ARTICLE 19

Svetlana Prokopyeva, a reporter for “Radio Free Europe” and the liberal news radio station “Echo of Moscow”, was charged on 7 February 2019 because of critical comments she made about the Russian authorities in relation to a suicide bombing.

A 15-year-old boy, university teachers and students, writers, journalists, and a cartoonist were among those charged under the Digital Security Act (DSA) for social media comments criticizing the Bangladesh government’s COVID-19 response.

One year has passed but mobile internet networks are still restricted in nine townships in Myanmar’s Rakhine and Chin States. This unprecedented internet shutdown has adversely affected the lives of residents who are blocked from accessing vital information at a time when the world is facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 9 June 2020, the Constitutional Court will hold a public hearing into criminal defamation legislation. Press freedom groups are urging the Court to abolish prison sentences as one crucial step towards reforming these laws.

ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned at the disproportionate and inappropriate response by some US authorities to the social unrest ignited by the killing of George Floyd in police custody.

ARTICLE 19 has warned that the situation for journalists is at crisis level in Brazil as the Government fails to protect journalists from threats and attacks by Bolsonaro supporters.

Iranian authorities say women posting photos of themselves on social media without the hijab are breaking cyber laws in yet another demonstration of the country’s shrinking space for free expression.

ARTICLE 19 warned that the proposed Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Bill provides for criminal penalties for those who spread information about communicable diseases that could cause ‘public panic’ in Myanmar.