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Syria – More arbitrary arrests and disappearances of journalists and bloggers

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Syria – More arbitrary arrests and disappearances of journalists and bloggers

Reporters Without Borders reiterates its concern about the fate of journalists and bloggers who have disappeared or who have been kidnapped of the course of the past nine months of protests against Bashar Al-Assad’s government. The list keeps getting longer. Lina Ibrahim, a reporter for the pro-government newspaper Tishreen, has been missing for the past eight days. A relative said she left her home in the Damascus suburb of Harasta on the morning of 25 October and never returned. Little (…)

United States – Domestic reality does not match bold words on Internet freedom of expression

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United States – Domestic reality does not match bold words on Internet freedom of expression

The US government has reiterated its commitment to online free speech several times since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in particular, affirmed US support for freedom of expression and opinion very clearly in a speech in Washington on January 21st, 2010. Urging American companies to take a “principled stand” against online censorship, Clinton said defense of the Internet should be one of the cornerstones of US diplomacy. As the (…)

Saudi Arabia – Three online television journalists freed

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Saudi Arabia – Three online television journalists freed

Reporters Without Borders hails yesterday’s release of three Web TV journalists – Firas Baqna, Khalid Al-Rasheed and Hussam Al-Darwish – who were held arbitrarily for two weeks, without being charged and without any reason being given, in what was clearly an attempt to intimidate them and get them to censor themselves. Three online television journalists held by Saudi police 20/10/2011 Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrest of Firas Baqna, Khalid al-Rasheed and Hussam al-Darwish, (…)

Russia – Government eager to use Net surveillance software currently in test phase

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Russia – Government eager to use Net surveillance software currently in test phase

Reporters Without Borders condemns plans by Roskomnadzor, Russia’s federal supervisory agency for communications, information technology and mass media, to use search software to track down “extremist” content on the Internet. The agency is currently testing the software and intends to start using it in December. When Roskomnadzor’s software, using very vague criteria, decides that a website has “extremist” content, the site will be given three days to remove it. If it fails to comply, it will (…)

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China – Respect for free speech continues to deteriorate in China

China’s restrictions on Internet use, which affect bloggers, journalists, activists and many others, have led the US ambassador to the World Trade Organization to complain about China’s “national firewall” and website blocking on the grounds that they violate WTO rules by making it harder for companies outside China to offer “services to Chinese customers.” The complaint, the text of which was released on 19 October, was rejected the next day by foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. “We do not (…)

Sri Lanka – Censored website’s editor talks about media control

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Sri Lanka – Censored website’s editor talks about media control

Reporters Without Borders deplores the action of two Sri Lankan Internet Service Providers in blocking access to the independent news website Lanka-e-News and calls on them to explain themselves. If they are doing it at the government’s behest, they have become accomplices to state censorship. The site has been inaccessible since 18 October. “This decision by Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) and Dialog Axiata PLC to block the Lanka-e-News site reflects the increase in censorship in Sri Lanka,” (…)

United Arab Emirates – Blogger and four other activists continue to boycott trial, verdict in five weeks

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United Arab Emirates – Blogger and four other activists continue to boycott trial, verdict in five weeks

A verdict will not be issued until 27 November in the trial of the blogger Ahmed Mansoor and four other pro-democracy activists, a judge announced at yesterday’s hearing, which is to be the last in the trial before the verdict is handed down. The five activists, who were arrested in April, are to remain in detention until then. Abdulhamid Al-Kumaiti, one of the defence lawyers, told Agence France-Presse yesterday he was optimistic about the outcome because no concrete evidence has been (…)

China –  Beijing court throws out appeal by jailed cyber-dissident Wang Lihong

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China – Beijing court throws out appeal by jailed cyber-dissident Wang Lihong

Reporters Without Borders deplores the rejection on 20 October by a Beijing court of the appeal by cyber-dissident Wang Lihong (王 荔蕻) against a nine-month prison sentence imposed on 12 August for disturbing public order by organising a demonstration in Fuzhou in support of three bloggers convicted of defamation. Wang Lihong was arrested in March and held for five months before appearing in court on 12 August. One of her lawyers, Han Yicun, said the trial was unfair because the judge had been (…)

China –  Beijing court throws out appeal by jailed cyber-dissident Wang Lihong

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China – Beijing court throws out appeal by jailed cyber-dissident Wang Lihong

Reporters Without Borders deplores the rejection on 20 October by a Beijing court of the appeal by cyber-dissident Wang Lihong (王 荔蕻) against a nine-month prison sentence imposed on 12 August for disturbing public order by organising a demonstration in Fuzhou in support of three bloggers convicted of defamation. Wang Lihong was arrested in March and held for five months before appearing in court on 12 August. One of her lawyers, Han Yicun, said the trial was unfair because the judge had been (…)

Saudi Arabia – Three online television journalists held by Saudi police

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Saudi Arabia – Three online television journalists held by Saudi police

Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrest of Firas Baqna, Khalid al-Rasheed and Hussam al-Darwish, members of the production team of the Saudi Internet television series “Malub Aleyna”. The series, spread over several episodes, tackles subjects that receive little coverage in the traditional Saudi media, such as sex discrimination, inflation and the lives of young people in Riyadh. The fourth episode, posted on YouTube on 10 October and entitled “The Poor”, reported on the living (…)

Egypt – Jailed blogger’s retrial adjourned again as military plays for time

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Egypt – Jailed blogger’s retrial adjourned again as military plays for time

Reporters Without Borders deplores the latest adjournment yesterday of jailed blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad’s retrial by court martial on a charge of insulting the armed forces in his blog. After Sanad’s original conviction was overturned on appeal, the retrial was initially scheduled to have begun on 13 October. “We condemn this persistence in persecuting Sanad and call for his immediate release,” Reporters Without Borders said. “This military court should dismiss the charges against him. The (…)

Burma – Interview of newly-freed dissident comedian, Zarganar

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Burma – Interview of newly-freed dissident comedian, Zarganar

Reporters Without Borders is posting a video interview with the comedian and blogger Zarganar, who was freed from Myitkyina prison on 12 October under a government amnesty. After more than three years in detention, Zarganar has clearly not abandoned his right to express his views freely. In this interview, he talks about his blog and the consequences of the entries he posted in it. He also talks about the political prisoners who have not been freed, including such bloggers and writers as (…)

United States – Reporters arrested, roughed up while covering Occupy Wall Street protests

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United States – Reporters arrested, roughed up while covering Occupy Wall Street protests

The often violent response to the Occupy Wall Street campaign that is growing in the United States and elsewhere is affecting the freedom to inform. Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrests of reporters in recent weeks, especially in New York where the police assume the right to decide who are journalists. On the eve of major worldwide demonstrations planned for 15 October, Reporters Without Borders urges the authorities not to resort to repressive methods, which constitute acts of (…)

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Burma – Zarganar freed, but DVB video journalists still held

Reporters Without Borders hails today’s release of the blogger and comedian Zarganar from Myitkyina prison, in the northern state of Kachin, under a “general amnesty” affecting dozens of political prisoners, but urges the government to pursue this conciliatory policy by freeing all detained bloggers and journalists including 17 Democratic Voice of Burma video journalists. “We are happy that Zarganar will finally be reunited with his family,” Reporters Without Borders said. “This wave of (…)

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