State Control

French President Nikolas Sarkozy's comments about the state of the print media in the country has drawn criticism from journalists. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the European group of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), says it is worried about some proposals made by Sarkozy as he launched a national discussion on print media. After the launch of the "Etats généraux...

Hams has announced a new system of accreditation for all telecommunications companies, Internet service providers, broadcast media and news agencies based in the Gaza Strip, which has been controlled by it since June 2007, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. Yusef Al-Mansi, the Hamas government’s minister of communication and information technology, told Paris-based RSF that the aim of...

As Azerbaijan gears up for the forthcoming elections in October, President Ilham Aliyev continues to dominate the state-owned media landscape. The president’s visits to various regions of the country and the government’s diplomatic activities continued to be the leading stories in state-owned media. Election coverage has also been plentiful, but it focused mainly on the preparations being carried

Tanzania has imposed a three-month ban on radical tabloid Mwanahalisi for allegedly publishing seditious articles. "The newspaper is fond of publishing articles that ridicule senior government leaders including president Jakaya Kikwete and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM)," information minister George Mkuchika told reporters in Dar es Salam on Monday. Mwanahalisi editor has Saed Kubenea denied...

Tunisia promotes itself as a progressive nation that protects human rights, but an investigation has found that it aggressively silences journalists and others who challenge the policies of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. In a new report, 'The Smiling Oppressor', the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found that journalists are subjected to routine imprisonment, assault, harassment, and

The publishing licenses of two Rangoon-based weekly journals have been suspended by the Press Scrutiny Board (Censor Board) because of violation of its policy and regulations, Mizzima News has reported. The censor board last week suspended publishing of True News for two months and the Action Times for a month respectively for violation of the regulations of the censor board, media circles in...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over Russia's denial of entry to a British journalist into the country last week. Freelance journalist Simon Pirani had a valid, multiple-entry visa to Russia when he was stopped by border guards at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on June 17. Officials handed him a “declaration of return,” which stated that he could not enter the country...

Free expression defenders have won a small, but important victory: the UN Human Rights Council has dropped efforts of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and some African countries to endorse the concept of defamation of religion at its latest session. Following calls from IFEX members ARTICLE 19 and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), among other press freedom...

Israeli journalists have spoken out against restrictions on freedom of movement facing reporters in Palestine and proposed a joint forum with Palestinian colleagues to deal with a range of problems facing media and journalists in the region. In a meeting with a delegation from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in Jerusalem recently leaders of the Jerusalem Association of...

Iraq's largely autonomous northern Kurdistan region has passed a modified media law aimed at protecting journalists' rights, abolishing jail terms for offences such as defamation, Reuters has reported quoting parliamentary deputies. An earlier version of the law passed by parliament last December carried tough sanctions for journalists including imprisonment, fines of up to 10 million Iraqi dinar...