Paris, June 17, 2025—Iran’s conflict with Israel has intensified media censorship in the Islamic Republic, with Iranian journalists warned not to comment online and a task force set up to prosecute those sharing “fake” news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday, calling for press freedom to be respected. Two Iranian journalists, who spoke to…
Nazareth, June 17, 2025—Palestinian journalists in Israel covering the conflict with Iran that began June 13 have been accused of “working for the enemy,” barred from reporting sites, physically assaulted, and subjected to racial slurs. The attacks and restrictions against the Palestinian journalists are part of a broader pattern of obstruction and hostility toward the…
Tacloban City, June 16, 2025—Philippine authorities on Monday refused to allow the Committee to Protect Journalists and a coalition of press freedom organizations to visit jailed journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio during a joint mission aimed at asking authorities to end her more than five-year detention. CPJ and the groups had submitted a formal request through the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) on May…
Washington, D.C., June 16, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by reports that Australian writer Alistair Kitchen was denied entry into the United States after border officials at the Los Angeles International Airport searched his phone and questioned him about his views on the Israel-Gaza war. “Alistair Kitchen’s deportation is a clear case of retaliation…
Paris, June 17, 2025—One journalist and one media worker with Iran’s state-owned broadcaster have died from their injuries following Monday’s Israeli strike on the headquarters of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in the capital Tehran, according to news reports. Nima Rajabpour, a 50-year-old news editor died after undergoing surgery for shrapnel in his back and thigh,…
Beirut, June 16, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is distressed by news reports that Austin Tice was executed in 2013 on the orders of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, after more than 12 years of uncertainty over the American journalist’s fate. “Reports that journalist Austin Tice was executed in 2013 are horrifying and demand immediate…
Washington, D.C., June 14, 2025 — Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior announced the Saturday execution of prominent Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser, who had been detained for seven years on charges of treason, foreign collaboration, funding terrorism, and endangering national security and unity. Saudi authorities arrested al-Jasser in 2018 and seized his devices, believing that he…
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined human rights partners in a June 13 statement calling on the U.S. Congress to reject Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s proposed reorganization of the State Department. Secretary Rubio’s proposed plan, announced in May, would drastically downsize the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), which is responsible for documenting and responding…
As protests over U.S. immigration enforcement raids began throughout the country last week, journalists rushed to cover the rapidly evolving story. Focus turned to Los Angeles, California, as President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines, notably without California Governor Gavin Newsom’s consent. Journalists on the ground in LA quickly became part of the…
Kinshasa, June 13, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the three-day detention of RTNC journalist Willy-Albert Kande and interrogation of colleagues Marcelin Mwananteba, Don Kubutana, and Laurent Ngala over coverage of sanitation conditions at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “DRC authorities should have never…