"Transnational repression is strategically employed by autocrats, enabled by underprepared host governments, and spreading rapidly around the world. This report aims to assess the strengths and weaknesses in the global understanding of and responses to transnational repression, so that governments,
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private companies, and civil society organizations can better equip themselves to defend human rights. Transnational repression should be recognized for what it is: a direct threat to fundamental freedoms, state sovereignty, and democracy, and a disturbing physical manifestation of global authoritarianism." (Page 2)
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"This research was conducted through a survey (involving 1,256 respondents) and interviews (six informants) of female journalists in 191 cities, representing western, central, and eastern parts of Indonesia. This survey included 25 questions about the respondents’ violence experiences related to t
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heir work in the digital and physical world. The forms of violence asked in the questionnaire cover all forms of violence that we could find in literature and case records in Indonesia and abroad, including various policies and practices of discrimination for female journalists in the workplace related to salaries, reporting assignments, and so on, which we included in the categories of violence in the physical domain. [...] According to the statements from the female journalists, as many as 1,077 respondents (85.7%) had experienced violence during their journalistic career. Of these, as many as 70.1% of the respondents had experienced violence in the digital domain as well as in the physical domain, 7.9% of respondents had experienced only violence in the digital domain (online), and 7.8% of respondents had experienced only violence in the physical domain (offline). Meanwhile, only 179 respondents (14.3%) never experienced any form of violence at all [...] Although the survey data do not show a strong relationship between the acts of violence and the topic of the journalists’ reporting, interviews show that female journalists are more vulnerable to violence when covering issues considered risky, such as gender and sexuality (LGBTIQ) and the environment. The latter finding is in line with the statement by the Committee to Protect Journalists, which classifies environmental investigations in developing countries as dangerous, second only to reporting of armed conflicts." (Executive summary, page 9)
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"Pour faciliter le travail des journalistes, il importe de s’assurer que leur droit de rechercher, d’accéder à l’information, de produire et de publier du contenu d’intérêt public n’est pas restreint. Pour l’avenir de la démocratie et de la presse qui lui est congénitale, il est im
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portant de procéder à une analyse sur les potentiels conflits juridiques qui peuvent découler de l’application de ces nouvelles lois, une fois qu’elles sont confrontées aux législations existantes ou aux normes et bonnes pratiques internationales en la matière. C’est pour procéder à un tel exercice qu’International Media Support (IMS), partenaire de l’étude, dans le cadre de son Programme Sahel (avec le soutien de Danida/la coopération danoise), a confié à l’École Supérieure de Journalisme, des Métiers de l’Internet et de la Communication (E-jicom) la mission de procéder à cette analyse." (Introducion, page 7)
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"Through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 18 Filipino reporters and editors from three influential media outlets that then President Rodrigo Duterte targeted as enemies – the broadcaster ABS-CBN, the newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer, and the website Rappler – this paper offers novel i
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nsights on journalists’ counterstrategies with appeals to their strengthened roles as watchdogs, interpreters and disseminators of populist communication. Findings indicate that journalists discard practices like false equivalence and shift roles including from being detached observers to media freedom advocates and truth activists to respond to institutional attacks, rising disinformation, and perceived democratic erosion as they seek to speak truth to a populist in power. The study provides theoretical and empirical contributions by combining paradigm repair and role perceptions as tools in analyzing journalists’ responses to legitimacy threats, and by presenting an understudied case of anti-media populism in the Global South." (Abstract)
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"In global surveys, Latin America is all too often identified as one of the regions with the highest number of journalists killed for practicing their profession in the world. To explore the issues at stake, this chapter begins with a brief overview of the various faces of anti-press violence in thi
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s complex region. More specifically, it asks: What are the factors behind the rampant violence against journalists in the region? Next, the chapter examines what can be done to protect them. Brazilian society learned of the lack of safety precautions journalists took on assignment and media houses’ little protection to their staff. Many journalists exert their agency to fight back with the help of coalitions, collectives, and allies. The chapter shows that training initiatives prove vital here, helping to secure positive ways forward for efforts to improve the profession’s prospects under such challenging conditions." (Abstract)
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"In the present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 47/16, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights provides an overview of trends in Internet shutdowns. It contains an analysis of their causes and the legal implications and the impact on human ri
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ghts thereof, the roles of companies, the existing efforts to promote Internet connectivity and provide development aid, and the relevance of such efforts for detecting, preventing and responding to shutdowns, as well as a set of recommended measures for ending shutdowns and minimizing their impact." (Summary, page 1)
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"In 'Free Speech', Jacob Mchangama traces the long, contested history of a powerful idea, beginning with its origins in the intellectual ferment of classical Athens, where it enabled the development of the world's first democracy. Through captivating stories of defenders of free speech throughout hi
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story, from the eighth century 'Abbasid caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur to the anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells, Mchangama reveals how the free exchange of knowledge and ideas underlies all scientific and literary achievement, and how it has enabled the advancement of civil rights across the globe. Indeed, he argues, freedom of speech has far more often served the cause of the oppressed than the cause of the oppressors. Yet the temptation to restrict speech, too, is a historical constant, and Mchangama explores how elite entrenchment and anxiety about new technologies can lead even the most dedicated defenders of liberty down this dangerous path. Meticulously researched and deeply humane, Free Speech demonstrates just how much humanity has gained from this essential principle - and just how much we stand to lose if we allow it to erode." (Publisher description)
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"As press freedom continues a downward trend across the globe against a backdrop of rapidly changing landscape for the safety of journalists, the 10th anniversary of the UN Plan provided an opportunity to take stock of its key achievements during this first decade of implementation, as well as to id
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entify solutions to challenges that have arisen along the way. In this respect, UNESCO coordinated a multi-stakeholder consultative process involving regional and thematic consultations to collect partners’ experiences in promoting safety of journalists over the last decade as a basis for informing the course of action in the next 10 years and beyond. The consultative process included five regional and sub-regional consultations (for Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Arab States and Europe), two thematic consultations (on the safety of women journalists, on risk management and transparency of digital platforms), and crosscutting academic consultations. This process brought together governments representatives, civil society organizations, academia, journalists, news organizations, IGOs and tech companies who shared experiences of the implementation of the Plan and provided and provided possible solutions to improve its coordination amidst a complex safety environment. From the eight consultations, UNESCO published a concise outcome document summarizing key processes and outcomes of each of the consultations. This document provided background reading and highlights of key issues and trends that informed discussions during the High-level conference on the Safety of Journalists which took place in Vienna on 3 -4 November. The conference was organized by the Austrian Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs in cooperation with UNESCO and the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the UN Plan of Action and to reaffirm, recommit and reposition it for the next 10 years. Three other regional events were held to mark this anniversary. These are the Arab regional event that took place on 2-4 November in Tunis, Tunisia; the New York Group of Friends on Safety of Journalists event that took place in New York on 7 November 2022, and the Africa event that took place in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on 11-12 November 2022. This report provides a detailed account of the three consultations held with academics on supporting and strengthening the future successful implementation of the UN Plan of Action." (Background, page 4-5)
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"This report focuses on Beijing's efforts to control domestic reporting by resident foreign journalists. It is based on interviews conducted by the IFJ in December 2021 with 19 current or recent correspondents from nine countries, who work across print and broadcast and whose experience in China ran
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ges from a couple of years to several decades. It also draws from Locked Down or Kicked Out, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China's 2021 Media Freedoms Report, and earlier FCCC annual reports based on surveys of the club's roughly 190 members. The research finds that China uses a wide range of coercive methods to control foreign journalistsf reporting. These include: outright expulsions, plus threats that make journalists feel compelled to leave; denials and delays in the granting of visas so that journalists are unable to start work on schedule or must live from one short-term visa to another, unsure if they will be there the following month; lighter scrutiny of journalists from nations viewed as 'friendly' or 'unimportant', although Beijing's attitude fluctuates according to political relations between China and the home country; lawsuits alleging breaches of reporting protocols, such as identifying oneself as a journalist, which carry the risk of being refused an exit visa until the case is resolved [...]" (Executive summary)
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"This report explores how the Chinese party-state's globally focused propaganda and disinformation capabilities are evolving and increasing in sophistication. Concerningly, this emerging approach by the Chinese party-state to influence international discourse on China, including obfuscating its reco
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rd of human rights violations, is largely flying under the radar of US social media platforms and western policymakers." (Executive summary, page 3)
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"The most promising strategies to help citizens circumvent internet shutdowns do not involve deploying satellite internet devices or floating balloons. Instead, simpler solutions, such as encouraging citizens to download anticensorship apps or software ahead of time, are much more useful. But they d
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o not work well without advance organizational and logistical preparation. This requires engaging local civil society organizations and holding awareness campaigns to encourage mass adoption before a shutdown initiates. Such efforts are also more likely to succeed if technologies are free, easy to use, and redundant, so that citizens can communicate and access information regardless of context or network restrictions in place. Tech companies also have a role to play in ensuring that citizens can access circumvention solutions that are privacy-preserving and secure. Effective strategies will also incorporate nontechnical adaptations, such as tapping into a diaspora network to import unlocked SIM cards, connecting with sympathetic telecoms officials to circumvent connectivity restrictions, or even using human messengers to smuggle out footage. Finally, enhanced transparency and documentation about shutdowns can also be useful. Telecoms and internet platforms, for example, can institutionalize disclosure and reporting on shutdowns, placing a greater burden on states to justify specific network disruptions." (Conclusion, page 29)
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"This report explores the social media habits of Iranian netizens and how the Islamic Republic is repressing the online space." (Publisher description)
"In 2011, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders defined stigmatization as the characterization of human rights defenders as “terrorists”, “enemies of the State” or “political opponents” by state authorities and state media and its use to delegitimize their work,
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increasing their vulnerability to human rights abuses and violations. The CDJ has recorded acts of stigmatization against human rights defenders between January 2019 and June 2021 in Venezuela, through public and private media outlets with links to the government. Often these media outlets, which may take the form of web portals, television programmes and blogs, among others, use the spaces to attack, expose and harass people who are perceived as critical of the government of Nicolás Maduro. Upon analysing the database with more than 300 acts of stigmatization between January 2019 and June 2021, the media outlets whose content was most frequently repeated ahead of detentions by Venezuelan security forces were Con el Mazo Dando, Misión Verdad and the web portal Lechuguinos [...] The correlation between politically motivated arbitrary detentions, carried out by all state security agents, and stigmatization, carried out by all sources of stigmatization, was filtered by each year analysed due to the different nature of each period. From this analysis it was shown that while in 2019 the overall correlation between both variables was 29%, in 2020 it increased to 42% and in the first half of 2021 it reached 77%. The annual correlations between arbitrary detentions and stigmatization also varied depending on the different security forces involved in the detention. Thus, there is a closer correlation in 2019 with detentions occurring by intelligence agencies (DGCIM and SEBIN), in 2020 by bodies under the PNB, including the FAES, which rises to 92%, and in 2021 by bodies of a civilian and decentralized nature, such as the FAES, municipal police forces and the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigation Corps (CICPC) which also rises to 92% correlation with stigmatization." (Executive summary, page 6-7)
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"Quality media are indispensable. People must be able to form opinions competently. They must also be free to express their views. At the same time, there must be limits to slander, fake-news propaganda and the spreading of conspiracy theories. The internet is proving to be ambivalent. On the one ha
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nd, some kinds of online exchange are excellent – not least, as some news websites are standing up to governments with authoritarian tendencies. On the other hand, the under-regulated cyber sphere gives too much scope for spreading lies and disinformation." (Page 3)
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"Over the past five years, approximately 85 percent of the world’s population experienced a decline in press freedom in their country. Even in countries with long traditions of safeguarding free and independent journalism, financial and technological transformations have forced news outlets, espec
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ially those serving local communities, to close. With readership and advertising markets moving online, advertising revenue for newspapers plummeted by nearly half in the ten-year period ending in 2019. The subsequent COVID-19 pandemic and its global economic impact have exacerbated this trend, now threatening to create an “extinction level” event for independent journalism outlets. The 2021/2022 global edition of the flagship series of reports on World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development examines these questions with a special focus on “journalism as a public good”." (Abstract)
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"Using examples of the existing media coverage of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, disability, geography, social and marital status, this handbook offers a set of educational tools that can be used in a classroom to develop sensitivity to diversity, to increase s
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tudents’ analytical skills in relation to news content and to enrich students’ knowledge and understanding of the relationship between social diversity and the media [...] The handbook is aimed to be used as a textbook in journalism schools. It has been written in the context of China, but its content and examples would also serve journalism teachers elsewhere well." (Introduction, page 8)
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"The media situation in Belarus has never been easy. With Aliaksandr Lukashenka being elected president of the country for the first time in 1994, the necessary reforms to provide media freedom have never materialised. Instead, over the years various laws have lessened the rights of independent jour
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nalists and imposed limits on both traditional and electronic media. Following the August 2020 presidential election, which ignited a brutal crackdown against the democratic opposition, the situation has worsened. Harassment, a hijacking, and politically motivated jail terms, both short and long, intimidate Belarusians who want to exchange ideas, report wrongdoing or fight for freedom of expression and freedom for the country. In January 2022, the Belarusian Association of Journalists confirmed the presence of at least 32 journalists in Belarusian jails. On the positive side, new electronic media cannot be banned effectively and absolutely. While the regime slowly expands its presence on the internet, Belarusians trust independent media more and use it more eagerly. However, society’s distancing of itself from traditional state-controlled media is increasingly met with an angry reaction from the state apparatus, which in turn further tightens related laws. The European Union, and the European Parliament in particular, actively support independent media and civil society in Belarus, and the Council of the EU and the Parliament both address the challenges to media freedom in the country. Financial help is also provided to Belarus and was even increased at the end of 2021, with priority areas of support including ‘systematically repressed’ independent media." (Summary)
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"This briefing document provides an overview of key developments in digital authoritarianism in 11 countries and explains the theoretical framework and methodology behind The Unfreedom Monitor project. The document also provides a basis for expanding this research to other countries to deepen our un
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derstanding of digital authoritarianism globally, as well as its crucial implications for the future. The preliminary sample of 11 countries was chosen to reflect a range of factors: system of government, approach to human rights (including rankings in indexes), and corporate relations. The countries are: Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Morocco, Myanmar, Russia, Sudan, Tanzania, Turkey, and Zimbabwe." (Publisher description)
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"In 2021, ARTICLE 19 set out to make sometimes invisible practices more visible, building on our existing programmes on the safety of women journalists worldwide. We undertook original research globally and specifically in six countries, three in Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and three in
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Latin America (Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay), all of which ARTICLE 19 is publishing separately, guided by the questions: What might feminist approaches to the protection of journalists look like, and what benefits might they bring? Our research findings form the basis of this report, which aims to: explore how feminist practices have been, are being, and can be applied to improve all women journalists' safety worldwide; bridge international legal and policy frameworks on the safety of journalists with the practical approaches being adopted on the ground; and catalyse a conversation about how - together - we can move towards feminist approaches to the safety of journalists. From national organisations to grassroots networks, this report documents women's monumental efforts to make structural changes, tackle entrenched patterns of gender-based discrimination and violence, and enhance the safety of women journalists. The initiatives showcased here are a testament to the creativity and resilience of those working on the feminist frontlines." (Introduction)
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"This report specifically looks at the situation of local actors who, while they are impacted by the circulation of harmful content on social media or the moderation thereof, often find themselves unable to take effective action to improve their situation in that respect." (Introduction)