false news

In June 2016, an attacker was terrorizing women on a jogging path in Edmonton, Canada. A video journalist at a large Canadian broadcaster was assigned to cover the story on the night shift. Multiple sexual assaults had been reported and the man was still at-large.

New York, August 23, 2019–The government of Benin should act to decriminalize press offenses, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today, after journalist Ignace Sossou was convicted of false news for reporting on corporate finances.

Washington, D.C., August 2, 2019–Journalist Mikhail Romanov, a correspondent with the weekly Yakutsk Vecherniy, was found guilty on July 25 by the city court of Yakutsk, in eastern Russia, on charges of “abuse of freedom of information by publishing false information that poses a threat to the public,” according to news reports. He was fined…

New York, July 3, 2019 — Burkina Faso authorities should prevent the enactment of revisions of the penal code that criminalize false news and reporting on terrorism or security operations, and ensure laws do not permit jail time for reporters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Abidjan, June 20, 2019 — Cameroonian authorities should immediately release journalist Paul Chouta and drop criminal defamation and false news charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Washington, D.C., May 29, 2019 — Azerbaijani authorities should drop the charges against journalist Anar Mammadov and allow him to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Audrey Tang prefers precise language. During an interview, Taiwan’s minister without portfolio – Tang’s name card simply says “digital minister” – makes a swift correction when we mention the term “fake news.” The preferred term is “disinformation” because, Tang says, it has a legal definition in Taiwan: “That is to say, intentional, harmful untruth, and…

Nairobi, May 17, 2019 — Authorities in the breakaway state of Somaliland should immediately release television reporter Abdirahman Keyse Mohamed, also known as Tungub, and investigate the police officer who fired a shot that injured the journalist during his arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Magdy Shandi, editor-in-chief of the Cairo-based independent newspaper al-Mashhad, planned to send 30 journalists to report from polling stations while votes were being cast in Egypt’s constitutional referendum between April 20 and April 22. He ended up ordering them to stay away, he told CPJ in a telephone interview in May. The state’s media regulator…

Goma, Congo, April 30, 2019 — Beninese authorities should drop their investigation into Casimir Kpedjo, editor of the privately owned daily Nouvelle Economie, and allow him to report and publish news without fear of harassment or being jailed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.