Freedom House

Freedom House guest blogger Thomas R. Lansner critiques mainstream media coverage of Mali’s conflict. He notes that most of the photos available, as the French newspaper Liberation observes, “have the feeling of having been produced by the school of fine arts of war….”

Digital media by no means supplant action in the physical world, but when used wisely by courageous citizen journalists such as Yoani Sánchez, they can serve as a vital tool in the push to uphold universal human rights.

Authoritarian regimes around the world are exporting their worst practices and working together to crack down on dissent and undermine human rights standards.

Sylvana Habdank-Kołaczkowska, Director for Nations in Transit, Freedom House, addresses the U.S. Helsinki Commission on legislation affecting the media and freedom of expression in Hungary.

Despite the breakneck pace of its modernization and economic development, the UAE remains one of the more repressive countries in a highly repressive region.

Over 30 IFEX members express concern at a set of proposals put forth by the government of Ecuador and due to be discussed on 8 March in Ecuador that seek to reform the OAS Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression.

Fourty-four countries voiced concern with the Bahraini government’s imprisonment of persons exercising their right to free expression, and called on the government to uphold the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of association.

The UAE’s laws on the media are considered among the most restrictive in the region, authorizing state censorship and prohibiting criticism of the government, rulers and ruling families, and friendly foreign governments.