China’s COVID-19 countermeasures include restricting press freedom
In the nearly 71 years of Communist Party rule in China, the country’s citizens have enjoyed brief periods of relatively free speech, as during the abortive Hundred Flowers Campaign in 1956-57, or the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when investigative journalists covered local corruption and pollution. When the coronavirus outbreak first began spreading in…
Map: Attacks on press freedom during the COVID-19 pandemic
Updated June 22, 2021 CPJ has documented numerous press freedom violations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, from legislation threatening to censor free speech to arrests of journalists providing the public with vital news about the virus. This map plots violations, verified by CPJ staff, across nearly every region of the world from early…
Bangladeshi journalist held in Jordan without lawyer since April
New York, June 1, 2020 — Jordanian authorities should immediately release Bangladeshi journalist Selim Akash and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On April 14, three men in plainclothes arrested Akash, a reporter for the Bangladeshi satellite broadcaster BanglaTV and news website Jago News, in front of his house…
CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering U.S. protests over police violence
Updated August 26, 2020 There have been hundreds of reported incidents of violence and harassment, as well as arrests, targeting journalists covering ongoing Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S. sparked by the death on May 25, 2020—in police custody—of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota. These incidents have been documented by CPJ…
CNN team arrested while covering Minneapolis protests
Washington, D.C., May 29, 2020 — Minnesota police officers today arrested a CNN crew covering protests in Minneapolis while they were live on air, according to video from the broadcaster. In the footage, correspondent Omar Jimenez can be seen holding his press badge and crew members are heard identifying themselves as journalists and offering to…
Nigerian journalist Kufre Carter detained for 1 month, charged with defamation and conspiracy
Abuja, May 28, 2020 — Nigerian authorities should drop all charges against journalist Kufre Carter and ensure that the press is not harassed by the country’s security forces, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On April 27, in the southern city of Uyo, officers with Nigeria’s Department of State Services arrested Carter, a presenter…
Authorities in India continue to investigate, detain journalists amid COVID-19 pandemic
Local authorities across India filed legal notices against, questioned, or detained at least eight journalists between March 29, 2020, and May 17, 2020, amid the country’s lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, according to CPJ interviews with the journalists and media reports. According to Om Sharma, a journalist with Hindi daily Divya Himachal in…
Nepali reporters detained, threatened while reporting on COVID-19 pandemic
Police in districts around Nepal briefly detained at least four journalists in relation to coverage of the coronavirus pandemic since the government introduced containment measures on March 23, 2020, while at least six others reported being threatened or attacked by a range of actors seeking to suppress allegations of wrongdoing over the same period, according…
Rwandan journalist, media worker detained since mid-April
Nairobi, May 21, 2020 — Rwandan authorities should unconditionally release journalist Dieudonné Niyonsenga and media worker Fidèle Komezusenge, and ensure the members of press can work without interference during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.