Vietnamese editor faces anti-state charges for reporting on corruption
Bangkok, May 13, 2015–Authorities in Vietnam today levied anti-state charges against a former news editor who published reports on official corruption, according to news reports. The accusations mark a trend of legal harassment against journalists who probe sensitive corruption issues in Vietnam, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
Journalists overcome obstacles through crowdfunding and determination
During South Africa’s Boer War, at the turn of the 20th century, a determined news organization relocated reporters, copy editors, and printing presses to the front line to ensure accurate reporting. In the Warsaw Ghetto, during World War II, a literal underground press, established to counter Nazi propaganda, required the nightly movement of cumbersome printing…
Critical Chinese blogger given six-year prison term
New York, July 23, 2014–Chinese authorities today sentenced a blogger to more than six years in prison, according to news reports. Dong Rubin, a businessman who has criticized the ruling Communist Party in his blogs, has been in prison since September 2013.
Chinese journalist Gao Yu jailed for leaking secrets
Hong Kong, May 8, 2014–A Chinese journalist missing since April 24 was detained by authorities and has been accused of leaking a confidential Communist Party document, according to news reports. Gao Yu’s arrest comes amid the detention of several government critics as the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown approaches, according to news reports.
Vietnamese blogger sentenced on anti-state charges
Bangkok, March 4, 2014–Vietnamese blogger Truong Duy Nhat was sentenced to prison today for online posts critical of the country’s Communist Party-led government, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ruling and urges Vietnamese authorities to stop persecuting independent bloggers.
Vietnam Tightens the Squeeze on Its Bloggers
A mushrooming blogosphere has challenged the state’s media monopoly, drawing a heavy-handed bid to bring the Internet under government control. By Shawn W. Crispin Blogger Pham Viet Dao attends a conference on social media in Hanoi on December 24, 2012. Dao was arrested on June 13, 2013, on accusations of anti-state activity. (Reuters/Nguyen Lan Thang)
Obama must urge free press during meeting with Vietnam
Dear President Obama: We are writing to express our concern about the deteriorating press and Internet freedom situation in Vietnam ahead of your Thursday meeting with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang. We ask that in your discussions you insist on the progress of freedom of expression-related issues as a precondition for broadening Vietnam’s diplomatic, economic, and strategic relations with the United States.
Sánchez, Cuba’s blogging pioneer, eyes a new trail to blaze
Having broken through one long-standing barrier, Yoani Sánchez, the pioneering figure in Cuba’s independent blogosphere, is looking to smash another. “It seemed like an impossible dream, but here I am,” Sánchez told a gathering today at CPJ’s New York offices. After being denied travel authorization at least 20 times in the past, Sánchez is in…
China obstructs, censors foreign media before congress
New York, October 29, 2012–Officials from China’s Communist Party should stop censoring and obstructing foreign journalists in the lead-up to the Party Congress scheduled for November 8, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Information security is notoriously tight before the five-yearly congress, which is expected to usher in high-level leadership change in 2012.