Press Freedom

Libya’s Fragile Peace Cracks

By Karlos Zurutuza
Car accident in Omar Mokhtar Avenue in downtown Tripoli. Nobody was injured but there’s a bumper hanging off the back of a car. In just a few seconds, a group gathers around.

Foul Play Ahead of Russian Olympics

By Pavol Stracansky
Despite an endorsement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for their adherence to environmental standards in preparations for next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian authorities are cracking down harder and harder on people trying to expose the environmental cost of projects related to the Games.

New Law Threatens to Choke Freedom in Egypt

By Hisham Allam
Demonstrations have been at the heart of historic upheavals in Egypt since January 2011. But a newly proposed law that seeks to regulate protests could imperil one of the biggest gains of the Arab Spring revolution here: freedom of expression.

Fragile Peace Holds on a Syrian Island

By Karlos Zurutuza
"The whole region is under control but be careful in the city centre," says a Kurdish militiaman at the eastern gate of Qamishli, 600 km northeast of capital Damascus, confirming rumours about breaches in Syria’s relatively stable northeast.

Cold War Logic Takes Root in Venezuela

By Walter García and Humberto Márquez
A Venezuelan government decree to control information and “internal and external enemy activity” appeals to concepts of the national security doctrine, which various right-wing military dictatorships in Latin America invoked in the 1970s and 1980s.

Skype Gets Dark in Karachi

By Irfan Ahmed
First, it was Youtube. Now, if the government of Sindh has its way, it could well be goodbye to Skype, Whatsapp, Viber and Tango for the people of this province in southeastern Pakistan. At least for the next three months.

Kurds Build Bridges At Last

By Karlos Zurutuza
After fleeing the war three months ago, Gulnaz is headed back for Syria to bury her brother within the 24 hours Islam stipulates. But it is far from easy to take the coffin across the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Swat Not at Peace With Malala

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Back in Swat Valley in Pakistan where she comes from, Malala Yousafzai who had been tipped to win the Nobel peace prize this year, has not only left behind more girls in school now than there were a year ago but also large numbers of people who are now distanced – and even hostile – to her.

U.S. Accused of Unprecedented Assault on Press Freedom

By Ramy Srour
Press freedom advocates here charge that the administration of President Barack Obama is engaged in a war on “leaks” of secret information that is without parallel in this country.

Cybercrime Treaty Could Be Used to Go After Cyberespionage

By Emilio Godoy
Governments of countries that engage in large-scale electronic espionage, like the United States, and companies that develop spying software could theoretically face legal action for violating the Convention on Cybercrime.

Ninja Citizen Journalists Don’t Claim to Be Impartial

By Fabiana Frayssinet
The citizen journalists of Midia Ninja, who have covered the protests that broke out across Brazil in June right in the thick of things, are part of a new kind of reporting: one that is proud to be biased.

Bloody Days in Sudan

By Zeinab Mohammed Salih
Activists claim that more than one hundred people have been killed and thousands injured during demonstrations in Sudan following the removal of fuel subsidies.

Gambia Media Crackdown Continues

By David Kode
Last July marked 19 years of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s inordinately long rule. His legacy during this time is to mark his country as one of the most unapologetically repressive states in Africa.

When Mexico Let Big Brother Spy

By Emilio Godoy
Non-governmental organisations are urging the United Nations Human Rights Council to demand explanations from the Mexican state for the weak protection it provided its citizens from large-scale spying by the United States.

Zimbabwe Minister Dismisses Claims of Media Clampdown

By Jeffrey Moyo
He is the architect of what critics call Zimbabwe's most repressive media laws, and the press here anticipate that journalists arrests and media suppression may intensify now that he has been appointed minister of media and information. But Professor Jonathan Moyo has dismissed the concerns and told IPS "journalists had nothing to fear but fear itself."

Opposition Journalists in Azerbaijan Face Free-Flat Conflict

By Shahin Abbasov
In Azerbaijan, opposition journalists have long been beaten, blackmailed and some even killed. But now, it appears a few are being bought.

Censorship Threatens to Re-emerge in Myanmar

By Roger Hamilton-Martin
One year after the government officially struck down laws obstructing free press in Myanmar, a parliamentary bill could allow previous censorship practices to re-surge.

Back to Mubarak, And Worse

By Cam McGrath
Egyptian military leader General Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said ousting the country’s first elected president was necessary “to preserve democracy” and resolve the political deadlock that had dangerously polarised the country. But six weeks after the coup he led, the notion that toppling Islamist president Mohamed Morsi would restore stability to Egypt has proven false.

Bahrain’s Tamarod Is Here to Stay

By Nazeeha Saeed
On Aug. 14, the 42nd anniversary of Bahrain’s independence from Britain, an online group called Tarmarod (“rebellion” in Arabic) officially joined Bahrain’s democracy movement that began in February 2011.

Media Law Hits Somali Journalists

By Abdurrahman Warsameh
Somalia’s journalists say that the government is not serious about reviewing the country’s new, controversial media bill that requires them to reveal their sources, despite a series of recent consultations.

Egyptian Media Silences Protests

By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
As Egypt's political crisis escalates, supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi accuse the local media – both state-run and private – of ignoring pro-Morsi demonstrations and covering up massive rights abuses.
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