Category: Press Freedom

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.

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 1, 2024.

Press freedom groups react to Trump’s re-election

Donald Trump is poised to return to the White House as the 47th president of the United States, and press freedom groups – Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Defending Rights & Dissent and others – are sounding the alarm early about what his election means for the state of journalism in the U.S. and around the world.

Courage Foundation joins these groups in standing up for truthtellers, for journalists’ right to publish, and for your right to know, regardless of which party is in power.

Article 19 calls for an end to impunity for crimes against journalists in Palestine and Lebanon

To mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists on 2 November, ARTICLE 19 calls for an end to the persistent pattern of impunity for crimes committed against journalists in Palestine and Lebanon, including at least 134 killings to date.

In demanding accountability for all crimes against journalists targeted for their work, Article 19 calls for Israel to ensure the safety of all journalists, refrain from targeting them or media infrastructure in Gaza, grant foreign media full access to Gaza and investigate all attacks on journalists in Palestine and Lebanon; the ICC to to prioritise its investigation into the deliberate targeting and killing of journalists in Palestine and Lebanon; and International courts and accountability mechanisms, including the ICC and the ICJ, to consider that Israel’s killing of journalists enables the commission of atrocities during this conflict.

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 October 25, 2024.

Haiti and Israel most likely to let journalists’ murders go unpunished, CPJ’s 2024 Global Impunity Index shows

Haiti and Israel are the world’s biggest offenders in letting journalists’ murderers go unpunished, according to Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2024 Global Impunity Index.

In Haiti, ranked No. 1, gang violence, poverty, and political instability have contributed to the failure to hold killers to account. Israel, ranked No. 2, has killed a record number of Palestinian journalists, including in targeted attacks. CPJ has documented the murder of five journalists – four Palestinian and one Lebanese – since the war began, and is investigating the possible targeted murders of 10 more journalists.

Three media workers killed in Israeli attack in southern Lebanon

An Israeli air strike has killed three journalists in their accommodation in Hasbaiyya, southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reported. The victims were identified as cameraman Ghassan Najjar and engineer Mohamed Reda who worked for Al Mayadeen, and camera operator Wissam Qassim who worked for Al-Manar TV.

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Israel’s killing of three journalists in southern Lebanon.

Three journalists killed in northern Gaza

Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) reported the killing of another three journalists in Gaza. Saed Radwan, Hamza Abu Salmiya and Haneen Mahmoud Baroud lost their lives in an Israeli airstrike that hit Asmaa ‘B’ School in Al-Shati refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. 

Together with PJS, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned the killings and continued attacks on journalists and called for an immediate investigation into their deaths.

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 October 19, 2024.

Press freedom groups urge DOJ to drop all charges against Indian Time reporter Isaac White

21 press freedom organizations have written to District Attorney Gary Pasqua, calling on the DOJ to drop the charges brought against Indian Time reporter Isaac White arising from his arrest in May this year while covering a demonstration opposing a proposed settlement of a land claim by the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe.

White was not accused of doing anything illegal besides failing to disperse when police broke up the protest. The DOJ brought charges against White despite the fact that, under the First Amendment, police dispersing protesters can’t also disperse journalists covering the protests.

Outrage over Israel’s threats against six Al Jazeera journalists

Al Jazeera has strongly rejected a claim by the Israeli military that six of its journalists based in Gaza are members of the Palestinian groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, Defending Rights and Dissent, UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, PEN International, Jewish Currents and others, have condemned Israel’s threats against the journalists, stressing that Israel has repeatedly made similar unproven claims without producing credible evidence, such as in the case of Al Jazeera journalists Ismail Al-Ghoul, who was subsequently murdered by the Israeli military.

Sanders leads call for DOJ to investigate Israeli attack on journalists

Sen. Bernie Sanders and 11 Democrats are urging President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken and Attorney General Garland to open a formal investigation into an Israeli airstrike that injured American journalist more than a year ago.

Earlier this month, CPJ issued a report finding that there’s still no accountability for targeted Israeli attack that killed Issam Abdallah and injured six journalists, including one U.S. citizen in southern Lebanon.

65 House Democrats send letter to Biden urging unimpeded media access to Gaza, 19 press freedom and human rights organizations support it

Rep. Jim McGovern has led 64 of House Democrats in a letter to President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken calling for the United States to push for Israel to allow unimpeded access for U.S. and international journalists to Gaza.

“At a time when reliable information is more critical than ever, the restrictions on foreign reporting undermine the very foundation of press freedom and democratic accountability.”

19 press freedom and human rights organizations, including Committee to Protect Journalists, Amnesty International USA, Freedom of the Press Foundation, PEN America, Reporters Without Borders and Courage Foundation, have supported a call from U.S. Congress members.

“We, therefore, ask that the U.S. government urge Israel to uphold its commitments to press freedom by providing foreign media with immediate, independent access to Gaza and abide by its international obligations to protect journalists as civilians.

UN expert: Freedom of expression threatened more seriously in Gaza than in any recent conflict

Irene Khan, the U.N. independent investigator on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, presented a report about global threats to freedom of expression arising from the conflict in Gaza. The report identifies three key threats to media freedom: deliberate targeting of journalists and attacks on the media; suppression of protests, dissent and pro-Palestinian speech, and widespread censorship in the name of fighting terrorism and antisemitism. Khan concludes that freedom of expression has been threatened more seriously in Gaza than in any recent conflict.

IFJ and NUJ condemn the rising use of counter-terrorism legislation against journalists

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and UK’s National Union of Journalists (NUJ) have condemned the rising use of counter-terrorism legislation against journalists as an intimidatory measure harmful to public interest journalism and press freedom. They have recognized the raid of journalist Asa Winstanley’s home as the latest in a string of targeted approaches by police officers using anti-terror legislation and contributing to a concerning police culture where the rights of journalists and their ability to ensure the safety of sources is placed at risk.

“The seizure of journalistic material and devices, the detention of journalists, and the failure of police to sufficiently outline reasons for the apparent pursuit of journalists has raised alarm among members of the public for its undermining impact on journalism and media freedom.”