Censored

Security forces loyal to Ivorian ruler Laurent Gbagbo blocked distribution on Friday of pro-opposition newspapers reporting on the African Union's decision to confirm its recognition of rival Alassane Ouattara as president. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the obstruction and called on authorities to halt further censorship. Before dawn on Friday morning, agents loyal to Ggabgo...

The government of Swaziland has banned the daily live transmission of the BBC Focus on Africa programme after one of the news clips, broadcast on the English channel of the state radio, Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Services (SBIS), was critical of the government. The programme, broadcast daily in the mornings, mid-day and evenings, has been off air for the past week. The state radio has...

New York-based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has rejected statements by a Chinese government official that international reporters are not being detained, attacked, and harassed in China. CPJ called on the police to end their anti-media attempts to stop foreign journalists from reporting on possible anti-government demonstrations in what has become known as the...

There has been a wave of journalist arrests in Turkey in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow the government known as "Ergenekon." Twelve journalists have been detained in less than a month; and nine are currently in custody. On Sunday, Zekeriya Öz, the chief prosecutor overseeing the probe into Ergenekon, said in a statement that the investigation of the journalists is not a result of...

Kabul Weekly claims it has been put out of business after daring to criticise President Hamid Karzai. On Wednesday staff met with their editor, Mohammad Faheem Dashty, for the final time after producing the last edition of a newspaper that has been a regular sight on the streets of the capital since 2002, according to a report in the Guardian. Dashty said he had no choice but to shut down after...

There has been a wave of government censorship in the past few days at Radio-Télévision Nationale de Guinée Équatoriale (RTVGE), a state-owned broadcaster that is kept under very close surveillance by information minister Jeronimo Osa Osa. On Thursday, the state radio’s French-language broadcasts were “temporarily suspended on the orders of a higher authority,” the head of the station, José Esono...

The climate for the media has been continuously deteriorating in Côte d’Ivoire. Harassed, threatened and exposed to physical violence, journalists are now finding it virtually impossible to work freely, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). It urged civil society and the two rival camps led by Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara to respect freedom of...

Several sources in Iran have told Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) that the authorities have again been blocking the Internet and mobile phone networks since the start of a big protest at 3 p.m. on February 20. Internet connections have been slowed right down or entirely disconnected in certain neighbourhoods in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashad, making it hard or...

A campaign was launched Tuesday by the National Press Owners Committee (CONAPP), the Togo Union of Independent Journalists (UJIT) and the Togolese Media Monitoring Centre (OTM) to draw attention to the plight of three privately-owned radio stations which the government closed three months ago. The three stations – Providence, Métropolys and X-Solaire – were closed by the Posts and...

Iran has launched a renewed crackdown of the past few days including a wave of arrests of journalists that began on February 14 and cases of harassment of journalists’ families. The authorities have stepped up cyber-attacks on news websites and disruption of the Internet in a sweeping form of censorship designed to stifle the protest movement and prevent information about demonstrations from...