Kashmiri journalist Raihana Maqbool on reporting on COVID-19 amid ongoing restrictions
Journalists in Jammu and Kashmir have spent the past eight months navigating an intense crackdown by Indian authorities in the region, including unprecedented restrictions on communications and the longest internet shutdown in a democracy. Now, they have the added challenge on trying to report on the COVID-19 pandemic. India has instituted a strict 21-day national…
China uses visa process to intimidate foreign press, FCCC survey finds
Conditions for foreign correspondents in China deteriorated in 2019, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) annual survey found. The report, published today, noted that for a second year none of the respondents gave a positive response when asked if conditions had improved.
Jammu and Kashmir police question three journalists amid social media ban
New Delhi, February 19, 2020—Jammu and Kashmir police have summoned three journalists this month, including photojournalist Kamran Yousuf, who was questioned about social media activity, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. In January, after a lengthy communications shutdown in the region, the Indian government restored access to under 1500 “white-listed” websites, not including social…
Kashmiri journalists, news outlets still offline after India partially restores internet
New York, January 28, 2020—Internet access was partially restored in most of Jammu and Kashmir on January 25, but service remained slow and social media platforms and many local news websites remain blocked, The New York Times and other outlets reported. In a statement circulated to CPJ and news outlets, the Kashmir Press Club said…
Bangladesh blocks Sweden-based news website Netra News
Beginning on December 28, 2019, Bangladeshi authorities have blocked domestic connections to Netra News, a recently launched news website based in Sweden, according to a report by Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera and Netra News editor-in-chief Tasneem Khalil, who wrote to CPJ via email.
Laws, cheap web filters arm Russia to block news, says Censored Planet
When Daniil Kislov tried to view the website of Fergana from his computer in Moscow on November 1, his browser showed him the now-familiar notification that the independent news outlet he directs had been blocked by order of Roskomnadzor, the national agency that regulates the internet in Russia, he told CPJ. Fergana has been blocked…
CPJ calls on Tajik president to ensure journalists can report the news freely and safely
CPJ writes to Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to express serious concerns regarding threats to journalists, censorship of independent news outlets and the internet, and restrictions on accreditation of journalists in Tajikistan as the country prepares to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in 2020.
