Zone of Silence
The public is robbed of information when journalists are murdered By Robert Mahoney Journalist Avijit Roy founded the blog “Mukto-Mona,” or Free Thinker, as a forum for free expression and ideas that challenged the growing religious intolerance in his native Bangladesh. His blog for intellectual freedom cost him his life.
Connecting Cuba
Outdated laws and limited, expensive internet access slow the island nation’s progress By Carlos Lauría Cuba’s media landscape has begun opening up in recent years, transformed by a lively blogosphere, an increasing number of news websites carrying investigative reporting and news commentary, and an innovative breed of independent reporters who are critical of, yet still…
Disrupting the Debate
Governments use copyright laws and Twitter bots to curb criticism on social media By Alexandra Ellerbeck On July 10, 2016, Ecuadoran journalist Bernardo Abad tweeted that the former vice-president of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, had not paid income taxes for the year before. A week later, Abad received a message from Twitter saying his account had…
Collapse of state institutions leaves Yemeni journalists vulnerable
A journalist dies mysteriously in Yemen after receiving threats because of his work, and the resulting autopsy raises more questions than answers. A columnist in the same country is sentenced to death on espionage charges in an opaque trial.
In Brazil, attacker fires at political blogger’s car
Political blogger Márcio Prado was at his home in Rio Grande da Serra, one of the municipalities that ring Brazil’s biggest city São Paulo, in the early hours of April 1, 2017, when he heard gunshots, he told CPJ in a telephone interview. The blogger said he went downstairs to see what was going on…
Nigerian blogger, publisher jailed on defamation charges
Abuja, Nigeria, March 24, 2017–Nigerian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release blogger Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo and newspaper publisher Samuel Welson, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The two have been held in a maximum security prison for more than a week as they await trial on charges of defamation and publishing false news.
Police search Brazilian blogger’s devices in morning raid
São Paulo, March 24, 2017–A police search of Brazilian blogger Carlos Eduardo Cairo Guimarães’ residence and electronic devices to uncover the sources for a story he had published was an alarming violation of journalists’ right to protect their sources, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
‘I wanted to stay and fight for my beliefs’ says jailed Vietnamese blogger forced into exile
Vietnamese journalist and religious activist Dang Xuan Dieu was granted early release January 12 from a 13-year prison sentence on anti-state charges filed over his critical reporting. As with recent early releases of other jailed Vietnamese journalists, Dieu was forced to immediately board a plane and go into exile as a condition for his freedom.
CPJ calls on Egypt to lift travel ban on blogger Esraa Abdel Fattah
New York, December 23, 2016–Egypt must lift the travel ban imposed on Esraa Abdel Fattah, an Egyptian blogger, columnist, and social media activist, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Abdel Fattah has been under a travel ban for nearly two years, alongside other bloggers and civil society activists who authorities have accused of illegally…