Why release of two journalists in Ethiopia does not signal end to press crackdown
On January 10, radio journalists Darsema Sori and Khalid Mohammed were released from prison after serving lengthy sentences related to their work at the Ethiopian faith-based station Radio Bilal. Despite their release and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s promise earlier this month to free political prisoners, Ethiopia’s use of imprisonment, harassment, and surveillance means that the…
Benin media regulator threatens to prosecute online outlets over registration
Benin’s media regulator, the High Authority for Broadcasting and Communication (HAAC), on December 21, 2017, threatened to shut down online publications that did not have authorization to distribute content, according to an HAAC press statement and the news website Beninwebtv.
Somaliland journalist detained without charge over false news claim
Police in Gabiley arrested Abdirisak Dayib Ali on December 5, 2017 for allegedly publishing a false report on the news website Gabiley News earlier that month, according to his lawyer, Guleid Ahmed Jama, and Mohamud Abdi Jama, chair of the Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA).
From power cuts to powerful threats, Venezuela’s indigenous journalists face a series of challenges in their reporting
Three twentysomethings huddle over a desk in a small room in Tucupita, a low-slung city of about 90,000 people that spills across the Orinoco river delta region in northeastern Venezuela. Far from the tear gas and street conflicts roiling cities including Caracas and Valencia, these journalists are focused on reporting the latest story from the…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 20, 2017
New decree used to shutter three pro-Kurdish outlets The Turkey government shuttered three more pro-Kurdish media outlets yesterday, using a new decree issued under the state of emergency that has been in place since the failed attempted coup last year, the daily Cumhuriyet reported. Decree 693 was used to shutter the Dihaber news agency, the…
Egypt should stop blocking access to rights organizations’ websites
Washington, D.C., August 18, 2017 – Egyptian authorities should immediately stop blocking access to the website of the international press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF, for its French acronym) and the Egyptian group the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Internet users in Egypt have been…
