How CPJ is working to ensure journalists can protect themselves
Last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Internet Advocacy team was in Valencia, Spain, for the first Circumvention Tech Festival: a mashup of journalists, activists, technologists, and human rights defenders united by a desire to fight censorship and surveillance. More than 500 registered participants from 40 countries shared their skills, strategies, and experiences in combating…
Ethiopia suspected of spying on independent TV network ESAT
New York, March 10, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by research that indicates the Ethiopian government used spyware to monitor journalists at U.S.-based Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) in what appears to be a continuation of surveillance first reported in February 2014.
Je suis Charlie sentiment fades amid calls to tame free speech
Je suis Charlie. Two months after that phrase was used around the world to show solidarity with the victims of the January 7 attack against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, flowers are still left at the site of the killings on Rue Nicolas Appert in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. The street has reopened to…
Press apathy over Macedonia wiretaps is symptom of failing democracy
Journalists and professional press organizations were given just one day’s warning on February 25 that Zoran Zaev, leader of Macedonia’s opposition party the Social Democrats, would be revealing what he described as a “bomb”–conversations of journalists allegedly wiretapped by the government–at his weekly press conference.
CPJ urges Egypt to adopt more open press climate
Dear President el-Sisi: The Committee to Protect Journalists, an international press freedom organization, is writing to express its concern about the climate for press freedom in Egypt and to follow up on meetings we had last month with several high-level officials in your administration.
Why García Márquez’s work to improve press protection in Colombia is still vital
To coincide with Colombia’s national day for journalists the Colombian organization Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP) has published its annual report on press freedom conditions. The review of challenges faced by the media in 2014 comes as we remember the loss last year of one of the great defenders and promoters of Colombian…
UK police used anti-terror legislation to uncover journalists’ sources
San Francisco, February 4, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about reports that police agencies in the United Kingdom made more than 600 applications under anti-terror legislation to uncover journalists’ confidential sources in the past three years. Today’s revelation in the Guardian, citing the interception of communications commissioner, Anthony May, comes amid criticism…
Classifying media and encryption as a threat is danger to press freedom
The U.K. prides itself on its commitment to free expression, but the latest revelations of surveillance of journalists and calls by Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, to ban secure messaging belie the country’s drift toward a more restrictive environment for the press. The revelations further underscore the threat surveillance by Western democracies poses to journalism,…
Cyber security bill threatens media freedom in Thailand
Bangkok, January 20, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Thailand’s military-appointed legislature to scrap proposed legislation that would allow for mass surveillance of online activities and platforms. The Cyber Security Bill was approved this month by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s Cabinet and is pending in the National Legislative Assembly.
CPJ welcomes Risen decision, calls on Holder to ensure journalists are not forced to reveal sources
New York, January 13, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the decision on Monday by the United States Department of Justice to withdraw its subpoena of New York Times reporter James Risen and calls on the Department of Justice to enact guarantees that journalists will not face similar legal action related to confidential sources in…