Special Reports & Publications

  
Customs and Border Protection agents pictured at Los Angeles International Airport in January 2017. The agency’s power to search electronic devices without warrant has serious implications for press freedom. (Reuters/Patrick T. Fallon)

Nothing to declare: Why U.S. border agency’s vast stop and search powers undermine press freedom

Secondary screenings of journalists crossing U.S. borders risk undermining press freedom as Custom and Border Protection agents search devices such as laptops or phones without warrant and question journalists about their reporting and contacts. As the government ramps up searches of electronic devices, rights groups mount legal challenges to fight invasive searches. A special report…

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Customs and Border Protection agents pictured at Los Angeles International Airport in January 2017. The agency’s power to search electronic devices without warrant has serious implications for press freedom. (Reuters/Patrick T. Fallon)

Nothing to declare:

About This ReportThis report was written by CPJ North America Program Coordinator Alexandra Ellerbeck and CPJ North America Research Assistant Stephanie Sugars, with additional research and reporting by North America Research Associate Avi Asher-Schapiro. CPJ Advocacy Director Courtney C. Radsch wrote the accompanying piece, “CPJ’s slog to improve DHS and CBP policy toward journalists.” Reporters…

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Customs and Border Protection agents pictured at Los Angeles International Airport in January 2017. The agency’s power to search electronic devices without warrant has serious implications for press freedom. (Reuters/Patrick T. Fallon)

Nothing to declare:

CPJ’s slog to improve DHS and CBP policy toward journalists One of the key principles of journalism is protecting the confidentiality of sources. So when CPJ started hearing from journalists who said they were being stopped and questioned about their journalism when they entered the United States, and that their electronic devices were sometimes searched…

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Customs and Border Protection agents pictured at Los Angeles International Airport in January 2017. The agency’s power to search electronic devices without warrant has serious implications for press freedom. (Reuters/Patrick T. Fallon)

Nothing to declare:

Recommendations The Committee to Protect Journalists offers the following recommendations:

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Artwork: Jack Forbes

Nothing to Declare: CPJ’s advice for journalists crossing a U.S. border

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) has authority to search electronic devices without warrant or probable cause. Civil liberties groups are challenging this power in court, but journalists should be aware that current practice risks exposing contacts, sourcing, and reporting material contained on laptops, phones, and other devices.

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Acts of Intimidation: In Pakistan, journalists’ fear and censorship grow even as fatal violence declines

As killings of journalists in Pakistan decline so too does press freedom, as the country’s powerful military quietly, but effectively, restricts reporting by barring access, encouraging self-censorship through direct and indirect acts of intimidation, and even allegedly instigating violence against reporters. Journalists who push back or are overly critical of authorities are attacked, threatened, or…

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Acts of Intimidation:

About This Report This report was written by CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler. CPJ’s multimedia producer Mustafa Hameed contributed research and reporting, and produced the accompanying documentary “Acts of Intimidation.” CPJ traveled to Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, and Okara in February 2018, to meet with journalists, editors, and media groups.

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Acts of Intimidation:

Recommendations The Committee to Protect Journalists offers the following recommendations:

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Acts of Intimidation:

Divided and alone, Pakistan’s press finds safety in numbers To compensate for the unwillingness or inability of government institutions to create a safe atmosphere for the press or tackle the ongoing issue of impunity in the murder of journalists, several independent organizations, including the Freedom Network, Media Matters for Democracy, the Pakistan Press Foundation and…

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Reuters/Henry Romero

The U-turn: Moreno steers Ecuador away from Correa’s media repression

The administration of President Lenín Moreno has dramatically diverged from that of his predecessor, Rafael Correa, who was severely critical of the Ecuadoran press and passed one of the most restrictive media laws in the region. Nonetheless, journalists say they will be wary until Moreno fulfills his promises to scale back the Communications Law and…

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