Independent Venezuelan news sites blocked by state-controlled and private service providers
Bogotá, February 4, 2022 – Fresh blocks on a handful of Venezuela’s few remaining independent news websites are a troubling sign of escalating press censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Journalists and experts say private internet service providers (ISPs) are censoring the sites for the first time, though they have been unavailable on…
Bangladeshi journalist Mamunur Rashid Nomani harassed following 2020 assault, detention
On September 12, 2020, Mamunur Rashid Nomani, chief news editor of privately owned The Daily Shahnama newspaper and editor of the privately owned news website Barisal Khabar, was severely assaulted and detained by local officials and political operatives in the south-central city of Barisal, according to news reports and Nomani, who spoke to CPJ by…
Three Philippine media outlets face latest in a string of cyberattacks
Three Philippine news websites, ABS-CBN News, Rappler, and Vera Files, publicized separate distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks between December 11 and 23, 2021. The attacks flood websites with requests to prevent them from functioning, and the sites were periodically forced offline by huge spikes in traffic coinciding with political news coverage. All three sites have been…
China finds new ways to intimidate foreign press, FCCC survey finds
On January 31, 2022, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) released findings from its annual member survey about press conditions in the country. The report, “Locked Down or Kicked Out,” found that 99% of foreign correspondents said China’s reporting conditions did not meet what they considered “international standards.” The survey also documented ways Chinese…
Proposed internet bill in Myanmar imposes 3-year prison sentences for VPN use
Bangkok, January 31, 2022 – Myanmar authorities should scrap proposed cybersecurity legislation that would severely threaten press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. In a letter dated January 13, Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications, controlled by the country’s military since the February 2021 coup, stated that a decision had been made to…
CPJ monitoring Yemen ‘with concern’ after Saudi airstrikes kill dozens and shut down internet
New York, January 21, 2022 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is monitoring with concern the aftermath of a series of Saudi-led coalition airstrikes that killed at least 70 people and cut off nearly all of Yemen’s internet access after hitting a telecommunication facility in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida on Friday. “Journalists…
Journalists at the Beijing Winter Olympics may test China’s tolerance for critical coverage
Can China and the International Olympic Committee maintain a “bubble” of total press freedom inside China’s vast sea of repression? That’s the question facing thousands of journalists as they arrive in the coming weeks to cover the Beijing Winter Olympics, which kick off on February 4. (CPJ’s safety advisory for those attending addresses coronavirus restrictions…
Journalists detained, news crew attacked, as Kazakhstan state of emergency continues
Stockholm, January 10, 2022 – Kazakh authorities should ensure the ability of the country’s media to work freely and release detained journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov. They should also fully investigate assaults on the country’s press, including an attack on a convoy that killed one Almaty TV employee and injured another and an arson attack on the…
Kazakhstan authorities block news sites, detain journalists during nationwide protests
Stockholm, January 6, 2022 – Kazakhstan authorities must allow journalists to report freely on ongoing protests in the country and ensure their safety from officials and protesters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since January 4, authorities in the Central Asian nation detained at least eight journalists reporting on mass protests in several cities…
How social media regulation could affect the press
The United Kingdom moved a step closer to regulating social media in December when a parliamentary committee recommended major changes to the country’s Online Safety Bill so as to hold internet service providers responsible for material published on their platforms. “We need to call time on the Wild West online,” said committee chair Damian Collins….