Vietnamese reporter Phan Bui Bao Thy detained over critical Facebook posts
Bangkok, February 18, 2021 – Vietnamese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Phan Bui Bao Thy and stop jailing reporters for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 10, police in Vietnam’s central Quang Tri province arrested Thy, bureau chief of the state-run Giao Duc Va Thoi Dai (Age and Education) news…
Argentine municipal government files criminal complaint over journalist’s COVID-19 vaccine reporting
Miami, January 20, 2021— Argentine authorities should drop their criminal complaint against journalist Roberto Carrigall and allow him to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 13, the municipality of Quilmes, a city in Buenos Aires province, filed a criminal complaint to a federal court over Carrigall’s reporting on the municipal government’s…
Comoros journalist Oubeidillah Mchangama held for 3 days over Facebook posts
New York, December 22, 2020 — Comorian authorities should drop all legal proceedings against journalist Oubeidillah Mchangama and allow him to report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 14, Comorian authorities arrested Oubeidillah, a reporter with Facebook-based news outlet FCBK FM, and held him at a remand center in Moroni, the…
Ghana journalist Oheneba Boamah Bennie held for 2 days, charged over Facebook posts
Abuja, December 22, 2020 — Authorities in Ghana should immediately drop all charges against journalist Oheneba Boamah Bennie and allow him work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 14, Ghanaian police arrested Bennie, a host and commentator with the privately owned Power FM broadcaster, and detained him until he was released…
Journalists jailed for social media “terrorism” highlight content moderation challenges
A journalist in China uploaded a video to YouTube criticizing the Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Another, in Vietnam, left a state-owned newspaper but continued posting stories they wouldn’t let her cover on Facebook. In Egypt, a freelance photographer streamed an anti-government protest from his balcony on Facebook Live. In Iran,…
Bangladesh High Court directs authorities to “block” journalist’s social media channels
The Bangladesh High Court directed authorities to “block” journalist Kanak Sarwar’s social media pages, including YouTube and Facebook, on December 8, 2020 after he interviewed a politician in Bangladesh on YouTube, according to Sarwar and local news reports. It was not clear if the authorities had contacted YouTube or Facebook regarding Sarwar’s accounts, which he…
Cambodia jails journalist Ros Sokhet for criticizing Prime Minister Hun Sen
Bangkok, November 13, 2020 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today strongly condemned the sentencing of Cambodian journalist and publisher Ros Sokhet and called for his immediate and unconditional release. Phnom Penh’s Municipal Court convicted Sokhet and handed him an 18-month prison sentence on November 11, four months after he was arrested for Facebook posts…
Israeli forces arrest Palestinian filmmaker Abdulrahman Thaher at his home in Nablus
New York, October 28, 2020 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for the immediate release of Palestinian journalist Abdulrahman Thaher. Yesterday, Israeli security forces raided the home of Thaher, a Palestinian filmmaker and TV producer and presenter, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, arrested him, and took him to an unknown…
Indigenous journalist Anastasia Mejía arrested in central Guatemala
Managua, Nicaragua, September 28, 2020 – Guatemalan authorities should immediately release radio journalist Anastasia Mejía, drop the charges against her, and guarantee that journalists can report freely without persecution, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On September 22, the Guatemalan National Civil Police (PNC) arrested journalist Anastasia Mejía Tiriquiz, director of the radio station…
Crimean Tatar civic journalists risk persecution to cover their community in Russian-annexed Crimea
After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, some Crimean Tatars–the indigenous population of the Crimean peninsula–had to flee for the Kyiv-controlled part of Ukraine. But most have chosen to remain. As the Russian-appointed new authorities established blanket censorship, squeezing out independent media outlets, a new phenomenon emerged–civic journalism. Members of the Crimean Tatar community–who had not…