for India, South, and Central Asia, filed a criminal complaint with the cyber…
Vietnamese blogger Truong Duy Nhat’s 10-year jail sentence upheld on appeal
Bangkok, August 17, 2020 – A court in Hanoi upheld Vietnamese blogger Truong Duy Nhat’s 10-year prison sentence in a one-day hearing on August 14, according to news reports and CPJ’s communication with the journalist’s family. “Vietnamese authorities should halt all legal action against Truong Duy Nhat and release him from prison immediately,” said Shawn Crispin,…
Tech platforms struggle to label state-controlled media
Twitter announced last week that it would start labeling some accounts run by media outlets and their top editors as “state-affiliated,” a descriptor intended to improve transparency about the source of information being shared on the platform. Since disinformation became a flash point in the debate over content moderation on social media, distinguishing propaganda from…
Journalists with The Caravan magazine assaulted by anti-Muslim crowd in Delhi
New Delhi, August 12, 2020 — Delhi police must thoroughly investigate the attack on three journalists with The Caravan magazine and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 2 p.m. yesterday, a group of people in Delhi’s North Ghonda neighborhood attacked The Caravan reporters Shahid Tantray, Prabhjit Singh,…
Hong Kong journalists struggle to carry on as national security law hits Apple Daily
An unnerving wait for the first impact on journalists of Hong Kong’s new National Security Law came to an abrupt end early yesterday when police arrested Next Digital founder and chair Jimmy Lai, along with four company executives and his two sons, while sending more than a hundred police officers on a raid of Apple…
Malaysia refuses to renew 2 Al-Jazeera reporters’ visas amid investigation
Bangkok, August 10, 2020 – Malaysian authorities should allow Al-Jazeera journalists to report from the country freely and without harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Malaysian immigration authorities recently declined to renew the visas of reporters Drew Ambrose and Jenni Henderson, both Australian nationals, according to news reports citing Giles Trendle, English managing…
Hong Kong police raid Apple Daily newsroom, arrest founder Jimmy Lai, his sons, and 4 executives
Taipei, August 10, 2020 — Hong Kong police must immediately release all those arrested in connection to today’s raid on Apple Daily publisher Next Digital, and refrain from filing charges against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. This morning, police arrested Jimmy Lai, founder and chair of Next Digital, at his home in…
Hong Kong police arrest Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai under new National Security Law
Washington, D.C., August 9, 2020–Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Digital, which owns the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was arrested early Monday in Hong Kong under Hong Kong’s new National Security Law for alleged collusion with foreign powers, according to a tweet by Next Digital executive Mark Simon and news reports. “The arrest of media tycoon…
Kashmiri journalists describe new government tactics to control the narrative
In April, after Srinagar-based senior journalist Peerzada Ashiq published an article about the families of two militants who wanted to exhume their bodies to perform funeral rites, police in Kashmir launched an investigation and accused him of publishing “fake news.” Ashiq told CPJ that he had sought official comment on multiple channels, but never received…
Malaysian police raid Al-Jazeera’s office, seize computers in escalating legal harassment
Bangkok, August 4, 2020 – Malaysian police raided Al-Jazeera’s Kuala Lumpur office and seized two computers in an ongoing criminal probe into the global broadcaster’s July 3 report on the government’s treatment of undocumented migrant workers during the COVID-19 crisis, news reports said. Six of Al-Jazeera’s Malaysia-based reporters and staff members are being investigated on criminal charges…