Americas

  
A woman uses her iPhone in front of the building housing NSO Group on August 28, 2016, in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, Israel. The company has come under increased scrutiny for the alleged use of its spyware tool, Pegasus, to target journalists. (AFP/Jack Guez)

NSO Group responds to spyware abuse allegations with spin

Entering the terms “NSO Group,” “journalists,” and “spying” into a Google search from a workstation in New York City recently produced a sponsored search result at the top of the page. The NSO Group manufactures some of the world’s most sophisticated and high-profile spyware, and its sponsored link invites readers to a slick website touting…

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A street vendor in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca. A journalist survived a gun attack in Salina Cruz, a town in the Mexican state. (AFP/Rodrigo Arangua)

Journalist Hiram Moreno survives gun attack in Oaxaca, Mexico

Mexico City, March 22, 2019 — Authorities must immediately investigate an attack on Mexican journalist Hiram Moreno and guarantee his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Moreno, the editor of news website Evidencias, survived a shooting in Salina Cruz, a town in Oaxaca state, on March 20, according to news reports and an…

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Journalists follow a Facebook Live of Jair Bolsonaro, far-right lawmaker and presidential candidate of the Social Liberal Party (PSL), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 7, 2018. After taking office in January, Bolsonaro and his supporters have made Brazilian journalists' jobs more difficult. (Reuters/Sergio Moraes)

Bolsonaro is making Brazilian journalists’ jobs more difficult

First as a candidate and now in his first months as president, Jair Bolsonaro has made his disdain for the media crystal clear. Ministers, supporters, and his family members have followed his lead by no longer offering interviews, attacking and blocking critical reporters on social media, and calling them out as “fake news.”

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Griselda Triana, the wife of slain journalist Javier Valdez, attends his memorial service in Culiacan, in Sinaloa state, Mexico, on May 16, 2017. On March 20, 2019, a report by Canadian research group Citizen Lab found that Triana was targeted by Pegasus spyware soon after Valdez's murder, in an apparent spying attempt. (Reuters/Jesus Bustamante)

Widow of slain Mexican journalist Javier Valdez targeted by spyware

Mexico City, March 20, 2019–Griselda Triana, the widow of slain Mexican journalist Javier Valdez Cárdenas, was targeted by spyware identified as Pegasus in 2017 in an apparent spying attempt, according to a new report released today by Canadian research group Citizen Lab.

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Flowers cover the casket of Santiago Barroso, a Mexican radio journalist shot dead in Sonora state in March. (Reuters/Cristian Torres)

Radio reporter Santiago Barroso shot dead in Mexico’s Sonora state

Mexico City, March 19, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today urged Mexican authorities to thoroughly investigate the murder of radio journalist Santiago Barroso and bring the perpetrators to justice. The reporter was shot dead at his home in San Luis Río Colorado, in the northern Mexican state of Sonora, on March 15, according to news…

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CPJ and others request meeting with Sacramento police over treatment of journalists at protest

In a letter to Sacramento police chief Daniel Hahn, CPJ and several other rights organizations express concern about police conduct toward journalists covering protests on March 4, and request a meeting.

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Police cordon off the area of a homicide in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on October 8, 2015. Honduran journalist Leonardo Gabriel Hernández was killed in Nacaome on March 17, 2019. (Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)

TV journalist Leonardo Gabriel Hernández shot dead in Honduras

Miami, March 18, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today urged Honduran authorities to immediately undertake a credible and rigorous investigation into the killing of journalist Leonardo Gabriel Hernández.

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A photojournalist works in a Caracas hotel room during the third day of a massive power outage. Alongside power cuts, journalists must navigate internet blackouts imposed as Nicolás Maduro's government attempts to silence news of the opposition. (AFP/Juan Barreto)

Maduro’s internet blackout stifles news of Venezuela crisis

One of the world’s biggest news stories on March 4 was the daring return to Venezuela of opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaidó, who faced possible arrest by the authoritarian regime of Nicolás Maduro. But most Venezuelans were unable to follow his homecoming.

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German journalist Billy Six seen in Damascus on March 5, 2013. Six was recently released from prison in Venezuela, where he had been held for nearly four months. (Louai Beshara/AFP)

German freelancer Billy Six freed, leaves Venezuela after 4 months in prison

New York, March 18, 2019 — German freelance reporter Billy Six returned to Germany yesterday after spending almost four months in detention in Venezuela, according to news reports.

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Caracas, Venezuela, seen on May 20, 2018. A Polish reporter was recently attacked by unknown assailants in Caracas. (Marco Bello/Reuters)

Polish reporter Tomasz Surdel assaulted in Venezuela

Miami, March 15, 2019 — Venezuelan authorities should conduct an urgent and thorough investigation into the violent assault of reporter Tomasz Surdel, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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