South Sudan blocks social media access amid unrest
Nairobi, January 24, 2025– The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on South Sudanese authorities to reverse its social media ban and to ensure that the public has open and reliable internet access, which is essential for news gathering amid unrest in the country. “Blocking social media access is a blanket act of censorship and a disproportionate response…
Benin’s regulator suspends 6 media outlets until further notice
Dakar, January 23, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Beninese authorities to reverse their January 21 orders suspending six privately owned media outlets — news sites Reporter Médias Monde, Les Pharaons, and Crystal News, the Mme Actu Tiktok account, and Le Patriote and Audace Info newspapers — and to return the press card of Audace Info’s publication director…
Taliban sentences Afghan journalist Mahdi Ansary to 18 months in prison
New York, January 17, 2025—A Taliban court in the capital Kabul on January 1 sentenced Afghan News Agency reporter Mahdi Ansary to 18 months in prison on charges of disseminating anti-Taliban propaganda. “Mahdi Ansary’s unjust sentence is indicative of the Taliban’s continued brutality and suppression of press freedom in Afghanistan,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s…
Venezuela detains journalist covering anti-government protests on preliminary charge of terrorism
Bogotá, January 15, 2025–Venezuelan authorities should immediately release journalist Leandro Palmar and his assistant Belises Salvador Cubillán, who were detained January 9 in the western city of Maracaibo while covering anti-government protests, media outlets reported, and ensure they can do their jobs without fear of reprisal, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday. A criminal…
Tanzanian journalist Maria Sarungi Tsehai briefly abducted in Kenya
Nairobi, January 14, 2025– CPJ calls on the Kenyan government to conduct a comprehensive investigation after four unknown men assaulted and abducted prominent Tanzanian journalist and human rights activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai for about four hours on Sunday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. “With attacks on dissidents living in exile in Nairobi and a…
Russia labels news outlets ‘terrorist organizations’ for the first time
Berlin, January 14, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Russian authorities to stop persecuting the regional news site Komi Daily and the independent media outlet Asians of Russia, which the Federal Security Service (FSB) added to its list of “terrorist organizations.” This marks the first time media publications have been labeled as such in Russia, according…
Indian journalist who exposed corruption targeted with online smear campaign
New Delhi, December 20, 2024—Indian journalist Anand Mangnale is the target of an online smear campaign that began on December 5 when Nishikant Dubey, a parliament member with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), linked Mangnale to an effort to “derail” the Indian government through foreign funding in Parliament. “Investigative journalism is crucial for uncovering…
Belarusian court sentences journalist Volha Radzivonava to 4 years in jail
New York, December 12, 2024—A Belarusian court in Minsk, the capital, convicted freelance reporter Volha Radzivonava of discrediting Belarus, “incitement to racial, national, religious, or other social hostility or discord,” and defaming and insulting the president of Belarus, sentencing her to four years in jail on Tuesday. “Journalist Volha Radzivonava’s four-year prison sentence is yet another example of…
Burundi prosecutors seek 12-year prison term for journalist Sandra Muhoza
Kampala, December 2, 2024—Burundi prosecutors requested a 12-year prison sentence for journalist Sandra Muhoza, who has been detained for seven months on charges of undermining the integrity of Burundi’s national territory and inciting ethnic hatred. The charges against Muhoza, a reporter for the privately owned online newspaper La Nova Burundi, are connected to messages she…
Haitian telecom authority suspends radio show, citing alleged ‘dissemination of propaganda’
Miami, November 26, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on CONATEL, Haiti’s telecommunications authority, to end its suspension of a popular evening show on Radio Mega, one of the country’s largest broadcast outlets, amid concerns the penalty was imposed without due process. “Haitian authorities should reverse their suspension of the Radio Mega show ‘Boukante Lapawòl’ (Exchange of Words)…