In Focus

  
Markwayne Mullin stands listening to U.S. President Donald Trump as he attends his swearing-in as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 24, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci

How the Trump administration is using immigration authorities to restrict speech 

During President Donald Trump’s second term, immigration authorities under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have increasingly used their powers to curb independent and critical reporting.  Here are four things you need to know about how immigration agencies have participated in restricting press freedom in the United States:   See CPJ’s first-ever travel advisory for journalists entering and…

Read More ›

Uganda's internal affairs minister David Muhoozi speaks in parliament on the first reading of the Protection of Sovereignty Bill, 2026, on April 15.

Ugandan journalists face up to 20 years in jail under draconian foreign agents bill

New York, April 24, 2026—Uganda is set to pass a foreign agents bill, whose sweeping provisions could be used to imprison journalists critically reporting on economics, foreign policy, or elections for up to 20 years, limit foreign media funding to about $100,000, and subject newsrooms to intrusive state oversight. The Protection of Sovereignty Bill says…

Read More ›

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hosts an honor cordon for Indonesia's Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin at the Pentagon, in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 13, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

How the Pentagon is trying to control the narrative

The Defense Department oversees the country’s armed forces and commands a nearly $1 trillion budget in 2026. A departure from longstanding norms and Constitutionally guaranteed media access at the Pentagon carries significant implications for press freedom in the United States as well as for public understanding of the impact of U.S. military spending and actions. Here are five things you need to…

Read More ›

AFP journalist Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali holds his wedding picture as he searches through documents at his home in Khartoum North's Bahri neighbourhood on March 17, 2025, as he returns to visit for the first time since being displaced.

Sudan’s 3 years of war, impunity, and the silencing of the press

New York, April 15 — As Sudan’s war marks its third anniversary, on April 15, 2026, fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has turned the country into one of the world’s most dangerous and deadliest environments for the press, where reporting the truth comes with the constant risk…

Read More ›

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir Mayardit in Ethiopia in 2025.

South Sudan’s new cybercrime law ramps up threat of jail for journalists

Kampala, April 9, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in South Sudan to urgently reform its new cybercrimes law, which punishes defamation with up to five years in prison, criminalizes speech on overbroad grounds, and fails to protect whistleblowers and public interest reporting. While government officials maintain the law is intended to address…

Read More ›

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks to parliament in Budapest. Ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections, CPJ recommends ways to stem a declining media landscape.

Hungarian elections: CPJ calls on all candidates to commit to 10 key steps to restore press freedom 

Berlin, April 8, 2026—Ahead of Hungary’s parliamentary elections on April 12, the Committee to Protect Journalists is calling on all political parties to commit to restoring press freedom, starting with 10 priority issues.  Hungary’s media landscape has declined severely in the last 16 years under the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. His ruling Fidesz party…

Read More ›

A press briefing at the Pentagon in April. Worrying guidelines on how the military can categorize the press during conflict are contained in the Defense Department's Law of War Manual. (AP/Andrew Harnik)

How US media consolidation endangers press freedom

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a government agency that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in the United States. Although the agency is supposed to be independent of the executive branch, recent actions by the FCC and comments by its chairman, Brendan Carr, represent a worrying politicization of the agency. In…

Read More ›

A Palestinian man attempts to access the internet using an eSIM in Gaza City after the internet and fixed-line communications services were cut off amid the Israeli offensive, in June.

How Middle East journalists report during internet blackouts

Washington D.C., April 2, 2026—Iran is now in the grip of the longest internet blackout in its history, a near-total shutdown that has stretched more than 30 days and reduced connectivity to almost zero. Imposed amid war and unrest, the sweeping, government-imposed blackout has effectively sealed off the country, cutting journalists’ access to sources and…

Read More ›

Ugandan journalists cover the announcement of presidential results in January.

Uganda declares criminal defamation unconstitutional, strikes down cybercrime law

Kampala, March 19, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Tuesday’s ruling by the Constitutional Court of Uganda to declare criminal defamation unconstitutional, the latest African court to abolish the crime in recent years. In a consolidated judgment, in response to three petitions filed by rights groups in 2022, the court also nullified the Computer Misuse…

Read More ›

People with children on a scooter weave between cars, as Beirut traffic surges after Israeli army warning prompts residents to evacuate the city's southern suburbs amid the Iran war.

‘I’m displaced too’: Lebanese journalists cover war after fleeing home

Beirut, March 18, 2026—In early March, as the Iran war spread across the Middle East and Israeli strikes rained down on Lebanon, many journalists covering the country’s growing displacement crisis found themselves living it. For freelance video journalist Hadil Iskandar, who has worked for German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and pan-Arab outlet Daraj Media, it was…

Read More ›