Middle East & North Africa

  
A screen shot of the new label on RT's YouTube channel. (CPJ)

YouTube labels on public broadcasters draw ire in US, Russia

With claims to more than one billion users consuming content in 76 languages, Google’s YouTube has become a core part of most media outlets’ dissemination strategy. And although there are 88 localized versions of the service, YouTube.com remains the largest and most influential platform for reaching a global audience. Which is why, when the site…

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Members of the Syrian civil defense forces known as White Helmets search for victims following an airstrike in Arbin, eastern Ghouta on February 9, 2018. An airstrike on March 12 killed Arbin Unified Media Office photographer Bashar al-Attar. (AFP/Abdulmonam Eassa)

Airstrike kills Syrian photographer in eastern Ghouta

Beirut, March 14, 2018–Bashar al-Attar, a photographer for the pro-opposition Arbin Unified Media Office, died from injuries sustained in a March 12 airstrike in the rebel-held eastern Ghouta area of Syria, outside of Damascus, according to his employer and the Syrian Journalists Association.

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Presidential election campaign banners in downtown Cairo on March 7, 2018. At least four journalists have been detained since President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declared his re-election bid. (AFP/Khaled Desouki)

Censorship tightens in Egypt as el-Sisi prepares for re-election bid

Ahead of elections in Egypt later this month, in which President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is seeking a second term, the authoritarian leader’s government has further clamped down on press freedom, issuing warnings to the media and arresting critical journalists on “false news” charges. Even satirical TV shows have not been spared, with AFP reporting how…

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Venus symbols are seen during an event where UN Women and rights groups launched a campaign against violence towards women as International Women's Day approaches, in Mexico City, Mexico in March 2018. CPJ has documented threats faced by women journalists across the globe. (Reuters/Henry Romero)

On International Women’s Day, CPJ looks at threats women journalists face

From imprisonment, sexual violence, cyber harassment, and even death, CPJ has documented threats faced by women journalists across the globe.

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Syrian Army soldiers loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad forces are seen in Idlib, Syria on January 21, 2018. Territory in and around Idlib has frequently changed hands in the past weeks and months of the conflict. (Reuters/SANA handout)

Syrian journalist assaulted by gunmen in northwestern Syria

Eight unidentified gunmen on March 1, 2018, assaulted Mohamed Abdulqader Sbeh, a reporter for the independent news website Madar Today, in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, according to the Syrian Journalist Association and the journalist’s employer.

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The southern port city of Aden. Armed attackers in the Yemeni city raided a media foundation and set fire to the presses used to publish two newspapers. (Reuters/Fawaz Salman)

Armed attackers set fire to Yemen media foundation printing press

New York, March 6, 2018 – Yemeni authorities in Aden should investigate an attack on a media foundation’s office and ensure that journalists working in areas under their control can operate freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Armed men raided the offices of al-Shomou Foundation on March 1 and set fire…

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Stormy weather hits the Egyptian port city of Alexandria in January 2018. Police in the city are detaining two journalists for allegedly filming without a license. (AFP/Stringer)

In Egypt, police arrest two journalists for ‘filming without a license’

Washington, D.C., March 2, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Egyptian authorities to release reporter Mai El-Sabagh and cameraman Ahmad Mustafa, of the local news website Raseef22, who were arrested in Alexandria on February 28.

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Iranian motorists drive past the Azadi Tower in the capital Tehran in January 2018. Iranian security forces on February 19 arrested Reza Entessari and Kasra Nouri, reporters with the Sufi news website Majzooban-e-Noor, while they were covering the violent dispersal of religious protests in Tehran, according to news reports. (AFP/Atta Kenare)

Iran arrests two journalists covering crackdown on religious protests

New York, March 1, 2018–Iranian security forces on February 19 arrested Reza Entessari and Kasra Nouri, reporters with the Sufi news website Majzooban-e-Noor, while they were covering the violent dispersal of religious protests in Tehran, according to their employer and the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi speaks at the Military Academy in Cairo, Egypt, February 19, 2018. The Egyptian government has cracked down on the media ahead of a scheduled presidential elections next month, in which President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is running virtually unopposed, according to media reports. (Reuters/The Egyptian Presidency/Handout)

Egypt’s top prosecutor orders authorities to monitor media for “fake news”

New York, February 28, 2018–Egyptian authorities should immediately cease their intimidation campaign against independent news outlets, and let journalists report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A beach in Casablanca in July 2012. Moroccan police on February 23, 2018 arrested Taoufik Bouachrine, a columnist and the publisher of Akhbar al-Youm, at the newspaper's headquarters in Casablanca. (Reuters/Youssef Boudlal)

Critical Moroccan journalist arrested on several charges

Moroccan police on February 23, 2018 arrested Taoufik Bouachrine, a columnist and the publisher of Akhbar al-Youm, at the newspaper’s headquarters in Casablanca on charges including human trafficking, sexual assault, rape, prostitution, and harassment, according to his lawyers, outlets, and news reports.

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