Russian authorities suspend Novaya Gazeta’s print license
Paris, September 6, 2022—Russian authorities should reverse a recent decision to suspend the printing license of the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper and cease all efforts to censor the outlet and harass its staff, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Monday, September 5, a Moscow court granted a request by Russian state media regulator…
Zimbabwe’s censorship board bans Danish documentary about opposition leader
Lusaka, August 16, 2022–Zimbabwean authorities must lift the ban on the documentary film “President” by Danish journalist Camilla Nielsson and not abuse censorship laws for political ends ahead of next year’s general election, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. The film, which follows opposition leader Nelson Chamisa on the 2018 presidential election campaign trail,…
Kathy Gannon: Courageous journalism is happening in Afghanistan. We can help.
Journalism in today’s Afghanistan is certainly wounded, but it’s far from dead. The evidence is produced daily, even hourly: This is not journalism as it was before the Taliban took power last August, but it is journalism. It demands our respect and support. Sounding the death knell on journalism in Afghanistan is an insult to…
Inside an Afghan news network’s struggle to survive
Threats, insults, beatings, and censorship: Former Ariana News staffers detail dire challenges during a year under Taliban control For veteran journalist Sharif Hassanyar, the final breaking point came in September last year. The Taliban had ousted the elected government of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani almost a month earlier, and the last American soldiers had since…
Afghanistan’s media faces crisis—and opportunity
Twelve months after the Taliban takeover, many Afghan journalists are out of work or on the run. Others try, very carefully, to challenge the powerful. The extreme distress that has gripped Afghanistan’s independent media since the Taliban seized power in Kabul on August 15 last year lands in my inbox—and the inboxes of many of…
Kyrgyz authorities block news website Res Publica under controversial false news law
Stockholm, August 8, 2022 – Kyrgyzstan authorities should immediately restore access to independent news website Res Publica and repeal a recently enacted false information law that severely threatens press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On July 21, Res Publica editor-in-chief Zamira Sydykova announced on the outlet’s website and on her Facebook page…
Journalists face growing hostility as Ethiopia’s civil war persists
Ethiopia’s 21-month-old civil war is accelerating the deterioration of press freedom in the Horn of Africa nation. The conflict between the federal government and the rebel forces led by the Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) has prompted a media crackdown that extinguished the glimmer of hope sparked by the initial reforms of Prime Minister Abiy…
Journalist Slava Radulov ejected from parliamentary session in Moldova
Paris, July 14, 2022 — Authorities in Moldova should investigate journalist Slava Radulov’s recent expulsion from covering a public parliamentary meeting, and ensure that the members of the press can work freely in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On July 5, Dmitry Konstantinov, chair of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia in…
Tanzanian regulator suspends DarMpya online news outlet, citing expired license
Nairobi, July 12, 2022 – Tanzanian authorities should allow the DarMpya online news outlet to resume operations without further interference and reform the country’s online content regulations so they cannot be used to muzzle the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On July 1, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) ordered DarMpya to…