Digital Safety: Protecting against online smear campaigns
Updated March 20, 2023 Media outlets and journalists are increasingly targeted by sophisticated smear campaigns designed to harm their credibility. Groups coordinate to spread false online content about them or their work, often targeting their social media accounts. Some such groups have undisclosed government backing. Posts often seek to undermine news reports and convince readers…
‘An open-air prison’: Kashmiri journalists on how travel bans undermine press freedom
When Indian immigration officials stopped freelance Kashmiri journalist Aakash Hassan at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi international airport on July 26, they held him for several hours and questioned him about his family, his professional background and his reason for traveling – and refused to allow him to board his Sri Lanka flight because, they said, he was listed…
Journalists tell CPJ how Tunisia’s tough new constitution curbs their access to information
When a CPJ researcher sat down with Lotfi Hajji, Tunisia bureau chief of Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera at a coffee shop in Tunis in July, we noticed that a man sitting directly behind us was recording our conversation on his phone. When we stood up to take a selfie with him in the background, the man…
Attendees attack, insult 2 German reporters covering public political discussion about energy prices
Berlin, September 15, 2022 — German authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the attack on two journalists covering a political meeting and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On the evening of September 2, Moritz Gathmann, a reporter for monthly print magazine Cicero, and his female…
Spain is set to reform ‘gag law,’ but press freedom groups are skeptical
In May, Diego Díaz Alonso, editor of Spanish non-profit news outlet Nortes, was surprised to receive a 601 euro (US$611) fine in the mail. The letter claimed that Díaz Alonso had resisted police and obstructed emergency services as they were treating a homeless person lying unconscious in the street in Gijón, in northern Spain, the previous summer….
Far-right supporters harass French reporter Toufik-de-Planoise
Berlin, September 8, 2022—French authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate the recent harassment of reporter Toufik-de-Planoise, bring those responsible to justice, and ensure that journalists covering the far right can work safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On August 22, a group of four men confronted de-Planoise, a reporter for privately owned local…
Cambodian prime minister’s bodyguards detain 5 journalists covering environmental issues
Bangkok, August 22, 2022 – Cambodian authorities must thoroughly investigate the recent detention and harassment of five journalists by members of the prime minister’s security team, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On August 16, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguards detained five journalists with the independent news outlet…
‘It made me more determined’: Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad won’t stop reporting after Salman Rushdie stabbing
After novelist Salman Rushdie, the target of an Iranian fatwa, was stabbed in western New York last week, Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad said she saw messages on social media saying she should be punished next. Alinejad, who has extensively covered human rights in Iran and campaigns against the country’s compulsory hijab rule, is no…
Sierra Leone soldiers beat broadcast journalist Maada Jessie Jengo
On July 2, 2022, four Sierra Leone soldiers slapped, punched, and kicked broadcast journalist Maada Jessie Jengo on various parts of his body, and also slashed his face with a sharp object, according to news reports and Jengo, who spoke by phone to CPJ. The attack on Jengo, senior producer and presenter with the privately…