Flashback: Women journalists in Kabul June 2019. Now they are calling for assistance after the Taliban takeover. Credit: UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)/Fardin Waezi

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, May 2 2021 (IPS)

In the contemporary world of journalism, female reporters face a double jeopardy: they are increasingly targeted both as journalists and as women– particularly in repressive regimes and misogynistic societies.

As the United Nations intensifies its campaign for women’s rights worldwide—even as it annually commemorates World Press Freedom Day on May 3 — one of the questions lingering in the minds of women activists is: Is press freedom incompatible with gender empowerment?

Marianna Belalba Barreto, Civic Space Cluster Lead at CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance based in Johannesburg, told IPS the CIVICUS Monitor has documented many cases of women journalists facing online harassment and the gendered nature of it.

In its annual report: People Power Under Attack (PPUA) 2020, CIVICUS documented the use of intimidation as a tactic to deter journalists and human rights defenders (HRDs).

In particular, several cases of intimidation of women journalists were documented in the Balkan region, with threats often gendered in nature.

In North Macedonia, a woman journalist received messages via Facebook and Twitter containing verbal abuses and hate speech. She received dozens of messages threatening her with rape as well as death in response to her work.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina a woman journalist was threatened for reporting on an environmental rights story.

In Bulgaria, a woman journalist, whose story portrayed a far-right group in a negative light, had to flee the country with her family after allegedly receiving threats from unknown people against her and the family, with her personal information leaked online.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris and the Washington-based International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) conducted a global survey last year to assess the scale and impacts of online violence targeting women journalists, “and to help identify solutions to this pernicious problem.”

ICFJ says it is the most comprehensive and geographically diverse survey ever undertaken on the theme, having been offered in five languages and receiving responses from 714 women journalists* across 113 countries.

The top findings include: Nearly three in four women respondents (73%) said they had experienced online violence; threats of physical (25%) and sexual violence (18%) plagued the women journalists surveyed; and one in five women respondents (20%) said they had been attacked or abused offline in incidents seeded online.

Credit: UNESCO & the International Center for Journalists

Lucy Westcott, James W. Foley Emergencies Research Associate at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), told IPS women journalists around the world face a number of safety hazards while reporting, and risk having their voices silenced for being both journalists and women in public life.

CPJ has spoken to women journalists across the world—including in many of the countries highlighted from the UNESCO-ICFJ report, such as Brazil, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S.—who described dealing with threats to their safety while reporting, online harassment, misogynistic attacks, and threats of sexual violence and death.

She said women journalists are also at risk of physical attack while reporting in the field, especially if they are reporting alone. Freelance women journalists face a particular risk, as they lack the backing of a traditional newsroom and its support.

“Online harassment continues to be one of the biggest risks to the safety of women journalists globally, and online threats can and do spill over into a real-life setting. The impact of online harassment is far-reaching, and can also result in trauma and mental health difficulties, said Westcott, a former staff writer for Newsweek, and UN correspondent for Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency.

She added: “Journalist safety is a press freedom issue, and women journalists should be able to do their job and report the news without fearing for their safety and livelihoods. Editors need to be aware of the risks their female journalists face, and help them take steps to mitigate those risks.”

Credit: ICFJ

Tara Carey, Head of Media at Equality Now told IPS women journalists around the world are speaking out about their experiences of online violence and harassment, and studies are reporting a disturbing increase in misogynistic digital abuse targeting female journalists.

“Online trolling and psychological abuse manifests in various ways and is carried out to intimidate, stigmatize and silence women. It can range from sexual harassment, and threats of sexual and physical violence, including murder, through to privacy violations such as hacking, non-consensual dissemination of intimate images, and “doxing”, which involves personal information and contact details being leaked to the public.

“Trolling is sometimes part of an orchestrated campaign involving multiple attackers, and abuse is often worse when it intersects with other forms of discrimination, such as associated with race, nationality, religion, caste, ethnicity, and sexual orientation,” she said.

Online violence and harassment can take a heavy toll, leaving those who are targeted feeling stressed, scared, depressed, and in some instances, at greater risk.

Worryingly, digital abuse is closely associated with offline violence, with many women journalists confirming they have experienced threats, abuse or assault in face-to-face encounters whilst working, said Carey.

“This onslaught is curtailing women’s participation in the media and undermining our ability to engage freely in public debate, report on contentious issues or challenge discrimination. Some women are being pushed to censor what they say, withdraw from public online conversations and frontline reporting, or even abandoning journalism entirely.

“Online abuse against women journalists is an attack on freedom of speech and expression. A reduction in female representation in news reporting erodes gender diversity in public discourse and risks marginalizing gender-sensitive reporting on issues impacting women and girls,” declared Carey.

Meanwhile, on the occasion of International Women’s Day last March, UNESCO launched a campaign to highlight the specific risks faced by women journalists online.

Guy Berger, Director for Policies and Strategies, Communication and Information, at UNESCO, says, “this violence harms women’s right to speak and society’s right to know”.

“To tackle this increasing trend”, he adds, “we need to find collective solutions to protect women journalists from online violence”. This includes strong responses from social media platforms, national authorities and media organizations.

Belalba Baretto said CIVICUS also continues to document cases in different regions of the world, as indicated by the following examples:

• 1. Three women journalists in Lebanon, Dima Sadek, Luna Safwan and Mahassen Moursel, have been subjected to an intense hate campaign:

https://monitor.civicus.org/updates/2020/11/03/year-october-revolution-human-rights-violations-continue-amid-lack-accountability/

2. Geri Scott, the Yorkshire Post’s Westminster correspondent, faced online harassment following her appearance on the Andrew Marr Show TV programme on BBC One. Following her appearance on the show, Scott was targeted by an “online trolling campaign”, when she received 52 Instagram follow requests and “abusive messages and even rape threats: https://monitor.civicus.org/updates/2020/12/15/peaceful-assembly-under-threat-crackdown-environmental-and-blm-protesters

3. In Brazil, CIVICUS documented several cases (https://monitor.civicus.org/updates/2020/03/28/journalists-under-assault-brazil-judicial-harassment-smear-campaigns-and-vilification/). In addition, a report published by the Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo (ABRAJI) on violence against women journalists in Brazil, identified 20 attacks on Brazilian women journalists between January 2019 and February 2020, including misogynistic and sexist offences, smear campaigns and disclosure of personal information. Of the 17 cases recorded in 2019, 13 were carried out by members of the federal and state congress, ministers and President Bolsonaro himself. 84% of the journalists interviewed in the study also said they had faced gender-based violence at work.

4. News outlet Prensa Comunitaria and their women journalists were subjected to a smear campaign in conservative media and on social media for their coverage of the International Women’s Day march held on 8th March 2020 in Guatemala City: https://monitor.civicus.org/updates/2020/05/12/journalists-denounce-guatemala-government-hostility-towards-press/

Carey of Equality Now said: “Dealing with online abuse mustn’t fall on the shoulders of those being targeted. Media houses need to develop and implement gender-specific guidelines and training that incorporate anti-harassment policies. Women journalists should feel comfortable raising concerns about abuse and newsrooms should take responsibility for ensuring they feel safe and supported.

“Laws need to be updated and implemented to address this problem. Criminal justice systems should be providing support and redress to victims and punishing perpetrators. Justice being done, and being seen to be done, is important both for the individual and because consequences can act as a deterrent for others.

“There also needs to be better awareness and understanding amongst law enforcement agencies and social media companies, along with the adoption of zero-tolerance policies that involve duty bearers taking swift and appropriate action against perpetrators.”

*Thalif Deen, Senior Editor at the UN Bureau of Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency, is the author of a newly-released book on the United Nations titled “No Comment and Don’t Quote Me on That” available on Amazon. The link to Amazon via the author’s website follows: https://www.rodericgrigson.com/no-comment-by-thalif-deen/

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
  

Excerpt:

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, May 2 2021 (IPS)

Have you ever heard of a workers’ strike or similar labour action for press freedom? And how long do you think it lasted? A day? A week? A month? And where and when do you think this happened?

Workers strike for press freedom
Six decades ago, in 1961, Said Zahari, the editor of the Malay language daily, Utusan Melayu, led a strike of journalists and other employees. The protracted strike, in both Malaysia and Singapore today, was for press freedom rather than employee welfare.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

First, it involved ethnic Malay workers where such industrial actions had mainly been associated with ethnic Chinese and Indian workers, first brought to Malaya as indentured labour in colonial times.

Second, and perhaps uniquely, the strike tried to resist the imminent takeover of the previously independent anti-colonial newspaper to serve the propaganda needs of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). UMNO was the dominant partner of the governing coalition after the first Malayan elections in 1955 under colonial rule.

In 1957, the Federation of Malaya became independent, but without Singapore with which it was closely integrated, economically, politically and even socially and culturally before the Japanese invasion in 1941-1942.

With the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak, Singapore joined the expanded Malaysian confederation of British possessions in the region in 1963 before seceding less than two years later.

UMNO-led ruling coalitions ruled Malaysia until 2018 when it lost the general election despite great gerrymandering in its favour. But after a ‘palace coup’ in March 2020, UMNO joined the current ruling coalition.

Out of the frying pan into the fire
To break the strike, Singapore-born Said was banished by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman from re-entering peninsular Malaya after visiting striking colleagues on the island.

In early February 1963, Said was arrested by Lee Kuan Yew’s government of Singapore, then still under British tutelage. This happened hours after he agreed to lead the left populist Parti Rakyat Singapura (Singapore People’s Party) when PRS allies were still very influential in the region.

Arrested with over a hundred other political dissidents in Operation Coldstore, he was incarcerated without trial for 17 years. In the early 1970s, Said’s poems were smuggled out of prison and published in Malaysia. Said’s resolute determination despite his ordeal inspired countless others.

Inspiration
Said’s memoirs, published at the start of the new millennium, reveal how he came to make heroic sacrifices for a better, more just and democratic post-colonial Malaya with no thought of personal gain or advantage.

His memoirs are not just political, but also personal, candidly sharing reminiscences, but without the cosmetic editing that ‘great men’ typically demand for their biographical narratives.

Born on 17th May 1928 in a rustic Singapore which no longer exists, the young Muslim Malay youth came of age under British colonialism, interrupted by the 1942-1945 Japanese Occupation. His working life began at the Utusan headquarters in Singapore.

The newspaper was published by Yusof Ishak, later Singapore’s first president, and edited by A. Samad Ismail, the doyen of Malaysian journalism. As independence for Malaya without Singapore became imminent, Said was sent north in 1955 to head the Kuala Lumpur office.

He arrived in time to cover the historic Baling peace talks between the electorally victorious Alliance and the communist-led guerrilla movement driven underground in mid-1948. Then Chief Minister Tunku confided to Said that he never wanted the talks to succeed, but had agreed to have them to gain political advantage.

Generosity of spirit
After his release in late 1979, Said remained humble and modest, always affable, even avuncular and generous in his dealings with all. Other Utusan comrades too came out of the strike with so much of their dignity and humanity intact despite losing their livelihoods and much else.

Despite his prolonged incarceration, his magnanimity and generosity of spirit contrast with so much contemporary political hypocrisy and petty vindictiveness. Some who had caused him much grief later sought to redeem themselves with him, often to the chagrin of comrades.

Yet, he always remained principled, defiant and uncompromising when it counted. Although he said little about it until his passing five years ago, despite his modest means, he sought to compensate his family for its ordeal. This must surely be one of the heaviest burdens he had to bear.

Many partook of his love for humanity, truth, freedom and other cherished universal values. His was truly a life of much sacrifice for values and principles which still move many, so many decades later.

One cannot but be inspired by the Utusan strike, for over a hundred days, for press freedom. Those of us who cherish freedom of the press owe the strikers a debt which can never be repaid.

The name Said Zahari deserves to be immortalised worldwide as symbolising the now universal struggle for press freedom. Today, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, let us all salute Said Zahari and his Utusan comrades of 1961.

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
  

Excerpt:

By Sania Farooqui
NEW DELHI, India, Apr 30 2021 (IPS)

Every time a woman journalist receives threats of physical and sexual violence, cyber attacks and surveillence, doxxing, public humiliation, damage to her professional & personal credibility, the driving forces behind these intents are deeply rooted misogyny, sexism and abuse of power.

These online offenses are often organized, coordinated or orchestrated, which could include State-sponsored ‘sock puppet networks’, acts of patriotic trolling, networked gaslighting or involves mobs who seed hate campaigns.

According to a report published by The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and UNESCO, vicious online violence seeks to silence women journalists and discredit their reporting has become a growing problem. “Because of their race, sexual orientation and religion, some women face even more frequent and vitriolic attacks. Online violence against women journalists are often linked to disinformation and political extremism, designed to smear their personal and professional reputations,” the report says.

Saudi Arabia: ‘Toughest & Most Dangerous for Journalists’

Reem Abdellatif

Reem Abdellatif, a prominent Egyptian-American journalist now based in the Netherlands left the Middle East due to the challenges and abuse she faced while working as a journalist in Saudi Arabia. Speaking to me Reem says, “I worked with Saudi State TV, which controls the narrative in the Kingdom and the Middle East. I was constantly pressured into glamorizing the Kingdom’s non-existent tourism sector, economy, and investment scene. I was working in close proximity to the Kingdom’s ruling elite, and when I tried covering and flagging festering core issues, such as women and human rights, poor tourism infrastructure, diversity, equality, inclusion in the workplace, bullying and harassment, for them that is where I went wrong and became a threat.

“Women journalists face difficulties in this region because we call for accountability. Authoritarian regimes fear sovereign women, especially survivors who openly discuss their lived experiences because we are resilient and people can relate to us,” Reem says.

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index, Middle East’s most authoritarian countries – Saudi Arabia (170th), Egypt (166th) and Syria (173rd) – have taken advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to reinforce their methods for gagging the media and reaffirm their monopoly on news and information.

The report also mentions how authorities continue to use surveillance to keep an eye on Saudi journalists, even when they are abroad, as Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in Istanbul in October 2018 illustrated. “In this region, still the toughest and most dangerous for journalists, the pandemic has exacerbated the problems that have long plagued the press, which was already in its death throes,” the report states.

“I have faced gendered attacks and systematic online trolling because I spoke up against sexual abuse, harassment and government repression. I have received death threats, and the trolls have used profanity to intimidate me, Twitter has become their playground. There is no room to agree or disagree in the media scene in MENA and the Gulf region, and women journalists who are unaffiliated with the state have no place in the Middle East, sadly.

“I left the Middle East in March 2020 to live a dignified life, where I could speak openly and freely about my experiences as a woman and help young girls and survivors of abuse to reclaim the narrative,” says Reem.

Return of “Red-tagging” in Philippines

Meanwhile in the Philippines, which ranks 138 in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, the government continues to develop several ways to pressure journalists critical of the summary methods adopted by “Punisher” Rodrigo Duterte and his “war on drugs”. The Persecution of the media has been accompanied by online harassment campaigns orchestrated by pro-Duterte troll armies, which also launched cyber-attacks on alternative news websites, including the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

“Red-tagging” also returned in force in 2020 in the Philippines and one such victim was Lady Ann Salen, co-founder of the alternative media network Altermidya and editor of the Manila Today news site, who was arrested on firearms charges. The local police claimed they found 45 pistols and four grenades during the search.

“The police clearly planted the evidence to incriminate ‘Icy’ Salem in an utterly shameless manner,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

Lady Ann Salem

Women journalists work under military surveillance in this country, says Lady Ann Salen. “Online publications are hacked if they criticise the government, journalists get arrested, have their equipment confiscated, they receive death threats, hate-trolling and are locked out of their Facebook accounts,” Lady Ann says.

“My arrest on planted evidence and trumped up charges came only 9 days after the nationally televised red-tagging at the Senate hearing.

“It was December 10th, 2020, around two am, when the condo building’s security guard knocked on my door, police barged in with SWAT with their long firearms and full battle gear – around 20 of them, they made me and my companion face the wall, tied our hands behind our backs and made us neel on the floor for an hour. We were not allowed to make any calls to our lawyer or family members.”

Detained for almost 12 hours, Lady Ann said the whole search was conducted inside her “bedroom” and not any other part of the condo. “The police found a grenade wedged in the small mesh pocket in my everyday bag, gun amongst my laptop and hard drives, as well as from under my pillow. They found guns inside bags that did not belong to us. We were detained in four facilities in two months and three weeks of incarceration.”

Red-tagging for a long time has been a prelude to human rights violations, and a way to condition the public’s mind that if there were irregularities in the arrest or killing of somebody red-tagged, those people had it coming or even deserved it. In June 2016, when Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as president, he had said, “Just because you’re a journalist, you are not exempted from assasination if you’re a son of a bitch. Freedom of expression cannot help you if you have done something wrong.”

“Despite these attacks and threats, women journalists in the country continue to rise, resist pressures, defend their ranks and defend press freedom in the country. We must continue to serve the people with journalism and our work is best exercised when it can contribute to just and meaningful changes in the lives of the people in this country – because a lot still needs to change,” says Lady Ann.

Iran: Polarized Political Sphere & Strict State Red Lines

Iran’s media freedom rank is 174 out of the 180 countries in the latest press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2021.

The RSF report says Iran is still one of the world’s most repressive countries for journalists subjecting news and information to relentless control and at least 860 journalists and citizen journalists have been persecuted, arrested, imprisoned and in some cases executed since the 1979 revolution.

The report mentions the Iranian authorities waged their fight against the freedom to inform beyond the country’s borders, putting a great deal of pressure on Iranian journalists working for international media outlets.

Negar Mortazavi

One such journalist is Negar Mortazavi, who has been living in the United States for almost two decades, but was forced into exile from Iran in 2009, during the presidential election and the green movement. She currently has an open case against her, and says “it is a big risk” returning back to the country.

“As an Iranian-American journalist and analyst, I have been covering both the human rights abuses of the Iranian government, as well as the negative impact of US sanctions and the dangers of military escalation between the two countries. I have been a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s policies towards Iran, as well as a critic of Iran’s repression against its own citizens. I have been a target of massive online abuse and harassment from various state-sponsored entities, both by the Islamic Republic, the United States government, as well as Saudi Arabian and Israeli online operations.

“They constantly try to discredit my work, post death and rape threats on a regular basis, incite others to attack me, they do everything they can to intimidate and silence me,” says Negar.

In 2019, Negar used her Twitter handle to draw attention to a series of inflammatory tweets that were trying to smear her work along with other American journalists and analysts on Twitter. Negar exposed the Iran Disinformation Project, a state department- funded initiative that claimed to “bring to light disinformation emanating from the Islamic Republic of Iran via official rhetoric, state propaganda outlets, social media manipulation and more.”

“In response to the complaints, the US State Department suspended the initiative’s funding, but some other projects and cyber armies still continue to smear journalists and analysts who are critical of US policies towards Iran. They specifically target women with a sexist and misogynistic discourse, to discourage us from participating in public debates.

“It is very challenging to cover Iran from a distance, and to cover US foreign policy towards the region in general. There are many powerful players in the Middle East and in Washington DC who do not like nuance, objective reporting and analysis about the region,” says Negar.

Violations of journalists’ rights in countries like Iran, which often arrest journalists on fabricated charges and subject them through unfair trials, long sentences, without proper legal support and medical attention while in prison, often have a strong gender element and a common thread to the abuse that is directed at women journalists.

“In traditional societies with strict state red lines, women journalists are always the top targets because the perception is, it is easier to intimidate and silence women. I know of so many female colleagues who have left social media temporarily or permanently because of the abuse. It is important for women in these times, to be bold, be brave, break these barriers, create alliances and find partners, to speak up and push against abuse and intimidation,” says Negar.

Sania Farooqui is a journalist and filmmaker based out of New Delhi. She hosts a weekly online show called The Sania Farooqui Show where Muslim women from around the world are invited to share their views.

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
  

Excerpt:

By External Source
Apr 30 2021 (IPS-Partners)

WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY: a reminder to governments of their commitment to press freedom. This year’s World Press Freedom Day theme: “Information as a Public Good.”

It serves as a call to affirm the importance of cherishing information as a public good.

It is vital to have access to reliable information – especially in an era of misinformation.

Today, journalism is restricted in well over two thirds of the globe.

The 2021 World Press Freedom Index: journalism is “totally blocked or seriously impeded” in 73 nations.

“The pandemic has been used as grounds to block journalists’ access to information sources, and reporting in the field,” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Secretary-General Christophe Deloire

According to RSF, authoritarian regimes have used the pandemic to “perfect their methods of totalitarian control of information.”

‘Dictatorial democracies’ have used coronavirus as a pretext for imposing especially repressive legislation combining propaganda with suppression of dissent.

In Egypt, the government banned publication of non-government pandemic figures and arrested people for circulating figures larger than the official numbers.

In Zimbabwe, an investigative reporter was arrested after exposing a scandal related to the procurement of COVID- 19 supplies.

Tanzania, the former president imposed an information blackout on the pandemic before he died in March 2021. Even in Norway, journalists have faced difficulty accessing pandemic-related government information.

Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia and Indonesia adopted extremely draconian laws in the spring of 2020 criminalizing any criticism of the government’s actions.

Press freedom in Myanmar has also become increasingly strained since the military deposed its democratically elected government in February.

Despite Africa being the most violent continent for journalists, but several countries showed significant improvements in press freedom, according to RSF.

Europe and the Americas are the most favorable regions for press freedom, according to RSF.

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
  

Afghanistan marked World Press Freedom Day with speeches and the recognition of journalists for their work in covering key national and political issues. Credit: UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

By Michael De Dora
WASHINGTON, Apr 30 2021 (IPS)

When Myanmar’s military seized power from the elected government in February, one of its first actions was to further squeeze the already restricted free flow of information in the country. It obstructed news stations, temporarily shuttered phone and internet access, and blocked social media platforms.

Since then, things have only worsened, with dozens of journalists behind bars, news organizations charged with crimes, and military officials stating the shutdown will not be lifted anytime soon.

The result? At a time when it’s been desperately needed, independent information has been impossible to either publish or access. As the country experienced a rapid, unexpected shift in power, the majority of its citizens—and by consequence the world—have been left in the dark about the details.

The internet shutdown in Myanmar should be an example of what a government should never do. And yet is an example of what governments are doing—with disturbing frequency around the world.

All told, there have been more than 500 internet shutdowns across dozens of countries over the last three years.

As the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented, these shutdowns have serious consequences for press freedom. They leave journalists struggling to do their job effectively. Turning off or limiting access to the internet means that media workers are unable to contact sources, fact check data, file stories, or publish news to the online platforms they depend on for dispersal.

Internet shutdowns also leave the public deprived of the ability to access reliable information on what is happening in their community and their country—or even to phone their neighbor. If the press can’t publish, the public can’t read. It’s that simple.

And these shutdowns are not limited to autocraties or dictatorships. They’re happening in democracies, too.

Consider: in August 2019, millions of people living in Jammu and Kashmir awoke as news broke that the Indian government was planning to revoke a constitutional provision that granted the contested region’s governing autonomy and change it from a state to a union territory, essentially bringing it under federal control.

Except they couldn’t call their neighbors or read the news, because the Indian government had imposed an internet shutdown and communications blackout. This blackout extended well into 2020.

The situations in Jammu and Kashmir, and now Myanmar, are the tip of a largely unnoticed iceberg. In Uganda, the government suspended internet access during its January 2021 elections. In Belarus, authorities blocked local news websites amid protests in September 2020. In Ethiopia, also in response to protests, officials shut down the internet across the country (on the same day, police raided a news organization and detained journalists). In Iran, the government cut internet access for at least several days after protests broke out. In Indonesia, in response to civil unrest, authorities temporarily blocked the internet.

Why do governments engage in such behavior? For many reasons, but chief among them: to protect their power.

It is no coincidence that shutdowns are more likely to happen during times of conflict or unrest, or during an election period. When governments feel their power threatened, those in charge naturally rush to protect it. And the perception throughout history is that keeping a firm grip on what citizens can hear and see will aid authorities in maintaining control.

That explains why, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, government attempts to shutter internet access became an acute problem. Governments, particularly authoritarian regimes, sought to control the narrative about the scale of the outbreak or the quality of its response.

Unfortunately when paired with a public health crisis, internet shutdowns can have deadly consequences—keeping from people the information they need to keep themselves and their families safe.

The widespread impact and apparent uptick in internet shutdowns has forced news outlets and journalists to get creative in order to continue to perform their duties.

It’s also forced civil society to become more proactive. Organizations are joining together to urge governments to keep the internet on ahead of elections and crises, and providing advice and assistance to journalists operating in suffocating environments.

Governments committed to defending human rights and democracy must now follow suit.

These shutdowns violate foundational rights protected by both state constitutions and international treaties. Freedom of religion, belief, opinion, and expression depend on the ability to read, publish, and exchange information and ideas.

But they’re also counter-productive. In times of unrest and upheaval, it may appear that keeping the masses in the dark is an agent of stabilization. In reality it’s the opposite. It shows people that those in charge consider their power so weak that it cannot withstand discussion or scrutiny. And it puts on display for the world a government’s true colors—isolating it while also creating new reasons for the global community to apply pressure.

Internet shutdowns don’t stabilize societies. They crack open the facade of a government’s authority. If governments are looking to secure their countries in times of trouble, turning the lights off is not the answer. Instead, they should ensure the free flow of information. There’s no more stable foundation for a country than trust in government, and one way to achieve that is by protecting human rights for all.

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
  

Excerpt:

By Raghbendra Jha
CANBERRA, Australia, Apr 29 2021 (IPS)

Edmund Burke called the press the fourth estate, the fourth pillar of democracy, with an oversight role on the remaining three pillars – the legislature, executive and the judiciary. In an ideal world, this fourth estate would have unimpeded access to the other three pillars so that the citizenry could be kept informed at all times. This freedom was conceived to be so sacrosanct that many countries have included it as a fundamental right, e.g., the US Constitution enshrined it as the very first amendment.

Raghbendra Jha

While this is the ideal state of affairs, even under the best of circumstances press freedoms have faced considerable challenges. The traditional newspaper is threatened by shrinking readership and concentration of ownership and control which implies that profitable markets will be served first, viz. global or at best national audiences.. There has been a considerable void in news reporting, particularly on issues affecting local populations. Other forms of media are unable to fill the gap. Television combines news with entertainment – infotainment- and traditional radio has been swamped by satellite radios. Local issues areneglected and many local media outlets including newspapers and television and radio stations are facing dire conditions. There has been a steady rise in media concentration in the past few decades https://theconversation.com/factcheck-is-australias-level-of-media-ownership-concentration-one-of-the-highest-in-the-world-68437

At the same time, the emergence and now overwhelming dominance of the social media and the Internet have given rise to a sharp proliferation of media outlets. Many of these are driven by the pure short-term profit motive and are difficult to regulate. All these forms of media are facilitated by the frictionless distribution enabled by the Internet and the disruptive effects of digital transformation. There is no dearth of people active on social and regular media, including some who should know better, who will, when forming an opinion about an issue, first come to their preferred conclusion and then work their way back to selectively choose evidence to support their conclusion. The world still awaits a business model that pays for accurate content at competitive rates. The overburdening with information makes it difficult for people to use discretion in the absorption of news so that the primary objective of press freedom, i.e., keeping the citizenry informed at all times, is belied. Nevertheless, in many countries with very distorted ownership patterns of traditional media social media outlets have provided a breath of fresh air and independence, especially when elements of the traditional media are themselves accused of improper conduct and reporting.

This point brings us to the issue of pressing challenges facing journalism and press freedoms. https://orca.cf.ac.uk/94201/1/DG_FoJ-Risks%20Threats%20and%20Opportunities_JJ.pdf

The first one is personalized news feeds. Facebook and Twitter have created cultures of maximal tribalism and infinite personalization. Users can silo themselves in self-made realities while taking part in collective expression of tribal outrage that often seem bewilder outsiders. The fact that such personalization can mould the opinions of large numbers of people is particularly worrisome. Second, the 24-hour news cycle forces reporters to publish articles without proper fact-checking. Even allegedly responsible media houses have had to retract stories because of the lack of proper checking. This leads to a deeper concern. Whereas the privilege of helping the citizenry to form opinions about key public issues lies with journalists, there is an implied responsibility that the information and analysis provided by the journalist is accurate and verifiable. This does not always seem to be the case. Indeed, some journalists have been accused of spreading “fake news” by pursuing their own agendas when pursuing their vocation. There have been well-known instances of both traditional and social media outlets pursuing political advocacy. The distinction between “news” and “views” has broken down in many cases and the citizenry is often ill equipped to discern the difference.

During the on-going pandemic another very serious issue has disrupted. Violence towards journalists is an old issue but the promulgation of long lockdowns has led to explosion of serious domestic violence and mental ill-health concerns. This has been described as a pandemic within a pandemic https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2024046

Under ordinary circumstances, the explosion of these domestic issues would be an important news story. However, lockdown orders have meant that many such instances all over the world get unreported. Clearly, women are the worst victims here. In particular, it has become increasingly difficult for women journalists to report on such issues. It is ironical that although women journalists are most suited to report on occurrences of domestic and sexual violence, they are the ones with minimal access to the victims of such abuse.

Even before the pandemic journalists- particularly women journalists – have been subjected to harassment and abuse.of several types: https://www.iwmf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/IWMF-Global-Report.pdf

On World Press Freedom Day (May 3) there is need to ponder on these and many other issues relating to the role of the fourth estate. Freedom of the Press is invaluable in society. However, as with any other freedom, constant vigil and action are the price of this freedom. If we want a robust press this price will need to be paid.

Raghbendra Jha, Professor of Economics and Executive Director, Australia South Asia Research Centre, Australian National University.

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
  

Excerpt:

Freelance journalist Hopewell Chin'ono before testifying at Harare Magistrate Ngoni Nduna on the state of conditions at Chikurubi Maximum Prison. Credit: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

By Sibahle Zuma
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Apr 29 2021 (IPS)

Access to accurate information is vitally important during the pandemic, so that people can understand how to protect themselves and their families, and to hold their governments to account for their response to the health emergency.

But it is clear that many governments are instead working to hamper the flow of information. Many governments have used the pandemic as a pretext to crack down on the ability of journalists to do their jobs.

While there is an understandable need to limit the spread of false information about the virus, claims of ‘fake news’ are often being used as a smokescreen to imprison journalists and censor independent media organisations critical of governments. Some worrying trends have been in Africa.

Just like the virus, the persecution of the press has no borders, affecting journalists in many countries across the region. In its latest global report, the CIVICUS Monitor, an online platform that tracks civic freedoms, documented that journalists had been detained in at least 28 African countries. This was the top civic rights violation recorded in Africa during the past year.

From Chad to Nigeria and from Somalia to Zimbabwe, journalists have been arrested for their reporting on COVID-19. In Zimbabwe, investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono has been arrested three times since July 2020.

The persecution began after he published an exposé alleging corruption in the Health Ministry’s US$60 million procurement of protective equipment. Hopewell was targeted even though his reporting led to the sacking and arrest of the Health Minister.

He was rearrested in November on spurious charges of inciting anti-government protests and then again in January for a tweet alleging police brutality in lockdown enforcement. He is currently out on bail, but faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted of ‘peddling falsehoods’. Other Zimbabwean journalists have also been arrested for their reporting on the pandemic.

Hopewell Chin’ono’s lead lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa tells journalists outside the High Court that she is disappointed by the court’s decision to dismiss her client’s bail appeal. Credit: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

Online freedom of expression for journalists has also been curtailed under the pandemic. In Nigeria, journalists have been charged under the country’s cybercrimes law for their reporting on the pandemic. In Somalia, a news editor was arrested for a social media post alleging that a hospital ventilator was transferred to the office of the Somali President.

Media outlets have been shut down, in another common tactic used to silence government critics and suppress critical reporting on state responses to the pandemic.

In Tanzania, where media outlets were regularly taken off-air or fined for not toeing the government line under the late President Maghufuli’s regime, the Communication Regulatory Authority suspended multiple outlets for their pandemic coverage, including for publishing death tolls. Tanzania’s official policy of pandemic denial under the late Magufuli saw the official counting of cases cease in the early days of the health crisis.

A similar trend was documented in Zambia, where the authorities have used COVID-19 as an opportunity to cancel the broadcast licence of the popular TV station, Prime TV, which was known for its critical coverage of the government. In April 2020, after the independent outlet’s coverage of the pandemic, the broadcast regulator cancelled the licence on public safety grounds and police prevented staff from leaving the building. The same station was suspended a year earlier for its coverage of parliamentary elections.

Instead of the repression, journalists should be recognised as key allies in debunking lethal disinformation. To make sure people are getting up-to-date, safe and relevant information about COVID-19, governments, independent media and civil society must work together to clearly define what qualifies as ‘fake news’.

Most importantly, to fight disinformation, governments must be more transparent and proactively disclose timely data on the state of the health emergency in their countries. The media must be able to access and interrogate such information.

On World Press Freedom Day, and over a year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, it is critical that independent media are able to operate freely, without fear of reprisals or detention.

Journalists are part of the solution to controlling the virus and combating disinformation. They should not be behind bars for doing their job.

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
  

Excerpt:

Journalists in the line of duty. Credit: Left - UNESCO/©Thomas Hawk; Right - UN Photo/Evan Schneider

By Jonathan Rozen
NEW YORK, Apr 28 2021 (IPS)

Spyware’s repeated use to target journalists and those close to them poses an existential threat to the privacy required for press freedom to flourish. Without the ability to privately communicate with sources, conduct research, and compile information, journalists are hampered in their ability to keep the public informed and hold the powerful to account.

“The spyware attack revealed to me that regardless of where I am and what citizenship I hold, if the Moroccan government wants to gather surveillance, they will…It prevents you from being able to do your work because you don’t want to put people [you speak to] at risk,” said Samia Errazzouki, an editorial board member with the Moroccan Mamfakinch news site with U.S. citizenship. Errazzouki was based in the U.S. when she and 14 other Mamfakinch staff were targeted with spyware in 2012.

In March, the Committee to Protect Journalists mapped dozens of incidents where members of the media were targeted with sophisticated, secret surveillance on nearly every continent. The compiled reporting details how spyware products sold by companies based in Israel and Europe have been allegedly used by governments to reach across borders and oceans into the devices of journalists and their associates to monitor their lives without their knowledge.

“It’s not just the fear or anxiety,” said Errazzouki, who now considers the possibility of being unknowingly recorded by her devices’ cameras and microphones. “It’s real, the way it changes your everyday habits. Not changing your clothes in front of your computer. Putting your phone in a drawer to have a private conversation.…[There’s] some degree of paranoia.”

The evidence of spyware’s use against the press uncovered by investigators, including from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, Amnesty International, and Reuters, outlines a chilling threat to the privacy required for journalists to work freely.

Unbridled use of technology to access and conduct surveillance on journalists’ devices promotes fear and self-censorship, often accompanied by physical intimidation or arrests.

In 2020, Moroccan journalists Omar Radi and Maati Monjib were arrested after being targeted with spyware. Monjib was granted provisional release on March 23 following a 19-day hunger strike, but Radi remains behind bars. Another journalist in India, Anand Teltumbde, was also jailed last year following similar spyware targeting.

How the efforts to hack these journalists’ phones may have contributed to their arrests remains unclear, but their experiences illustrate the familiar, tandem nature of digital and physical threats.

In Nigeria, for example, police used call record data to lure and arrest journalists and in Ghana reporters worry that digital forensics tools will be deployed to access information on seized devices. They have reason after the Washington Post reported that Myanmar police leveraged the same technology to search the phones of two jailed Reuters journalists and the Nigerian military sought a “forensic search” for sources on editors’ phones and computers.

Without a robust defense of privacy from governments, corporate leaders, and citizens, journalists’ phones will continue to be converted from useful tools into grave vulnerabilities.

*A shorter version of this report was also published in the April 2021 edition of The Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership newsletter.

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
  

Excerpt:

By UNESCO
PARIS, Apr 28 2021 (IPS-Partners)

Investigative journalist and media executive Maria Ressa of the Philippines has been named as the 2021 laureate of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, following the recommendation of an international jury of media professionals. The Award Ceremony will take place on 2 May in Windhoek, Namibia, on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day Global Conference, and be streamed online.

Over a career spanning more than thirty years, Ressa has worked as CNN’s lead investigative reporter for Asia and the head of ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs. She has also been involved in many international initiatives to promote press freedom. In recent years, she has been the target of online attacks and judicial processes relating to her investigative reporting and status as manager of online outlet Rappler. She has been arrested for alleged crimes related to the exercise of her profession, and has been subject to a sustained campaign of gendered online abuse, threats, and harassment, which at one point, resulted in her receiving an average of over 90 hateful messages an hour on Facebook.

About the 2021 World Press Freedom Day Global Conference in Windhoek

The 2021 World Press Freedom Day Global Conference will take place from 29 April to 3 May and focus on the theme of Information as a Public Good. More than 40 online and in situ sessions are planned, looking at topics such as the transparency of online platforms and the importance of media and information literacy. The conference will also tackle ways to promote and support independent media struggling to survive a crisis worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when national and local media everywhere face financial instability and other pressures threatening their survival and their journalists’ jobs.

Source: UNESCO

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Apr 27 2021 (IPS)

The World Press Freedom Day on the 3rd of May is an occasion for celebrating humanity. Language enables us to transmit our thoughts in sound – a means of communication developed through our unique brain, combined with our capacity to control lips, tongue and other components of the vocal apparatus. Over time, humans have also acquired skills to commit our language to writing.

Since language is the basis for human existence, it is particularly painful when we are denied expressions of thoughts and feelings. Not being listened to, abused and told to: “Shut up!”, make us suffer from being denied equal access to human fellowship. We are herd animals, a sense of belonging and freedom to express ourselves is essential for us all. This is probably the reason to why words in so many cultures are considered to be sacred – worthy of respect and even veneration. Several societies condemn verbal abuse and most religions consider lying to be a grave sin.

Generally, it is written words which are considered to be particularly sacred. However, these sacred words have often a spoken tradition behind them. Several sacred scriptures have been recited long before they were written down. In 1960, the Malian author Amadou Hampâté Bâ stated in a speech at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris:

“It is our duty to safeguard our inherited oral tradition, to try to transmit whatever we can of it before time and oblivion cause it to disappear from human memory. […] I concede that several of the world’s human inhabitants are illiterate, but I do not concede to you that they are ignorant. […] I remind you that in my country, every time an old man dies, a library has burned down.”

This respect for the spoken word, particularly in the form of recitation, is reflected in many of the world’s sacred texts. For many Muslims the sound of Qur’anic chant is an immediate means of contact with the Word of God. The sound itself is considered to have a divine source. Participation in Qur’anic recitation as reciter, or as listener, becomes an act of worship. This respect for the spoken and written word may be one reason to why so many religions condemn lying. The Lebanese scholar Al-Ḥurr Al-cĀmili (1624-1693 CE) accurately stated “All the evils have been locked in a room and its key is lying.” In the Christian Bible, Jesus is quoted as saying: “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the Evil One,” while Buddhist scriptures proclaim that the path to bliss and righteousness contain:

“Correct speech: Refrain from lying. Do not engage in gossip, misleading, hurtful, or loose speech.
Right intention: Your intentions should be based on kindness and compassion. Proper action: Refrain from harming living things. Do not take any statement for granted.”

Honest and exquisitely expressed words might slightly open the gates to an otherwise incomprehensible core of existence. Like art and music, words may enable us to glimpse the greatness of the Universe and perhaps even grasp some of its inner meaning.

In the Bible, God creates the world with words:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”

Most of us have a quite laid back attitude when it comes to expressing ourselves. After having used our words we tend to forget what made us utter them, that is if we do not consider them to be so significant that we decide to write them down. When such writings become “sacred” it means that they have gained an existence far beyond what one single person happened to say to another at a given moment. Such words often become Law, a solid foundation for a society’s existence and thus they obtain a decisive significance for an individual’s perceptions, thoughts and actions.

Apparently did writing develop independently in at least four ancient civilizations. Sometime in 3400 BCE in Mesopotamia, in Egypt 3200 BCE, in China 1200 BCE, and in the present Southern Mexico and Guatemala 500 BCE.

Written words were extremely important to ancient Egyptians. The Greeks called Egyptian characters hieroglyphs, sacred signs. Scribes were considered to convey the language of the gods and Thoth, the god of wisdom and maintainer of the Universe, was believed to possess a book that included the entire set of rules governing Cosmos. Written and carefully recited words empowered objects and sacred actions. Words were believed to enable the deceased to awaken to a new existence beyond death. Every sacrificed object – water, necessities of life, incense, and ornaments – was through sacred words charged with power. It was not only objects that through words were filled to the brim by force, the words themselves were also loaded with power, meaning that so called “word plays” endowed words and sentences with a wide range of meanings and allusions. A single word could thereby allude to objects, the deceased, gods and demons, forces and a large variety of powerful concepts and ways of thinking.

Mastering all this knowledge made the art of writing extremely difficult. Becoming a scribe required a long, tough education, which not only meant mastering the complex depiction/writing of words, the difficult grammar and underlying allusions, it also included learning rituals by heart, mythology, accounting, mathematics and geometry. All that was required not only to master religious obligations, but also administrative tasks. However, the reward was worth it. An Egyptian scribe escaped hard work under a scorching sun, did not pay taxes and reached high positions. Sometime 3,200 years ago, someone wrote on a papyrus a text he called The Happy Scribe:

“Is there anyone here like Hardedef? Is here another one similar to Imhotep? There is not in our time a Noferti, or a Cheti, foremost of them all. I ask you to remember a man like Pathemdjehuti, a Chacheperrasonb. Is there perhaps another one like Ptahhotep or Kaires? The gates and halls that were built for them have fallen into disrepair. Their mortuary priests do no longer exist. Their resting places are forgotten. But their names are still mentioned due to the books they wrote, because they were so beautiful. Those who wrote them, their memory lives on forever. Become a scribe! Put this into your mind, so that your name might become like theirs. A book is better than a burial chamber covered with writing, than a burial chapel never so well built. Become a scribe and live forever.”

For many later authors writing became a life-absorbing vocation, while several of them spent a lifetime searching for the right word. One of them, Gustave Flaubert, wrote:

”Whatever we want to convey, there is only one word to express it, one verb to animate it, one adjective to qualify it. We must therefore go on seeking that word, verb or adjective, until we have discovered it and never be satisfied with approximations, never fall back on tricks, even inspired ones. Or tomfoolery of language to dodge the difficulty.”

The right words have been found by vociferous writers and speakers, enabling them to inspire and empower people. You might think of Martin Luther King’s rousing speech:

”I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”

Bold journalists have with beautiful and adequate expressions dared to pinpoint injustices. Like Émile Zola when he in 1898 accused the French establishment of punishing the innocent Alfred Dreyfus:

”What they have dared, so shall I dare. Dare to tell the truth, as I have pledged to tell it, in full, since the normal channels of justice have failed to do so. My duty is to speak out, not to become an accomplice in this travesty. My nights would otherwise be haunted by the spectre of an innocent man, far away, suffering the most horrible of tortures for a crime he did not commit.”

However, many of these outspoken heroes of well-written and just words have had to pay for their honesty with their lives. Like the poet Osip Mandelstam, who under the bloody tyranny of Josef Stalin with a great poem dared to break the fearful silence of many of his fellow citizens:

Dictators hate to be disclosed in all their nakedness; their stupidity, fears, disdain for others and raving violence. However, it is not only in dictatorships that unsung heroes of free speech are silenced, and even killed. In 2020, nearly seven out of every ten journalists killed lost their lives in countries “at peace” and an unaccounted number were threatened and abused, often due to investigations into cases of local corruption, organised crime, misuse of public funds and environmental misdemeanour. In 2020, Reporters Without Borders revealed that to their knowledge 50 journalists had been killed, 387 had been detained, 54 held hostage and four were missing. So, not only on the 3rd May let us pay homage to the guardians and heroes of the sacred word and express our disdain for all those who do not respect words; who cheat, lie, abuse, maim and kill to keep us all in ignorance and fear.

Jan Lundius holds a PhD. on History of Religion from Lund University and has served as a development expert, researcher and advisor at SIDA, UNESCO, FAO and other international organisations.

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
  

Excerpt:

Reporters Without Borders said press freedom was restricted either partly or completely in two thirds of the globe. It warned that authoritarian regimes had used the pandemic to “perfect their methods of totalitarian control of information”, and as a pretext for imposing “especially repressive legislation with provisions combining propaganda with suppression of dissent”. (file photo) Credit: Miriam Gathigah/IPS

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Apr 22 2021 (IPS)

Independent journalism is facing a growing crackdown one year into the COVID-19 pandemic as governments around the world restrict access to information and muzzle critical reporting, media and rights watchdogs have warned.

Authoritarian regimes have used existing and new legislation to attack, intimidate, and jail reporters under the guise of acting to protect public health, they say, and fear the situation is unlikely to improve in many states if and when the pandemic ends.

“Dictators and authoritarian leaders exploited the cover of COVID to crackdown on independent reporting and criticism. Some, instead of battling the virus, turned their attention to fighting the media.

“Countries from Cambodia to Russia, Egypt and Brazil all sought to divert attention from their failures to deal with the health crisis by intimidating or jailing journalists,” Rob Mahoney, Deputy Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, told IPS.

Recent months have seen a slew of reports highlighting how media freedom in many places has been curbed during the pandemic.

In February, Human Rights Watch released a report COVID-19 Triggers Wave of Free Speech Abuse showing how more than 80 governments had used the COVID-19 pandemic to justify violations of rights to free speech and peaceful assembly with journalists among those affected as authorities attacked, detained, prosecuted, and in some cases killed critics, and closed media outlets, while enacting vague laws criminalising speech that they claim threatens public health.

In April, global press freedom campaigners the International Press Institute (IPI), released a report painting a similarly grim picture and detailing the physical and verbal abuse of journalists reporting on COVID-19 across the world.

And just this week, Reporters Without Borders said journalism was restricted either partly or completely in two thirds of the globe.

It warned that authoritarian regimes had used the pandemic to “perfect their methods of totalitarian control of information”, and as a pretext for imposing “especially repressive legislation with provisions combining propaganda with suppression of dissent”.

It also highlighted how some had developed legislation to criminalise publishing of ‘fake news’ relating to coronavirus reporting, and used COVID-19 as a pretence to deepen existing internet censorship and surveillance.

In some states authorities had banned publication of non-government pandemic numbers and arrested people for disseminating other figures. In others, such as Tanzania, they even went as far as imposing a complete information blackout on the pandemic, the group said.

The problems are not confined to any single area of the world, according to the groups’ reports. However, some of the most severe restrictions have been seen in the Asia-Pacific region and Africa.

Journalists on the ground in these regions have said they have seen a deterioration in press freedom over the last year.

IPS’ own correspondent and an award-winning journalist in Uganda, Michael Wambi, said that the government had used pandemic restrictions introduced for the entire population to deliberately restrict journalists’ reporting.

Presidential elections were held in the country in January and, Wambi told IPS, there were “targeted attacks on journalists in an effort to curtail them from giving coverage to leading opposition candidates” in the run up to them.

Journalists were violently attacked by police at the events, and police later accused reporters of violating COVID-19 restrictions by attending them.

Wambi said Uganda’s Police Chief, Martin Okoth Ochola, made a joke of the situation.

“He joked to journalists that ‘security forces would continue beating them to keep them out of any danger [to their own health]’,” said Wambi.

Stella Paul, IPS’ award-winning journalist in India — which RSF describes as one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists — told IPS: “In India, COVID restrictions were basically used as an excuse to intimidate journalists.”

Press freedom groups say the Indian government has taken advantage of the coronavirus crisis to increase its control of news coverage, using legal action against journalists who have reported information about the pandemic which differs from the official position.

Early in the pandemic, the government launched a number of legal cases against journalists for reports about the effects of the government-enforced lockdown on migrant workers while an editor of a local news portal was arrested and charged with sedition for writing about a possible change of state leadership following a rise in coronavirus cases.

“The last year has seen a lot of journalists detained while trying to report the truth about the pandemic, to get to accurate information and find things out,” said Paul.

Paul, who also writes for IPS, co-operates with a number of other journalists across Asia and says the situation for independent media in most other parts of the region is equally perilous.

“It is the same thing in many other countries. What we have seen during COVID is a lot of journalists, not just in India, asking themselves what will happen if I report on something? Will I end up in jail? They are scared of getting arrested,” she said.

One country where media freedom is seen as particularly restricted is Bangladesh. It came in at 152 out of 182 in RSF’s 2021 Press Freedom Index. The group said there had been “an alarming increase in police and civilian violence against reporters” during the pandemic with many journalists arrested and prosecuted for their reporting on it.

This has been made easier by the Digital Security Act (DSA) passed in 2018 under which “negative propaganda” can lead to a 14-year jail sentence, local journalists say.

The DSA was at the centre of the controversial death in police custody of a Bangladeshi writer and commentator earlier this year.

Mushtaq Ahmed, who was detained under the DSA in May last year for allegedly posting criticism of the government’s response to the COVID-19 on Facebook, died in police custody in February. An official investigation found he died of natural causes but others in prison with him at the time claimed he was tortured and some suspect he died of injuries sustained during his incarceration. 

Few local journalists were willing to talk about their experiences of working in the country, but one, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Ahmed’s arrest and death had had a profound effect on the media.

“After what happened to Mushtaq Ahmed, many journalists were immediately less willing to challenge anything the government said about the coronavirus pandemic,” the journalist told IPS.

“The DSA is being used to harass journalists – many have been arrested under the act after publishing news critical of the authorities.

“Doing reporting under the DSA is the main challenge for journalists in Bangladesh right now. News outlets use self-censorship to avoid harassment under the DSA. If anyone sees a single item of news that is negative about them, they can use the DSA to bring legal action against the reporter and the editor,” the journalist added.

But while the COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly allowed governments to crack down on critical media, there is no guarantee the situation will improve once the pandemic ends, press freedom watchdogs say.

Scott Griffen, Deputy Director at IPI, told IPS: “Who will decide when the pandemic is over? Governments for whom the pandemic is a useful tool to suppress civil liberties may be tempted to maintain a state of emergency in some form, even after the immediate health threat is ended.”

He added that there were also fears that measures introduced during the pandemic may not be rescinded at all.

“The aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the US brought with it new anti-terrorism measures including unprecedented civil liberties rollbacks. Countries around the world have used anti-terror laws to crack down on critical speech. Similarly, we fear that emergency laws introduced during the coronavirus pandemic may become part of the permanent legal framework in some states, not to mention a culture of tracking and surveillance of citizens that is very unlikely to be rolled back. This has profound implications for journalists’ privacy and their ability to protect their sources,” he said.

However, despite the bleak outlook for press freedom in many states as the pandemic drags on, there is hope that independent media will continue no matter how severely they might be restricted.

“Journalists will still produce independent reporting even in the most hostile of circumstances. That’s their mission. You can have independent journalism without democracy. But you can’t have democracy without independent journalism,” said Mahoney.

Excerpt: