Deciding who decides which news is fake
Authorities decry the proliferation of misinformation and propaganda on the internet, and technology companies are wrestling with various measures to combat fake news. But addressing the problem without infringing on the right to free expression and the free flow of information is extremely thorny.
CPJ calls on Homeland Security secretary to reject password proposal
The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly’s suggestion to a committee hearing that the U.S. could request social media profile and password information as a condition to entering the country. Such requirements would have an impact on journalists by undermining their ability to protect sources and work product,…
O Globo and Folha de S.Paulo ordered to remove reports about Brazil’s First Lady
São Paulo, February 15, 2017–A judge ordered two of Brazil’s biggest national dailies, Folha de S.Paulo and O Globo, to remove stories from their websites about a court case of a hacker convicted of attempted blackmail of Brazil’s first lady, Marcela Temer, according to reports in both papers.
Journalist threatened with murder in Russia
New York, December 21, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Russian authorities to ensure the safety of independent journalist Mikhail Afanasyev, editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus in the Siberian republic of Khakassia, after the head of a criminal gang based in a neighboring region threatened to kill him because of his…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 18
Court confiscates assets of 54 journalists Istanbul’s 11th Court of Penal Peace court confiscated the assets of 54 journalists, media workers, and writers, saying there was a “strong suspicion” that they were followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom the Turkish government accuses of maintaining a terrorist organization and “parallel state structure” (FETÖ/PDY, by its…
Thai legislation threatens online freedoms
Bangkok, December 16, 2016–Thailand’s cabinet and king should scrap legislation that would give authorities sweeping new powers to censor the internet based on vague and broad criteria, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The military-appointed National Legislative Assembly today passed amendments to the 2007 Computer Crime Act that would severely restrict Thais’ rights to…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 11
Columnist jailed pending ‘insult’ trial for remarks on Syria Istanbul’s Ninth Court of Penal Peace this evening ordered Hüsnü Mahalli, a columnist for the leftist newspaper Yurt, jailed pending trial on charges of “insulting the president” and “insulting a board of civil servants in the course of discharging their duties,” the official Anatolia Agency reported.