18 February 2011
Reporters Without Borders is concerned to see that many journalists who are trying to cover the demonstrations taking place in Iraq, Algeria, Yemen, Bahrain and Libya are being targeted by the security forces or prevented from doing their work.
“The embattled governments in the Maghreb and Middle East are resorting to intimidation and violence against journalists to prevent coverage of the demonstration
18 February 2011
Reporters Without Borders is concerned to see that many journalists who are trying to cover the demonstrations taking place in Iraq, Algeria, Yemen, Bahrain and Libya are being targeted by the security forces or prevented from doing their work.
“The embattled governments in the Maghreb and Middle East are resorting to intimidation and violence against journalists to prevent coverage of the demonstration that have been inspired by the recent events in Egypt and Tunisia,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We urge the authorities to respect the media’s work. The public in these countries has right to receive impartial and independently reported information.”
BAHRAIN
The Internet was slowed down to obstruct the uploading of videos and direct coverage of the demonstration, and to hamper browsing. The government blocked accounts with Bambuser, a video streaming platform that allows users to directly share videos taken with their mobile phones. YouTube pages containing videos of the recent demonstrations have also been blocked (examples of blocked videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJWm... ).
The Twitter account of the vice-president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (@Nabeelrajab) has been censored. Miguel Marquez, a US journalist working for ABC News, was attacked and beaten in Manama’s Pearl Square while talking by phone with his editors and his camera was confiscated. Several foreign journalists were denied entry after landing at Manama international airport on 18 February.
Read full release on rsf.org
