Prominent blogger Seyed Hossein Ronaghi Maleki arrested in Iran after critical tweets
Washington, D.C., February 24, 2022 — Iranian authorities should immediately release blogger Seyed Hossein Ronaghi Maleki and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, February 23, the Tehran home of Ronaghi Maleki, a freelance blogger and freedom of expression activist who posts reporting critical of the government on…
Indian police open terror investigation into 5 journalists
New Delhi, November 12, 2021 — Police in the Indian state of Tripura must immediately drop a terror investigation into journalists for their social media posts about anti-Muslim violence during the last week of October, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a complaint filed November 3, Tripura police claimed 102 social media accounts…
Two Nigerian journalists respond to the government’s ongoing Twitter ban
More than a month after Nigeria’s federal government suspended access to Twitter, CPJ’s review of local accounts found at least some run by media outlets have gone silent. Twitter was inaccessible when CPJ tried to visit it from Nigeria in mid-July. However, after the ban, Nigerian outlet The Guardian reported a huge spike in searches…
West Africa court orders Nigeria to refrain from sanctioning media for using Twitter
New York, June 23, 2021 — In response to yesterday’s ruling by the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Court of Justice ordering Nigeria to refrain from sanctioning media outlets and Nigerian citizens for using Twitter, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “The ECOWAS court order for Nigeria to refrain from…
Nigerian broadcast regulator orders outlets to stop using Twitter amid nationwide block
Abuja, June 8, 2021 – Nigerian authorities should end their suspension of Twitter’s operations in Nigeria, not threaten to punish news outlets for using the platform, and allow the press to use social media networks freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the National Broadcasting Commission, the country’s broadcast regulator, issued a press…
Chinese police repeatedly harass journalist Lu Yuyu since his release from prison
Taipei, March 9, 2021—Chinese authorities must stop harassing formerly imprisoned journalist Lu Yuyu, founder of Not News, and allow him to live where he wishes and travel freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Chinese national security officers in Guangzhou city broke into Lu’s apartment today and forced him to leave the city, Lu…
Al-Jazeera’s Ghada Oueiss on hacking, harassment, and Jamal Khashoggi
In a mid-2020 Washington Post opinion piece, Lebanese Al-Jazeera broadcast journalist Ghada Oueiss described hackers stealing private photos and videos from her phone and posting them online. The leak resulted in a sharp escalation of online attacks, Oueiss told CPJ in a January 2021 call. Since the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi…
Indian police arrest, investigate journalists covering farmers’ protests
New Delhi, February 1, 2021 – Indian authorities must immediately release journalist Mandeep Punia and refrain from detaining and investigating members of the press covering protests, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On the evening of January 30, Delhi police detained Mandeep Punia, a contributor to The Caravan magazine and Junputh news website, and…
Section 230 reform could have unintended consequences for the press
Twitter’s permanent suspension of President Donald Trump’s account is reinvigorating debate about the law that protects social media platforms – specifically, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The statute shields tech companies and news websites from liability for making decisions about what people can say on their platforms, whether they take it down, or…
Journalists jailed for social media “terrorism” highlight content moderation challenges
A journalist in China uploaded a video to YouTube criticizing the Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Another, in Vietnam, left a state-owned newspaper but continued posting stories they wouldn’t let her cover on Facebook. In Egypt, a freelance photographer streamed an anti-government protest from his balcony on Facebook Live. In Iran,…