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☆ They've been beaten, trolled, threatened with sexual violence but refuse to be silenced
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Adie Vanessa Offiong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Ixchíu Hernández had already been the victim of years of online threats -- attempts to humiliate and silence her. Published in April 2021, it reveals: "Online attacks on women journalists appear to be increasing significantly, as this study demonstrates, particularly in the context of the 'shadow pandemic' of violence against women during COVID-19. "Online violence against women journalists is designed to: belittle, humiliate, and shame; induce fear, silence, and retreat; discredit them professionally, undermining accountability journalism and trust in facts; and chill their active participation...in public debate. Ricchiardi-Folwell explains that because of the often-sexualized nature of the attacks, women remain silent about their harassment, which leads them to believe they are alone. Editor's note: This story was originally published in 2021 and updated to reference the latest report by UNESCO.

☆ Media Freedom Faces Threats Even in EU, Says Press Group
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Daniel Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

People demonstrated in Valletta, Malta, in 2019 over the killing of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia two years earlier. Photo: Guglielmo Mangiapane/REUTERSBRUSSELS—The European Union, among the world’s strongest proponents of media freedom, isn’t doing enough to protect reporters within its own borders, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an international advocacy group. The group, in a new report, identifies growing restrictions on media across the 27-country bloc and spotlights the murders of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 and of Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak in 2018, both of whose killings were linked to their work.

☆ Factbox: Kara-Murza becomes latest Putin opponent to get long jail term
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovApril 17 (Reuters) - Sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison on charges including treason, Vladimir Kara-Murza joined a growing list of Russians who have received long jail terms after speaking out against President Vladimir Putin or the invasion of Ukraine. The 25-year term he received was the harshest of its kind since Russia invaded its neighbour last February. ILYA YASHINOpposition politician Yashin was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison in December 2022 on charges of spreading "false information" about the army. ALEXEI GORINOVGorinov, a Moscow district councillor, was jailed for seven years in July 2022 on charges of spreading false information about the armed forces. ALEXEI MOSKALYOVMoskalyov was investigated by police after his daughter Masha, then 12, drew an anti-war picture at school in 2022.

☆ Can the U.S. See the Truth About China?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

Photo illustration by Bráulio Amado Talk Can the U.S. See the Truth About China? To see China solely as trying to displace the United States is only going to stoke more fears. The Chinese people believe that a substantially weakened Russia might not be in the interest of China, because if there were the sense that the United States needed to seek out an opponent, China would be next. And then also, the United States thinks that China wants to displace it. The industrial espionage stems from a lack of appreciation from the start of intellectual property, and the United States, by pushing China to do more intellectual-property protection, is actually good for China.

☆ Georgian protesters rally in Tbilisi after violent clashes with police
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jake Cordell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The ruling Georgian Dream party say it is modelled on U.S. legislation dating from the 1930s. In violent clashes on Tuesday evening, protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at police, who used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds. Critics say Georgian Dream is too close to Russia and has taken the country in a more repressive direction in recent years. Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze defended the bill again on Wednesday, saying it would help root out those working against the interests of the country and the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church. He criticised Georgia's "radical opposition" for stirring up protesters to commit "unprecedented violence" during Tuesday's rallies, according to Georgian news agencies.

The government said the BBC had failed to respond to repeated requests to clarify its tax affairs related to the profits and remittances from its Indian operations. The documentary, which was only broadcast in Britain, accused Modi of fostering a climate of impunity that fuelled the violence. Reuters spoke to eight Indian journalists, industry executives and media analysts who said that some media which reported critically on the government have been targeted with inspections by government agencies, the suspension of state advertising, and the arrest of reporters. Modi's government has vigorously denied the BBC tax inspection - the first against an international news organisation in decades - was a response to the film. Gupta said there had been complaints after the government reduced its advertising spending but that was not an assault on media freedom.

☆ Belarus group claims to have blown up an advanced Russian military aircraft, highlighting tensions within one of Putin's closest allies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Opposition activists in Belarus said they destroyed a Russian military aircraft near Minsk. The head of a group opposing Belarus' dictator said those behind the attack escaped the country. The head of Belarusian opposition group BYPOL took responsibility for the attack, with its leader, Aliksandr Azarov, saying on Telegram that it was accomplished using drones. Franak Viacorka, an adviser to exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, told the BBC that the attack was "creative" and "sophisticated". Belarus has supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine, allowing Russian troops to use the country as a transit point.

☆ Fox News exec said 'the North Koreans do a more nuanced show' than the now-fired host Lou Dobbs: lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Cheryl Teh | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fox News president Jay Wallace said North Korean propaganda has more nuance than Lou Dobbs. Wallace's comments about Dobbs were cited in a court filing by Dominion Voting Systems. Wallace said in September 2020 that "the North Koreans do a more nuanced show" than Dobbs, per a filing from Dominion Voting Systems released on Thursday. This filing was part of Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Dominion Voting Systems has alleged that Fox defamed it by pushing a false conspiracy theory that it manipulated election results.

☆ Voice of Democracy, one of Cambodia’s last independent media outlets, has been shut down
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —One of Cambodia’s last remaining independent media outlets has been shut down by Prime Minister Hun Sen ahead of national elections in July, in a move condemned by rights groups as a blow to press freedom. Based in the capital Phnom Penh, Voice of Democracy (VOD), a local outlet run by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, published radio and online reports about labor and rights issues, environmental crime and political corruption. Media mainstayHun Sen has served as the country’s prime minister since 1985, making him one of the world’s longest serving leaders. Suy Se/AFP/Getty Images“The Prime Minister should immediately withdraw this heavy handed and disproportionate order,” it said. “The freedom of press in Cambodia has lost one of its last remaining independent media outlets.”

☆ Prominent Cameroon journalist found dead after abduction
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

YAOUNDE, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The mutilated body of a prominent Cameroonian journalist was found on Sunday near the capital Yaounde five days after he was abducted by unidentified assailants, the press union and a colleague said on Sunday. Media advocates described Martinez Zogo's disappearance and death as a further sign of the perils of reporting in the African country. "Cameroonian media has just lost one of its members, a victim of hatred and barbarism," Cameroon's journalists' trade union said in a statement. "Where is the freedom of the press, freedom of opinion and freedom of expression in Cameroon when working in the media now entails a mortal risk?" Outspoken reporter Paul Chouta, who worked for private news website Cameroon Web, was beaten and stabbed by unknown attackers in 2019.

JAKARTA, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Indonesia's new criminal code has grabbed headlines for making sex outside marriage illegal but Islamic parties wanted even harsher punishment for moral crimes in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, accounts of behind-the-scenes negotiations reveal. "We found a middle ground, not only between nationalists and religious parties but also between progressive liberals and conservatives," he said. In forming the laws, a team of legal professors had turned to Indonesia's official dictionary, which defines adultery as any sex outside marriage, not just extramarital sex. The compromise reached in the final version carries a maximum one-year sentence for sex outside marriage and six months for cohabitation. "The Islamic parties benefit from the morality agenda ... while the other parties will benefit from strengthening of authoritarianism," he said.

☆ Elon Musk restores Twitter accounts of journalists but concerns persist
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Elon Musk reinstated the Twitter accounts of several journalists that were suspended for a day over a controversy on publishing public data about the billionaire's plane. A Twitter poll that Musk conducted later also showed that a majority of the respondents wanted the accounts restored immediately. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now," Musk said in a tweet on Saturday. A Reuters check showed the suspended accounts, which included journalists from the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post, have been reinstated. Musk accused the journalists of posting his real-time location, saying it amounted to providing "basically assassination coordinates" for his family.

☆ Europe condemns Elon Musk suspending journalists from Twitter, warns of 'red lines'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Musk reinstated the suspended journalists early Saturday after a Twitter poll, but he had already drawn rebukes from the European Union and United Nations. “The EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. officials have also estimated they will add more than 100 full-time staff by 2024 to enforce the Digital Services Act and other new rules on digital competition. “The Digital Services Act is unprepared for this kind of problem, because it’s not designed for that,” said Downing, speaking of Thursday’s suspensions of tech journalists. “There was never a conception that journalists would be banned from Twitter, because that’s not what Twitter does,” he added.

☆ European Union threatens sanctions over Twitter's ban of journalists
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Elon Musk’s decision to suddenly ban prominent tech journalists from Twitter is fanning a fierce backlash in Europe. Germany warned of the impact on press freedom, while a senior EU official said Twitter must comply with the bloc’s rules or face possible sanctions. “The EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. European leaders previously said they were watching how Musk’s takeover of Twitter would affect the platform. Thierry Breton, a top EU official, warned Musk in late November that the social media platform must take significant steps to comply with the bloc’s content moderation laws.

☆ Elon Musk's Twitter suspension of journalists draws global backlash
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

loadingRoland Lescure, the French Minister of Industry, tweeted on Friday that following Musk's suspension of journalists, he would suspend his own activity on Twitter. loadingThe German Foreign Office warned Twitter that the ministry had a problem with moves that jeopardized press freedom. The suspensions stemmed from a disagreement over a Twitter account called ElonJet, which tracked Musk's private plane using publicly available information. On Wednesday, Twitter suspended the account and others that tracked private jets, despite Musk's previous tweet saying he would not suspend ElonJet in the name of free speech. Then on Thursday evening, several journalists including from the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post were suspended from Twitter with no notice.

☆ A top European official seemed to threaten Elon Musk with sanctions over his 'arbitrary suspension' of journalists amid the jet-tracking saga
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Věra Jourová, a European Union vice president, criticized Elon Musk's "arbitrary" bans on journalists. She said that Twitter could face sanctions, citing the union's laws on free speech. After Musk's laid off thousands of staff, Twitter closed its Brussels office responsible for complying with EU laws. Věra Jourová, the EU vice president for values and transparency, tweeted on Friday morning: "News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying." Musk was also condemned by the German foreign office for suspending the journalists, while a senior government official threatened to leave the platform.

☆ Afghan journalists tell London court Britain has "betrayed debt of gratitude"
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Eight Afghan journalists who worked for the BBC and other British media organisations are challenging the British government's refusal to relocate them, arguing that they are at high risk of being killed by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers. The journalists "worked alongside and in support of the British government's mission" in Afghanistan and put their lives at risk, their lawyers told London's High Court on Thursday. He added in written arguments that the Ministry of Defence’s decision that the journalists were not eligible under the government's Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) programme was unlawful. The journalists "were activists against the Taliban and participated in [government] media freedom campaigns, notwithstanding that they worked for independent bodies," Straw said. He added that all the eight journalists' applications under the ARAP programme were refused because they were not eligible for relocation under the policy.

[1/2] Media mogul Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, leaves the Court of Final Appeal by prison van in Hong Kong, China February 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone SiuHONG KONG, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Pro-democracy Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced on Saturday to five years and nine months in prison for fraud, convicted of violating a lease contract for the headquarters of a liberal newspaper he used to run. Lai's lawyer, Derek Chan, had urged the judge to consider Lai's age and contributions to Hong Kong's media industry. A separate, landmark national security trial involving Lai is scheduled to resume on Tuesday. ($1 = 7.7854 Hong Kong dollars)Reporting by Jessie Pang and James Pomfret; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: A chronology of dissent in China in recent decades
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( James Pomfret | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The following is a timeline of some other notable protests, and public dissent against China's ruling Communist Party. 2009 - Xinjiang - In the region's worst ethnic unrest in decades, ethnic Uighurs attacked majority Han Chinese in the capital Urumqi, after an incident involving Uighur workers in a factory in southern China. China later builds massive "facilities" to turn Xinjiang into what a United Nations panel described as a "massive internment camp shrouded in secrecy". China later imposes a powerful national security law, arresting scores of democrats and shutting down civil society groups and liberal media outlets, including the Apple Daily newspaper. 2022 - Henan bank protests - Public protests simmer as thousands lose access to their savings in a banking fraud scandal centred on rural lenders in Henan and Anhui provinces.

☆ China accused a BBC journalist of acting 'as if he were a victim' after he was beaten and arrested while covering mass COVID-19 protests in the country
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

China accused a BBC journalist of playing "victim" after he was beaten and arrested by police. Top UK officials and the BBC slammed China for the move, which China has defended. "This BBC journalist refused to cooperate with the police's law enforcement efforts and then acted as if he were a victim," China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters at a Tuesday press conference. BBC journalist Edward Lawrence was covering mass anti-government protests in Shanghai on Sunday when he was arrested and detained for several hours by local police before getting released. The arrest of BBC journalist [Edward Lawrence] in China is deeply disturbing.

☆ US sports writer says he was detained in Qatar for wearing rainbow shirt to World Cup game
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An American journalist said he was detained for wearing a rainbow t-shirt to a Qatar World Cup game. Grant Wahl said guards told him to remove it, took his phone, and detained him for 25 minutes. A New York Times spokesperson told Insider "Andrew Das was stopped briefly after photographing Grant Wahl's detention by World Cup security." Qatar's LGBT rights record has marred this year's World Cup, sparking renewed protests about the decision to let the country host it. Wahl is not the only journalist who has had difficulty in covering the World Cup there.

CNN —Two British-Iranian journalists working in the United Kingdom have been warned by police of a “credible” plot by Iran to kill them, according to their employer, London-based news channel Iran International. The Iranian government has labeled Iran International as a “terrorist organization,” Iran’s state-aligned news agency ISNA reported Tuesday, citing the country’s information ministry. CNN reached out to Iran International for comment. Iran International’s protest coverageFounded in 2017, Iran International has been at the forefront of covering the recent demonstrations with exclusive footage of events on the ground. The sanctioned entities included what Tehran referred to as “anti-Iranian TV channels” such as Iran International, Tasnim reported.

☆ Iran protests Western stance on mass protests over woman’s death
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

DUBAI — Iran summoned the British and Norwegian ambassadors over what it called interference and hostile media coverage of the nationwide unrest triggered by the death of a woman detained by morality police. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Iran should “immediately stop the violent crackdown on protests and ensure internet access. He also said that “acts of chaos” were unacceptable and that Iran must deal decisively with the unrest. Iran’s state television said 41 people have been killed since the protests broke out following Amini’s death on Sept 16. State media said 12 bank branches were destroyed in the unrest in recent days, and 219 ATMs have been damaged.

☆ „În mod clar e realizat sub constrângere.” Germania și Marea Britanie denunță interviul cu Roman Protasevici
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-04 | by ( Onixmedia Srl | ) diez.md time to read: +3 min

Marea Britanie și Germania reacționează după difuzarea interviului cu opozantul Roman Protasevici , de către televiziunea de stat belarusă. The persecution of those defending human rights and media freedom in Belarus must stop. De asemenea, acesta a povestit cum obținea informații din sursele din Belarus, a oferit mai multe nume de persoane care au participat la crearea subiectelor pentru NEXTA. Protasevici a mai spus că „în zadar a intrat în lupta politică și că vrea mai repede să înceapă o viață nouă”. Exact din acest motiv, Roman Protasevici a fost plasat în noiembrie de autoritățile belaruse pe lista „teroriștilor urmăriți”.

Persons: Dominic Raab, Mr Protasevich’s, June, Roman Protasevici, Aleksandr Lukașenko, Lukașenko, Occident ., Viaciorka, Sofia Organizations: freedom, irlandeze, Hamas Locations: Germania, Belarus, Minsk, Atena, Vilnius, Occident, Roman, belarus

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