IFEX Regional Briefs

Monthly free expression round ups produced by IFEX’s Regional Editors, based on IFEX member reports and news from the regions. 

What you need to know now: Trends in freedom of expression and information in Latin America and the Caribbean

IFEX’s Americas Editor provides the context for key developments in relation to freedom of expression and information witnessed in Latin America and the Caribbean in the first half of 2021.

Journalist and activist Agba Jalingo raises a Nigerian flag during a protest against government practices and in support of activist Omoyele Sowore, in Lagos, 5 August 2020, Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhoto via Getty Images

RTI triumphs, shocking sexual harassment statistics, and compensation for tortured Nigerian journalist

July 2021 in Africa: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Reyhana Masters, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region. An audio discussion relating to this piece, and focusing on the deeply concerning Women in News sexual harassment report, is available here.

A woman holds up a banner with a quote from murdered Maltese journalist and anti-corruption blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, during a rally to demand justice for her killing, in Valletta, Malta, 22 October 2017, MATTHEW MIRABELLI/AFP via Getty Images

The tentacles of corruption and the purge

July 2021 in Europe and Central Asia: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Cathal Sheerin, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

A Boeng Kak community land rights activist holds a photograph of prominent political analyst Kem Ley as she heads to his funeral ceremony, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 18 July 2016, Satoshi Takahashi/LightRocket via Getty Images

#FOEwatch in Malaysia, Hong Kong freedom in ‘tatters’, Kem Ley, and arrests in Vietnam

July 2021 in Asia-Pacific: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s regional editor Mong Palatino, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa pays his last respects to the late former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda during his state memorial service, in Lusaka, Zambia, 2 July 2021, -/AFP via Getty Images

A king in hiding while eSwatini burns, Rwandan journalist abducted in Mozambique, and flags at half-mast for KK

June 2021 in Africa: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Reyhana Masters, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region. An audio discussion relating to this piece, and focusing on the worrying situation in eSwatini, is available here.

London, United Kingdom, 3 July 2021. A man wearing a mask featuring an image of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and holding a noose takes part in a demonstration against political executions in Egypt, Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images

Weaponizing terrorism laws in Egypt, Palestinian women journalists targeted, and Iran’s endemic impunity

June 2021 in Middle East and North Africa: A free expression roundup produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Naseem Tarawnah, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

A demonstrator holds a sign against police violence in Brazil, during a protest in Sao Paulo, 14 June 2020, Diego Baravelli/picture alliance via Getty Images

Justice in sight, the right to repair, & information deserts… and oases

June 2021 in the Americas: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Paula Martins, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

Activists hold copies of the shuttered Hong Kong paper "Apple Dailly", during a protest on the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, California, 1 July 2021, FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

The demise of press freedom in Hong Kong, Pakistan journalists attacked, and a case against Twitter

June 2021 in Asia-Pacific: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s regional editor Mong Palatino, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

Protesters are detained by police in central Istanbul, Turkey, on 26 June 2021, as hundreds of LGBTQI+ activists defied a ban and tried to stage a gay pride event. BÜLENT KıLıÇ/AFP via Getty Images

High treason charges, new anti-LGBTQI+ legislation and progress against impunity

June 2021 in Europe and Central Asia: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Cathal Sheerin, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

Journalists sit on the rubble of the al-Jalaa Tower, which housed international press offices, following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip 15 May 2021, MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Checked expression in Iraq, unchecked repression in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and censoring Palestine

May 2021 in Middle East and North Africa: A free expression roundup produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Naseem Tarawnah, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

The release of 30 balloons into the sky by Zoe Titus (L) and Gwen Lister (R) marks the unofficial finale of the UNESCO WPFD conference, Windhoek, Namibia, 3 May 2021, Photo: Guy Berger

Visions of press freedom obscured, LGBTQI+ rights falter, an icon tells her story

May 2021 in Africa: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Reyhana Masters, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region. An audio discussion relating to this piece is available here.

Demonstrators wear a black cape with red hearts painted to honour the victims on the front line of the national strike, during a protest organized by relatives of victims of enforced disappearance, in Medellín, Colombia, 27 May 2021, Fredy Builes/Getty Images

Protests in Colombia, data protection in Chile and Mexico, and tracking risk in Venezuela

May 2021 in the Americas: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Paula Martins, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

People hold pictures of NEXTA editor Raman Pratasevich and journalist and political prisoner Mikola Dziadok, during a March of Solidarity with Belarus, in Krakow, Poland, 29 May 2021, Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto

A state-hijacking, forced confessions and a suspicious death in custody

May 2021 in Europe and Central Asia: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Cathal Sheerin, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

The "Apple Daily" editor-in-chief points to a copy of the first front page, in the newsroom in Hong Kong, 13 May 2021; a shadow of fear hangs over the paper as its owner has been jailed and reporters are asking themselves "Are we next?" ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images

India’s new digital rules and crackdowns surge in Hong Kong, Cambodia, and Myanmar

May 2021 in Asia-Pacific: A free expression roundup produced by IFEX’s regional editor Mong Palatino, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

Lima, Peru, 5 May 2021. Peruvian presidential candidate Pedro Castillo (L) hands a document to former presidential candidate Veronika Mendoza, for her to sign pledging her support for Castillo in the 6 June election runoff, GIAN MASKO/AFP via Getty Images

Online gender-based violence norms in Mexico, art and protest in Cuba, disinformation and elections in Peru

April 2021 in the Americas: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Paula Martins, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

Israeli security forces forcefully push out Palestinian protesters near a barrier blocking access, outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, 25 April 2021, AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Battling apartheid, fake news laws, and a prison-industrial complex in MENA

April 2021 in Middle East and North Africa: A free expression roundup produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Naseem Tarawnah, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.