internet shutdown

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Tigrayans protest in Adi Gudem over the ousting of local officials in a power struggle within the ruling TPLF party on July 27.

‘Stop filming, or I will shoot’: Ethiopian journalists targeted in Tigray turmoil

Almost three years after Ethiopia’s civil war ended, Tigray remains tense and dangerous for journalists, who have been shot at, detained, raided, and swept up in a local power struggle that could trigger renewed conflict. Ethiopian foreign minister Gedion Timothewos warned the United Nations this month that in the northern state of Tigray — the…

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In an interview with CPJ, Radio Azattyq director Torokul Doorov talked about Azattyq’s influence, how clashes with authorities increased as the outlet became more popular. (Photo: Torokul Doorov)

‘It has become extremely difficult for us’: Uncertain future for RFE/RL’s Kazakh service

Radio Azattyq director Torokul Doorov says it is “very difficult” for journalists not to become activists in the face of “unfairness and injustice” in Kazakhstan. “You just want to start screaming,” says Doorov, who joined the Kazakh arm of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2014, and the outlet grew to be one of Kazakhstan’s most influential…

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A journalist at The Kabul Times in Afghanistan in 2023. The Taliban’s information ministry runs the decades-old newspaper, one of about 15 major news outlets that have become tightly aligned with the group's radical Islamist ideology.

How the Taliban’s propaganda empire consumed Afghan media

In four years, the Taliban have annihilated Afghanistan’s independent media sector and supplanted it with their own propaganda empire and sophisticated digital bots that flood social media with pro-Taliban content. CPJ interviewed 10 Afghan journalists, inside and outside the country, who said that  independent media, which used to reach millions of people, have largely been…

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Following current President Sadyr Japarov’s rise to power, Kyrgyz authorities have launched an unprecedented assault on independent reporting. (Photo: Reuters/Evgenia Novozhenina)

Kyrgyzstan government recriminalizes libel and insult laws 

New York, February 21, 2025 – The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kyrgyz authorities to reverse amendments to the country’s Code of Offenses, which took effect February 10, that recriminalize libel and insult on the internet and in media. “Kyrgyzstan’s implementation of legislation that will make it easier to fine news outlets for defamation and insult…

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A traffic police officer gestures directing motorists along a street, following a night of gunfire after security forces moved to arrest the former head of the intelligence service, in Juba, South Sudan November 22, 2024. REUTERS/Samir Bol

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…

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Kenya security officers apprehend an activist protesting the high cost of living before government leaders proceed to the Kenyan Parliament to read the Government's Buget for the 2024/25 fiscal year in Nairobi, on June 13, 2024. Thousands of Kenyans have been protesting a proposed law under the budget that would significantly increase taxes. (Photo: AFP/Tony Karumba)

CPJ calls on Kenyan authorities to respect press freedom amid ongoing protests

Nairobi, June 25, 2024—Kenyan authorities must investigate reports of several journalists attacked while covering protests, desist from intimidating the media, and ensure reliable and secure access to the internet, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Thousands of Kenyans have taken to the streets several times since June 18 to protest a proposed law that…

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CPJ, partners call on ICJ to order unimpeded media access to Gaza following South Africa’s urgent request

New York, May 22, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), ARTICLE 19 and partners on Wednesday issued a statement (full text below) in support of South Africa’s urgent request to the International Court of Justice to order Israel to facilitate unimpeded media access to Gaza.  In a joint statement, nine human rights and press freedom…

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Why impact of Israel-Gaza war has become harder to document

Israel’s surprise attack on Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza on March 18, and the two weeks of fighting that followed, resulted in hundreds of deaths and a trail of destruction. It also left a morass of contradictory information about exactly who was killed there, who was arrested, and who went missing.   As the Israel-Gaza war…

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Angolan soldiers parade at the swearing-in of President Joao Lourenco in 2017.

CPJ: Angola’s proposed national security law threatens press freedom, puts journalists at risk

New York, April 1, 2024–Angola’s proposed national security law could hinder the public’s right to information and severely undermine press freedom, further exposing journalists to harassment, intimidation, and censorship by authorities, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday. The National Security Bill, which critics say threatens Angola’s democracy and could turn the country into…

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A destroyed military vehicle in Khartoum, Sudan, on April 20, 2023.

CPJ alarmed by extended communications blackout in Sudan

New York, February 5, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports of an ongoing communications blackout across most of Sudan since Friday and urgently calls for an immediate restoration of telecoms and internet networks across the country, where a nearly 10-month conflict has displaced millions. Since February 2, mobile and internet services provided…

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