Govt policies

A Tajik government decree charging privately-owned media for access to public information has been described as “utterly grotesque” by press freedom organisation Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). Issued on October 31, the decree “On the recovery by state institutions of the costs of presenting information” took effect on November 19. The media were not consulted about the decree, which was not...

Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has commended the US Senate judiciary committee for successfully pushing forward the new Federal Shield Law Bill. In a 14-5 decision, members of the committee voted to send the bill to the full Senate, all the while defeating several amendments that would have diluted the extent of its reach. “This is a fairly good news for the journalism world in the United States"...

The last restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language by the Turkish news media have been lifted, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. The government gazette published a directive on November 13 indefinitely lifting all remaining restrictions on the broadcast media’s use of minority languages. Use of Kurdish had been allowed in the print media and the national public TV station TRT 6...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) is very concerned about the consequences that the European Union’s adoption of the so-called Telecoms Package will have for bloggers and other Internet users. “This Telecoms Package undermines the right to equal Internet access,” said RSF, which last month joined more than 80 organisations from 15 EU member countries in signing an open letter voicing concern. “The...

Four days after a joint international press freedom mission to Belarus, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) on Tuesday called on the Belarusian government to stop obstructing the work of journalists working for foreign news media. The press freedom organisation has signed a statement issued by the mission at the end of its five-day visit noting that: “Accreditation of journalists working for Belarus...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for reforms of the press law in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to ensure press freedom. The call followed a judgment of the Federal High Court in Abu Dhabi, on June 29, which upheld the suspension of the Emarat Al Youm newspaper in a libel suit brought by race horses owners based in UAE. The judgment of the Federal High Court cannot be...

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has censured the setback for press freedom and free speech in Mexico contained in new proposals made public by the federal Chamber of Deputies' Judicial Committee, chaired by Congressman César Camacho. According to the committee's bill shown to representatives of the IAPA recently, work carried out for years by the Chamber of Deputies' Special Commission...

The cost of legal fees in defamation cases should be controlled, the British government has announced, according to BBC. The proposals for England and Wales follow claims that high fees are having an effect on freedom of expression. Newspaper lawyers have said that some stories are simply ignored—to avoid the possible expense of a libel case. Justice Minister Bridget Prentice expressed concern...

The new media law in Belarus contains several provisions that further deteriorate the media situation in the country. In particular, the law provides for regulation of online media by a governmental decree and re-registration of all the media outlets; it simplifies the procedure of closing down a media outlet and­ decreases the level of security of journalists and editorial boards, according to

The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifah Bin Zayid Al-Nahyan, has suspended implementation of a media law which was adopted last month by the National Council, described by press freedom groups as worrying. The president intends to set up a special commission to carry out an exhaustive study of the law, taking account of opinion in the UAE, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has...