Canada’s proposed reform of access to information is inadequate
The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with a coalition of more than 30 international and Canadian civil society organizations, sent a letter on September 28 to Canadian Member of Parliament Scott Brison, the president of the Treasury Board of Canada, calling for proposed access to information legislation to be replaced with a more robust reform.
Proposed law on contempt of court threatens press freedom in Singapore
Bangkok, August 5, 2016 – Singaporean lawmakers should scrap proposed legislation on what constitutes contempt of court in news reporting and public commentary, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The draft law’s penalties for violations, including possible prison terms for criticizing the judiciary, threaten to entrench more self-censorship in Singapore’s constrained media environment.
Mission Journal: Morocco’s new press law undermined by draft penal code
In the small, polished Moroccan capital of Rabat, pictures of King Mohamed VI, who took the throne in 1999, hang in many shops, offices, and hotels. In most of these, he is clean-shaven, smiling, and wearing a suit: a modern monarch. His image is part of the official narrative of the country as a place…
Global Magnitsky Act could be powerful weapon against impunity in journalist murders
Last week, the proposed Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act emerged from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee with approval. The bill was passed by the Senate last year. If passed by the full House of Representatives and signed into law by the president, it has the potential to offer partial redress to one of…
CPJ joins call for Nigeria to drop anti-social media legislation
The Committee to Protect Journalists alongside 19 Nigerian, African and international organisations today signed an open letter addressed to the upper chamber of Nigeria’s parliament calling for the rejection of a bill which would undermine press freedom, stifle public opinion, and criminalize freedom of expression in Nigeria.
CPJ urges South Africa to revise cybercrime bill that limits press freedom
New York, December 10, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the South African government to revise provisions in the proposed Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill that would limit journalists’ ability to work. Under the bill, journalists and members of the public could be prosecuted for possessing or disclosing state information, reports said.
CPJ calls on Togo president to reject law that would impose jail terms for journalists
Abuja, Nigeria, November 12, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the president of Togo to block a proposed article in the country’s penal code that would threaten press freedom. Under the proposed law, journalists could face jail sentences and fines for “false news,” according to news reports.
How China’s national security and cybersecurity laws will further curb press freedom
Convincing potential sources to share information and publishing independent journalism on social media or with the help of crowd-funding are a few of the practices that are likely to suffer under a pair of new Chinese laws–one passed, one still in draft form–local journalists tell CPJ.