Category Archives: Press freedom

Dutch state broadcaster pulls logo from vans after attacks

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NOS takes unprecedented step amid far-right risk, saying ‘journalism is under attack’

The Dutch state broadcaster has removed its logo from outside broadcast vans as politicians complained of a steep rise in threats and the national counter-terrorism agency warned of a heightened risk of far-right violence in the Netherlands.

The broadcaster, NOS, said it had been forced to take the unprecedented step because “almost daily, journalists and technicians on the road to report are confronted with verbal abuse, garbage is thrown, vans are blocked [and] people bang on their sides or urinate on them”.

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China accuses Australia of raiding its journalists’ homes amid reports Canberra cancelled academics’ visas

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China’s state media outlets claim Australian intelligence agents questioned several Chinese journalists and seized their devices

Australia has cancelled the visas of two Chinese scholars because of security concerns, according to reports, adding a new element to the spiralling diplomatic dispute over the treatment of journalists.

Chinese diplomats have also aired claims that Australian intelligence agents have questioned several journalists from Chinese media organisations and searched their devices “in violation of legitimate rights”.

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Hong Kong Free Press journalist denied visa amid fears for media freedom

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Irish journalist Aaron McNicholas’s visa was rejected in what’s believed to the first such case at a local title

After months of reassurance that Beijing’s national security law would not affect Hong Kong’s free press, the government has denied a visa to local media outlet, the Hong Kong Free Press.

The English-language outlet had sought to employ a new editor, Aaron Mc Nicholas, an Irish journalist already based in Hong Kong. However the immigration department rejected an application to transfer his work visa after an almost six-month wait, without giving an official reason.

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Hero’s welcome for Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai after release on bail

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Apple Daily founder and pro-democracy activist returns to office following arrest under national security law

The Hong Kong pro-democracy figure and media mogul Jimmy Lai received a hero’s welcome as he returned to his newspaper after being arrested on allegations of foreign collusion, while Chinese state media labelled him a “genuine traitor”.

Lai, his sons, senior executives from his Next Digital media company and others including the activist Agnes Chow were detained under Beijing’s national security law on Monday. Hundreds of police officers also raided the offices and newsroom of Apple Daily, the popular tabloid Lai founded, in a move decried as an assault on press freedom.

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India arrests dozens of journalists in clampdown on critics of Covid-19 response

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Reporters for independent outlets, many in rural areas, say pressure won’t deter them from covering embarrassing stories

Facing a continuing upward trajectory in Covid-19 cases, the Indian government is clamping down on media coverage critical of its handling of the pandemic.

More than 50 Indian journalists have been arrested or had police complaints registered against them, or been physically assaulted.

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Lawyers protest as Zimbabwean journalist’s bail decision postponed

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Hopewell Chin’ono arrested after reporting on alleged profiteering in deals for coronavirus supplies

Lawyers for a prominent investigative journalist in Zimbabwe who was arrested this week have accused authorities of persecution after magistrates postponed a decision on bail for 24 hours, blaming a Covid-19 curfew.

Hopewell Chin’ono, an internationally respected reporter, recently published documents raising concerns that powerful individuals in Zimbabwe were profiting from multimillion-dollar deals for essential supplies to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

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Hong Kong’s national security laws are designed to make the media self-censor | Tom Grundy

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The legislation imposed by China intends to make journalists tiptoe around ill-defined red lines. The need to hold power to account is growing

Beijing’s far-reaching security law was foisted on Hong Kong with breathtaking speed, sweeping aside guarantees of freedom of expression and freedom of the press overnight. Analogies of slow-boiling frogs and civil liberties suffering a “death by a thousand cuts” now feel redundant as independent media outlets scramble to future-proof themselves against vaguely worded legislation that carries a punishment of life imprisonment for crimes such as “subversion” and “collusion.”

I founded Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) as a response to dwindling press freedoms after cutting my teeth reporting on the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement. As a non-profit, it was the city’s first crowdfunded outlet – transparent, impartial, governed by an ethical code and built to resist censorship. But it was all based on the free press guarantees in the city’s mini-constitution.

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Maria Ressa and the increasing attacks on the free press in the Philippines

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One of the most prominent journalists in the Philippines has been convicted of ‘cyberlibel’ in a court process condemned by human rights groups. Journalist Carmela Fonbuena in Manila describes the chilling effect the verdict has had on free expression

Maria Ressa is one of the most prominent journalists in the Philippines with decades of experience as a print and TV reporter. She is also the executive editor of Rappler, an online news site.

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Hong Kong journalists and lawyers scramble to adapt to security law

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Protective measures taken and social media erased as both question how they can operate

Journalists and lawyers in Hong Kong are scrambling to adapt as Chinese authorities set up the apparatus to enforce a controversial national security law, including appointing a hardline party official to head a new security agency.

Zheng Yanxiong, who is best known for tackling protests on the mainland, is to run the office established under the law that empowers mainland security agents to operate in Hong Kong openly and unbound for the first time.

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Twenty Saudi officials go on trial in absentia over Khashoggi killing

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Fiancee of late journalist hopes Istanbul trial will reveal circumstances of death and location of remains

Twenty Saudi officials are on trial in absentia in Turkey accused of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, almost two years after his disappearance in Istanbul shocked the world and irreparably tarnished the image of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman as a liberal reformer.

Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, and the UN special rapporteur Agnès Callamard waited for the judges to arrive in a courtroom at the imposing courthouse complex in Istanbul’s Çağlayan neighbourhood before the trial began on Friday. Both women are hoping it will shed more light on the grim circumstances of the journalist’s death and reveal what happened to his remains.

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Khashoggi fiancee calls for justice as 20 Saudi officials go on trial in Turkey

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Hatice Cengiz hopes trial in absentia will reveal circumstances of journalist’s death and location of remains

The fiancee of Jamal Khashoggi has told a Turkish court that all avenues for justice must be explored as 20 Saudi officials went on trial in absentia over the journalist’s gruesome killing and dismemberment in Istanbul in 2018.

Taking the witness stand on Friday morning at Istanbul’s Çağlayan courthouse complex, Hatice Cengiz had to pause several times to stop her voice from breaking. The absence of the 20 defendants, as well as Khashoggi’s still missing remains, weighed heavily over the proceedings.

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Australian Federal Police ask prosecutors to consider charges against ABC journalist

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Prosecutors receive brief of evidence relating to the ABC’s reporting on alleged war crimes by Australian forces in Afghanistan

The Australian Federal Police has referred a brief of evidence to prosecutors relating to the ABC’s investigation of alleged war crimes by Australian troops in Afghanistan.

In a statement on Thursday, the AFP said it had forwarded documents to the commonwealth director of public prosecutions in relation to the case, which began in July 2017 and culminated in a raid on the ABC’s headquarters in June 2019.

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Afghan government backtracks over rule forcing media to reveal sources

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Amendments to country’s media law revoked after outcry from press

An outcry by the Afghan press over amendments to the country’s media law has seen the government call off initially approved changes.

The newly revoked amendments included a rule that would force media to reveal sources to the government without a court order.

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Maria Ressa: Rappler editor found guilty of cyber libel charges in Philippines

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Case against editor of influential news website - who faces up to six years in prison - condemned as ‘a sinister action’

One of the Philippines’ most prominent journalists, Maria Ressa, is facing up to six years in prison after she was found guilty on Monday of “cyber libel” charges, a verdict condemned as setting “an extraordinarily damaging precedent” for press freedoms in the region.

The verdict was issued by Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa in a Manila court, where just a limited number of attendees were permitted as part of coronavirus prevention measures. Rappler, one of the country’s most influential news websites, its editor, Ressa, and former researcher and writer Reynaldo Santos Jr were accused of cyber libel in 2017.

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Trial of journalists to deliver ‘existential moment’ in Philippines

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Editor of news website Rappler could face prison if convicted under ‘cyber libel’ law

A verdict will be issued on Monday following the controversial trial of one of the Philippines’ most prominent journalists, in a case widely condemned as an attack on press freedom under Rodrigo Duterte.

A court in Manila will issue a verdict on Rappler, one of the country’s most influential news websites, its editor, Maria Ressa, and former researcher and writer Reynaldo Santos Jr on Monday. Ressa, who was arrested last year on charges of “cyber libel” for a story published by Rappler in 2012, has described the allegations as baseless.

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How coronavirus is dividing India – video explainer

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The spread of Covid-19 in India has been catastrophic for millions of its poorest and marginalised residents who are bearing the brunt of the world's biggest shutdown. Hannah Ellis-Peterson tells us how coronavirus and the lockdown is further dividing the country along class and religious lines

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Covid-19 could trigger ‘media extinction event’ in developing countries

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Critical reporting under threat as revenue losses leave independent news outlets hostage to government subsidies or whims of billionaires

Fake news laws and political interference along with growing financial pressures has left many independent media groups in developing countries fighting to survive during the pandemic.

News outlets around the world have faced measures to muzzle critical reporting in an environment that has already seen dozens of journalists harassed, arrested and censored by governments, according to editors and press freedom groups.

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Egypt has made journalism a crime with crackdown, says Amnesty International

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Egyptian government using pandemic to tighten control of media and quash dissent, rights group reports

Journalism in Egypt has effectively become a crime over the past four years, Amnesty International says, as authorities clamp down on media outlets and muzzle dissent.

As the number of coronavirus infections in Egypt continues to rise, the government is strengthening its control over information instead of upholding transparency, the London-based rights group said in a report released on Sunday.

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Russian newspaper staff rebel against editor accused of censorship

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Journalists at Vedomosti warn paper is in danger of becoming ‘another controlled media outlet’

Journalists at the Russian business newspaper Vedomosti have rebelled against their new management after the paper’s editor was accused of banning criticism of constitutional amendments backed by Vladimir Putin and the use of data from an independent pollster.

In a blistering opinion article published on the newspaper’s website on Thursday, the editorial staff said the new editor had undermined trust by massaging headlines about the Russian state energy company Rosneft and blocking a recent column critical of the same company and its boss, Igor Sechin.

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Independent caught in tit-for-tat Turkey-Saudi media battle

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Ankara bans UK publication’s Turkish-language site over its links to Riyadh

The Independent has found itself caught in a bizarre tit-for-tat press freedom war between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, after the British publication’s Turkish-language site was banned by authorities in Ankara over its links to Riyadh.

The move comes shortly after Turkish authorities charged 20 Saudis over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, an incident that soured relations between the two countries.

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