Coercion

Mozambican authorities accuse journalists of colluding with ‘terrorists’

Senior officials in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province must withdraw comments accusing journalists of colluding with terrorists and publishing false news and the authorities must allow the media to report on the conflict without intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday. In a public address on February 17 in the provincial capital of Pemba, Cabo Delgado governor Valige Tauabo accused unnamed journalists and media outlets of striking “deals” with terrorists and being “in sync with terrorists,” according to news reports. Tauabo said that coverage of the region had an “imprint of evil” because journalists’…Read more

Tanzania bans Kwanza Online TV for 11 months citing ‘misleading’ Instagram post on COVID-19

Tanzanian flag with fabric structure Tanzania’s broadcasting regulator should immediately lift its suspension of Kwanza Online TV and stop weaponizing regulations against critical media outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 2, the Contents Committee of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority, a department within the country’s broadcast regulator, sent a letter to Kwanza Online TV, a privately owned local broadcaster, requesting its management to appear before the regulator and provide a written submission the following day, according to a copy of the summons seen by CPJ. In that summons, the…Read more

Tanzanian government revokes license of Tanzania Daima newspaper

  • Posted on June 30, 2020
  • /Under Coercion
Tanzanian flag with fabric structure Tanzanian authorities should immediately restore Tanzania Daima’s license and allow all newspapers to publish freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a June 23 statement, Tanzania’s Information Services Department, which registers print media, announced it would revoke Tanzania Daima’s distribution and publication license as of June 24, according to news reports and a copy of the statement, which CPJ reviewed. The statement accused the publication of breaching the law and professional ethics, and banned its distribution domestically and abroad. The statement did not cite specific content from the newspaper that…Read more

Pakistan government suspends advertising in 2 independent media groups

  • Posted on March 11, 2020
  • /Under Coercion
Pakistani authorities should grant government advertising to outlets without regard for their editorial stances, and should lift the suspension of advertising in the Dawn and Jang media groups, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since January, the country’s federal government and the provincial governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab have suspended the normal practice of placing advertisements with the two independent media groups, according a report by Dawn and a statement from the All Pakistan Newspapers Society, a private organization representing publishers. The Dawn Media Group publishes Dawn, Pakistan’s most prominent English-language newspaper, and owns the Urdu-language Dawn News TV Channel. Jang…Read more