Freedom House

On 18 July 2013, two journalists from Channel 5 were beaten and approximately 10 demonstrators were detained as they called for the reform of the police force and the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs in the Ukraine.

The arrest of leading public interest lawyer Xu Zhiyong is part of an ongoing crackdown by Chinese authorities against rights defenders and anti-corruption advocates.

“Democratizing the media” is a common refrain in Latin America these days. While the phrase may suggest a process that would lift restrictions on media and increase citizen access, it has been invoked to support policies that do the opposite.

Partnerships between authoritarian regimes have few ideological underpinnings other than a shared rejection of democracy and the rule of law.

IFEX members sent a joint letter to President Museveni calling for an end to impunity in cases of police violence against the media, after a violent crackdown on a demonstration in May over media closures.

The Jordanian government began, on 2 June 2013, to block over 200 news websites for failing to register and obtain licenses under a recently amended and controversial Press and Publications Law.

As European governments and media sectors felt the impact of the economic crisis, state-run and private media suffered cuts, declines in advertising revenue, and even the closure of outlets. This in turn had the effect of exacerbating existing problems, such as declining print circulation and the concentration of media ownership.

Over 50 NGOs worldwide signed a joint appeal to the U.N. against the ill-treatment and torture of detained human rights defenders, activists and photojournalists in Bahrain, calling for U.N. and Red Cross visits.