The dictatorship in Cuba came in ninth place, but also at least three out of the four worse are close allies of the Castro brothers.
10 Most Censored Countries
CPJ's new analysis identifies Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Iran as worst
1.
Eritrea
Leadership: President Isaias
Afewerki, in power since 1993
How
Censorship Works: Only state news media are allowed to operate in Eritrea, and
they do so under the complete direction of Information Minister Ali Abdu.
Journalists are conscripted into their work and enjoy no editorial freedom;
they are handed
instructionson how to cover events. Journalists suspected of sending
information outside the country are thrown into prison without charge or trial and held
for extended periods of time without
access to family or a lawyer. The government expelled the last accredited
foreign correspondent in 2007. All Internet service providers are required to
connect to the World Wide Web through government-operated EriTel. While
Eritrea's journalists in exile run many websites,
Internet access is affordable for only a handful of citizens, and mobile
Internet isn't available.
Lowlight: In
2011, Eritrea planned to introduce mobile Internet capability, which is popular
throughout the developing world, where cellular towers are often built before
Internet or land lines. But the government, fearful of the effect of
the Arab Spring uprisings, abandoned the plan.
2.
North Korea
Leadership: Kim Jong Un, who took
over when his father Kim Jong Il died in December 2011. His grandfather, Kim Il
Sung, ruled North Korea from 1948 until his death in 1994.
How
Censorship Works: Nearly all the content of North Korea's 12 main newspapers, 20
periodicals, and broadcasters comes from the official Korean Central News
Agency and focuses on the political leadership's statements and supposed
activities. Ruling elites have access to the World Wide Web, but the public is
limited to a heavily monitored and censored network with no connections to the
outside world. While The Associated Press opened a Pyongyang bureau in January
2012 staffed with North Koreans, the AP wasn't granted its own Internet
connection and the correspondents have no secure line of communication. A
Japan-based media support group, Asiapress, has been giving
North Korean volunteers journalism
training and video cameras to record daily life in the North. Downloaded onto
DVDs or memory sticks, the images are smuggled across the porous border with
China and then sent to Japan for broader distribution. Only small numbers of
foreign journalists are generally allowed limited access to the country each
year, and they must be accompanied everywhere by minders.
Lowlight: KCNA's official version
of Kim Jong Il's death said he died on December 19, 2011, of heart failure
while traveling by train because of a "great mental and physical
strain" during a "high-intensity field inspection." Subsequent
analysis of official pronouncements indicates that, wherever he was, Kim most
likely died on December 17, and the news was delayed to allow officials to sort
out problems of succession.
3.
Syria
Leadership: President Bashar
al-Assad, who took over upon his father's death in 2000
How
Censorship Works: Since demonstrators began calling for Assad's ouster in March
2011, the regime has imposed a blackout on independent news coverage, barring
foreign reporters from entering and reporting freely, and detaining and
attacking local journalists who try to cover protests. Numerous journalists have
gone missing or been detained without
charge, and many said they were tortured in custody. International media have
relied heavily on footage shot by citizen journalists in very
dangerous conditions. At least nine journalists have been killed on duty since November 2011, six in circumstances in which
government culpability is suspected. In its campaign to silence media coverage,
the government disabled mobile phones, landlines, electricity, and the
Internet. Authorities have routinely extracted
passwords of
social media sites from journalists through beatings and torture. The
pro-government online group the Syrian Electronic Army has frequently hacked
websites to post
pro-regime material, and the government has been implicated in malware attacks
targeted at those reporting on the crisis.
Lowlight: Ferzat
Jarban was the
first journalist killed for his work in Syria since CPJ began documenting
deaths two decades ago. A local videographer documenting protests and the
government's violent crackdown in his hometown of Al-Qusayr in Homs, his
footage showed shocking images of dead women and children. Jarban was last seen
being arrested before his body turned up bearing signs of mutilation, with one
eye gouged out.
4. Iran
Leadership: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
has been supreme leader since 1989. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad first won the
presidency in 2005.
How
Censorship Works: The government uses mass imprisonment of journalists as a means of silencing dissent and quashing
critical news coverage. Since 2009, a once-robust reformist media
has been battered by a government onslaught that has included the banning of
publications and the mass arrests and imprisonments of journalists on antistate
charges. Imprisoned journalists are subject to horrible conditions including
solitary confinement, physical abuse, and torture; families of journalists are
also intimidated and harassed in a bid to keep them silent. Iranian authorities
maintain one of the world's toughest Internet censorship regimes, blocking
millions of websites, including news and social networking sites; using sophisticated
techniques to
detect interference with anti-censorship programs; and intimidating reporters
via social networks. The regime also frequently jams satellite signals,
particularly that of the BBC Persian-language service.
Lowlight: The
regime has particularly targeted the BBC, especially since the 2009 disputed
presidential elections, when the BBC Persian-language service extensively
covered protesters describing abuse by security forces. Relatives and friends
of BBC staff members have been arrested,
questioned, or intimidated. Tehran has jammed BBC satellite signals, and the broadcaster reported a
"sophisticated cyber-attack" on its email and Internet services that coincided with efforts to jam its satellite feeds into Iran.
Leadership: Teodoro Obiang Nguema
Mbasogo, in power since a 1979 coup
How
Censorship Works: Obiang's government tightly controls all news and information
over national airwaves. Technically, some outlets are privately owned, but none
are independent, as Obiang and his associates exert direct or indirect control.
State mediado
not provide international
news coverage unless Obiang or another official travels abroad. Censors enforce
rigid rules to ensure the regime is portrayed positively; journalists who don't
comply risk prison under criminal statutes including defamation. Security
agents closely shadow foreign journalists and restrict
photography or filming that documents poverty. The government paid
three Washington-based public relations firms a total of US$1.2 million between
April and October 2010 to produce positive news about Equatorial Guinea,
according to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Lowlight: At
the outbreak of the Arab Spring, the government banned state media from
mentioning on air any of the North African or Middle Eastern countries
involved. In March 2011, authorities detained and suspended a state radio announcer for a mere reference to a "leader
of the Libyan revolution."
Leadership: President Islam
Karimov, first elected in 1991
How
Censorship Works: No independent media outlets are based in Uzbekistan.
Independent journalists—mostly contributors to outlets outside the country—are
subject to interrogation and prosecution under defamation charges or outdated statutes such as
"insulting national traditions." They and their families are harassed
and smeared; some have seen sensitive personal information published by state
media. MuhammadBekjanov and Yusuf Ruzimuradov of the opposition newspaper Erk have been imprisonedlonger than
any other jailed journalists in the world, CPJ research shows. Internet access
to independent news websites and online broadcasters is blocked, as are some
keywords and topics on individual Web pages. Foreign journalists are denied
visas and accreditation.
Lowlight:
Karimov's own nephew, the critical independent journalist Dzhamshid
Karimov, vanished in 2006 after visiting his mother in the hospital.
His friends eventually discovered that he was being held against his will in a
psychiatric clinic, where he remained captive until November 2011.
Leadership: President Thein Sein, a
former general who assumed office in a 2011 election that heavily favored
military-backed candidates
How
Censorship Works: Although Burma has transitioned from military to civilian
government, released journalists among hundreds of political prisoners, and
promised more reforms, its vast censorship structure remains in place. All
privately run news publications in Burma are forced to publish weekly rather
than daily due to stifling
prepublication censorship requirements. The government's Press
Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) censors news that could reflect
poorly on the military or the government it backs, and imposes a complete
blackout on reporting of the armed conflict with ethnic Kachin rebels in the
remote north. The government dominates radio and television with a steady
stream of propaganda. Laws bar the ownership of a computer without a license
and ban the dissemination or posting of unauthorized materials over the
Internet. Prison sentences have been used to punish reporters working for exile-run
media groups. Regulations imposed in 2011 banned the use of flash
drives and voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) communication in Internet cafés.
Local reporters with international agencies are subject to constant police
surveillance; others only publish under pseudonyms to prevent possible
reprisals. Foreign reporters are regularly denied journalist visas unless the
government aims to showcase a state-sponsored event. Those discovered reporting
on tourism visas are expelled.
Lowlight: In
February 2012, the PSRD banned a commentary written by journalist Ludu Sein Win
about a media conference where Ministry of Information officials discussed a
proposed new media law that would allow more press freedom—including an end to
prepublication censorship. Sein Win wrote tongue-in-cheek that those who
attended the conference were "helping to make the rope to hang
themselves." The banned article was later published by the exile-run Irrawaddy.
Leadership: King Abdullah bin
Abdulaziz Al-Saud, who succeeded his half-brother, King Fahd, in 2005
How
Censorship Works: The Saudi kingdom's media law is highly restrictive and
vaguely worded, with penalties severe and arbitrary. Authorities have the right
to appoint and fire senior editors in traditional media at will; after the
emergence of a vibrant, unregulated online news sector, they introduced
similar restrictions on the
Internet. Regulations require government registration and approval of editors
for any organization or individual conducting "electronic journalism"
or "displaying audio and visual material" on websites, while criteria
for approval are vaguely defined. No foreign or local journalists are granted
access to the Eastern Province, where protesters have been calling for
political reforms and greater rights for the Shiite minority since February
2011. Local news websites that have reported on the unrest have been shut down
and their editors arrested.
Foreign news about events outside Saudi Arabia is available, but international
news outlets operating inside its borders limit their reporting in order to
maintain accreditation.
Lowlights: Saudi
authorities expelled Riyadh-based Reuters correspondent Ulf
Laessingin March 2011, angered by his coverage of political unrest.
Laessing wrote: "State security agents knocked at dawn at my hotel room
after I had covered Shiite protests in the Eastern Province. A week later, the
government withdrew my accreditation."
Leadership: President Raúl Castro,
who took over from his brother, Fidel Castro, in 2008; the country has been a
one-party communist state since Fidel Castro took power in a 1959 revolution
How
Censorship Works: All authorized domestic news media are controlled by the
Communist Party, which recognizes freedom of the press only "in accordance
with the goals of the socialist society." Internet service providers are
obliged to block objectionable content. Independent journalists and bloggers all work on websites that are hosted overseas and updated
through embassies or costly hotel connections. Although the last of the 29
independent journalists imprisoned in the 2003 Black Spring crackdown was released in April 2011, the government continues
to persecute critical
journalists with arbitrary arrests, short-term detentions, beatings,
surveillance, and smear campaigns on state media and on the Internet.
Government supporters sometimes gather outside the homes of critical
journalists to intimidate them. Officials grant visas to foreign journalists
selectively.
Lowlight:
Prominent critical blogger Yoani Sánchez was refused
a visa to
leave the country in February for the 19th time, she said. Sánchez has been
targeted in the past with smear campaigns, cyber-attacks on her blog, and
assault.
10. Belarus
Leadership: President Aleksandr
Lukashenko, in office since 1994
How
Censorship Works: Lukashenko's wide-ranging anti-press tactics have included
politicized prosecution of journalists; imprisonments; travel
bans against
critical reporters; debilitating raids
on independent newsrooms; wholesale confiscation of newspapers and
seizure of reporting equipment; and failure to investigate the murdersof
at least three journalists in the past 10 years. After the rigged election of
2010, hecracked
down on what
was left of the independent media, sending it underground. Working as a
journalist without government-issued accreditation is prohibited; television is
state-owned or state-controlled. In 2010, Lukashenko signed a law to censor the
Internet, created an agency to implement the law, and placed his own son to
head it. Shortly after it was created, the agency blacklisted independent and
opposition websites. Public access to the Internet requires a government-issued
ID, which allows the KGB to monitor users. At least one opposition website has
been the target ofhacking
attacks, including one in which a password obtained via malware was
used to insert a false news story about an opposition politician.
Lowlight:
Following the December 2010 presidential vote, Lukashenko imprisoned prominent
independent journalists Irina
Khalip and Natalya
Radina on
fabricated charges in retaliation for reporting on post-election protests.
Khalip was later released from prison under heavy restrictions, while Radina
was forced to flee Belarus to avoid a repeated incarceration.
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