New Middle East and North Africa Coalition to Combat Digital Surveillance
New York, June 8, 2021– From Morocco to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are using digital surveillance tools to identify, surveil, and silence dissidents, journalists, and human rights defenders. Launched on June 7, 2021, the new MENA Coalition to Combat Digital Surveillance has come together to end the sales of digital surveillance tools to repressive…
Moroccan journalist Mohamed Boutaam arrested over corruption reporting
New York, May 7, 2021 – Moroccan authorities must release journalist Mohamed Boutaam immediately, drop any charges against him, and let him work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 4, judicial police in the southern city of Tiznit arrested Boutaam, director of the privately owned local news website Tizpress, after he…
Dozens of journalists behind bars in Myanmar
Myanmar’s military junta is holding at least 40 journalists behind bars as of April 28, according to CPJ’s preliminary investigations. Many of the detained journalists have been denied access to lawyers or family since their arrests, and at least two are foreign journalists. “Myanmar’s military regime has almost overnight become one of the worst jailers…
Journalists describe ‘trench warfare’ for Polish press
Polish journalists paint a bleak picture, as they share with CPJ the increasing pressure they face from the government, and comparing ongoing protests to buck that pressure to “trench warfare.” Journalists said the government is purposely worsening the business environment in which Poland’s still-vibrant private media operates as a tactic to consolidate power ahead of…
CPJ joins call for Moroccan authorities to release journalist Omar Radi, ensure fair trial
Yesterday, CPJ and 14 other civil society groups urged Moroccan authorities to release Le Desk investigative reporter Omar Radi, who has been in pretrial detention since his arrest on July 29, 2020, and to ensure that he receives a fair trial. Radi’s trial on charges of sexual assault and undermining state security was set to begin today, but the main…
CPJ Insider: April edition
CPJ turns 40! On April 3, 1981, three journalists in New York—Michael Massing, Victor Navasky, and Laurie Nadel—filed the certificate of incorporation for a new organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists, which was dedicated to the defense and promotion of the “human and professional rights of journalists around the world.” Forty years later, we remain…
World leaders should regulate spyware, halt surveillance of journalists
CPJ campaign documents ties between spying and other press freedom violations New York, March 15, 2020 – In light of dozens of incidents in which journalists and those close to them have been targeted with spyware, the Committee to Protect Journalists today launched a campaign calling on governments to stop the use of spyware and…
Spyware and Press Freedom
Read CPJ’s 2022 special report: When spyware turns phones into weapons Research by CPJ and other organizations shows sophisticated spyware products marketed to governments to fight crime have been used to target the press. Secret surveillance of journalists and their sources poses a severe threat to press freedom globally. That’s why we are calling for…
Moroccan journalist Maati Monjib sentenced to 1 year in prison
New York, January 28, 2021 – The Court of First Instance in Rabat, Morocco, yesterday convicted Maati Monjib, co-founder of the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism, of fraud and endangering state security, and sentenced him to one year in prison and a fine of 10,000 dirhams (US$1,116), according to news reports. “The Moroccan government has…
Ten years after the Arab Spring, the region’s media faces grave threats. Here are the top press freedom trends
In early February 2011, Alaa Abdelfattah was in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, documenting and participating in the nascent pro-democracy uprising that would topple the government and transform the country and the region. Today, he is in prison on anti-state and false news charges, which his family believes are partly retaliatory for his work. Abdelfattah is one of…