France

2017

  
A worker cleans a EU flag in Berlin on May 19, 2017. The EU parliament is due to vote on October 12 on a proposed review mechanism of surveillance tool exports. (AFP/John MacDougall)

Press at risk as EU-based companies export surveillance software to hostile regimes

In August, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen told the daily newspaper Information that the government had authorized sales of online surveillance software to several Middle Eastern countries. While acknowledging the potential for human rights violations that could result from the use of these tools, the minister said that Denmark has an interest in the fight…

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CPJ urges President Macron to champion the protection of journalists in France and around the world

CPJ calls on President Macron of France to continue to champion the protection of journalists and press freedom at home and around the world.

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French journalists Elise Lucet, right, and Laurent Richard answer reporters' questions outside a courtroom in a Paris suburb on September 5. Azerbaijan's government brought criminal defamation charges against the two journalists for calling the country a "dictatorship." (AP/Francois Mori)

Journalists on trial in France after calling Azerbaijan a dictatorship

New York, September 7, 2017–The French justice ministry should dismiss criminal defamation charges the government of Azerbaijan brought against journalists Elise Lucet and Laurent Richard, and allow the pair to continue their work without obstruction, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Harlem Désir, pictured at France's National Assembly in Paris in July 2016, says he is committed to standing up for journalists in his new role as OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. (AFP/Jacques Demarthon)

Q&A: Impunity and journalist safety are priority says new OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media plays a vital role that is valued by journalists and media freedom groups for its ability to speak out in defense of press freedom in participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

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Being a Target

A reporter learns how to dodge terrorist threats to get the story By Rukmini Callimachi The convoy of cars flying al-Qaeda’s black flag swept across northern Mali in 2012. Within weeks, it felt like a curtain had been drawn.

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Self-Restraint vs. Self-Censorship

How much should journalists hold back when covering terrorism in Europe? By Jean-Paul Marthoz European journalists are on edge. Since the brutal execution of eight colleagues at the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, they have become acutely aware that they are in the firing line of extremists.

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French outlets Mediapart, Le Canard enchaîné receive threatening letters

New York, April 7, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned threats made against the Paris-based investigative news website Mediapart and satirical weekly Le Canard enchaîné (The Chained Duck), and called on French authorities to promptly bring the perpetrators to justice.

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2017