CPJ, partners’ report highlights ‘rapid’ deterioration of press freedom ahead of Georgia elections
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday, October 25, joined eight partner organizations of the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists and members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response consortium in issuing a report on the state of Georgia’s press freedom ahead of the country’s pivotal October 26 election. The report, which follows…
‘Independent media could disappear’: Georgian journalists on the country’s high stakes elections
UPDATE: In the Georgia election held October 26, the ruling Georgian Dream party declared itself the winner, but the opposing coalition is disputing those results, claiming fraud. Georgia’s president, and European and U.S. officials, have called for an investigation. On October 26, Georgia heads into what is widely viewed as its most critical election since independence from the Soviet Union in…
How Russia silences critical coverage of its war in Ukraine
Russia’s months-long jailing of journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva —released on August 1 as part of a prisoner exchange — was one of the most blatant illustrations of Russia’s muzzling of the press in the wake of its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war has precipitated what a representative of the now-shuttered Russian Journalists’ and Media Workers’…
Cyberattackers use easily available tools to target media sites, threaten press freedom
When exiled Russian news website Meduza was hit with a flood of internet traffic in mid-April, it set off alarm bells among the staff as the deluge blocked publishing for more than four hours and briefly rendered the site inaccessible for some readers. It was the largest distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) attack in…
Hostile climate intensifies for Slovak press after PM Fico shooting
The day after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot on May 15, the heads of 27 news outlets condemned the attack and called on politicians not to further divide society by looking for culprits. “Just like after the murder of our colleague Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, we are once again at…
In Serbia, a ‘witch-hunt’ for journalists who don’t toe government line
“A real epidemic of attacks.” That’s the way Serbian journalist, advocate, and professor Dinko Gruhonjić characterized the state of press freedom in his country in a recent op-ed for the media-focused news site Cenzolovka. Gruhonjić faced severe online harassment after a doctored video in which he appears to praise a war criminal was circulated online…
Council of Europe journalist safety platform sounds alarm over spyware and abusive lawsuits
The use of spyware against journalists, abusive lawsuits, and the perils facing journalists in exile are among the main concerns raised in the annual report of the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists released on March 5, 2024. The Committee to Protect Journalists was one of 15 press…
Why extradition of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange to US would be cataclysmic for press freedom
The Australian founder of the website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been fighting extradition to the U.S. from the U.K. since 2019 on charges that could strike a blow to press freedom globally. Here is CPJ’s briefing on the legal battle to extradite Assange, the charges he would face in the U.S., and why his prosecution…
Drop in jailed Turkish journalists belies a long-simmering press freedom crisis
In CPJ’s 2023 annual prison census, Turkey was the world’s 10th worst jailer of journalists—its most press-friendly ranking in almost a decade—with 13 behind bars, down from 40 the previous year. But the latest numbers don’t tell the full story. Turkey has consistently vied with China for the top slot in CPJ’s list of shame…
CPJ joins call for Azerbaijan to maintain unfettered internet access during upcoming elections
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday joined #KeepItOn Coalition partners in calling on Azerbaijan authorities and the country’s telecommunications companies and internet service providers to maintain free, open, and secure internet access and avoid shutdowns throughout presidential elections scheduled for February 7, 2024. The letter highlights how Azerbaijani authorities have implemented internet restrictions on…