CPJ recommendations to protect journalists against spyware
The arbitrary or unlawful use of spyware technologies violates human rights and causes direct damage to journalists and their ability to report freely and safely. These recommendations are necessary to protect journalists and their sources. For all governments For the U.S. government For European Union institutions For companies For international organizations See CPJ’s 2021 policy…
Kazakh outlet Orda, staff subjected to months of threats, online harassment, cyberattacks
New York, October 12, 2022—Authorities in Kazakhstan should thoroughly investigate recent threats against independent news website Orda and its chief editor Gulnara Bazhkenova, and ensure the outlet and its staff’s safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On October 5, unidentified individuals sent a severed pig’s head to Orda’s editorial offices in the southern…
Belarusian journalists detained, forced to make ‘confession’ videos
Paris, October 12, 2022—Belarusian authorities are continuing their crackdown on the country’s independent media with a spate of fresh arrests and detentions of several journalists. On Thursday, October 6, police in Minsk, the capital, detained Snezhana Inanets, a reporter at the independent news website Onliner, and her husband Aliaksandr Lychavko, a local historian and reporter…
MEDIA ADVISORY: CPJ to publish comprehensive report on the threat to journalism posed by zero-click spyware
New York — On Thursday, October 13 the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) will publish a report on the global impact of malicious spyware on journalism. Coming one year after the Pegasus Papers first shed light on the scale and scope of how one company’s software was weaponized by government officials to target journalists, the…
Hold the Line Coalition urges Philippine president to keep Maria Ressa out of jail
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should demonstrate his stated commitment to press freedom by ending the State’s attempts to jail Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa, who is threatened with imprisonment in a Philippine jail, the Hold the Line Coalition has urged. This week, the Philippine Court of Appeals rejected Ressa’s motion for a reconsideration of her 2020…
‘To persecute any critical voice’: Jailed Guatemalan journalist Zamora’s son on his father’s arrest
When Guatemalan police arrested José Rubén Zamora in July 2022, it marked the latest salvo in a decades-long campaign of harassment against the pioneering Guatemalan investigative journalist, who won CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award in 1995. Zamora, who founded elPeriódico in 1996 and still serves as president of the newspaper, was arrested on July 29….
Two journalists arrested over criminal complaints in Iraqi Kurdistan
Beirut, October 12, 2022 – Iraqi Kurdistan authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalists Sartip Qashqayi and Ibrahim Ali and refrain from detaining and arresting journalists because of their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Sunday, October 9, officers from the Kurdistan Special Counter-Terrorism group arrested Qashqayi, the editor-in-chief of the privately…
U.S. midterm election 2022: Journalist safety kit
The U.S. midterm elections will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, in an increasingly polarized political climate. During this midterm election year, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested. Online abuse and digital threats to journalists have been steadily increasing, as…
Somali intelligence personnel arrest press rights advocate Abdalle Ahmed Mumin
Nairobi, October 11, 2022—In response to reports of the arrest of Somali press freedom advocate and freelance journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement on Tuesday calling for his immediate release: “Abdalle Ahmed Mumin is a fearless and tireless advocate for the rights of Somali journalists to report the…
Two armed attackers shoot at journalist Erick Niño’s home, office in Colombia
Bogotá, Colombia, October 11, 2022 – Colombian authorities must thoroughly investigate a shooting at the home and office of journalist Erick Niño, bring those responsible to justice, and guarantee Niño’s safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Around 10:45 p.m. on October 5, two men aboard a motorcycle armed with pistols shot several times…