Middle East & North Africa

The militant group Islamic State may be trying to push Syria back into the dark ages, but it is fighting a very modern war. From slick propaganda videos to online surveillance and wide restrictions on Internet use, the Islamic State is trying to control media output and stamp down on dissent.

New York, July 9, 2015–A Jordanian journalist has been given 15 days in jail after being accused of breaking a recent ban on coverage of a terror plot, according to the journalist’s employer and other news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the imprisonment and calls on authorities to release Ghazi Mrayat immediately.

Dear President el-Sisi: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to express its concern about the deteriorating climate for press freedom in Egypt.

New York, July 6, 2015–Egyptian authorities arrested four journalists last week around the two-year anniversary of the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, according to news reports and local press freedom groups.

Amin Abu Wardeh, director of the privately owned news website Asdaa Press, was arrested in an early morning raid on his home in the West Bank city of Nablus on April 15, 2015, by Israeli security forces, according to news reports and his employer. Abu Wardeh’s wife, Um Omar, told local press freedom group the…

New York, June 30–Moroccan journalist Hamid al-Mahdaoui was handed a four-month suspended prison sentence by a Casablanca court on Monday and ordered, along with a co-defendant named in the case, to pay a combined 100,000 Moroccan dirhams ($10,290) in damages for criminal defamation, according to the journalist’s website and other news outlets.

Beirut, June 26, 2015–An Al-Jazeera cameraman was killed today while covering clashes between regime forces and rebels in the southern Syrian province of Daraa, the pan-Arab broadcaster reported. Mohammed al-Asfar is the second Al-Jazeera journalist to be killed in the province since December.

New York, June 25, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the excessive damages imposed on Monday by a Moroccan court on a news website convicted of defamation and call on authorities to reverse the conviction on appeal.

Egyptian authorities continue to imprison critical journalists while openly pledging media freedom. Egypt has the highest number of journalists behind bars since CPJ began keeping records, most of them accused of affiliation with a banned group. A special report by the Committee to Protect Journalists

Most accused of belonging to Muslim Brotherhood; more than half worked online New York, June 25, 2015–The number of journalists in Egyptian jails is the highest since the Committee to Protect Journalists began recording data on imprisoned journalists in 1990, according to a new census of imprisoned journalists in Egypt released today. Of the 18…