Stories about Media & Journalism from August, 2019
Months after pledge to open internet, Ethiopia disrupts connectivity amidst communal violence, tension
Ethiopian authorities have resorted to shutting down entire networks in response to recent ethnic and political tensions. A lack of transparency makes it impossible to challenge.
Contrary to Serbian government's claims, fact-checking initiative shows that journalists are far from being ‘all safe’
According to Istinomer's research, threats against individual journalists or editorial teams have become rather frequent over the past few months.
The case for reforming the Sudanese Access to Information Act
As Sudan launches a three-year transition to civilian rule, the country's freedom of information law should be amended to serve the public's right to know.
Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum: The Congolese scientist behind the cure for Ebola
This African scientist discovered the cure for Ebola. Will his name be as widely shared as news about the disease itself?
Trinidad & Tobago split over whether services like Facebook should pay local taxes
Global digital giants pose a serious challenge to local media and their ability to earn revenue, especially in small markets like Trinidad and Tobago.
Human rights advocates petition the UN and AU over the detention of Nigerian protest leader
"The unfounded charge of terrorism that was subsequently laid against him was clearly only created to serve the purpose of silencing Sowore."
Netizen Report: The shutdown in Kashmir continues
Kashmir's communications blackout continues, Russia goes after 'illegal' protest videos online, and Google re-opens its office in Egypt.
Remembering the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
Over a third of young Czechs are unable to make a link between the date of August 21, 1968 and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Twitter reveals China's information operations on Hong Kong protests
A network of 200,000 accounts operated in conjunction to undermine the legitimacy of the Hong Kong movement, Twitter said in a statement.
Pakistan's government suspends relations with India in show of solidarity with Kashmiris
After Narendra Modi's government in India scrapped Article 370, many Pakistanis asked the ruling party to take action.
In Pakistan, it's an uphill battle for women who report sexual harassment
In the past few years, Pakistan saw an increasing number of harassing women on the street by means of indecent exposure or exhibition. Police already arrested three men.
Indian government asks Twitter to remove accounts ‘spreading rumours’ about Kashmir
With the communication blackout inside Kashmir, netizens elsewhere resorted to Twitter to speak out against India's revocation of the region's autonomous status.
How Hungary-funded news sites helped a false story travel all the way from Slovenia through Greece to North Macedonia
Fact-checkers in North Macedonia have traced the original source of the bribe article and uncovered a complex trail of disinformation spanning at least four countries.
Indian-administered Kashmir is like an ‘open prison’, says observers
"What is happening in Kashmir is 'normal' in the sense that state-backed violence, deceit and lies, gag on civilian voices, and govt propaganda have always been a 'normal' in Kashmir."
Netizen Report: Journalists are under fire from Cambodia to Cuba — and beyond
Across the globe, journalists are facin charges of everything from espionage to tax evasion.
Dubious CIA plot theory by former Yugoslav army colonel finds a platform in Serbian media
“Fake news, fake media, fake journalists, fake analysts – they have flooded the Serbian media space.”
In Ethiopia, disinformation spreads through Facebook live as political tensions rise
Online conspiracy theories, political rants and rumors laced with communal hatred are now common genres in Ethiopian social media.
Tanzanian journalist faces trumped-up charges after abduction and detention
Freelance ournalist Erick Kabendera has written critically of Tanzanian President John Magufuli's increasingly repressive administration. Yesterday, authorities charged him with economic crimes, but critics say his only "crime" is journalism.
Sentencing of Turkish social media influencer sparks debate on free speech
A Turkish Twitter celebrity is being sued for allegedly advocating drug consumption, reigniting the debate about online freedom of expression
In Azerbaijan, trolls keep us at each other’s throats
"Recently I half-jokingly wrote on my Facebook page. . . that “being from Azerbaijan is a terminal diagnosis incompatible with happiness.”
Ugandan feminist Stella Nyanzi deploys nude protest to challenge free speech sentence
Feminist scholar Stella Nyanzi, known for "radical rudeness" as protest, flashed her breasts and shouted obscenities in protest in court after receiving 9 more months in prison for cyber harassment.
