U.S. press freedom under President Biden
Since his inauguration, U.S. President Joe Biden has underscored the importance of protecting press freedom. In a new report by CPJ, Leonard Downie Jr. finds an almost complete reversal from the Trump administration’s hostile anti-media rhetoric and a return to a more traditional relationship between the press and the White House. However, journalists and advocates…
How social media regulation could affect the press
The United Kingdom moved a step closer to regulating social media in December when a parliamentary committee recommended major changes to the country’s Online Safety Bill so as to hold internet service providers responsible for material published on their platforms. “We need to call time on the Wild West online,” said committee chair Damian Collins….
Number of journalists behind bars reaches global high
Editor’s note: Numbers for each prison census are adjusted yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. The numbers for CPJ’s 2021 census have been revised from 293 to 302 in accordance with this policy. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/ The number of journalists jailed around the world set another record…
Ethiopia’s civil war dashes once-high hopes of press freedom
In a Facebook post at the end of October, Awlo Media Center, an Ethiopian online news outlet critical of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration, announced that the government’s “pressure and obstruction” had forced it to shut down and lay off all of its employees. The closure came after a number of Awlo Media Center journalists…
226 journalists murdered with impunity in the last decade
Murder is the ultimate form of censorship, yet the perpetrators are seldom held to account. CPJ’s 2021 Impunity Index, released Thursday, reveals that in more than eight out of 10 cases, the murderers of journalists go unpunished. The 2021 report shows little change from last year as conflict, political instability, and weak judicial mechanisms perpetuate…
Welcome victories in the long fight against injustice
This week, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights announced that it ruled the Colombian state responsible for the 2000 abduction, rape, and torture of journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima. The court ordered the government to investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible, and to support female journalists. Also this week, the European Court of Human Rights found…
The Taliban’s false promises on press freedom
The Taliban have pledged to allow Afghan journalists to do their jobs, but journalists in the country continue to face attacks, and at least one remains in custody. In Kabul last week, reporter Mohammad Ali Ahmadi was traveling in a taxi van when a man sitting next to him asked where he worked; when he…
Apple Daily parent company shuts down in Hong Kong
The Hong Kong media company Next Digital, which owned the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper before it shut down in June, announced this week that it will also cease operations. Under Hong Kong’s national security law, authorities have escalated attacks on independent media outlets, including Next Digital and its executives. The company’s founder, Jimmy Lai, is…
Afghanistan’s free press disappearing
In recent weeks in Afghanistan, the Taliban has physically attacked journalists, raided homes, and forced female state TV anchors off the air. As they seek safety, Afghan journalists fear for their lives, going into hiding and deleting their social media presences to avoid being targeted. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan this month, CPJ…
At risk: An entire generation of Afghan reporters
With the Taliban in power, the situation for journalists in Afghanistan has become even more dire. Militants searched the homes of at least four journalists and news agency employees, and a journalist seeking safety told CPJ she worries she may not be alive by the time help comes. PBS NewsHour correspondent Jane Ferguson described the…