Committee to Protect Journalists

Every year, hundreds of journalists are attacked, imprisoned, or killed. For 30+ years, CPJ has been there to defend them and fight for press freedom.

Articles: 3537

Committee to Protect Journalists

13 Mar 2025, 19:28

‘Nightmares’: Syrian journalist Tal al-Mallohi on surviving 15 years in Assad’s jails

News

When Syria’s Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power last December, Syrian journalist Tal al-Mallohi was among the thousands who poured out of the country’s jails. Mallohi was 18 when security police detained her in 2009 after posting on the then-popular Blogger platform poems and articles about Palestinian rights and other political issues. She spent 15...

Committee to Protect Journalists

13 Mar 2025, 19:00

New Turkish law criminalizes ‘false’ reporting on cybersecurity-related data leaks

News

March 13, 2025—Turkey’s new cybersecurity law could criminalize legitimate reporting on cybersecurity incidents because of its overly broad and vague language, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. The law, passed on Wednesday, criminalizes reporting about an online data leak or sharing that report unless the authorities have confirmed the incident. It imposes a prison...

Committee to Protect Journalists

13 Mar 2025, 13:29

CPJ alarmed by India state government’s use of AI to monitor media

News

New Delhi, March 13, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges India’s Maharashtra state authorities to consult with journalists and media groups to ensure that its plan to use artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor media coverage and correct “negative” reports does not undermine press freedom. According to a March 6 Government Resolution approving the release of...

Committee to Protect Journalists

12 Mar 2025, 20:23

CPJ, partners call for Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora’s release

News

The Committee to Protect Journalists and eight other international organizations call for the immediate and unconditional release of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora and urgent guarantees of due process. Judge Erick García ordered Zamora’s return to prison on March 10, executing a appeals court order that revoked the journalist’s house arrest. At the hearing, García reported threats...

Committee to Protect Journalists

11 Mar 2025, 18:11

CPJ, partners urge FCC to stop threatening press freedom and free speech

News

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 16 other organizations, led by the nonprofit group Public Knowledge, sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr on March 7, expressing concern about recent developments that threaten to erode long-established safeguards for editorial independence and free expression. The agency recently launched investigations into public broadcasting...

Committee to Protect Journalists

11 Mar 2025, 15:48

Indian journalist shot dead after reporting on land scam

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New Delhi, March 11, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Indian authorities to maintain full transparency in their investigation into the killing of journalist Raghvendra Bajpai, who was shot dead March 8 in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, and determine whether the journalist was targeted in connection with his work. “Authorities in Uttar...

Committee to Protect Journalists

10 Mar 2025, 21:45

CPJ calls for release of José Rubén Zamora after Guatemala judge orders the journalist back to jail

News

The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces Monday’s court ruling to revoke the house arrest of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora and send him back to prison. “The decision to return journalist José Rubén Zamora to prison is a blatant act of judicial persecution. This case represents a dangerous escalation in the repression of independent journalism,”...

Committee to Protect Journalists

10 Mar 2025, 14:50

Isolated and restricted: 3 journalists on life and work under Turkish house arrest

News

On February 9, reporter Tolga Güney welcomed a CPJ representative into the apartment he shares with several colleagues in central Izmir, Turkey. It was his 362nd day under house arrest while awaiting trial on terrorism charges. “I believe I’m in this situation for doing my job,” he said over a glass of tea. Güney is...

Committee to Protect Journalists

07 Mar 2025, 17:29

CPJ joins call for Nepal to revise new media council, social media bill

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The Committee to Protect Journalists joined more than two dozen media and civil society groups in a joint statement on March 5, urging the Nepalese government and parliament to revise a recently proposed social media bill and the newly established Media Council. The statement noted that the bill granted the government “overreaching powers” that could...

Committee to Protect Journalists

06 Mar 2025, 18:17

Journalist Patricio Aguilar shot and killed in Ecuador

News

Bogotá, March 6, 2025—Ecuadorian authorities must thoroughly investigate the March 4 killing of journalist Patricio Aguilar, determine if he was targeted for his work, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. “Ecuadorian authorities must not let the killing of journalist Patricio Aguilar go unpunished,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin...

Committee to Protect Journalists

05 Mar 2025, 21:39

Mexican journalist Kristian Zavala killed after seeking state protection

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Mexico City, March 5, 2025—Authorities must credibly investigate the March 2 shooting ofjournalist Kristian Zavala, who is the third press member to be killed in Mexico this year, despite his 2021 request for federal protection, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Zavala, founder and editor of the Facebook-based news outlet El Silaoense MX, and...

Committee to Protect Journalists

05 Mar 2025, 17:08

CPJ: Georgia must free Mzia Amaghlobeli after 53 days in jail for a slap

News

New York, March 5, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Georgian court decision to proceed with the trial of media manager Mzia Amaghlobeli and keep her in detention, following an altercation with a local police chief. In a March 4 pretrial hearing, Georgia’s western Batumi City Court rejected motions to release Amaghlobeli, director of...

Committee to Protect Journalists

04 Mar 2025, 20:40

CPJ leads joint letter to Egyptian president urging release of writer Alaa Abdelfattah

News

In a joint letter led by the Committee to Protect Journalists, 50 prominent human rights leaders, Nobel Prize laureates, writers, and public figures have called on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to grant a presidential pardon to Egyptian-British writer Alaa Abdelfattah. The letter, sent Tuesday, highlights that Abdelfattah has spent nearly a decade behind bars...

Committee to Protect Journalists

04 Mar 2025, 18:50

Peru’s president accuses ‘bad press’ of coup plotting

News

Bogotá, March 4, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Peruvian President Dina Boluarte to retract her accusations that news outlets are trying to destabilize her government, and to show greater tolerance of criticism in the media. After the Peruvian Attorney General’s office ordered the search of the home of Interior Minister Juan José Santiváñez,...

Committee to Protect Journalists

04 Mar 2025, 17:20

Bosnian Serbs adopt ‘foreign agent’ law targeting independent media

News

Berlin, March 4, 2025–-The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Serb-majority territory Republika Srpska to revoke a "foreign agent" law that poses a significant threat to media freedom and civil society. “Republika Srpska authorities should immediately suspend any plans to enforce this ‘foreign agent’ legislation, which mirrors restrictive measures used...

Committee to Protect Journalists

04 Mar 2025, 17:12

Ugandan anti-terrorism officers brutally assault journalist

News

Kampala, Uganda, March 4, 2025—Two masked officers with Uganda’s security agency Joint Anti-Terrorist Task Force (JAT) assaulted Ibrahim Miracle, a reporter for Christian broadcaster Top TV, while he was reporting in the capital, Kampala, on February 26. The journalist told CPJ that the attack left him hospitalized with severe injuries. “Security officers brutally attacked journalist...

Committee to Protect Journalists

04 Mar 2025, 12:43

Azerbaijan arrests 2 more journalists in Meydan TV case

News

New York, March 4, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Azerbaijan’s February 20 arrest of Nurlan Gahramanli and February 28 arrest of Fatima Mövlamli — both freelance reporters for Germany-based outlet Meydan TV — on currency smuggling charges. “The latest arrests in Azerbaijan’s unprecedented media crackdown show more clearly than ever that authorities’ real goal...

Committee to Protect Journalists

03 Mar 2025, 22:01

Media21 outlet shuttered, 4 journalists arrested in Iraq

News

Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, March 3, 2025—Kurdistan security forces arrested four journalists from the new digital outlet Media21 on February 28 in the eastern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, confiscating their phones and taking them from their homes in the eastern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on February 28. The journalists were identified as Bashdar Bazyani, Dana Salih, Sardasht...

Committee to Protect Journalists

03 Mar 2025, 19:47

In Turkey, 5 Halk TV journalists face trial for influencing judiciary with broadcast

News

Istanbul, March 3, 2025— Turkish authorities should free Halk TV editor-in-chief Suat Toktaş and drop the charges against him and four colleagues, whose trial is due to open on March 4, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. An Istanbul court arrested Toktas on January 26 after pro-opposition Halk TV broadcast a conversation between its...

Committee to Protect Journalists

03 Mar 2025, 17:35

Malaysia arrests journalist who exposed migrant trafficking, corruption

News

New York, March 3, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of Malaysian journalist B. Nantha Kumar on allegations of soliciting bribes, days after he exposed an alleged migrant trafficking syndicate at the capital’s main airport. “Corruption and human trafficking are crimes in Malaysia; reporting on these offences is not,” said CPJ...

Committee to Protect Journalists

28 Feb 2025, 19:33

Azerbaijan sentences Kanal 13 director Aziz Orujov to 2 years in prison

News

New York, February 28, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an Azerbaijani court decision on February 26 sentencing Aziz Orujov, director of independent broadcaster Kanal 13, to two years in prison on illegal construction charges. “Amid an unprecedented crackdown that has seen dozens of journalists incarcerated, Azerbaijan authorities’ singling out of Aziz Orujov from among...

Committee to Protect Journalists

27 Feb 2025, 19:30

News

New York, February 27, 2025—CPJ calls on Russian authorities to drop legal proceedings against 64-year-old Russian journalist Ekaterina Barabash, who is under house arrest and could be jailed for up to 10 years for criticizing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On February 25, Ukrainian-born Barabash, a film critic for the independent outlet Republic, was detained...

Committee to Protect Journalists

27 Feb 2025, 13:55

Belarusian journalist Palina Pitkevich’s extremism trial set to open

News

New York, February 27, 2025— Belarusian authorities should immediately release Belarusian journalist Palina Pitkevich, whose trial on charges of participating in an extremist organization is set to start on March 7, and stop jailing the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. “Palina Pitkevich’s detention is yet another grim reminder that...

Committee to Protect Journalists

27 Feb 2025, 11:52

Vietnamese journalist Truong Huy San sentenced to 30 months in prison

News

Bangkok, February 27, 2025—Hanoi’s People’s Court sentenced Vietnamese journalist Truong Huy San to 30 months in prison on Thursday under a criminal provision that bars “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the State." San, a well-known political commentator and author also known by his pen names Huy Duc and Osin, was convicted...

Committee to Protect Journalists

26 Feb 2025, 20:53

Ukrainian journalist Tetyana Kulyk killed by Russian drone in Kyiv region

News

New York, February 26, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killing of Ukrainian journalist Tetyana Kulyk, editor-in-chief of the multimedia editorial department of state news agency Ukrinform, in a Russian drone attack on February 26. “The Russian drone strike that killed Ukrainian journalist Tetyana Kulyk just days after the grim three-year milestone of Russia's...

Committee to Protect Journalists

26 Feb 2025, 16:56

Zimbabwean journalist Blessed Mhlanga jailed over interviews with war veteran

News

Lusaka, February 26, 2025—CPJ calls on Zimbabwean authorities to free broadcast journalist Blessed Mhlanga, who has been in detention since February 24 on charges of incitement in connection to his critical interviews with a war veteran. “It is absolutely shameful that Blessed Mhlanga has been thrown behind bars simply because he gave voice to a...

Committee to Protect Journalists

26 Feb 2025, 13:10

Myanmar journalist Sai Zaw Thaike repeatedly beaten, abused in prison

News

Bangkok, February 26, 2025—Myanmar’s military government must immediately end the physical abuse of imprisoned Myanmar Now photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike, which appears to be in retaliation for his exposure of the mistreatment of inmates, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Sai Zaw Thaike, who was sentenced to 20 years for sedition in 2023, has...

Committee to Protect Journalists

25 Feb 2025, 21:49

CPJ, SPJ, journalist groups call on Trump administration to restore AP access to White House

News

We, the undersigned coalition of journalism and press freedom organizations, express our deep concern regarding the White House’s decision to bar Associated Press (AP) reporters from access to the Oval Office, Air Force One and other White House pool events. AP provides essential reporting that is published by thousands of outlets across the United States...

Committee to Protect Journalists

25 Feb 2025, 21:01

Kyrgyzstan Supreme Court upholds lengthy prison terms for Temirov Live journalists

News

New York, February 25, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by the Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court’s February 25 decision confirming sentences against three Temirov Live journalists on charges of calling for mass unrest, including a six-year prison term for Makhabat Tajibek kyzy, director of the anti-corruption investigative outlet, a five-year prison term for presenter Azamat...

Committee to Protect Journalists

24 Feb 2025, 20:11

CPJ: UK must lead joint statement on Egypt at UN Human Rights Council

News

The U.K. government must lead on a joint statement addressing Egypt’s human rights crisis, according to a February 19 letter sent by the Committee to Protect Journalists and 24 other press freedom and human rights organizations to U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy ahead of the 58th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council. The letter...

Committee to Protect Journalists

21 Feb 2025, 18:54

2 Cameroonian journalists attacked while reporting on businessman praised by president

News

Dakar, February 21, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Cameroonian authorities to investigate and hold accountable those who attacked Equinoxe TV journalists Joseph Abena Abena and Augustin Ndongo while they were reporting in a village in Cameroon's South Region on February 13. "The attack on Joseph Abena Abena and Augustin Ndongo is yet...

Committee to Protect Journalists

21 Feb 2025, 18:50

Egypt blocks independent media outlet Zawia3 over investigative reporting

News

Washington, D.C., February 21, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the blocking of Egyptian independent media outlet Zawia3, based in Brussels, and calls on Egyptian authorities to end the country’s systematic censorship of independent journalism. “The blocking of Zawia3 is yet another example of Egyptian authorities arbitrarily censoring media without legal justification, using technology to suppress journalism and restrict Egyptians'...