State Control

The November 29 presidential election in Equatorial Guinea, in the absence of any independent media, has been witnessing one-sided coverage by the state-owned media, according to Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF). After winning the 2002 election with 97.1 per cent of the votes, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has “promised” to win this one with more than 97 per cent again. “It is no surprise that...

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...

Six private newspapers in Gabon have been suspended by the government-controlled media-monitoring body, the National Communications Council. The council announced the suspensions, which range from one to three months, on Tuesday evening on state-run TV, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. The papers have been suspended for “violating the ethics of journalism”...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called on Pakistani authorities to allow the news media better access to the Tribal Areas in the northwest of the country, where the army has been waging an offensive against the Taliban in Waziristan for the past three weeks. “We are aware of the risks for journalists, but the current lack of access to Waziristan for the Pakistani and foreign media is...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expressed concern over two rulings in Pakistan clamping down on electronic media that represent a very serious backward step. Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has ordered some radio stations not to broadcast BBC Urdu-language news programmes, while Parliament is preparing to ratify drastic censorship dating from the era of General Pervez...

Chinese police have reportedly arrested two Uighur journalists who published online about Uighur issues in Xinjiang, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Friday. Chinese authorities blamed local and international Uighur websites for fueling July's ethnic violence, according to international news reports. Security officials arrested website manager Hailaite Niyazi in his...

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPH) has condemned and called for the immediate release of freelance journalist and blogger Pai Soe Oo, who was detained by government authorities on Wednesday for questioning. Pai Soe Oo was arrested by six officials at his apartment complex in the former capital of Rangoon at around 9 p.m., according to a Mizzima News story that quoted one of...

Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has surveyed access to websites dedicated to the Uighur community, including sites in the Uighur language, in Mandarin and sometimes in English. These sites, operated by Uyghurs for Uyghurs, are for the most part inaccessible both to Internet users based in Xinjiang and those abroad. More than 85 per cent of the surveyed sites were blocked, censored or otherwise...

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...

With the release of Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari on bail, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Iranian authorities to release the 25 journalists who still remain in prison. Bahari, Newsweek’s Tehran correspondent, was released on $300,000 bail on Saturday after spending almost four months in prison, the magazine reported. Newsweek announced his arrival in...