Iran tightens media crackdown with raids, financial pressure
New York, February 9, 2026 —The Committee to Protect Journalists demands that Iranian authorities halt their ongoing attacks and harassment of journalists and media workers and roll back punitive measures used to silence reporting, including raids, equipment seizures, financial pressure, and restrictions on communications. Azadeh Mokhtari, a social affairs editor at the Rokna news website,…
Algerian authorities arrest journalist Omar Ferhat
New York, February 9, 2026 — Algerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Omar Ferhat, director of the local independent news website Algerie Scoop, and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday. On Thursday, February 5, Algerian state security officers arrested Ferhat, also known as ‘Karim Kaki’, from…
Gunmen storm Yemen’s Aden Al-Ghad offices, injuring staff
Washington, D.C., February 3, 2026 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Yemen’s internationally recognized government to immediately launch a swift and transparent investigation into the Sunday attack on the headquarters of independent Yemen-based media outlet Aden Al-Ghad, and to hold those responsible accountable. According to a statement by Aden Al-Ghad, the attack was…
Iran arrests 2 more journalists amid widening crackdown
New York, February 2, 2026— The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release journalists Mehdi Mahmoudian and Vida Rabbani and to end the ongoing crackdown on journalists. Mahmoudian and Rabbani were arrested after signing a statement, alongside other Iranian journalists and activists, expressing their support of the recent mass…
Saudi Arabia arrests program host Mohamed El-Sayed
Washington, D.C., January 29, 2026 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Saudi authorities to disclose the reasons for the detention of Saudi television and YouTube program host Mohamed El-Sayed. According to the U.K.-based Arab Organization for Human Rights in the U.K. (AOHR) and the U.S.-based independent media outlet Watan, El-Sayed was taken into…
Iran: 3 journalists arrested as news trickles out under internet shutdown
New York, January 27, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to immediately release journalists Hassan Abbasi, Artin Ghazanfari, and Hamed Araghi, as news of their detention emerged weeks after a nationwide internet shutdown began on January 8. CPJ was unable to confirm the charges against the journalists or their current whereabouts. “The…
CPJ calls on Israel to lift ban on foreign journalists and stop targeting broadcasters
New York, January 26, 2026—As Israel’s Supreme Court considers petitions on Monday challenging the ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza, the Israeli government has simultaneously doubled down on restrictions against foreign media operating inside Israel. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Israeli authorities to immediately allow foreign journalists to freely enter and report…
Tunisia issues fresh 3½-year jail terms to journalists Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies
New York, January 26, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the three-and-a-half year prison sentences handed down to prominent Tunisian journalists Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies for tax evasion, which are widely seen as in retaliation for their reporting. Zghidi and Baaies, who work for the local independent radio station IFM, have been behind bars…
Israeli drone strike on vehicle kills 3 journalists in Gaza
Amman, January 21, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for a transparent investigation after three journalists were killed on Wednesday in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in central Gaza during an ongoing ceasefire. According to news reports, the three were killed while on assignment for the Egyptian Committee, which oversees Egypt’s humanitarian work…
2025 journalist jailings remain stubbornly high; harsh prison conditions pervasive
For the fifth year in a row, more than 300 journalists were imprisoned worldwide as of the end of 2025, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. These record-setting numbers reflect growing authoritarianism and escalating numbers of armed conflicts worldwide. Often, journalists are held under cruel and life-threatening conditions – “a cemetery of the living,” as one freed Palestinian prisoner described it.