Botswana journalists remain ‘vigilant’ under new surveillance law
When Botswana’s government sought to pass a new law early this year that would have allowed for warrantless surveillance, local opposition came swift. Authorities eventually introduced judicial oversight, which local media groups considered a success, but the Botswana police’s history of searching journalists’ devices and accessing their telecom information remains cause for concern. “We do…
‘A rush of relief’: Tanzanian investigative newspaper allowed to publish after 5-year ban
In 2017, Simon Mkina was the publisher and chief editor of the muckraking Tanzanian newspaper Mawio when authorities announced that they were suspending the publication for “jeopardizing national security” by reporting on two former presidents’ alleged links to mining misconduct. Mkina was forced to lay himself off, along with 57 other employees, and he became…
CPJ joins letter calling for release of journalists, others arbitrarily detained in Cameroon
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday, February 3, joined 26 other civil society organizations in calling on President Paul Biya to release all those arbitrarily detained in Cameroon for acts of free expression, including at least four journalists. The open letter, published during the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, notes that the continent’s…
Why the UN’s push for a cybercrime treaty could imperil journalists simply for using the internet
Cybercrime is on the global agenda as a United Nations committee appointed to develop a treaty on the topic plans for its first meeting amid pandemic-related delays. The process is slated to take at least two years, but experts warn that such a treaty – initially proposed by Russia – could hand new tools to…
In Benin, growing fears over law that can jail journalists for posting news online
Posting on Facebook from Benin’s Central Office for Repression of Cybercrime on November 18, journalist Patrice Gbaguidi wrote that authorities had summoned him for a second time in two weeks over a defamation complaint about one of his articles. That day, he and Hervé Alladé, the owner of Le Soleil Bénin Infos newspaper where Gbaguidi…
Ethiopia’s civil war dashes once-high hopes of press freedom
In a Facebook post at the end of October, Awlo Media Center, an Ethiopian online news outlet critical of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration, announced that the government’s “pressure and obstruction” had forced it to shut down and lay off all of its employees. The closure came after a number of Awlo Media Center journalists…
How China’s Huawei technology is being used to censor news halfway across the world
When a staffer at the independent media website Iwacu in the central African state of Burundi tried to visit the outlet online in late October, they received an error message instead. “Hum. Nous ne parvenons pas à trouver ce site;” the site could not be found – even though the local media regulator had promised…
A Nigerian journalist took photos at the scene of killings his government denies. Then the harassment started
The photos showed blood-soaked concrete, a gashed open thigh, and an injured protester grimacing in pain on the ground. Taken by photojournalist Eti-Inyene Godwin Akpan on October 20, 2020, the images tell the story of Nigerian forces’ mass shooting of anti-police brutality protesters at Lagos’ Lekki Toll Gate, an incident the government continues to deny….
Partner of journalist missing in Mali says she’ll only be at peace when he returns home
Freelance French journalist Olivier Dubois, 47, did what he would normally do ahead of an assignment. He gave his partner and mother of his children, Deborah Al Hawi Al Marsi, a piece of paper with names and contact numbers in case of an emergency. Each time Olivier returned safely home to the Malian capital, Bamako,…
CPJ joins call for Canada to impose targeted sanctions on Eritrean officials
The Committee to Protect Journalists yesterday joined 15 other rights organizations, journalists, and human rights experts in a statement calling on the government of Canada to impose targeted sanctions on senior Eritrean officials for human rights abuses, including the 20-year imprisonment of newspaper editor Dawit Isaac and other journalists. “After two decades, the devastating mistreatment…