Tweaking a global source of news
The only way Abdalaziz Alhamza and his fellow citizen journalists could get out news from the Islamic State’s self-declared capital in Syria to a global audience was by posting materials on Facebook and YouTube. “They were the only way to spread news since many militias and governments prevented most, if not all, the independent media…
The president’s phantom threats
During his tumultuous campaign, Donald Trump declared war on the press, pledging to “open up our libel laws” and impose fines on critical journalists if elected. Within a month of taking office, he vowed to go after leakers, comparing them to Nazis, and urged then-FBI director James Comey to jail reporters who published classified information.…
Ahead of elections, Brazil’s police announce plan to crackdown on ‘fake news’
In November last year, Brazilian police stopped a truck on a highway in the center of the country and, after a thorough search, discovered more than six tons of marijuana stashed in false compartments. The truck had the name Romanelli on the side, but police said it was a label designed to confuse and that…
In response to Trump’s fake news awards, CPJ announces Press Oppressors awards
Amid the public discourse of fake news and President Trump’s announcement via Twitter about his planned “fake news” awards ceremony, CPJ is recognizing world leaders who have gone out of their way to attack the press and undermine the norms that support freedom of the media. From an unparalleled fear of their critics and the…
Somaliland journalists detained, accused of “false news”
Nairobi, December 20, 2017 – Somaliland authorities should immediately release Ahmed Sa’ed and Abdirahman Mohamed Ege, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police on December 18 arrested the Somali journalists on allegations of publishing false news about the mayor of Berbera, a port city in the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland, according to Guleid Ahmed…
Ukraine bars Spanish journalists over coverage of conflict in east
New York, August 29, 2017–The Security Service of Ukraine today said that it barred the Spanish freelance journalists Antonio Pampliega and Ángel Sastre from entering the country for three years over their reporting on the conflict in the east, according to news reports.
Life Time editor detained without trial on terror charges in Cameroon
Authorities arrested Tim Finnian, editor of the weekly Cameroonian newspaper, Life Time, on January 26, 2017, over a report that he published alleging that two English-speaking youths had died in police custody, according to a journalist familiar with the case and reports.
Sudanese journalist fined over column criticizing police
New York, August 22, 2017–Sudanese authorities yesterday fined Suheir Abdelrahim, a columnist for the daily Al-Tayyar, for a column criticizing the police, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the sentence and called on authorities not to contest the journalist’s appeal.