Puerto Rico authorities subpoena Facebook for information from student media outlets
On September 27, 2019, Denis Márquez, a member of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives, told the staff of Pulso Estudiantil, a student-run newspaper based at the University of Puerto Rico, that the island’s Justice Department had acquired information from the paper’s Facebook account, as well as from Diálogo UPR and the Center for Student Communication,…
Bolivian decree broadens criminal sanctions for disinformation on COVID-19
Editors’ Note: On May 14, after CPJ published this article, the Bolivian representative to the Organization of American States announced that the government had issued a new decree eliminating the language that CPJ objected to in Decree 4231, and two other passages that had raised freedom of expression concerns, according to news reports and a…
CPJ condemns Kyrgyz supreme court decision upholding Azimjon Askarov’s life sentence
New York, May 13, 2020 – In response to today’s decision by Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court to uphold journalist and human rights defender Azimjon Askarov’s life sentence and deny his final appeal, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:
Russian court to hear appeal of Crimean journalist Nariman Memedeminov
New York, May 13, 2020 – Russian authorities should not contest the appeal of Crimean journalist Nariman Memedeminov, ensure his safe return to Crimea, and allow him to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Liberia’s journalists wary as authorities announce new press passes, threaten shutdowns
When the coronavirus arrived in Liberia, local journalists knew what it meant to report on a deadly, infectious disease; six years earlier they had donned personal protective equipment (PPE) to report on the Ebola crisis, Musa Kenneh, the Press Union of Liberia’s secretary general, told CPJ. But this time, Kenneh said, threatening comments from government…
CPJ joins letter expressing concern about Kyrgyzstan media restrictions during pandemic
CPJ and 23 other members of IFEX, a global network of free expression organizations, sent a letter yesterday expressing concern over the press freedom implications of Kyrgyzstan’s COVID-19 state of emergency, which has been in place since March 22.
Malaysian journalist faces six years in prison over COVID-19 Facebook posts
When Malaysian journalist Wan Noor Hayati Wan Alias criticized a government decision to allow a cruise ship with Chinese tourists to dock and disembark at the coastal city of Penang in late January, a time when China was at the epicenter of the COVID-19 global pandemic, she was criminally charged with causing a public panic.
CPJ calls on Burundi to release 4 Iwacu journalists on appeal
Nairobi, May 4, 2020 — In advance of an upcoming appeal hearing for four journalists at Burundian news website Iwacu, who were sentenced to 2.5 years in prison in January, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: