New Delhi, September 4, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists warns that the Nepali government’s decision to block access to social media platforms across the country will seriously hinder journalists’ work and people’s access to news and information.
“Nepal’s sweeping ban on social media sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom,” said CPJ Regional Director Beh Lih Yi. “Blocking online news platforms vital to journalists will undermine reporting and the public’s right to information. The government must immediately rescind this order and restore access to social media platforms, which are essential tools for exercising press freedom.”
On Thursday, Nepal’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology directed the Nepal Telecommunications Authority to immediately shut down access to platforms that had failed to heed an August 25 Cabinet directive requiring foreign social media and online streaming platforms to register within seven days.
The Supreme Court also ruled on August 17 that online platforms must be registered before operating in Nepal, so as to monitor misinformation.
Platforms’ internet access may be restored gradually if they initiate the registration process, according to a copy of the ministry’s September 4 directive, reviewed by CPJ.
The Japanese-owned app Viber and Chinese-owned TikTok have registered, while most major Western platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and X have not, newsreports said.
Communication Ministry Secretary Radhika Aryal did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment. However, in an interview with the news site Corporate Nepal, she said that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, had repeatedly refused government requests to register.
Meta, X, and Google, which owns YouTube, did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed requests for comment.
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined an amicus brief on August 25, 2025, authored by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) in support of Tufts University PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk in her appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Also joined by PEN America, Reporters Without Borders, and the Student Press Law Center, the brief expressed concern over the federal government’s potential use of the Immigration and Nationality Act to dissuade non-citizen journalists from reporting.
Öztürk’s student visa was revoked in retaliation for an op-ed she co-bylined in The Tufts Daily in March 2024. On March 25, 2025, federal immigration agents arrested her, and she spent six weeks in immigration detention. Her case could have widespread consequences for other non-citizen and international journalists. The amicus brief underscores the constitutional rights of all journalists to cover and comment on public affairs, and of everyone detained to seek speedy judicial review.
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined an amicus brief on August 25, 2025, authored by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) in support of Tufts University PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk in her appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Also joined by PEN America, Reporters Without Borders, and the Student Press Law Center, the brief expressed concern over the federal government’s potential use of the Immigration and Nationality Act to dissuade non-citizen journalists from reporting.
Öztürk’s student visa was revoked in retaliation for an op-ed she co-bylined in The Tufts Daily in March 2024. On March 25, 2025, federal immigration agents arrested her, and she spent six weeks in immigration detention. Her case could have widespread consequences for other non-citizen and international journalists. The amicus brief underscores the constitutional rights of all journalists to cover and comment on public affairs, and of everyone detained to seek speedy judicial review.
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 71 other press freedom and human rights organizations in an August 21 joint letter calling on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to secure UK citizen and publisher Jimmy Lai’s release on medical grounds.
Lai, the 77-year-old founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has suffered deteriorating health, including heart palpitations and feelings of “collapse,” while behind bars for nearly five years on charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign.
The groups urge Starmer to take “strong leadership” and act “swiftly and decisively” in securing Lai’s freedom after closing arguments scheduled August 14 for his national security trial have been delayed, partially because of his health. Lai faces up to life in prison if convicted. Lai faces up to life in prison if convicted.
New Delhi, August 21, 2025—Maldives president Mohamed Muizzu should reject a bill that was recently introduced in the country’s parliament that would dismantle press freedom and place the media under government control, the second such bill in a year after earlier attempts failed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
“President Mohamed Muizzu must uphold his pledge to support media freedom by ensuring this regressive bill is withdrawn,” said CPJ Asia-Pacific Regional Director Beh Lih Yi. “Creating a new commission, stacking it with presidential appointees, and then granting it sweeping powers to fine, suspend, and shutter news outlets as it sees fit would destroy independent journalism and erode the Maldives’ fragile democratic space.”
The bill would dissolve two existing regulatory bodies, the Maldives Media Council and the Maldives Broadcasting Commission, and replace them with a new entity — the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission.
The proposed commission would have seven members, with the president empowered to appoint three of them. The president would also select the chairperson. The four remaining members, elected by the media, could be removed by a parliamentary vote. The bill would give the commission the power to:
Fine journalists between US$325 and US$650 and media outlets up to US$6,500 for code of conduct violations, failing to comply with the commission’s orders and legal violations.
Temporarily suspend registrations of outlets during commission probe
Pursue judicial order to cancel registrations of media outlets
Block websites and halt broadcasts during commission probe
Investigate cases retroactively (up to a year before the creation of the new commission)
The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), a local press freedom organization, warned that the bill would dismantle press freedom and place the media under government control. MJA called the bill a “grave threat” that criminalizes reporting and said journalists and media outlets were not consulted during its drafting.
Independent parliamentarian Abdul Hannan Aboobakuru introduced the bill in the People’s Majlis, the country’s legislative body, on August 18, after similar attempts last year. That bill was rejected after President Muizzu said he opposed controlling the press and wanted greater media freedom. He asked his party, the People’s National Congress, which controls parliament, to vote against that bill.
Muizzu and Hannan did not immediately respond to CPJ’s email requesting comment.
New Delhi, August 20, 2025—Two police branches in northeastern Indian state of Assam opened separate criminal investigations into Siddharth Varadarajan, editor for independent news website The Wire, its entire editorial team, including Hindi language editor Ashutosh Bhardwaj and contributor Karan Thapar, and the outlet’s parent company, the Foundation for Independent Journalism (FIJ). The investigations are related to several articles and interviews published after the deadly attacks on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir in April and the ensuing India-Pakistan military escalation.
Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi, who was interviewed multiple times by Thapar during the escalating tension between the two countries, was also named in the investigation.
“By twice initiating investigations under a law currently being legally challenged for its resemblance to a colonial-era sedition law, and defying a Supreme Court ruling, Assam police are misusing the legal system to intimidate journalists,” said Kunāl Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “Authorities must immediately withdraw these summonses against The Wire editors and journalists and end the misuse of security laws to target journalists for their work so they can report freely without fear of arrest.”
On July 11, police in Morigaon district in Assam opened an investigation into Varadarajan and the FIJ owners in relation to a June 29 report alleging the Indian Armed Forces lost fighter jets to Pakistani forces, quoting an Indian military official.
On August 12, the Supreme Court granted protection to Varadarajan and FIJ owners from arrest stemming from this investigation.
The same day, the Assam Police Crime Branch in Guwahati, the state capital, issued summonses to Varadarajan and Thapar in connection with a separate investigation. That investigation, registered on May 9, cites 12 news articles and interviews with journalists, defense experts, and columnists, according to CPJ’s review of the First Information Report, which opens an investigation.
Both investigations accuse The Wire journalists of violating Section 152 of the country’s penal code for “endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.”
Section 152, which came into effect in July 2024, is currently being challenged in court as a rebranded version of the colonial-era sedition law, which the Supreme Court suspended in May 2022. Section 152 carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Police inspector Soumarjyoti Ray, who issued the summons, told CPJ by phone he would not comment on the case.
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, August 20, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kurdish authorities to immediately release freelance Iraqi Kurdish journalist Sherwan Sherwani after an Erbil court handed him an additionalfour years and five months in prison.
“Sentencing Sherwani for a third time on dubious charges and imposing the maximum penalty shows the authorities’ determination to silence his critical voice and keep him behind bars,” said Doja Daoud, CPJ’s Levant program coordinator. “Kurdish authorities should recognize the harm these actions inflict on the region’s reputation and immediately release Sherwani.”
Sherwani was handed a six-year prison sentence in 2021 on charges of “destabilizing regional security” that was reduced by presidential decree. The journalist was due for release in 2023 before he was sentenced in July 2023 to four more years on charges of falsifying a document for fellow imprisoned journalist Guhdar Zebari—a charge the rights group Community Peacemaker Teamsdenounced as politically motivated.
Sherwani’s lawyer, Mohammed Abdullah, told CPJ that Sherwani’s most recent sentence is in connection with a June 2022 complaint filed by an Erbil Correctional Prison officer, accusing Sherwani of threatening him and his family while in detention. The court cited Article 229 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which addresses threats or assaults against state employees. Abdullah said the ruling relied solely on the testimony of the officer and two guards who acted as witnesses, and that Sherwani denies making a threat. Abdullah said they plan to appeal the verdict.
Sherwani’s brother, Barzan, told CPJ that the journalist refused to return to prison in protest of the verdict and was injured when security forces forcibly escorted him back into detention.
CPJ’s calls to KRG Coordinator for International Dindar Zebari for comment on the evidence used to sentence the journalist but did not receive a response.
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, August 20, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kurdish authorities to immediately release freelance Iraqi Kurdish journalist Sherwan Sherwani after an Erbil court handed him an additionalfour years and five months in prison.
“Sentencing Sherwani for a third time on dubious charges and imposing the maximum penalty shows the authorities’ determination to silence his critical voice and keep him behind bars,” said Doja Daoud, CPJ’s Levant program coordinator. “Kurdish authorities should recognize the harm these actions inflict on the region’s reputation and immediately release Sherwani.”
Sherwani was handed a six-year prison sentence in 2021 on charges of “destabilizing regional security” that was reduced by presidential decree. The journalist was due for release in 2023 before he was sentenced in July 2023 to four more years on charges of falsifying a document for fellow imprisoned journalist Guhdar Zebari—a charge the rights group Community Peacemaker Teamsdenounced as politically motivated.
Sherwani’s lawyer, Mohammed Abdullah, told CPJ that Sherwani’s most recent sentence is in connection with a June 2022 complaint filed by an Erbil Correctional Prison officer, accusing Sherwani of threatening him and his family while in detention. The court cited Article 229 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which addresses threats or assaults against state employees. Abdullah said the ruling relied solely on the testimony of the officer and two guards who acted as witnesses, and that Sherwani denies making a threat. Abdullah said they plan to appeal the verdict.
Sherwani’s brother, Barzan, told CPJ that the journalist refused to return to prison in protest of the verdict and was injured when security forces forcibly escorted him back into detention.
CPJ’s calls to KRG Coordinator for International Dindar Zebari for comment on the evidence used to sentence the journalist but did not receive a response.
We speak with ACLU lawyer Eunice Cho about a new federal lawsuit brought on behalf of immigrants held at the detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” The detainees allege being routinely subjected to human rights abuses, denied due process and access to legal counsel, while families have complained of being unable to find their loved ones “disappeared” into the facility. “These are basic constitutional rights that are afforded to anybody that is held in government custody. And what was happening at Alligator Alcatraz is simply unprecedented and not normal,” says Cho, senior counsel at the ACLU National Prison Project.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
Radio Azattyq director Torokul Doorov says it is “very difficult” for journalists not to become activists in the face of “unfairness and injustice” in Kazakhstan.
“You just want to start screaming,” says Doorov, who joined the Kazakh arm of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2015, and the outlet grew to be one of Kazakhstan’s most influential sources of independent news. But a recent government crackdown—spurred by the outlet’s critical reporting on the 2022 anti-government protests—threatens its survival.
In January 2024, 36 of Azattyq’s journalists were denied accreditation following a court ruling that fined the outlet for allegedly spreading “false information”—a charge the newsroom disputes. Although RFE/RL later reached an agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the accreditation process resumed in the spring, reprieve was short. A few months later, Kazakhstan enacted new laws broadening authorities’ powers to deny or revoke accreditation and banning foreign media from operating without accreditation, which press freedom advocates believed were aimed primarily at Azattyq. In July 2025, after CPJ spoke to Doorov, Azattyq again faced mass denial, as the Ministry rejected accreditation for its 16 journalists.
This comes as the outlet, which has a 2024 web audience of nearly 20 million, has been plunged further into jeopardy due to the Trump administration’s funding cuts and the risk of RFE/RL’s closure.
In an interview with CPJ, Doorov—speaking from RFE/RL’s headquarters in Prague—talked about Azattyq’s influence, how clashes with authorities increased as the outlet became more popular, persisting under pressure, and the fate of independent journalism in Kazakhstan. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Demonstrators on February 13, 2022 hold photos in remembrance of those killed during the country-wide Bloody January protests in Almaty, Kazakhstan. (Photo: Reuters/Pavel Mikheyev)
How has Radio Azattyq evolved over the years?
When I joined in 2015, Azattyq had already shifted from shortwave broadcasts to digital journalism, experimenting with video content and live streams to reach younger audiences.
By the early 2020s, our website had about nine million visits per month. But as our popularity grew, so did government control. We started feeling that the authorities were creating barriers for us.
The culmination of our (work) OK was seen during the Bloody January protests in 2022. For about 10 days, Kazakhstan was cut off from the internet. It was extremely difficult to operate as we almost lost connection with our reporters. I remember sitting in the office [in Prague], trying to call each one for updates and typing news manually to inform the public. That month alone, our website and YouTube channel reached 100 million views. This event showed how important Radio Azattyq had become in Kazakhstan.
We began collecting the names of victims after the protests, while officials withheld this information until September 2022, six months afterward. In June, we launched the special project “Qandy Qantar Qurbandary”(Victims of Bloody January) and published a book sharing the stories of citizens killed after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s order to “shoot without warning.” That year, [major] problems with authorities began.
How have authorities responded to Azattyq’s growing influence?
In fall 2022, we reported on a Swiss NGO investigation revealing that President Tokayev bought expensive artwork for the U.N. office in Geneva from his son’s mother-in-law. After that, users in Kazakhstan began experiencing difficulty accessing our website. Investigations by our specialists in Prague and Washington, D.C. confirmed the website was being throttled.
In October that year, we experienced difficulty with getting accreditation for the first time. We are registered as the representative office of a foreign media outlet RFE/RL, and under Kazakh law, we should be accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
Radio Azattyq gained acclaim after sharing the stories of stories of citizens killed during 2022 anti-government protests after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, pictured here, gave an order to “shoot without warning.” (Photo: Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev/Pool via Reuters)
Afterward, we were taken to court for “spreading false information” (after) one of our articles described the Collective Security Treaty Organization [a Eurasian military alliance of which Kazakhstan is a member] as a Russia-led organization, which is how foreign media usually portrays it.
In January 2024, we received a written explanation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially denying accreditation to all 36 of our journalists. We appealed that decision in court, arguing that all journalists should not be punished for one supposed mistake. Moreover, we did not accept that it was a mistake. Later it ended with a mutual agreement between the Ministry and RFE/RL leadership: they will issue accreditation, and we will revoke our lawsuit. And we did.
What was the reaction last summer when the Ministry of Information introduced its new media law concerning the accreditation of foreign journalists?
Some media experts in Kazakhstan called it the “Azattyq law” because it seemed designed against Azattyq, making it almost impossible to get accreditation for its journalists.
The new law issues accreditation only for one year and requires foreign journalists to submit all their articles from the past six months that mention Kazakhstan. Although we complied, recently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they will accredit only six to eight Azattyq journalists. For the rest, they need another two months to review after already taking two months. One journalist was denied accreditation for violating the law.
They referred to Article 30, Part 4 of the new media law, which prohibits foreign journalists from engaging in professional activities without appropriate accreditation. What are dozens of our journalists supposed to do during those two months?
There are traps everywhere—it has become extremely difficult for us. I think that other foreign media do not have this problem.
What role does Azattyq play in Kazakhstan’s media landscape?
This is an important question. We felt the answer last February when our accreditation issues became public. Many respected independent media in Kazakhstan issued editorials in support of us. I was shocked, especially considering the competition existing among us.
Now, as we face the possibility of closure—not just in Kazakhstan but RFE/RL in general following USAGM’s decision to terminate funding—Kazakh media are again showing their support. As Orda [local independent media] recently wrote, even Azattyq’s competitors want us to continue operating because from what I understand, we are a protection for the local media community.
For example, when we report on a major corruption scheme it becomes easier for others to continue the topic and dig more. And if authorities contact them, they can point to us and say, “Azattyq already reported on this.”
Our closure would almost mean the end of independent journalism in the country, unfortunately.
What motivates you to keep leading the newsroom despite prolonged uncertainty and pressure?
It is the young journalists on our team who keep me going. The way they view problems surprises me. Since our team consists of different age groups, we have very interesting conversations. Sometimes I see clashes of ideas. That is the part I enjoy most, every day. These young journalists are powerful in their reporting, and their ideas often uplift the entire team.
Do you foresee more restrictions for independent journalism in Kazakhstan?
Yes. It has already become difficult for journalists to work, and it is not just happening in Kazakhstan. This is a global trend. The new restrictive laws are adopted not only in one country, they are being copied. For example, Russia’s “foreign agents” law might soon appear in Kazakhstan. Kyrgyzstan has it, and Tajikistan is trying to implement it. Autocratic authorities are learning from each other on how to limit freedom for journalists.
CPJ’s emails to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the new media law and the ongoing lack of accreditation for most Radio Azattyq’s reporters did not receive any response.
Radio Azattyq director Torokul Doorov says it is “very difficult” for journalists not to become activists in the face of “unfairness and injustice” in Kazakhstan.
“You just want to start screaming,” says Doorov, who joined the Kazakh arm of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2015, and the outlet grew to be one of Kazakhstan’s most influential sources of independent news. But a recent government crackdown—spurred by the outlet’s critical reporting on the 2022 anti-government protests—threatens its survival.
In January 2024, 36 of Azattyq’s journalists were denied accreditation following a court ruling that fined the outlet for allegedly spreading “false information”—a charge the newsroom disputes. Although RFE/RL later reached an agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the accreditation process resumed in the spring, reprieve was short. A few months later, Kazakhstan enacted new laws broadening authorities’ powers to deny or revoke accreditation and banning foreign media from operating without accreditation, which press freedom advocates believed were aimed primarily at Azattyq. In July 2025, after CPJ spoke to Doorov, Azattyq again faced mass denial, as the Ministry rejected accreditation for its 16 journalists.
This comes as the outlet, which has a 2024 web audience of nearly 20 million, has been plunged further into jeopardy due to the Trump administration’s funding cuts and the risk of RFE/RL’s closure.
In an interview with CPJ, Doorov—speaking from RFE/RL’s headquarters in Prague—talked about Azattyq’s influence, how clashes with authorities increased as the outlet became more popular, persisting under pressure, and the fate of independent journalism in Kazakhstan. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Demonstrators on February 13, 2022 hold photos in remembrance of those killed during the country-wide Bloody January protests in Almaty, Kazakhstan. (Photo: Reuters/Pavel Mikheyev)
How has Radio Azattyq evolved over the years?
When I joined in 2015, Azattyq had already shifted from shortwave broadcasts to digital journalism, experimenting with video content and live streams to reach younger audiences.
By the early 2020s, our website had about nine million visits per month. But as our popularity grew, so did government control. We started feeling that the authorities were creating barriers for us.
The culmination of our (work) OK was seen during the Bloody January protests in 2022. For about 10 days, Kazakhstan was cut off from the internet. It was extremely difficult to operate as we almost lost connection with our reporters. I remember sitting in the office [in Prague], trying to call each one for updates and typing news manually to inform the public. That month alone, our website and YouTube channel reached 100 million views. This event showed how important Radio Azattyq had become in Kazakhstan.
We began collecting the names of victims after the protests, while officials withheld this information until September 2022, six months afterward. In June, we launched the special project “Qandy Qantar Qurbandary”(Victims of Bloody January) and published a book sharing the stories of citizens killed after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s order to “shoot without warning.” That year, [major] problems with authorities began.
How have authorities responded to Azattyq’s growing influence?
In fall 2022, we reported on a Swiss NGO investigation revealing that President Tokayev bought expensive artwork for the U.N. office in Geneva from his son’s mother-in-law. After that, users in Kazakhstan began experiencing difficulty accessing our website. Investigations by our specialists in Prague and Washington, D.C. confirmed the website was being throttled.
In October that year, we experienced difficulty with getting accreditation for the first time. We are registered as the representative office of a foreign media outlet RFE/RL, and under Kazakh law, we should be accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
Radio Azattyq gained acclaim after sharing the stories of stories of citizens killed during 2022 anti-government protests after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, pictured here, gave an order to “shoot without warning.” (Photo: Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev/Pool via Reuters)
Afterward, we were taken to court for “spreading false information” (after) one of our articles described the Collective Security Treaty Organization [a Eurasian military alliance of which Kazakhstan is a member] as a Russia-led organization, which is how foreign media usually portrays it.
In January 2024, we received a written explanation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially denying accreditation to all 36 of our journalists. We appealed that decision in court, arguing that all journalists should not be punished for one supposed mistake. Moreover, we did not accept that it was a mistake. Later it ended with a mutual agreement between the Ministry and RFE/RL leadership: they will issue accreditation, and we will revoke our lawsuit. And we did.
What was the reaction last summer when the Ministry of Information introduced its new media law concerning the accreditation of foreign journalists?
Some media experts in Kazakhstan called it the “Azattyq law” because it seemed designed against Azattyq, making it almost impossible to get accreditation for its journalists.
The new law issues accreditation only for one year and requires foreign journalists to submit all their articles from the past six months that mention Kazakhstan. Although we complied, recently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they will accredit only six to eight Azattyq journalists. For the rest, they need another two months to review after already taking two months. One journalist was denied accreditation for violating the law.
They referred to Article 30, Part 4 of the new media law, which prohibits foreign journalists from engaging in professional activities without appropriate accreditation. What are dozens of our journalists supposed to do during those two months?
There are traps everywhere—it has become extremely difficult for us. I think that other foreign media do not have this problem.
What role does Azattyq play in Kazakhstan’s media landscape?
This is an important question. We felt the answer last February when our accreditation issues became public. Many respected independent media in Kazakhstan issued editorials in support of us. I was shocked, especially considering the competition existing among us.
Now, as we face the possibility of closure—not just in Kazakhstan but RFE/RL in general following USAGM’s decision to terminate funding—Kazakh media are again showing their support. As Orda [local independent media] recently wrote, even Azattyq’s competitors want us to continue operating because from what I understand, we are a protection for the local media community.
For example, when we report on a major corruption scheme it becomes easier for others to continue the topic and dig more. And if authorities contact them, they can point to us and say, “Azattyq already reported on this.”
Our closure would almost mean the end of independent journalism in the country, unfortunately.
What motivates you to keep leading the newsroom despite prolonged uncertainty and pressure?
It is the young journalists on our team who keep me going. The way they view problems surprises me. Since our team consists of different age groups, we have very interesting conversations. Sometimes I see clashes of ideas. That is the part I enjoy most, every day. These young journalists are powerful in their reporting, and their ideas often uplift the entire team.
Do you foresee more restrictions for independent journalism in Kazakhstan?
Yes. It has already become difficult for journalists to work, and it is not just happening in Kazakhstan. This is a global trend. The new restrictive laws are adopted not only in one country, they are being copied. For example, Russia’s “foreign agents” law might soon appear in Kazakhstan. Kyrgyzstan has it, and Tajikistan is trying to implement it. Autocratic authorities are learning from each other on how to limit freedom for journalists.
CPJ’s emails to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the new media law and the ongoing lack of accreditation for most Radio Azattyq’s reporters did not receive any response.
Bangkok, August 15, 2025—Vietnamese authorities issued an arrest warrant on August 14 for Doan Bao Chau for propagandizing against the state, according to a state media report and the reporter, who communicated with CPJ via messaging app.
“Vietnam must repeal its arrest warrant, drop any pending charges, and cease its legal harassment of journalist Doan Bao Chau,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “If Vietnam wants its legal system to be taken seriously, it must stop weaponizing it to silence the press.”
Chau, who has previously worked as a freelance photographer for the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse news agencies and as a reporter for The New York Times, currently reports via his personal Facebook page, which has over 200,000 followers.
Chau told CPJ that he was subjected to a travel ban and frequent police summons over his reporting beginning in June 2024, after which he went into hiding.
On July 3, over 20 officers raided and searched his home in the capital Hanoi, and charged him under Article 117, Chau said. Maximum penalties under the law carry 20-year prison sentences. Vietnamese authorities frequently use the anti-state charge to harass, threaten and imprison journalists, CPJ research shows.
Vietnam tied with Iran and Eritrea as the seventh worst jailer of journalists worldwide, with at least 16 reporters behind bars on December 1, 2024, in CPJ’s latest annual global prison census.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, which manages the nation’s prisons and authorizes police to make political arrests, did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined seven other civil society organizations in calling on Sri Lankan authorities to immediately end the harassment of Tamil photojournalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan and withdraw the counterterrorism police summons for questioning on August 17.
The Counter Terrorism Investigation Department did not state the reason for the summons, although the journalist, who documents violations against Tamil civilians by security forces, was informed that it was in connection with his social media posts. It is believed Kumanan has been summoned in reprisal for his recent reporting, which has focused on mass grave excavations in Chemmani, Northern Province.
Lusaka, August 14, 2025—When a South African solar panel company last month dropped its legal battle over a gag order preventing journalist Bongani Hans from reporting on allegations of misleading clients, Hans told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he saw it as “a victory for media and press freedom.”
But for Hans and others in the country’s journalism community, the win was bittersweet.
South African press freedom advocates had hoped the ARTSolar case would enable the court to provide clear directives on what many see as a disturbing trend: attempts to use gag orders against journalists and activists as a form of pre-publication censorship in a country typically seen as a regional beacon of press freedom.
CPJ has spoken to journalists in at least six other recent cases where officials and private citizens have turned to South Africa’s courts seeking prior restraint of reporting – sometimes by using protection orders originally intended to help victims of domestic violence.
South African cases investigated by CPJ include the following:
Gagged for four years
Freelance reporter Thomo Nkgadima is barred by a court order from “insulting” or tarnishing a local government official in “any form of media in any manner” until November 2027. The order, reviewed by CPJ, was issued in 2023 after Mampuruburu Machubeng, a volunteer at Limpopo province’s Tubatse municipality, accused the journalist of harassment.
Nkgadima told CPJ the complaint came after he contacted Machubeng for comment while reporting on stalled hospital construction. Machubeng told CPJ by phone that he obtained the court order to protect himself because Ngkadima “wanted to tarnish my name in his reports.”
Police detained Nkgadima in February 2025 on suspicion of breaching the protection order after he contacted Machubeng for comment about fresh investigations into the hospital project, according to the journalist and police documents. Nkgadima said that although he was released after a day and prosecutors declined to press charges, he considered the arrest “a vexatious attack to intimidate and silence” him. “I will not stop,” he told CPJ. “I love journalism and I will continue to do what I love.”
While none of the other cases have resulted in such lengthy gag orders, other journalists interviewed by CPJ spent weeks or months in uncomfortable limbo before courts dismissed the cases, typically either for lack of evidence or on constitutionally protected free speech grounds.
Press freedom advocates warn that even temporary gag orders could “erode press freedom,” causing a “chilling effect that might make the journalist or their editor think twice about the costs and risks” of their reporting and creating a “template for suppressing the media” in a country where the judiciary has frequently demonstrated its willingness to push back on attacks against the media.
“[T]oday’s minor infringements of press freedom may become much worse in the future if they are not stamped out now,” nonprofit news outlet GroundUp warned in an editorial.
In the cases reviewed by CPJ, applicants sought to gag the press either through interdicts on publication pursuant to defamation suits, or through protection orders originally intended to shield victims of domestic violence by prohibiting potentially harmful behavior or contact.
South Africa’s 2011 Protection from Harassment Act extended the scope of the protection orders to shield anyone who fears harassment. Interim orders can be granted in ex parte hearings without the presence of the alleged aggressor. Anton Harber, a veteran journalist and activist, told CPJ that the ease of this process is abused in suits to silence the press.
Bids to silence alleged medical malpractice
Carte Blanche anchor Lourensa Eckard was sued for harassment for approaching a surgeon to request comment on malpractice allegations. (Screenshot: DStv/YouTube)
In two separate cases in the last 12 months, two doctors went to court to try to hamper investigations by the Carte Blanche TV magazine program into alleged medical malpractices.
In November 2024, surgeon Soraya Patel filed a harassment suit against Carte Blanche journalist Lourensa Eckard after program crew approached the doctor for comment at a Gauteng Province hospital in connection with their investigations into malpractice allegations. Court documents show Carte Blanche, which airs on the direct broadcast service DStv, sought an interview multiple times before approaching Patel at the hospital to follow up on previously aired episodes of their investigation, which had included Patel’s written responses to earlier questions.
The court issued a notice for the journalist to appear in court and nearly eight months later, on July 9, dismissed the case, affirming that Eckard had acted in the public interest.
In another case, Carte Blanche producer Mart-Marie Faure contacted cardiologist Ntando Peaceman Duze in May for an interview over alleged medical malpractice. On June 6, Duze obtained an interim interdict from a Kwazulu-Natal provincial court to halt the airing of the program.
“It’s sad that the courts are being used to stop us from airing stories that are in the public interest,” Faure told CPJ, adding that this was deterring journalists from reporting on sensitive issues.
That interim interdict was lifted on July 21, when the court ruled that Carte Blanche’s public interest journalism warranted “stronger constitutional protections” than Duze’s claims of reputational harm and warned that unjustified prior restraint of the media “would undermine the essential role of the media in a democratic society.”
Reached by phone, Duze declined to comment. Patel did not respond to CPJ’s emailed queries.
Magistrate seeks orders against journalists
Journalist Karyn Maughan discusses her 2024 book, ‘I Will Not Be Silenced,’ about how journalists are targeted and bullied by people who want them gone from public life. Maughan faced a harassment suit in connection to her reporting. (Screenshot: eNCA/YouTube)
On September 30, 2024, Mossel Bay magistrate Ezra Morrison obtained an interim protection order against News24’s journalist Karyn Maughan and then editor Kelly Anderson, over a report on Morrison’s handling of a teenage rape case, according to news reports and court documents reviewed by CPJ.
Morrison claimed the reporting harmed her emotionally and psychologically and threatened her safety, the documents said. The order barred both journalists from “contacting the magistrate” or “publishing untrue and inaccurate statements, photos,” or her “details.”
Morrison later filed a complaint of crimen injuria, the criminal offense of “impairing the dignity or privacy of another person,” over the same reporting. Both cases were later withdrawn, Maughan’s lawyer Charl du Plessis said.
Morrison did not reply to CPJ’s emailed queries.
‘The Running Mann’
Stuart Mann, a runner who covers long-distance races on his The Running Mann website, was sued for defamation in April by the nonprofit organizers of the Two Oceans Marathon and its board chair, Antoinette Cavanagh, following a series of reports alleging mismanagement of the annual race. The suit sought a retraction, apology, and a court order barring Mann from publishing or sharing similar allegations in the future.
The Gauteng High Court dismissed the case on June 16, saying that the court papers were “chaotic and vague” and that Cavanagh and the organization had failed to demonstrate defamation. Mann told CPJ that the process was emotionally draining and that he stopped writing about Two Oceans during the case.
In a July 17 email, the Two Oceans Marathon told CPJ, “We reserve our rights to pursue the matter further.” Cavanagh has since stepped down and Mann has been appointed as an interim board member.
The former chaplain and his wife
In December 2024, Vukile Mehana, a former chaplain with the ruling African National Congress party, and his wife, Naledi Mbude-Mehana, an Education Department deputy director general , opened a case of harassment and defamation against Sunday Times investigative reporter Thanduxolo Jika. Jika had reported that the couple was under investigation by the Hawks, a police unit that investigates corruption, for alleged irregularities in a government contract.
On June 4, Jika filed a complaint against the investigating officer for “recklessly” opening a defamation case – South Africa decriminalized defamation in 2024 – and suggesting that this officer was “serving the interests of Dr Mbude-Mehana rather than upholding the law.”
“There’s a rise in serious abuse of power by politically connected individuals who are opening senseless criminal cases against journalists to harass and intimidate them,” Jika told CPJ. Sunday Times editor Makhudu Sefara described the case as “a despicable attempt to muzzle our freedom to report news without intimidation.”
The Hawks’ spokesperson Nomthandazo Mbambo told CPJ that the couple remained under investigation. Mehana did not respond to CPJ’s phone calls or a query sent via messaging app. Midrand Police Station Commander Brigadier Molefi David Tsotso did not respond to CPJ’s calls or texts.
On August 12, Jika told CPJ the prosecutors had dropped the case against him.
Editor’s note: CPJ Regional Director Angela Quintal is a board member of the nonprofit news outlet GroundUp.
Lusaka, August 14, 2025—When a South African solar panel company last month dropped its legal battle over a gag order preventing journalist Bongani Hans from reporting on allegations of misleading clients, Hans told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he saw it as “a victory for media and press freedom.”
But for Hans and others in the country’s journalism community, the win was bittersweet.
South African press freedom advocates had hoped the ARTSolar case would enable the court to provide clear directives on what many see as a disturbing trend: attempts to use gag orders against journalists and activists as a form of pre-publication censorship in a country typically seen as a regional beacon of press freedom.
CPJ has spoken to journalists in at least six other recent cases where officials and private citizens have turned to South Africa’s courts seeking prior restraint of reporting – sometimes by using protection orders originally intended to help victims of domestic violence.
South African cases investigated by CPJ include the following:
Gagged for four years
Freelance reporter Thomo Nkgadima is barred by a court order from “insulting” or tarnishing a local government official in “any form of media in any manner” until November 2027. The order, reviewed by CPJ, was issued in 2023 after Mampuruburu Machubeng, a volunteer at Limpopo province’s Tubatse municipality, accused the journalist of harassment.
Nkgadima told CPJ the complaint came after he contacted Machubeng for comment while reporting on stalled hospital construction. Machubeng told CPJ by phone that he obtained the court order to protect himself because Ngkadima “wanted to tarnish my name in his reports.”
Police detained Nkgadima in February 2025 on suspicion of breaching the protection order after he contacted Machubeng for comment about fresh investigations into the hospital project, according to the journalist and police documents. Nkgadima said that although he was released after a day and prosecutors declined to press charges, he considered the arrest “a vexatious attack to intimidate and silence” him. “I will not stop,” he told CPJ. “I love journalism and I will continue to do what I love.”
While none of the other cases have resulted in such lengthy gag orders, other journalists interviewed by CPJ spent weeks or months in uncomfortable limbo before courts dismissed the cases, typically either for lack of evidence or on constitutionally protected free speech grounds.
Press freedom advocates warn that even temporary gag orders could “erode press freedom,” causing a “chilling effect that might make the journalist or their editor think twice about the costs and risks” of their reporting and creating a “template for suppressing the media” in a country where the judiciary has frequently demonstrated its willingness to push back on attacks against the media.
“[T]oday’s minor infringements of press freedom may become much worse in the future if they are not stamped out now,” nonprofit news outlet GroundUp warned in an editorial.
In the cases reviewed by CPJ, applicants sought to gag the press either through interdicts on publication pursuant to defamation suits, or through protection orders originally intended to shield victims of domestic violence by prohibiting potentially harmful behavior or contact.
South Africa’s 2011 Protection from Harassment Act extended the scope of the protection orders to shield anyone who fears harassment. Interim orders can be granted in ex parte hearings without the presence of the alleged aggressor. Anton Harber, a veteran journalist and activist, told CPJ that the ease of this process is abused in suits to silence the press.
Bids to silence alleged medical malpractice
Carte Blanche anchor Lourensa Eckard was sued for harassment for approaching a surgeon to request comment on malpractice allegations. (Screenshot: DStv/YouTube)
In two separate cases in the last 12 months, two doctors went to court to try to hamper investigations by the Carte Blanche TV magazine program into alleged medical malpractices.
In November 2024, surgeon Soraya Patel filed a harassment suit against Carte Blanche journalist Lourensa Eckard after program crew approached the doctor for comment at a Gauteng Province hospital in connection with their investigations into malpractice allegations. Court documents show Carte Blanche, which airs on the direct broadcast service DStv, sought an interview multiple times before approaching Patel at the hospital to follow up on previously aired episodes of their investigation, which had included Patel’s written responses to earlier questions.
The court issued a notice for the journalist to appear in court and nearly eight months later, on July 9, dismissed the case, affirming that Eckard had acted in the public interest.
In another case, Carte Blanche producer Mart-Marie Faure contacted cardiologist Ntando Peaceman Duze in May for an interview over alleged medical malpractice. On June 6, Duze obtained an interim interdict from a Kwazulu-Natal provincial court to halt the airing of the program.
“It’s sad that the courts are being used to stop us from airing stories that are in the public interest,” Faure told CPJ, adding that this was deterring journalists from reporting on sensitive issues.
That interim interdict was lifted on July 21, when the court ruled that Carte Blanche’s public interest journalism warranted “stronger constitutional protections” than Duze’s claims of reputational harm and warned that unjustified prior restraint of the media “would undermine the essential role of the media in a democratic society.”
Reached by phone, Duze declined to comment. Patel did not respond to CPJ’s emailed queries.
Magistrate seeks orders against journalists
Journalist Karyn Maughan discusses her 2024 book, ‘I Will Not Be Silenced,’ about how journalists are targeted and bullied by people who want them gone from public life. Maughan faced a harassment suit in connection to her reporting. (Screenshot: eNCA/YouTube)
On September 30, 2024, Mossel Bay magistrate Ezra Morrison obtained an interim protection order against News24’s journalist Karyn Maughan and then editor Kelly Anderson, over a report on Morrison’s handling of a teenage rape case, according to news reports and court documents reviewed by CPJ.
Morrison claimed the reporting harmed her emotionally and psychologically and threatened her safety, the documents said. The order barred both journalists from “contacting the magistrate” or “publishing untrue and inaccurate statements, photos,” or her “details.”
Morrison later filed a complaint of crimen injuria, the criminal offense of “impairing the dignity or privacy of another person,” over the same reporting. Both cases were later withdrawn, Maughan’s lawyer Charl du Plessis said.
Morrison did not reply to CPJ’s emailed queries.
‘The Running Mann’
Stuart Mann, a runner who covers long-distance races on his The Running Mann website, was sued for defamation in April by the nonprofit organizers of the Two Oceans Marathon and its board chair, Antoinette Cavanagh, following a series of reports alleging mismanagement of the annual race. The suit sought a retraction, apology, and a court order barring Mann from publishing or sharing similar allegations in the future.
The Gauteng High Court dismissed the case on June 16, saying that the court papers were “chaotic and vague” and that Cavanagh and the organization had failed to demonstrate defamation. Mann told CPJ that the process was emotionally draining and that he stopped writing about Two Oceans during the case.
In a July 17 email, the Two Oceans Marathon told CPJ, “We reserve our rights to pursue the matter further.” Cavanagh has since stepped down and Mann has been appointed as an interim board member.
The former chaplain and his wife
In December 2024, Vukile Mehana, a former chaplain with the ruling African National Congress party, and his wife, Naledi Mbude-Mehana, an Education Department deputy director general , opened a case of harassment and defamation against Sunday Times investigative reporter Thanduxolo Jika. Jika had reported that the couple was under investigation by the Hawks, a police unit that investigates corruption, for alleged irregularities in a government contract.
On June 4, Jika filed a complaint against the investigating officer for “recklessly” opening a defamation case – South Africa decriminalized defamation in 2024 – and suggesting that this officer was “serving the interests of Dr Mbude-Mehana rather than upholding the law.”
“There’s a rise in serious abuse of power by politically connected individuals who are opening senseless criminal cases against journalists to harass and intimidate them,” Jika told CPJ. Sunday Times editor Makhudu Sefara described the case as “a despicable attempt to muzzle our freedom to report news without intimidation.”
The Hawks’ spokesperson Nomthandazo Mbambo told CPJ that the couple remained under investigation. Mehana did not respond to CPJ’s phone calls or a query sent via messaging app. Midrand Police Station Commander Brigadier Molefi David Tsotso did not respond to CPJ’s calls or texts.
On August 12, Jika told CPJ the prosecutors had dropped the case against him.
Editor’s note: CPJ Regional Director Angela Quintal is a board member of the nonprofit news outlet GroundUp.
New York, August 13, 2025—As closing arguments are set to begin on August 14 in the national security trial of Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Hong Kong authorities to drop all charges against the 77-year-old publisher and release him immediately and unconditionally.
Lai, whose health has worsened after spending nearly five years in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison, is on trial under charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. He faces life imprisonment if found guilty.
“The world is watching how Hong Kong treats its journalists,” said CPJ Regional Director Beh Lih Yi. “The prolonged detention of Jimmy Lai not only destroys Hong Kong’s historic reputation as a free and open society, but also as a trusted hub for business. The risk of him dying in prison increases as each day passes.”
Lai’s trial was originally expected to last 30 days when it started in December 2023, after multiple delays. But it will have taken nearly 150 days when it resumes on Thursday. The publisher took the stand in December 2024, with the prosecution questioning Lai over Apple Daily’s editorial policy, particularly 33 opinion columns he wrote.
Lai, a British citizen, has been behind bars since his arrest in December 2020. He has been convicted of various charges, including fraud and participation in a protest. The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Lai is unlawfully and arbitrarily detained.
CPJ was among more than 30 organizations that wrote to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in June, urging him to swiftly meet with Lai’s son, Sebastien — a request that the family has been making for over two years and remains unfulfilled to this day.
New Delhi, August 12, 2025—Sri Lankan authorities must immediately stop harassing photojournalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan, who has been summoned by the counter-terrorism police for questioning, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.
A police notice, reviewed by CPJ, ordered Kumanan to appear in the northern town of Alampil’s Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division (CTID) office on Sunday to provide a statement in connection with an unspecified “inquiry.” The summons for August 17 gave no further information about the nature of the investigation.
“Sri Lanka police must immediately drop their summons of Kanapathipillai Kumanan, cease their harassment, and ensure that journalists can work freely without fear of reprisal,” said CPJ Regional Director Beh Lih Yi. “Using counter-terrorism powers to target journalists over their legitimate reporting is an abuse of police authority and a violation of press freedom.”
Kumanan, an ethnic Tamil, has posted updates and photos on social media documenting 41 days of mass grave excavations, in which he said more than 140 skeletons were identified, at the Chammani and Kokkuthodvai sites in the Tamil-majority north. His photos have been widely shared and published by advocacy and news outlets.
The mass graves are the latest of dozens unearthed across the country, following the end of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war in 2009, in which tens of thousands were forcibly disappeared. The conflict left deep scars, as the families of victims and rights advocates call for truth and justice.
Actor Blake Lively subpoenaed Google on July 3, 2025, in federal district court in New York, New York, for account information of three journalists who publish content on YouTube.
In December 2024, Lively sued actor Justin Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios and various associates for sexual harassment, retaliation and breach of contract. She alleges that the defendants launched a retaliatory publicity campaign during the release of the movie “It Ends With Us,” in which the two actors costarred and which Baldoni directed.
The campaign’s goal, according to the complaint, was to prevent Lively from speaking out about harassment and other misconduct by Baldoni and the CEO of Wayfarer on the set of the film.
In January, Baldoni filed his own claims against Lively, accusing her of extortion and defamation. Those claims were dismissed in June.
In July 2025, Lively demanded that Google produce YouTube and GooglePay account information for Andy Signore of the channel Popcorned Planet, Katie Paulson of Without A Crystal Ball and Kjersti Flaa of FlaawsomeTalk, who identify as journalists and cover entertainment and pop culture.
Lively requested contact and payment information and IP addresses — numeric designations that identify computers’ locations on the internet — used from May 1, 2024, to the present, for 16 content creators in total.
Signore, Paulson and Flaa have extensively covered the legal fight between Lively and Baldoni on their social media channels.
Lively argues that the defendants coordinated with content creators to distribute “negative and derogatory content” about her, and that the content creators whom she targeted through the Google subpoena appeared on a list produced by one of the defendants — a public relations firm that worked with Baldoni.
The list was compiled in response to a request from Lively that the firm identify content creators with whom it had communicated about her.
But on July 26, Lively began to withdraw the Google subpoena as to specific creators, telling the court that after conferring with some of them and reading their public statements and various motions to quash the subpoena, “there is no further information required from the Subpoenas as to these specific Third-Parties at this time.”
The accounts for which the subpoena was withdrawn included Paulson, per an email she posted to Instagram, and Flaa, per a notice she filed with the court.
On July 31, Signore filed a motion to quash the subpoena, arguing that the information sought was irrelevant, and its disclosure might subject him to online harassment.
On Aug. 4, the Google subpoena was withdrawn as to Signore.
Signore has also been subpoenaed directly for communications with the defendants; that subpoena is still pending.
Lively’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment from the Tracker.
Commentator and gossip columnist Perez Hilton was subpoenaed on July 19, 2025, in a federal district court in New York, New York, by actor Blake Lively for communications with actor Justin Baldoni and his production company.
In December 2024, Lively sued Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios and various associates for sexual harassment, retaliation and breach of contract. She alleges that the defendants launched a retaliatory publicity campaign during the release of the movie “It Ends With Us,” in which the two actors costarred and which Baldoni directed.
The campaign’s goal, according to the complaint, was to prevent Lively from speaking out about harassment and other misconduct by Baldoni and the CEO of Wayfarer on the set of the film.
In January, Baldoni filed his own claims against Lively, accusing her of extortion and defamation. Those claims were dismissed in June.
Hilton has posted extensive coverage, on both his site PerezHilton.com and on YouTube, about the legal fight between Lively and Baldoni.
On July 19, Lively subpoenaed Hilton under his legal name Mario Lavandeira, demanding any communications with Baldoni and his associates about Lively and the film and any evidence of an agreement with the defendants about related coverage on his social media channels.
Lively argues that the defendants coordinated with content creators to distribute “negative and derogatory content about Ms. Lively and her family.”
Hilton filed a motion to quash the subpoena on July 28, arguing that he is protected by both the First Amendment and, as a Nevada resident, the state’s reporter’s shield law.
In his filing, Hilton called the subpoena “a fishing expedition that chills journalistic freedom.”
“I anticipate that the subpoenaing party may attempt to characterize me as merely a ‘content creator’ or social media personality,” Hilton wrote. “That framing is inaccurate and misleading. I am a journalist — a globally recognized one — with a decades-long track record of reporting on matters of public interest.”
“For the record, I have not been paid by Justin Baldoni. I have not been paid by any of the Wayfarer defendants. I have not been paid by anyone to cover this litigation,” he added.
Hilton also requested that the court enter a protective order requiring Lively to request permission before issuing any more subpoenas to third parties. Lively has also subpoenaed at least one other online commentator directly, and subpoenaed Google for 16 content creators’ account information.
“I will not be deterred from doing my job by her harassment,” Hilton told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email.
Lively’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment from the Tracker.
Popcorned Planet, a YouTube channel run by Florida-based commentator Andy Signore, was subpoenaed on July 2, 2025, in a federal district court in New York, New York, by actor Blake Lively for its communications with actor Justin Baldoni and his production company.
In December 2024, Lively sued Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios and various associates for sexual harassment, retaliation and breach of contract. She alleges that the defendants launched a retaliatory publicity campaign during the release of the movie “It Ends With Us,” in which the two actors costarred and which Baldoni directed.
The campaign’s goal, according to the complaint, was to prevent Lively from speaking out about harassment and other misconduct by Baldoni and the CEO of Wayfarer on the set of the film.
In January, Baldoni filed his own claims against Lively, accusing her of extortion and defamation. Those claims were dismissed in June.
Signore has made multiple videos for Popcorned Planet, which covers entertainment and pop culture news, about the legal fight between Lively and Baldoni and in support of Baldoni, and is directing a documentary series on the making of “It Ends With Us.”
On July 2, Lively subpoenaed Popcorned Planet, demanding any communications with the defendants about Lively and the film and any evidence of an agreement with the defendants about related coverage on the channel.
Lively argues that the defendants coordinated with content creators to distribute “negative and derogatory content” about her.
Signore filed a motion to quash the subpoena on July 25, arguing that the documents requested are protected by Florida’s reporter’s privilege and the First Amendment. “This subpoena is an attack on press freedom,” he wrote on a fundraising page for his legal fees.
“I’m a journalist, I’m press, I don’t give up ANY sources,” Signore said in a video posted on Instagram. “This is only going to empower me even more so, to get to the truth and to fight back and to stand up.”
Jack Gordon, Signore’s attorney, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that fighting the subpoena was essential to prevent “an erosion of the First Amendment.”
“The only thing that prevents democracy and freedom of the press from being overrun are the people willing to stand and defend it,” Gordon said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a Hollywood scandal or a matter of national security.”
Lively also issued a subpoena to Google for Signore’s YouTube and GooglePay account information, but later withdrew it.
Lively’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment from the Tracker.
Kinshasa, August 7, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to swiftly release Glody Ndaya, director general of the privately owned news site Eventsrdc.com, and freelance commentator Espérant Kasongo.
“DRC authorities should unconditionally release journalists Glody Ndaya and Espérant Kasongo and end the use of laws that have censorious roots in the colonial era,” said CPJ Regional Director Angela Quintal. “Journalists in the DRC are subjected to a relentless pattern of arrests and attacks, which must be reversed.”
The two journalists were arrested separately by police in Kinshasa on August 4, 2025. Ndaya was first detained at the provincial police station then transferred on August 5 to the Gombe municipality’s prosecutor’s office, according to her lawyer, Eric Andoy Elungu. Kasongo was taken to the Kalamu municipality’s prosecutor’s office, his lawyer, Fail Nico Mbikayi, told CPJ. Both journalists were transferred to the Makala central prison of Kinshasa on August 6.
Andoy said that Ndaya’s arrest was related to a defamation complaint over Eventsrdc.com’s publication of an investigation alleging medical malpractice by local doctor Vincent Lokonga. The investigation was not carried out by Eventsrdc.com. The outlet and several other news sites, including congoquotidien.com, congopresse.net, and infos.cd, published it.
Kasongo’s arrest followed a defamation complaint by gospel musician and pastor Mike Kalambayi over Kasongo’s statements on a broadcast by the privately owned Six TV, Mbikayi told CPJ. Kasongo said in the broadcast that Kalambayi and record label Maajabu Gospel do not like Moïse Mbiye, another pastor and gospel musician.
CPJ’s calls to Lokonga, Kalambayi, and government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya went unanswered.
On March 5, 2025, in a crowded Dhaka courtroom, journalist Farzana Rupa stood without a lawyer as a judge moved to register yet another murder case against her. Already in jail, she quietly asked for bail. The judge said the hearing was only procedural.
“There are already a dozen cases piling up against me,” she said. “I’m a journalist. One murder case is enough to frame me.”
Rupa, a former chief correspondent at privately owned broadcaster Ekattor TV, now faces nine murder cases. Her husband, Shakil Ahmed, the channel’s former head of news, is named in eight.
A year ago, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus took charge of Bangladesh’s interim government after Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country following weeks of student-led protests, during which two journalists were killed.
Yunus promised media reform and repealed the Cyber Security Act, a law used to target journalists under Hasina. But in a November 2024 interview with newspaper The Daily Star, Yunus said that murder accusations against journalists were being made hastily. He said the government had since halted such actions and that a committee had been formed to review the cases.
Still, nearly a year later, Rupa, Ahmed, Shyamal Dutta and Mozammel Haque Babu, arrested on accusations of instigating murders in separate cases, remain behind bars. The repeated use of such charges against journalists who are widely seen as sympathetic to the former regime appear to be politically motivated censorship.
In addition to such legal charges, CPJ has documented physical attacks against journalists, threats from political activists, and exile. At least 25 journalists are under investigation for genocide by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal – a charge that has been used to target figures linked to the former Hasina government.
“Keeping four journalists behind bars without credible evidence a year on undermines the interim government’s stated commitment to protect press freedom,” said CPJ Regional Director Beh Lih Yi. “Real reform means breaking from the past, not replicating its abuses. All political parties must respect journalists’ right to report as the country is set for polls in coming months.”
A CPJ review of legal documents and reports found that journalists are often added to First Information Reports (FIRs) – documents that open an investigation – long after they are filed. In May, UN experts raised concern that over 140 journalists had been charged with murder following last year’s protests.
Shyamal Dutta’s daughter, Shashi, told CPJ the family has lost track of how many cases he now faces. They are aware of at least six murder cases in which he is named, while Babu’s family is aware of 10. Rupa and Ahmed’s family told CPJ that they haven’t received FIRs for five cases in which one or the other journalist has been named, which means that neither can apply for bail.
Shafiqul Alam, Yunus’s press secretary, and police spokesperson Enamul Haque Sagor did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
Violence and threats
In 2025, reporters across Bangladesh have faced violence and harassment while covering political events, with CPJ documenting at least 10 such incidents, most of which were carried out by members or affiliates of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its student wing, Chhatra Dal. In several instances, journalists sustained serious injuries or were prevented from reporting after footage was deleted or phones seized, including Bahar Raihan, Abdullah Al Mahmud, and Rocky Hossain.
Responding to the allegations, Mahdi Amin, adviser to Acting BNP Chair Tarique Rahman, told CPJ that while isolated misconduct may occur in a party of BNP’s size, the party does not protect wrongdoers.
Others have faced threats from supporters of different political parties and the studentgroups that led the protests against Hasina. Reporters covering opposition groups like Jamaat-e-Islami or its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, have come under particular pressure. On June 9, Hasanat Kamal, editor of EyeNews.news, told CPJ he’d fled to the United Kingdom after being falsely accused byIslami Chhatra Shibir of participating in a violent student protest. Anwar Hossain, a journalist for the local daily Dabanol, told CPJ he’d been threatened by Jamaat supporters after publishing negative reports about a local party leader.
CPJ reached out via messaging app to Abdus Sattar Sumon, a spokesperson for Jamaat-e-Islami, but received no response.
Since Hasina’s ouster, student protesters from the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement (ADSM) have increasinglytargetedjournaliststhey accuse of supporting the former regime, which in one case led to the firing of five journalists. Student-led mobs have also besieged outlets like Prothom Alo and The Daily Star.
CPJ reached out via messaging app to ADSM leader Rifat Rashid but received no response.
On July 14, exiled investigative journalist Zulkarnain Saer Khan, who fled Bangladesh after exposing alleged high-level corruption under Hasina and receiving threats from Awami League officials, posted on X about the repression of the media: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Kunal Majumder/CPJ India Representative.
Mexico City, July 18, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a gag order placed on reporter-editor Jorge Luis González Valdez and the newspaper Tribuna by a court in the southeastern Mexican state of Campeche. CPJ calls on Gov. Layda Sansores to immediately cease any judicial harassment of the journalist and the publication over coverage of her administration.
A state judge ruled Tuesday that any article published by Tribuna in which the governor is mentioned must be approved by the court.
In addition, the judge directed González, who was the editorial director of the newspaper for 30 years until his retirement in 2017, to submit to the court for review any future material in which Sensores is mentioned.
“The verdict against Jorge Luis González and Tribuna is nothing less than a gag order that constitutes a clear case of the courts siding with a state governor in overt efforts to silence any critical reporting of her administration,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “CPJ is alarmed by the sharp increase in lawfare against critical media in Mexico, where journalists continue to be attacked with almost complete impunity.”
The ruling by the Campeche state court is only the latest episode in the ongoing legal assault by Sansores on Tribuna and González, both of whom she sued on June 13, 2025, accusing them of spreading hatred and causing moral damages in coverage of her administration.
It is unclear which specific reports caused the governor to sue Tribuna, González told CPJ. It is also unclear why the lawsuit targets González, as he is no longer with the paper after his retirement in 2017.
A previous ruling ordered González to pay “moral damages” of $2 million pesos (about USD$110,000) to Sansores and prohibited both the reporter and Tribuna from mentioning the governor in any reports, according to newsreports. That sentence was suspended on July 9, after González successfully filed an injunction, which CPJ has reviewed, citing the Mexican Constitution’s prohibition of censorship before publication.
González said he planned to appeal, but it wasn’t immediately clear what strategies were available to him.
Several calls by CPJ to Sansores’ office for comment were unanswered.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Jan-Albert Hootsen/CPJ Mexico Representative.
Dakar, July 17, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Beninese authorities to release Comlan Hugues Sossoukpè, publishing director of the banned online Beninese weekly newspaper Olofofo Info, following his arrest in Côte d’Ivoire on July 10. He was then extradited to Benin, despite his refugee status in Togo.
“The forcible transfer of journalist Comlan Hugues Sossoukpé by Côte d’Ivoire to Benin, despite his refugee status in Togo, sends a worrying message to journalists across the region,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative. “He must be released immediately and unconditionally. Such aggressive, transnational tactics illustrate a cross-border collaboration to muzzle a critical journalist.”
On July 14, 2025, a judge at Benin’s Court for the Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET) upheld Sossoukpè’s detention in the southern city of Ouidah, pending a judicial investigation on charges of inciting rebellion, inciting hatred and violence, harassing through electronic communication, and apology for terrorism, according to a copy of the decision seen by CPJ.
Sossoukpè was in Côte d’Ivoire to cover a government conference when he was arrested. He has been living in Togo since 2019 and has held refugee status there since receiving threats in Benin, where he is from, related to his work.
Sossoukpè told Maximin Pognon, his lawyer, who spoke to CPJ, that four people identifying themselves as Ivorian law enforcement officers and a fifth as a “colonel of the gendarmerie” asked him to respond to a summons. But Sossoukpè recognized two of them as Beninese police officers, Pognon said.
Sossoukpè said he demanded that they bring him before a judge, which they agreed to, but did not. Instead, they seized his phone and computer, took him briefly to an Ivorian law enforcement headquarters, and then escorted him aboard a plane that took him to Benin.
Two people close to the case who asked not to be named for privacy reasons said that during the days before his arrest, Sossoukpè had alerted his friends that there were kidnapping plans against him.
CPJ’s calls and WhatsApp messages to Andy Kouassi, public relations director of the Ivorian ministry of communication, and to Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji, spokesperson for the Beninese government, as well as CPJ’s email to the Ivorian gendarmerie, went unanswered.
New York, July 11, 2025—A Kyrgyzstan court issued an order Wednesday shuttering independent broadcaster Aprel TV and terminating its broadcasting and social media operations, claiming the outlet undermined the government’s authority and negatively influenced individuals and society.
The ruling was the result of a lawsuit filed against the outlet by Kyrgyz prosecutors in April, which alleged “negative” and “destructive” coverage of the government.
“The Kyrgyz authorities must allow Aprel TV to continue its work unhindered and should not contest any appeal of the court’s Wednesday order to shutter the independent broadcaster and terminate its broadcasting and social media operations,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kyrgyzstan’s international partners – particularly the European Union, whose parliament and member states are in the process of ratifying a new partnership agreement – must hold Kyrgyzstan to account for its spiraling press freedom abuses.”
The judge accepted prosecutors’ arguments that the outlet’s reporting, which often included commentary and reports critical of the government, could “provoke calls for mass unrest with the aim of a subsequent seizure of power,” according to CPJ’s review of the verdict.
Aprel TV’s editor-in-chief Dmitriy Lozhnikov told privately owned news website 24.kg that criticizing the government isn’t a crime, but one of the core functions of the press. CPJ was unable to immediately confirm whether the outlet would appeal.
Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (SCNS) summoned 10 current and former Aprel TV staff for questioning on July 1 in connection with a separate, undisclosed criminal investigation.
The journalists’ lawyer told Radio Azattyk, the local service of U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), that investigators’ questions appeared to indicate that authorities will open a case on allegations of incitement of mass unrest or acts against the constitutional order.
CPJ’s email to the SCNS for comment on the criminal investigation did not immediately receive a reply.
Aprel TV is highly critical of the government, often adopting an irreverent tone as it broadcasts via oppositional broadcaster Next TV and reports to its 700,000 followers on several social media accounts.
New York July 2, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Zimbabwean authorities to release newspaper editor Faith Zaba, who was arrested on July 1. She is facing charges of “undermining or insulting the authority of the president” in connection with a satirical column.
“This case sends the message that Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his administration are so fragile that they are easily threatened by a critical column,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo. “It’s also a reminder of this government’s willingness to waste public resources by throwing journalists behind bars. Authorities in Zimbabwe must release Faith Zaba unconditionally and without delay.”
Police summoned Zaba to appear at the central police station in the capital, Harare, on July 1, where they charged her over the June 27 satirical column about Mnangagwa’s government published in her newspaper, the business weekly Zimbabwe Independent, according to her lawyer, Chris Mhike. Mhike told CPJ that Zaba has been unwell and was “severely ill” at the time of her arrest.
On July 2, Zaba appeared at the magistrate’s court in Harare, where her bail hearing was deferred to July 3 after the state requested more time to verify her medical history, according tomultiplelocalnewsreports.
The “Muckracker” column linked to Zaba’s arrest said that Zimbabwe was a “mafia state,” citing the administration’s alleged interference in the politics of neighboring countries, and said that the current government was “obsessed with keeping itself in power.” Under Zimbabwe’s Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Zaba could face a $300 fine or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, if convicted.
CPJ has documented an ongoing crackdown on dissent in Zimbabwe, amid political tension. In February, authorities arrestedBlessed Mhlanga, a journalist with Alpha Media Holdings, andheld him for over 10 weeks on baseless charges of incitement in connection with his coverage of war veterans who demanded Mnangagwa’s resignation. The Zimbabwe Independent is a subsidiary of Alpha Media Holdings.
A spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Paul Nyathi, did not answer CPJ’s calls and a query sent via messaging app requesting comment.
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, July 2, 2025—The dead have been buried and most journalists detained during Iran’s 12-day war with Israel have been freed, but the media are still reeling, as authorities crack down on critical voices and disrupt internet access.
The state news agency has announced a “season of traitor-killing,” with hundreds of people arrested and at least six executed since the war ended on June 25. Parliament approved a law on June 29 that mandates the death penalty for collaborating with Israel, the United States, or other “hostile” countries – a charge often used to describe media that report critically.
London-based Iran International TV spokesperson Adam Baillie said the new law would “widen the legal dragnet” against journalists and criminalizes contact with media outlets based abroad.
“We technically have internet, but access to the global web has been cut by half,” Hassan Abbasi, a journalist with Rokna news agency told CPJ from the capital Tehran on July 1, referring to reduced speeds and frequent disruptions.
Abbasi said internet access was selectively granted during the war. The communications ministry restricted access on June 13, the first day of the conflict, citing “special conditions.” Connectivity was largely restored after the ceasefire.
“Only large media outlets aligned with the government’s narrative were allowed to stay online,” Abbasi said. “Independent and local journalists like us couldn’t report – many agencies were effectively silenced, he said. “They wanted to cut off access to outside news and stop reports from inside.”
The June 29 law also banned the use or import of unauthorized internet communication tools like Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service, punishable by up to two years in prison.
‘Journalists are not enemies of the state’
“The arrests, internet disruptions, and intimidation of journalists during and after the Iran-Israel war reflect a troubling continuation of Iran’s ongoing efforts to control the media,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “These acts of censorship undermine press freedom and create fear among those trying to report the truth. Journalists are not enemies of the state.”
Smoke rises from Iran’s state-run television after an Israeli strike in Tehran on June 16. (Photo: AP)
Since the war began, CPJ has documented the following incidents:
On June 15, journalist Saleh Bayrami was killed by an Israel airstrike on Tehran.
On June 16, journalist Nima Rajabpour and media worker Masoumeh Azimi were hit by an Israeli airstrike on state-owned broadcaster IRIB’s headquarters and died the following day.
On June 17, freelance photojournalist Majid Saeedi was arrested in Tehran while photographing the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on IRIB’s headquarters. He told CPJ he climbed to a high point to capture images of smoke when police detained him and later transferred him to Evin prison.
“The next day, a judge reviewed my case in the prison courtyard, where officials brought over a chair for him to sit on,” Saeedi added. “He said that because I had a valid press ID and authorization, there was no issue, and he ordered my release.”
On June 21, Iran International TV reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had detained the mother, father, and younger brother of one of its presenters to pressure her into resigning.
In a June 27 email to CPJ, spokesperson Baillie confirmed that the family members had been released but described the incident as “a profoundly worrying turning point in the type of action taken by the IRGC and security forces against the families of Iranian journalists abroad.”
On June 21, photographer and designer Reza Daryakenari was arrested in a Tehran café. His Instagram account went offline after June 26. As of July 1, he remained in detention on unknown charges.
People ride past Tehran’s Evin Prison on June 29, after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike. (Photo: WANA via Reuters/Majid Asgaripour)
On June 23, Israeli forces bombed Evin prison, which houses at least six journalists, including Iranian-American Reza Valizadeh. Authorities reported 71 deaths, including prisoners, but did not release names. One person with knowledge of Evin prison told CPJ that all the detained journalists were safe and had been transferred to other prisons.
On June 24, the online outlet Entekhab News was blocked for “disruptive wartime reporting.” The judiciary said the outlet was undermining public security through its critical coverage. On June 30, it was unblocked.
CPJ’s emails requesting comment from Iran’s foreign affairs and information ministries did not receive any replies.
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, July 2, 2025—The dead have been buried and most journalists detained during Iran’s 12-day war with Israel have been freed, but the media are still reeling, as authorities crack down on critical voices and disrupt internet access.
The state news agency has announced a “season of traitor-killing,” with hundreds of people arrested and at least six executed since the war ended on June 25. Parliament approved a law on June 29 that mandates the death penalty for collaborating with Israel, the United States, or other “hostile” countries – a charge often used to describe media that report critically.
London-based Iran International TV spokesperson Adam Baillie said the new law would “widen the legal dragnet” against journalists and criminalizes contact with media outlets based abroad.
“We technically have internet, but access to the global web has been cut by half,” Hassan Abbasi, a journalist with Rokna news agency told CPJ from the capital Tehran on July 1, referring to reduced speeds and frequent disruptions.
Abbasi said internet access was selectively granted during the war. The communications ministry restricted access on June 13, the first day of the conflict, citing “special conditions.” Connectivity was largely restored after the ceasefire.
“Only large media outlets aligned with the government’s narrative were allowed to stay online,” Abbasi said. “Independent and local journalists like us couldn’t report – many agencies were effectively silenced, he said. “They wanted to cut off access to outside news and stop reports from inside.”
The June 29 law also banned the use or import of unauthorized internet communication tools like Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service, punishable by up to two years in prison.
‘Journalists are not enemies of the state’
“The arrests, internet disruptions, and intimidation of journalists during and after the Iran-Israel war reflect a troubling continuation of Iran’s ongoing efforts to control the media,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “These acts of censorship undermine press freedom and create fear among those trying to report the truth. Journalists are not enemies of the state.”
Smoke rises from Iran’s state-run television after an Israeli strike in Tehran on June 16. (Photo: AP)
Since the war began, CPJ has documented the following incidents:
On June 15, journalist Saleh Bayrami was killed by an Israel airstrike on Tehran.
On June 16, journalist Nima Rajabpour and media worker Masoumeh Azimi were hit by an Israeli airstrike on state-owned broadcaster IRIB’s headquarters and died the following day.
On June 17, freelance photojournalist Majid Saeedi was arrested in Tehran while photographing the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on IRIB’s headquarters. He told CPJ he climbed to a high point to capture images of smoke when police detained him and later transferred him to Evin prison.
“The next day, a judge reviewed my case in the prison courtyard, where officials brought over a chair for him to sit on,” Saeedi added. “He said that because I had a valid press ID and authorization, there was no issue, and he ordered my release.”
On June 21, Iran International TV reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had detained the mother, father, and younger brother of one of its presenters to pressure her into resigning.
In a June 27 email to CPJ, spokesperson Baillie confirmed that the family members had been released but described the incident as “a profoundly worrying turning point in the type of action taken by the IRGC and security forces against the families of Iranian journalists abroad.”
On June 21, photographer and designer Reza Daryakenari was arrested in a Tehran café. His Instagram account went offline after June 26. As of July 1, he remained in detention on unknown charges.
People ride past Tehran’s Evin Prison on June 29, after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike. (Photo: WANA via Reuters/Majid Asgaripour)
On June 23, Israeli forces bombed Evin prison, which houses at least six journalists, including Iranian-American Reza Valizadeh. Authorities reported 71 deaths, including prisoners, but did not release names. One person with knowledge of Evin prison told CPJ that all the detained journalists were safe and had been transferred to other prisons.
On June 24, the online outlet Entekhab News was blocked for “disruptive wartime reporting.” The judiciary said the outlet was undermining public security through its critical coverage. On June 30, it was unblocked.
CPJ’s emails requesting comment from Iran’s foreign affairs and information ministries did not receive any replies.
