Category: Press Freedom

This is the latest installment of our press freedom round-up, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of January 25, 2025.

FPF: Senate should not confirm Patel for FBI director

Freedom of the Press Foundation issued a statement opposing Senate’s confirmation of Trump’s nominee for FBI director Kash Patel:

“Patel has threatened to turn the government into a weapon of revenge against opponents of President Donald Trump, including journalists.”

Rights groups urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to press Patel on his past comments on seeking out leakers in the government and the media and their ramifications for press freedom.

Author and journalist Ali Abunimah arrested in Switzarland

Palestinian-American author and journalist, and the executive director of Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah was arrested by Swiss police in Zurich on January 25, where he was to hold a speaking tour.

The arrest was condemned by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, UN experts Irene Khan and Francesca Albanese, Article 19 and others.

Switzerland deported Abunimah after 2 nights and 3 days in jail.

Following the deportation Abunimah wrote:

“I was abducted… handcuffed, forced into an unmarked car and sped straight to the prison. My ‘crime’? Being a journalist who speaks up for Palestine and against Israel’s genocide and settler-colonial savagery and those who aid and abet it.”

Charges dropped against Portland journalist Alissa Azar

Trespass charges against journalist Alissa Azar, who was arrested in May 2024 while filming a student-led pro-Palestine protest at Oregon’s Portland State University, have been dropped by the Multnomah County District Attorney.

This is the latest installment of our press freedom round-up, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of January 18, 2025.

Portland journalist to go to trial over coverage of a pro-Palestine protest

Independent journalist Alissa Azar, who was arrested in May 2024 while filming a student-led pro-Palestine protest at Oregon’s Portland State University, will go to trial on trespassing charges on January 27 in Multnomah County. Prism reports that Azar may face harsher sentencing due to a felony conviction in a separate case, when the state of Oregon called into question Azar’s role as a journalist and argued that she is not a reporter, but rather an antifa leader.

“Azar’s case has brought to light a complex history of harassment, violence, and abuse of power by local law enforcement and reveals a landmark legal condemnation against social media journalists and press freedom in the U.S. Her identities as a self-taught movement journalist, Arab, and antifascist woman puts her at the speartip of state repression”

Jen Byers, Prism

Sign Defending Rights & Dissent’s petition urging the Multnomah County DA to immediately drop the charges against Azar.

Three journalists released by Israel as part of ceasefire deal

Three journalists & members of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate – Rula Hassanein, Bushra Al-Tawil and Ashwaq Awad – are among the first 90 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of ceasefire deal.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) welcomed their release and urged Israel to stop persecuting Palestinian journalists, and to immediately and unconditionally release them all.

CPJ: Israel catapults to second-place among top jailers of journalists

Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) published its 2024 annual prison census documenting more than 100 new jailings of journalists around the world. Next to countries that routinely rank among the top jailers of journalists – China, Myanmar, Belarus and Russia – Israel made second-place despite rarely appearing in CPJ’s annual prison census before the start of its war on Gaza.

Article 19: ceasefire should bring an end to the persistent attacks on freedom of expression

Article 19 has welcomed the the agreed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and reiterated their demand for justice and accountability for the human rights and humanitarian law violations committed during this conflict.

“The ceasefire must lead to a robust, thorough investigation into all crimes against civilians, including journalists. Israel must grant journalists and the media access to all areas of Palestinian territory, including Gaza.”

Article 19 statement

Former CIA analyst pleads guilty to 2 counts under the Espionage Act

Former CIA analyst Asif Rahman pled guilty to 2 counts under the Espionage Act for leaking information on a planned Israeli attack on Iran. According to AP, prosecutors claim he “abused his access to top-secret information by accessing, removing and printing out two documents related to Israel and a planned attack on Iran” and shared them with people not authorized to receive them. He’s expected to be sentenced to 6.5 years in prison.

Journalists’ right to source confidentiality under threat in France

Following the publication of his article questioning the practices of the Parisian law firm Ziegler, journalist Philippe Miller was arrested in a Parisian restaurant while meeting with an alleged source, and had his equipment seized by the French police “during a heavy-handed and disproportionate intervention”, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

RSF condemned the arrest, as well as the seizure and examination of Miller’s equipment stating that “Philippe Miller’s case sets a worrying precedent for source confidentiality in France. This case, like Ariane Lavrilleux’s, underscores the urgent need to reform the 2010 law which does not sufficiently protect one of the cornerstones of press freedom.”

This is the latest installment of our press freedom round-up, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of January 11, 2025.

State Department removes accredited journalists from press briefing

Journalists Sam Husseini and Max Blumenthal were removed from Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s final press conference after insisting Blinken answers questions regarding Israel’s war on Gaza.

Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) has condemned the State Department’s action: “Days before the inauguration of an anti-press President, the Biden administration handed Trump a gift by normalizing punishing journalists for asking questions officials don’t like.”

Last chance for Biden to pardon Assange

In the final days of Biden presidency, 18 press freedom and civil liberties organizations have cosigned a letter urging President Biden to pardon Julian Assange before he leaves office and a group of Australian leaders, including several federal MPs, has called on the outgoing US President to grant a full and unconditional pardon to Julian Assange.

Israel and Hamas agree on ceasefire; RSF calls for journalists access and an end to impunity for Israel’s war crimes

Journalist Anas Al-Sharif takes off his body armour live on air as he announces a ceasefire deal has been agreed between Israel and Hamas. Along with his fellow reporters, more than 150 of whom have lost their lives, Al-Sharif has reported for 15 months on the genocide of his people in Gaza.

In the light of the ceasefire agreement, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for international journalists to be “given independent access to the besieged territory as quickly as possible” and for an end to impunity for Israel’s war crimes.

Courage thanks the incredibly brave journalists of Palestine, who continued to cover Israel’s assault on Gaza in unimaginable conditions. We honor and remember so many of these reporters who were senselessly killed by the IDF

Israel blocks medical evacuation of Al Jazeera cameraman

Israel is blocking medical evacuation of Al Jazeera camerman Fadi al-Wahidi, shot on assignment on 9 October at the Jabaliya refugee camp, despite his deteriorating condition.

Free press orgs, MEAA and RSF continues to condemn the targeting of journalists and media workers in Gaza and call for the immediate evacuation of al-Wahidi to a safe medical facility.

Incarcerated journalist in Texas prison struggles under ever-harsher conditions

Journalist Jeremy Busby, incarcerated in a Texas prison for over 25 years and held in solitary confinement conditions, says prison staff are inappropriately denying him access to members of the press and refusing to restore his phone privileges, reports The Dissenter. Busby claims that staff has twice destroyed all of his personal property, including legal paperwork to retaliate for his writing about systemic problems in Texas state prisons.

This is the first installment of our press freedom round-up in 2025, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of January 4, 2025.

British judge orders Crown Prosecution Service to come clean on Assange case

After nine years of FOIA legal battle, a judge has ordered Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to shed light on the destruction of key documents regarding Julian Assange’s case. Journalist Stefania Maurizi and her representative barrister Estelle Dehon have been trying to obtain the full documentation on the Julian Assange and WikiLeaks case since 2015, and after discovering that part of that documentation was destroyed in 2017, they have been trying to investigate why it was destroyed and if it could be retrieved. Now, as reported by Maurizi for Il Fatto Quotidiano the judge concluded that the CPS likely still holds some information explaining what took place and ordered them to disclose it or be held in contempt.

The few emails that were not destroyed, writes Jonathan Cook, imply that UK authorities have been pushing Swedish prosecutors to pursue the case against Assange, thus waging what appears to have been a campaign of political persecution against Assange, rather than one based on proper legal considerations.

Gaza journalists demand end to Israel’s impunity and international media to defend Palestinian colleagues

Palestinian journalists held a press conference outside of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah to call attention to Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, its slaughter of those reporting from the ground and persistent ignorance of international media about decimation of Gaza and the Palestinian journalists.

“We have been let down by the international community, particularly the international media organizations (…) Even the press vests we’re wearing right now mark us as a target. They do not protect us at all, because we are Palestinians.”

Abubaker Abed

Article 19 calls on Israel to stop targeting journalists

Article 19 has condemned the ongoing targeting of journalists and media workers in Palestine and called on Israel to end all attacks against journalists and the media and respect its obligations under international law to uphold media freedom.

The organization has also reiterated the call for the International Criminal Court to prioritise its investigation into the deliberate targeting and killing of journalists in Gaza.

Israel kills writer and journalists Mohammad Hijazi and cameraman Saed Abu Nabhan

A Palestinian writer, poet and journalist Mohammad Hijazi has been killed in an Israeli air attack on Jabalia refugee camp, taking the total number of media workers killed by Israel in Gaza to 220, reports Al Jazeera.

Saed Abu Nabhan, cameraman working for Anadolu Agency, has been killed in a targeted attack while on assignment. As reported by Middle East Monitor, Abu Nabhan was filming a wounded person being carried out of a house on a stretcher when he was “targeted by what appears to be a shot fired from a long-range rifle”.

British journalist Richard Medhurst faces years in prison for refusing to hand over his passwords to the UK police

British journalist Richard Medhurst is the first reporter to be arrested and under investigation in relation to the Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Medhurst was arrested in August 2024 at Heathrow Airport, when the police detained him for almost 24 hours; he was questioned for two hours and his two phones, headphones, cables, microphones and sim cards were seized. As reported by Stefania Maurizi for Il Fatto Quotidiano, he refused and still refuses to hand over the passwords for his phones in order to protect his sources, a right recognised for every reporter and confirmed by many rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.

This is the latest installment of our press freedom round-up, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of December 21, 2024.

Israel kills five journalists in one attack in Gaza

In a direct attack on a broadcast van parked outside of al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, Isreal has killed five journalists from the al-Quds Today TV channel, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Israel threatens Al Jazeera correspondent

A spokesman for IDF has accused Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif of ties to a military battalion in East Jabalia affiliated with Hamas, reports Gaza Notifications. The accusation, presented without evidence, raises concerns about Al-Sharif’s safety.

This is the latest installment of our press freedom round-up, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of December 14, 2024.

U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Journalist arrests surge in 2024

U.S. Press Freedom Tracker finds that in 2024, “journalists were arrested or detained by police at least 48 times, more than during the previous two years combined”. Since the Tracker begin cataloging press freedom violations in 2017, more arrests were made only in 2020 and 2021. Almost 90% of arrests made in 2024 took place around Israel-Gaza war protests, while nearly half of them was made by New York City police.

Israel kills three Palestinian journalists in 24 hours

An Israeli air strike has killed journalist Ahmed al-Louh in the strike on the Civil Defence post in the central Gaza camp. Al-Louh worked as a cameraman for Al Jazeera and other media outlets.

Al Jazeera reported that two more journalist were killed within the last 24 hours: Mohammed Balousha and Mohammed Jabr al-Qrinawi, who was killed alongside his wife and children in an Israeli air attack that targeted their home in Bureij refugee camp.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has denounced the killings of Palestinian journalists in Gaza in the past week. CPJ’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg said that 95 journalists were killed in 2024, and that “Israel is responsible for the two thirds of those deaths”, while “the international community has failed in its obligations to hold Israel accountable for its actions”.

Reporters Without Borders has condemned “Israeli army’s mass assault on journalists in northern and central Gaza” calling it “a continuation of the war crimes committed by Israel”.

Two Kurdish journalists killed in a reportedly Turkish drone attack

Kurdish journalists Nazim Daştan and Cîhan Bilgin were killed in an alleged drone attack by Türkiye. They were covering the fighting between Ankara-backed militia and US-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, said International Federation of Journalists, which condemened the killings and called for a swift investigation.

Jesselyn Radack writes about the continued dangers for press freedom posed by the Espionage Act

In an op-ed for the Salon, Jesselyn Radack recounts threats to journalism and free speech posed by the Espionage Act, which will certainly continue to be used under Trump.

“(Trump’s) administration wielded the Espionage Act against FBI whistleblower Terry Albury, who revealed surveillance of journalists, religious and ethnic minorities and immigrant communities. Under Trump, the Justice Department also used this law to prosecute Air Force veteran Reality Winner, who disclosed Russia’s attempts at election interference. The Espionage Act’s most recent victim is Daniel Hale, a veteran of the Afghan war who exposed the brutally inaccurate targeting of drone strikes and the extent of unreported or under-reported civilian casualties.

“More troubling still, Trump expanded the Espionage Act’s use in charging WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for activities that can reasonably be described as ordinary journalistic practice.”

This is the latest installment of our press freedom round-up, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of December 7, 2024.

IFJ calls 2024 a “particularly deadly” year for journalists

In the first preview of its 2024 annual report on journalists and media workers killed in the line of duty, International Federation of Journalists has called 2024 a “particularly deadly” year for journalists. At least 104 were killed worldwide, over half of them being in Gaza.

The PRESS Act fails to pass the Senate on unanimous consent

After passing the House with bipartisan support in January, the PRESS Act failed to pass in Senate on unanimous consent, with Republican senator blocking an effort by Democrats to get the legislation signed into law – a move that comes in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump opposing the measure.

RSF’s 2024 Round-up: journalism suffers exorbitant human cost due to conflicts and repressive regimes

Reporters Without Borders 2024 Round-up reveals an alarming intensification of attacks on journalists. Gaza stands out as the most dangerous region in the world for journalists: A third of the journalists killed this year were slain by the Israeli armed forces.

Alleged CIA leaker ordered to stay in jail pending trail

A federal judge had ordered CIA analyst Asif Rahman, reversing magistrate judge’s decision last week to grant pretrial release. The Intercept reports that “The judge sided with prosecutors’ claims that the analyst could make further disclosures affecting events in the turbulent Middle East if he was free before his trial on two Espionage Act counts.”

Rahman is accused of releasing classified documents about Israeli military capabilities and its war plans to strike Iran. He has denied the charges.

RCFP: DOJ’s subpoenas for journalists’ records raise First Amendment concerns

The Justice Department did not comply with internal policies restricting the agency’s use of subpoenas and other tools to seize journalists’ records, an investigation by its inspector general found.

“The government seizure of reporters’ records hurts the public and raises serious First Amendment concerns,” said Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Executive Director Bruce D. Brown.

This is the latest installment of our press freedom round-up, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of November 30, 2024.

12 Senators write to Sec. Blinken: “prioritize journalists’ immediate access to Gaza”

12 Senators, led by Brian Schatz and including Bernie Sanders, Tim Kaine, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker and others, have sent a letter to US Secretary Antony Blinken asking him to “prioritize journalists immediate access to Gaza”.

“Since October 7, 2023, over 130 journalists have been killed, the vast majority of whom were Palestinians killed in Gaza.5,6 The lack of safe working conditions for journalists in Gaza makes it almost impossible to have an accurate understanding of the humanitarian devastation taking place in the territory.”

“The United States must make clear to Israel that targeting media organizations and members of the press is unacceptable. It is also important that the United States support UN efforts calling for accountability and protection of journalists in Gaza and the West Bank.”

Trump advisers renew push for pardon of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden

Washington Post reports that “Snowden pardon has been a topic of discussion among people working on Trump’s presidential transition since the election”. Matt Gaetz, former congressman, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary pick and Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence pick have all raised the issue of Snowden’s pardon.

“I have discussed the matter with others in and around the transition, and there seemed to be pretty broad support for a pardon”, said Gaetz.

Israel kills another Palestinian journalist

Palestinian journalist Mamdouh Kaneetah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza, taking the overall death toll since October last year to 191, writes Middle East Monitor.

Israel attacks journalists in Lebanon hours after ceasefire begins

Israeli forces fired on two locations in southern Lebanon just hours after a much-vaunted ceasefire agreement began.

In the southern town of Khiam they opened fire on two journalists, both of whom were wounded and have been hospitalized for their injuries, reports TruthOut.

This is the latest installment of our press freedom round-up, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of November 15, 2024.

Attacks on journalists in Gaza continue

Palestinian photojournalist Ahmed Abu Shariya was killed in an Israeli airstrike on November 19, making him the 136th journalist killed in Gaza since October 2023 according to International Federation of Journalists.

On November 20, the Israeli forces deliberately targeted Hossam Shabat, one of the last journalists reporting from north Gaza, after the Israeli military publicly threatened him with assassination in October.

Jailed Whistleblower David McBride speaks from prison

Addressing the Walkleys award ceremony on a video call from prison, McBride said that whistleblower protection laws, freedom of information laws and fair work laws all do the opposite their names suggest. In an interview he gave for the ABC he speaks about his time in prison and stresses that it is a price he has to pay for what he believes in.

“People who are actually, genuinely exposing problems with the government are classified as criminals and put in jail … it’s very, very dangerous.”

Israel has a long history of smearing journalists

Israel is smearing Palestinian journalists with unsubstantiated ‘terrorist’ labels, a tactic used to justify its attacks on them and discredit Palestinian journalists more broadly, writes Jodie Ginsberg, the chief executive officer of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Journalists under fire in the U.S.

The International Women’s Media Foundation recently surveyed 610 journalists across 11 states. The data revealed a shocking number of threats to American journalists’ safety and well-being.

This is the latest installment of our press freedom round-up, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of November 8, 2024.

Senate Democrats running out of time to pass PRESS Act

The PRESS (Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act) Act, which would prevent federal agencies from using subpoenas and warrants to target journalists and their sources—except under rare, specific circumstances—still lingers in Congress, despite having passed the House of Representatives nearly one year ago.

With only weeks left to legislate, WIRED reports, press advocates are urging Senate Democrats to pass the bill before the end of the lame-duck session.

IFEX stands in solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese journalists

IFEX, a global network of more than 119 organizations working to defend and promote freedom of expression and human rights has issued a statement of solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese journalists reporting amid life-threatening risks. IFEX demands that all governments, press freedom organisations, and human rights bodies take concrete steps to ensure their protection.

“The deliberate targeting of journalists is a grave violation of International Law and a direct threat to any sort of accountability for on the ground human rights violations. Immediate, unfettered access for international journalists, alongside robust protections for all media workers, is crucial in ending this campaign against the truth and those who risk their lives to document it.”

Two more Palestinian journalists murdered in Gaza City

Two Palestinian journalists, siblings Ahmad Abu Sakhil and Zahra Abu Sakhil, have been killed in an Israeli attack on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, rising the number of journalists killed to 188.

Journalists in Gaza continue to face unprecedented risks as they try to cover the conflict, including Israeli airstrikes, famine, displacement, destruction and deliberate targeting.