CPJ calls on Turkey’s presidential candidates to prioritize press freedom
Ahead of June 24 presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey, the Committee to Protect Journalists today joined 18 other international press freedom and freedom of expression organizations in calling on to the future leader of Turkey to prioritize press freedom and safety of journalists in the country.
CPJ condemns election news restrictions in Cambodia
Hong Kong, June 4, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned today proposed restrictions on news coverage of upcoming elections in Cambodia and called on the country’s authorities to allow the media to report freely without fear of reprisal.
By suing WikiLeaks, DNC could endanger principles of press freedom
In 1993, WILK radio host Frederick Vopper broadcast a conversation intercepted by an illegal wiretap and sent anonymously to the Pennsylvania radio station, in which two teachers union officials discussed violent negotiating tactics. The officials sued Vopper, arguing that he should be liable for the illegal wiretap that captured their comments. But the Supreme Court…
Journalists covering unrest in the DRC face arrests, assault, and internet shutdowns
On New Year’s Eve, as the world prepared to ring in 2018, Congolese journalist Edmon Izula was being repeatedly hit with a rifle and threatened at gunpoint by a member of the state security forces. Iluza was one of at least three journalists harassed by authorities that day, in a scenario that has become common…
Freedom of speech is guaranteed Aliyev says as Azerbaijan blocks news websites
President Ilham Aliyev claims that in Azerbaijan the internet is free and press freedom is guaranteed. But ahead of the April 11 snap elections, authorities have systematically silenced critical voices online through amending laws and blocking news websites, and hackers have attacked independent news outlets.
Azerbaijan goes to the polls amid muzzled media and blocked websites
When it comes to silencing critics, Azerbaijani authorities have been industrious and methodical. Ahead of snap presidential elections scheduled for April 11, potential opposition candidates have been either jailed or barred from running, and the political landscape has been cleansed of virtually all formal avenues of expressing dissent.
In DRC at least six journalists detained during anti-government protests
Congolese security forces on November 30, 2017, detained at least six local journalists and confiscated their equipment as they tried to cover countrywide protests over President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to stand down when his second five-year term in office expired in 2016 and his refusal to hold elections, according to a local press freedom group…
DRC authorities cut access to internet and SMS ahead of protests
On December 30, 2017, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Telecommunications Minister, Emery Okundji, ordered the country’s telecommunications providers to shut internet and SMS services across the country, according to a media report and the local press freedom group L’Observatoire de la liberté de la Presse en Afrique, (the Observatory of Press Freedom in Africa or…
DRC security forces harass journalists covering Kabila protests
Security forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on December 31, 2017, harassed at least three journalists who were reporting on protests in the capital, Kinshasa, over President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to stand down when his second five-year term in office expired in 2016 and his refusal to hold elections, according to local journalists…
Censorship tightens in Egypt as el-Sisi prepares for re-election bid
Ahead of elections in Egypt later this month, in which President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is seeking a second term, the authoritarian leader’s government has further clamped down on press freedom, issuing warnings to the media and arresting critical journalists on “false news” charges. Even satirical TV shows have not been spared, with AFP reporting how…