In Turkey, draft bill would give new censorship powers to state regulator
Istanbul, February 22, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to scrap the article of a draft bill that would expand internet censorship in Turkey. The Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission yesterday passed article 73 of the bill, which would require online broadcasters, including YouTube and Netflix Turkey, to be licensed and regulated…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 19, 2018
Journalists acquitted, released Turkish authorities on February 17 released from jail Deniz Yücel, Turkey correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt, who had been imprisoned for a year pending investigation, according to Reuters. A Turkish court on the same day also indicted Yücel on charges of “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization” and “provoking the people…
CPJ welcomes call for EU directive against SLAPPs
Brussels, February 22, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed a call from members of the European Parliament on Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans to introduce a new European Union directive to stop abusive lawsuits against critical journalists.
Somaliland journalist detained without charge
Nairobi, February 21, 2018–Somaliland authorities should immediately release Mohamed Aabi Digaale, the Hargeisa bureau chief for the London-based broadcaster Universal TV, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested Mohamed on February 17 and have been holding him without charge, Guleid Ahmed Jama, chairperson of the advocacy organization Human Rights Center, and Abdullahi Hersi…
Philippines bans Rappler reporters from presidential palace
Bangkok, February 21, 2018 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Philippine government’s decision to ban the news website Rappler from covering official presidential events, and calls for an immediate end to all government harassment of the independent online publication.
Benin suspends local paper for insulting president
Benin’s media regulator, the High Authority for Broadcasting and Communication (HAAC), ordered the privately owned daily L’Audace Info on February 8, 2018 to suspend indefinitely its print and online editions after it allegedly insulted the president, the paper’s editor, Romuald Alingo, told CPJ.
Egyptian journalist detained, disappears in state custody
New York, February 20, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the detention and subsequent disappearance of Egyptian journalist Moataz Wadnan, and today called on the country’s authorities to make public what they know about his whereabouts.
Tweaking a global source of news
The only way Abdalaziz Alhamza and his fellow citizen journalists could get out news from the Islamic State’s self-declared capital in Syria to a global audience was by posting materials on Facebook and YouTube. “They were the only way to spread news since many militias and governments prevented most, if not all, the independent media…
Changes to Jordan’s hate speech law could further stifle press freedom
Recently proposed amendments to Jordan’s 2015 cybercrime law, including a vague and broad definition of hate speech, will further stifle press freedom on the pretext of protecting the country’s citizens, and could result in further self-censorship, several Jordanian journalists told CPJ.
Dangers from inside the newsroom
By Christiane Amanpour/chief international correspondent for CNN and CPJ senior advisor In November, I stood before top news media executives in the United States and called on them to stamp out sexual harassment in their organizations. “The floodgates are open,” I told the audience at the annual International Press Freedom Awards gala of the Committee…