internet shutdown

Since June 21, Russian authorities have attacked, arrested, or harassed at least five journalists in the lead-up to Wednesday’s plebiscite on amendments to the country’s constitution. If the referendum passes, President Vladimir Putin would be able to stay in power through 2036. Early voting on the measure began on June 25. Separately, in neighboring Belarus,…

Since protests against police brutality erupted across the U.S. on May 26–sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black civilian, in Minneapolis police custody–there have been over 400 U.S. incidents of press freedom violations reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, of which CPJ is a founding partner. In a new Op-Ed, CPJ Advocacy…

The Kyrgyz Supreme Court upheld journalist and human rights defender Azimjon Askarov’s life sentence, denying his final appeal. Askarov’s health has been steadily deteriorating since being imprisoned in 2010, his family told CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said when she travelled to meet with them and visit Azimjon in prison. The threat…

Demonstrators and police in India have attacked journalists covering protests across the country following the introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Act in December 2019. Some media workers have reported that they have been asked about their religious identity and others have been forced to delete pictures and videos from their phones. Journalists covering the protests…

On February 22, 2020, intelligence agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrested and interrogated freelance economic reporter Mohammad Mosaed for several hours over recent social media posts critical of the government and suspended his social media accounts, according to a brief interview he had with the BBC Persian Service a few hours after…

Elections are always problematic for journalists in Iran, as the government attempts to threaten the press into silence. The parliamentary elections on February 21 are no exception.

This year, journalists worldwide faced attacks, arrests, and censorship. In September, we released our annual 10 Most Censored list, highlighting the range of online and offline techniques used to censor journalism and restrict press freedom. Meanwhile, protests in over two dozen countries posed risks to members of the press. Journalists faced threats while covering civil…

For the fourth consecutive year, at least 250 journalists are imprisoned globally as authoritarians like Xi Jinping, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Mohammed bin Salman, and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi show no signs of letting up on the critical media. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser