Syria / Middle East & North Africa

  

10 Most Censored Countries

See updated list of 10 Most Censored Countries here: https://cpj-preprod.go-vip.net/reports/2019/09/10-most-censored-eritrea-north-korea-turkmenistan-journalist.php. CPJ’s new analysis identifies Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Iran as worst

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Video: 10 Most Censored Countries

CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney counts down the 10 countries where the press is most tightly restricted. How do leaders in these nations silence the media? And which country is the worst of all? (4:03) Read CPJ’s report on the 10 Most Censored countries for more detail on how censorship works, and which countries were…

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CPJ
A journalist talks on his satellite phone outside the Rixos Hotel in Libya in August 2011. (AFP/Filippo Monteforte)

Safer mobile use is key issue for journalists

As the Internet and mobile communications become more integrated into reporters’ work, the digital threats to journalists’ work and safety have increased as well. While many press reports have documented Internet surveillance and censorship–and the efforts to combat them–mobile communications are the new frontline for journalist security.

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Javad Moghimi Parsa is one of many Iranian journalists forced to flee his heavily censored country. (Javad Moghimi Parsa)

Assisting journalists forced to flee censorship

CPJ’s Journalist Assistance Program supports journalists who cannot be helped by advocacy alone. In 2011, we assisted 171 journalists worldwide. Almost a fourth came from countries that made CPJ’s Most Censored list. Eight journalists from Eritrea, five from Syria, six from Cuba, and a whopping 20 from Iran sought our help after being forced to…

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The Syrian regime has tried to crack down on journalists filming protests like this one in Damascus on Friday. (Reuters/Shaam News Network)

Syrian forces harass Sky News; hackers attack Ferzat

New York, May 1, 2012–Syrian security forces harassed a credentialed camera crew from the British broadcaster Sky News as the team was filming an impromptu demonstration in Damascus today, according to news reports. Authorities briefly confiscated a camera and detained two journalists, the reports said.

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Syrian regime continues its crackdown on journalists

New York, April 27, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Syria’s continued detention of at least 13 journalists and press freedom activists–and perhaps several more–and calls on authorities to release them immediately. In many instances, authorities have not disclosed the health, whereabouts, or charges filed against the detainees.

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Gang members at a prison in Izalco shortly after a government-brokered truce. (Reuters/Ulises Rodriguez)

Why journalists need new ways to stay safe

After the Salvadoran online newsmagazine El Faro exposed a secret government deal with criminal gangs last month, its staff faced repercussions that illustrate the new and complicated risks facing journalists worldwide. El Faro’s report, which said the government provided more lenient treatment of imprisoned gangsters in exchange for the groups’ agreement to slow down their…

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A follow-up: Two killed in Syria

After the publication of CPJ’s March 27, 2012, news alert on the deaths of Naseem Intriri and Walid Bledi during a Syrian military attack near the Turkish border, a human rights defender and diplomatic sources raised questions about the journalistic credentials of the deceased.

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Lebanese cameraman Ali Shaaban was killed in Syria today. (AFP/Anwar Amro)

In Lebanon, cameraman killed by Syrian gunfire

New York, April 9, 2012–Syrian security forces shot and killed a Lebanese cameraman today as he was working in the northern Lebanese town of Wadi Khaled near the Syrian border, according to the journalist’s employer and news reports citing Lebanese officials. The cross-border death comes on the same day that Syrian security forces fired shots…

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Ali Mahmoud Othman ran the Baba Amr media center, seen here, where Colvin and Ochlik were killed in February. (AFP)

Syria detains, reportedly tortures videographer

New York, April 2, 2012–A prominent Syrian videographer who ran the media center in Baba Amr where two foreign journalists were killed in February has been detained since Wednesday, according to news reports. Ali Mahmoud Othman was initially held at a military intelligence unit in Aleppo and is believed to have been tortured, Paul Conroy, a…

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