The last time New York Times cybersecurity journalist Nicole Perlroth spoke with Emirati activist Ahmed Mansoor in 2016, his passport had been taken and he had recently been beaten almost to the point of death. “We learned later on that our phone conversation had been tapped, that someone was in his baby monitor, that his…
In May of last year, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman and the son of President Jair Bolsonaro, made a series of searing accusations against journalist Patrícia Campos Mello on the YouTube channel of far-right media company Terça Livre. He claimed that Campos Mello, a reporter with Brazilian daily Folha de S.Paulo, had attempted to use sex to…
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined three other human rights organizations in a joint statement commemorating Nicaragua’s national Day of the Journalist and calling on authorities to end the widespread harassment of members of the press, and ensure media outlets and press freedom organizations can work safely. In the statement, CPJ joined three regional…
On February 4, Emmanuel Dogbevi turned to Twitter with a plea for help. He tagged press freedom groups and colleagues in a series of tweets, lamenting how allegations that he violated U.S. copyright law had prompted his news website to be taken offline. Dogbevi told CPJ via phone that Ghana Business News, the Ghana-based website he edits,…
The Committee to Protect Journalists and Human Rights Watch today issued a joint statement calling on Guatemalan authorities to stop harassing the press, strengthen protections for journalists, and ensure the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic does not restrict press freedom or access to information. The statement notes that the administration of President Alejandro Giammattei,…
Joe Biden’s subdued — if heavily guarded — inauguration at the U.S. Capitol was a marked contrast to the events there two weeks prior, when journalists were assaulted, harassed, and had their equipment destroyed by protesters who sought to overturn the election in favor of Donald Trump. Yet with Trump now out of the White House —…
The U.S. intelligence community should confirm or deny the existence of documents that may provide information on its duty to warn Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi of threats to his life before his murder, or provide more detailed explanations of their refusal to do so, CPJ argued today at the U.S. Court of Appeals for…
Twitter’s permanent suspension of President Donald Trump’s account is reinvigorating debate about the law that protects social media platforms – specifically, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The statute shields tech companies and news websites from liability for making decisions about what people can say on their platforms, whether they take it down, or…
A London court’s decision this week not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States imperils press freedom even as it benefits Assange. In her January 4 decision, Judge Vanessa Baraister ruled that Assange would be at risk of suicide should he be extradited to the U.S. to face criminal prosecution, including on espionage…
Yesterday’s pro-Trump protests in Washington, D.C. — during which a mob broke into the Capitol building and forced journalists, lawmakers, and staff to shelter-in-place for hours — were full of anti-press sentiment. The words “Murder the Media” were etched on a door inside the building, according to The New York Times, and individuals in the crowd repeatedly threatened…