OSCE

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CPJ testifies at Helsinki Commission about press freedom threats in OSCE region

Freedom of the press is under severe threat across the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) region and the OSCE’s 57 participating states must do more to protect the safety of journalists, CPJ Deputy Executive Director Rob Mahoney told a United States Congress commission today. Appearing virtually at a hearing held by the…

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People watch an election rally for President Erdoğan in Mardin, on June 20. An OSCE report released ahead of Turkey's elections highlights the restrictive environment for the press. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 17

Ahead of election, OSCE highlights restrictive media environment In a report on Turkey’s elections this month, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said, “The media landscape is dominated by outlets whose owners are considered affiliated with the government or depend on public contracts.” The report added that Turkey’s constitution “Contains a general…

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People look at the Bosphorus as they travel in a ferry from the Asian to the European side of Istanbul on March 1, 2018. The Turkish government continues its crackdown on the media. (AFP/ Bulent Kilic)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 26, 2018

Journalists sentenced An Istanbul court on February 28 sentenced Ahmet Altan, the former chief editor for the shuttered daily Taraf, to five years and 11 months in prison for “insulting the [Turkish] president,” and “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization,” the online newspaper Diken reported.

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A women's rights march in Belgrade on January 21, 2017. Women journalists in Serbia say they face threats of sexual violence and online abuse over their critical reporting. (AFP/Andrej Isakovic)

Two-fold risk for Serbia’s women journalists as attackers target their work and gender

“In the past five years I was publically called many things. I was an old hag, a sterile, cheap Soros’ prostitute, a hooker, not f***ed enough, in need of a good prick, and destroyer of the Serbian Orthodox Church,” said Tatjana Vojtehovski, a Serbian television journalist with a large presence on social media. “My response…

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Harlem Désir, pictured at France's National Assembly in Paris in July 2016, says he is committed to standing up for journalists in his new role as OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. (AFP/Jacques Demarthon)

Q&A: Impunity and journalist safety are priority says new OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media plays a vital role that is valued by journalists and media freedom groups for its ability to speak out in defense of press freedom in participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

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CPJ calls for OSCE to swiftly fill press freedom representative vacancy

The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined seven other press freedom organizations in calling on the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to swiftly appoint a new representative on Freedom of the Media. The incumbent representative, Dunja Mijatović, has been an outspoken defender of press freedom, but she is…

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Combating Digital Harassment

A plurality of online voices is good for democracy, yet one group has come under attack in the most gruesome ways. Threats of rape, physical violence and graphic imagery are showing up in the inboxes and on the social media platforms of female journalists across the globe. Though online harassment of journalists is not new,…

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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President Barack Obama at a summit on countering violent extremism in September. Proposed measures rick curtailing press freedom. (AFP/Jewel Samad)

Privatizing censorship in fight against extremism is risk to press freedom

“We’re stepping up our efforts to discredit ISIL’s propaganda, especially online,” President Barack Obama told delegates at the Leaders’ Summit on Countering Violent Extremism last month. The social media counter-offensive comes amid U.N. reports of a 70 percent increase in what it terms “foreign terrorist fighters”–citizens of U.N. member states who have left to join…

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