State Control

Authorities have passed a restrictive order that has stopped journalists from going to report on Sunday's deadly mudslide in north-west China. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has learnt that a restrictive order was sent by China's Central Propaganda Department on August 8 which stated that no journalists should be sent to the vicinity of the mudslide in Zhouqu County, Gannan...

Sudan has lifted censorship of newspapers. National Intelligence and Security Service NISS Chief Mohamed Atta announced this on Saturday, according to the state-run Sundan Media Centre. NISS said it had observed that the "newspapers have committed to principles and guidelines set for publicity such as being précised (sic) on information set for publicity and observing national interest of the...

With just a week to go to a presidential election on 9 August, Rwandan authorities are openly flouting the rules of the democratic game. Press freedom violations, including the jailing of journalists, the closure of news media and the murder of a newspaper editor a month ago, have intensified in the run-up to the election. The government's latest repressive measure has been the suspension of some...

Control of media that are affiliated to or support the Red Shirt movement has been reinforced considerably since a state of emergency was imposed in Bangkok and many other provinces. A TV station, radio stations, websites and newspapers have been censored, banned, forcibly closed or prosecuted. Most of these media supported the Red Shirt demonstrations, sometimes issuing forceful calls for...

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has welcomed a landmark decision by the Constitutional Court of Serbia rejecting repressive amendments to the Public Information Act of Serbia. The Journalists' Association of Serbia (JAS), an EFJ affiliate, has won its appeal against the Act after its adoption by the Serbian Parliament in August 2009. In the ruling of July 22, the court found in favour...

The House of Representatives of Liberia has passed into law the Liberia Freedom of Information Law, according to the Monrovia-based Centre for Media Studies and Peace Building (CMSPB). The House, during its regular plenary session held on July 22, unanimously voted to pass the FOI law which has been in the Legislative room for over two years. The passage of the law by members of the House of...

President Hugo Chávez's government is about to acquire a majority stake in Globovisión, a privately-owned TV station that is critical of his administration. By acquiring the shares of some of the station’s directors, the government says it will be able to control 48.5 per cent of its capital, according to Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF). Federal Bank chairman Nelson Mezerhane stepped in last month...

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition backed down on a controversial wiretaps bill Thursday as its deputies approved a watered-down version in a parliamentary committee vote, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported. The initial bill would have banned the publication of transcripts in the media and called for up to two years in jail and fines of up to 464,700 euros (600...

The Tunisian government confiscated copies of AlMowqef, the weekly newspaper of the Progressive Democratic opposition party, without giving any justification and without a court order being issued on July 16, according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). Members of the Progressive Democratic Party and newspaper readers were surprised to find the paper missing from all...

Malaysia's Ministry of Home Affairs should stop threatening to close opposition party newspapers, reverse bans on politically sensitive books, and end harassment of independent journalists, Human Rights Watch has said. The government should also repeal the 1984 Printing Presses and Publications Act, which gives the Home Affairs Ministry effective censorship over all publication content, Human...