UK Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Thai website editor Chiranuch Premchaiporn faces criminal charges. (AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Regulating the Internet

February 21, 2012 11:36 PM EST

Legislation for Internet security can quickly turn into a weapon against the free press. Cybercrime laws are intended to extend existing penal codes to the online world, but they can easily be broadened to criminalize standard journalistic practices. By Danny O’Brien

Until his last days in office, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi pursued restrictive legislation known as the 'gag law.' (Reuters/Alessandro Garofalo)

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Europe, a Leader That Lags

February 21, 2012 11:22 PM EST

In the EU, some countries appear more immune than others to scrutiny and reproach. Anti-terror laws, political and economic concerns, and a lack of common standards all challenge the credibility of the EU’s diplomacy. By Jean-Paul Marthoz

Attacks on the Press in 2011: United Kingdom

February 21, 2012 12:03 AM EST

The News of the World phone-hacking scandal and subsequent public inquiry raised concerns that public interest journalism could suffer from efforts to curtail unethical practices through regulation. While investigating related police leaks, Scotland Yard invoked the Official Secrets Act to pressure a journalist to reveal sources for her coverage of the scandal. Authorities ultimately backed…

An Iranian hardline student protests against the BBC during a demonstration outside the British embassy in Tehran on August 14, 2011. (AFP/Behrouz Mehri)

Iran detains, harasses relatives of BBC Persian service staff

February 3, 2012 5:19 PM EST

New York, February 3, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention and harassment in Iran of relatives of BBC Persian service staff who work outside the country, which is part of a sustained campaign to intimidate journalists into not reporting critically on Tehran’s activities.

A screen shot showing part of a Twitter blog post in which the company announced it could now censor messages on a country-by-country basis. (AP/Twitter)

Can selective blocking pre-empt wider censorship?

February 3, 2012 5:14 PM EST

Last week, Twitter provoked a fierce debate online when it announced a new capability–and related policy–to hide tweets on a country-specific basis. By building this feature into its website’s basic code, Twitter said it hoped to offer a more tailored response to legal demands to remove tweets globally. The company will inform users if any…